This is another of Scott's books, surprise, surprise. I don't think he owns anymore military books that have been adapted into movies I enjoy so I'm pretty sure we're done with this phase of my life, and we did not end on a high note. This year I read American Sniper, Lone Survivor, and now 13 Hours and even though some people would argue they aren't meant to be compared- this was the worst one.
Looking back on the books we read this year only amplifies how long it felt. We each read a LOT of books this year but we've narrowed it down to our favourite and least favourite six.
I bought this book mostly because of the title. Meg and I both studied linguistics in undergrad and graduate school, and it is well known that I think Noam Chomsky is hot. I'll say off that top that this book only references Chomsky's political writing, there is absolutely nothing about linguistics in The Girl Who Never Read Noam Chomsky by Jana Casale.
I actually treated myself to this as a $5 special buy at Walmart one day recently which is very unlike me but I just felt like reading some festive trash. I don't mean anything against Kinsella, who has done very well for herself and written a series that most women (myself included) love, but it's brain mush and that's why I love it.
Tayari Jones' An American Marriage was the best book I read in 2019, and hands down one of the best books I've read in the last five years. As soon as I finished it I knew I couldn't wait for whatever Jones does next, so I decided to look at the books she has already published. Leaving Atlanta was published in 2002 and is her first book. I got it for Christmas and finally got to it this summer!
I really got into Ondaatje when I studied English lit in university but my attempts to read his books since have been hit and miss. I love The English Patient and In the Skin of a Lion but wasn't a big fan of Divisadero. I found this book at Value Village earlier this year and finally had some time to spend on it.
This was my first time reading an essay collection by David Foster Wallace. In the past I have read a couple of short story collections and Infinite Jest, so I was excited to check out his non-fiction. I was so moved by his interviews with David Lipsky and I knew I would get something similar in his essays. Unfortunately this essay collection struck me at the worst time, I had just been laid off from my job and was having a hard time concentrating on the first few essays. I loved the final three essays (pages 146 to 353) and they really got me out of my funk. I'm going to mostly cover them below:
We're not sure if we can't believe it's the holiday season already or if this year has felt like 10, but either way, it's time. As per usual we've got 10 books we think would make excellent gifts this year. People are either doing a lot of reading or they're about to start...
