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Marilynne Robinson
325 pages

At 38 years old, Glory Boughton has returned to Gilead, Iowa to care for her aging father, the Reverend Robert Boughton. Boughton is a retired Presbyterian minister, and a good friend of the Congregationalist minister, John Ames (the main character in Robinson's Pulitzer-winning book, Gilead). Glory is recovering from a failed relationship and is simultaneously resentful of and thankful for her new routine. One day, her older brother Jack comes back into her life after 20 years away from the family. Jack had a troubled youth in Gilead, and his years away not been much better. He has been in jail, he has an alcohol problem, and there is a lingering issue regarding his relationship with a woman named Della.

It's not clear just why Jack decided to return to Gilead, but both Glory and his father decide to give him a chance. The story moves along at a leisurely pace, much like a lazy summer day. Jack finds much-needed stability, tending to the garden and minor repairs around the house. Glory finds companionship, love, and understanding that she didn't think possible from Jack. And yet, Jack's demons never completely leave him. His status with Della is uncertain. While he achieves a kind of reconciliation with his father, tensions do flare from time to time as Robert is unable to completely let go of past hurts. Jack's relationship with John Ames is also tenuous. Eventually, Jack takes the only reasonable action to alleviate his pain, although as the reader we know it will never really go away.

This is a sad, moving, and yet also surprisingly uplifting book of family relationships, redemption, and grace. Highly recommended. ( )

My original review can be found here.

He tugged out the photograph, tugged with trembling hands, and set it down on the bar top. And he looked at it and saw that it had faded. All the once-bright colors were vanishing, leaving only a trace of themselves, tinged with green, with the bluish green of the sky…when evening was coming…the sky behind Auror… - from The Road Home, page 237 -

Lev is 43 years old and forced to leave his rural East European town to seek work in London. He has been widowed (his young wife Marina having died from Leukemia) and must support his daughter Maya and his elderly mother who remain behind in Russia. Lev barely speaks English and is at first bewildered by London. But Lydia, a woman he meets on the train, helps him find a job working in a posh restaurant where he meets the sexy Sophie. Lev eventually finds lodging with an Irishman named Christy Slane who is also experiencing loss.

Then he looked at Christy, standing in the doorway, as though not wanting to come into the room, his hands held at his sides in a helpless way, and Lev was transfixed for a moment, recognizing something of himself in the other man, some willingness to surrender and not fight, some dangerous longing for everything to be over. - from The Road Home, page 77 -

He was gradually coming to understand that the Irishman’s loneliness was nearly as acute as his own. They were the same kind of age. They both longed to return to a time before the people they loved most were lost. - from The Road Home, page 80 -

Lev’s story is painful at times. He misses Marina - cannot seem to get past the loss of her - and struggles to save money to send home to his daughter and mother. His future seems hopeless and he misses his country and his best friend, Rudi - a gregarious man whose love affair with an American Chevy and his fondness for life make him immediately endearing.

Rudi was everything this story made him out to be - and more. He was a force of nature. He was a lightning bolt. He was a fire that never went out. - from The Road Home, page 277 -

It is largely Lev’s friendship with men like Christy and Rudi which elevates him past his grief and imbues him with hope. When Lev recalls a hiking trip with Rudi to an isolated cave shortly after Marina’s death, the reader begins to see there will be a future for him after all.

It was at this moment - with Rudi halfway up the ladder - that he heard himself whispering to his friend, “Don’t look down…don’t look back…” and he felt that he suddenly understood why Rudi had brought him here and that the thing he had to embrace was the idea of perseverance. - from The Road Home, page 127 -

The Road Home is a character driven novel about loss and identity. It is a novel which reminds the reader that the past must sometimes be left behind in order to move forward. Dreams are the fuel for overcoming obstacles in this story of a man who must leave his home in order to find it again. Lev is a dreamer and a romantic. He is a character who readers want to see succeed, a man whose flaws are surpassed by his kind and vulnerable heart.

Rose Tremain has yet to disappoint me - I’ve read Music and Silence (reviewed here) and The Colour (reviewed here) and found them both outstanding. Tremain’s novels are written with sensitivity and insight into the human condition - and The Road Home is perhaps her finest work. This novel won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2008.

Highly recommended.

Property
Valerie Martin
193 pages

The Road Home
Rose Tremain
365 pages

The Idea of Perfection
Kate Grenville
400 pages

The Idea of Perfection takes place in the Australian town of Karakarook, NSW, population 1374. Harley Savage, a middle-aged textile artist, travels from Sydney to create a heritage museum. Douglas Cheeseman, an engineer, is sent to demolish an old bridge. From this initial setup I expected intense conflict and community uprising, but that turned out to be secondary to the story of human foibles and relationships. Both Douglas and Harley are unmarried; he is divorced and she is a widow. Both are lonely, but they resist forming relationships with others. Douglas remains on the fringe of the local work crew. Harley feels awkward with others, and stubbornly resists a stray dog's repeated attentions. Both draw gradually to one another.

In fact, the entire book moves in a very gradual manner. Grenville oh-so-slowly reveals details that build a complete picture of the main characters and the town's citizens. At the beginning of the book, Douglas is looking out of an upstairs hotel room window. Only later, after learning he suffers from vertigo, does it become clear that just looking out the window was an accomplishment. Details of Harley's childhood and married life are droppped like a trail of breadcrumbs. Slowly the reader sees these two, their physical imperfections, and their inherent inner goodness. In contrast, Grenville introduces local housewife Felicity Porcelline, who is portrayed -- again, gradually -- as someone obsessed with her appearance, the cleanliness of her home, and her son's academic performance. She appears perfect on the outside, but inside she leads a self-centered, deceptive life.

This book had a surprisingly strong impact on me. I loved the slow reveal of the characters, and their ultimate depth. And while the book moved quickly, Grenville suggests plot in the same way she does her characters. There were many times in this novel where she made a subtle point that connected several other events in a way that literally left me wide-eyed, astonished, and saying "OH ... !!" out loud. The Idea of Perfection is sure to be one of my top reads of 2008. ( )

cross posted from my blog:


Title: Half of a Yellow Sun
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
ISBN: 978-0-676-97812-4
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, a divison of Randon House
Pages: 433/Hardcover
Rating: 5/5


I have had this book since September 2007. I just never got around reading it. And after finishing it today, I ask myself why didn't I read it sooner?

Half of a Yellow Sun is a very well written book. It captures the reader's mind as soon as he/she starts reading it.

The story starts with 13 years old boy Ugwu, from the nearby village, being employed as a houseboy for University professor Odenigbo, who is filled with revolutionary zeal. Ugwu calls him master and is fascinated by the numerous books in master's house. He is not treated as a servant at all. Rather his master sends him to the primary school for the children of the University dons. Ollana comes to live with Odenigbo as his mistress, giving up a life of luxury with her parents, in Lagos. Meanwhile Richard, an Englishman, falls hard for Kainene, Ollana's twin sister who refuses to belong to anyone. Their lives cross, merge and intertwine. Fragility of their relationship is tested by the all-consuming violence.

Ollana and Odenigbo share a beautiful relationship. Richard loves Kainene but she remains aloof. Ugwu, meanwhile is very faithful to his master, Ollana and Baby, their daughter. The smaller charaters too leave a mark on the reader.

This novel is haunting in the sense that it is set in 1960s when Biafra struggled for independence from Nigeria. The violence that follows because of it is very chilling and shattering. There are ethnic wars between class and race. The descriptions are stark and the reactions are horrific. The ultimate question is who should take moral responsibility for all this bloodshed. Why allegiances has to be asked again and again?

When Ugwu is conscripted and said to be dead, Ollana breaks down. It is so poignant to see her shouting at Odenigbo in her angst. For Master, Ollana and Baby, Ugwu is much more than a houseboy. He is family.

In the midst of ongoing war, we see Kainene and Ollana working for the betterment of the refugees in their own way. There are disappointments but there are promises kept too. We may see death, rape, pillage but we see belief and hope in humanity too.

For someone so young, Adichie has good insight. She sure knows what she is writing. Very beautiful prose, it keeps us totally involved. She brings Modern Africa alive for us. That is reason enough to read her. She is a worthy successor of Chinua Achebe. I truly recommend it for all.

A look at the two small islands of Jamaica and England. Set during the Second World War, four very different characters are thrown together. From Jamaica Gilbert Joseph joins the RAF wanting to be a pilot but he ends up being a driver. His expectations are further tempered on moving to England after the war ends and facing the racism there against black people. He marries Hortense and brings her over to England as well. She is very stuck up and thinks herself above other Jamaican's with her proper English ways. In England she also has a rude awakening when she finds out her teaching qualifications are not recognised and the English do not seem to be able to understand her perfect diction.

From England are Bernard Bligh and his wife Queenie Bligh. They have a very stale marriage and seem unable to have children. Bernard joins the war effort in the RAF and gets shipped off to India. When the war is over he doesn't return for 5 years and Queenie goes on with her life. She rents out rooms in their house to black people looking for a place to live as well as having an affair with a Jamaican. Bernard turns up at home one day and everyone is forced to change.

I found this book easy to read, but not very inspiring. I didn't feel the story was a new one, I felt I had read it before and it was a struggle to finish it. It wasn't that it was bad or not well written (it won the Whitbread Book of the Year and the Orange Prize for Fiction), it just didn't really capture my imagination or hold my interest sadly.

We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver won the 2005 Orange Prize. I found out about this book by reading reviews for Jodi Picoult's book Nineteen Minutes. I've read both Picoult's book and Shriver's. If you want to read just one book about the horrifying event of a student going to his high school and murdering his classmates in cold blood, I recommend reading We Need To Talk About Kevin.

Kevin is born to Eva and Franklin, a couple very much in love with each other. Eva is not quite so in love with the idea of having a child, but when she becomes pregnant, Kevin enters their family.

From the start Eva does not bond with Kevin, nor does she have the deluge of maternal feelings she feels she is supposed to have. In fact, her relationship with Kevin becomes more adversarial than it does connective. Franklin does not see Kevin from the same point of view as Eva, and slowly but surely, over the years, this takes a toll on their marriage.

The story continues through Kevin's life with Eva being the only one to see Kevin's lack of connection to his family, his inability to form any friendships, and his distance from schoolmates. Franklin continues to make excuses for his son preferring to believe they are pals and that he understands Kevin while Eva simply does not. Franklin persists in believing this in spite of evidence that bad things happen when Kevin is around with the likely possibility that Kevin caused them.

This is a long book, and may, at times, become tedious for some readers. Having had some experience with a child who does not fit into any group including his/her own family, I was riveted to the pages. Shriver has an uncanny understanding of what it's like for a parent to have to admit that he or she simply does not like the child who, no matter what, prefers to stay outside the family unit. The strain this puts upon the family seems impossible to bear.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the family dynamic that produces a child who could murder innocent people. This is not to imply that the fault lies with the family, however. Sometimes things just happen, and there is no discernible reason why. For that reason I found the end of this story to be somewhat shocking. It goes to show that we never really know a person no matter what evidence we have to the contrary.

I've been forgetting to post reviews here of award winning books for the last while.

Other Colors: Essays and a Story by Orhan Pamuk
Nobel Prize winner

I've only read Pamuk's nonfiction books, Other Colors along with Istanbul but I love his lyrical writing and the picture of Istanbul he evokes. This is for the fan who likes to read everything by their favorite author, and includes a wide variety of topics, including literature, day to day life, his own books, and east versus west. My full review, including pictures form my brief visit to Istanbul, are here.


The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Pulitzer Winner 2007

How can you enjoy such a bleak and depressing story? And yet, it stays with you, and was very profound. Many other people have reviewed this better than I, but my full attempt is here at my blog.

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate diCamillo
Newbery Award Winner 2004

I liked this book so much, that after I returned it to the library, I went to the store to buy my own copy to have for my children. A little mouse who believes he can do what everyone else tells him he can't, and a princess who respects him.
My somewhat longer review is here at my blog.


We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shiver
Orange Prize Winner

This was a powerful book told from the mother of a school shooter's point of view. She tells things quite honestly, but there are no other perspective's to verify and she certainly wasn't very maternal. Sometimes I felt there was so much more I wanted to know. This would be a great book to have group discussions about. Here's my review from my site

A beautifully told story of a savage civil war, Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun definitely deserved the 2007 Orange Prize.

They sat on wooden planks and the weak morning sun streamed into the roofless class as she unfurled Odenigbo's cloth flag and told them what the symbols meant. Red was the blood of the siblings massacred in the North, black was for mourning them, green was for the prosperity Biafra would have, and finally, the half of a yellow sun stood for the glorious future.

I resisted reading this book because I really just don't like war stories at all. I wanted to give it a chance, though, because so many bloggers had said they appreciated it. They were right; it's a very special book. Based on the conflict in Nigeria in the late 1960's, it not only depicts the horrors of war, it also hauntingly and lovingly depicts the lives of the participants. Apparently many of the characters were based on real people in Adichie's family history, and this authenticity very much shines through.There were some content issues for me in the book, but I'm very glad I read this story. I look forward to reading Purple Hibiscus and other books of hers to come. If you decide to read the book (and I highly encourage it), afterwards you might want to go to her website http://www.halfofayellowsun.com where you can find a lot more information about the true story.

2006, 541 pp.
2007 Orange Prize
Rating: 4.5

We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver is the story of a marriage with children. Eva, the wife, writes letters to Franklin, her husband, after they are separated. The focus of her letters is the fact that their son, Kevin, killed a teacher and several carefully handpicked students at his high school.

In my opinion, there are several compelling aspects to this book. The first is Kevin himself. He is presented as a difficult baby who grows into a difficult child who becomes an even more difficult teenager. He's overtly sullen and withdrawn toward his family, and the tension this creates in the family is almost palpable on the printed page.

The second is the dynamic between husband and wife. Eva recognizes the elements in her child's personality that make him so difficult to love. Franklin prefers not to see just how troublesome Kevin's behavior is, and because Eva loves Franklin so much, she allows his judgments about Kevin, no matter how improbable, to override her own misgivings time and time again. Lionel Shriver displayed tremendous skill at accurately depicting Eva's I'm-onto-him attitude vs Franklin's boys-will-be-boys way of looking at Kevin's behavior. And when Kevin's actions resulted in huge consequences to those he chose to toy with, Shriver continued to keep that precarious balance going between the two parents with Franklin's evaluation always keeping Eva's suspicions just under the radar.

The third compelling aspect to this book is Eva herself. She is a successful business woman who has a strong entrepreneurial background. She took the germ of an idea for a travel guide and built it into a strong business with her personal touch continually keeping the company on the path she'd chosen for it. She is smart, educated, familiar with numerous cultures throughout the world, and her conversations, no matter what the topic, are never dull. That's the business side of Eva. The wife and mother side are completely different. That smart, savvy, knowledgeable businesswoman simply doesn't exist in a familial setting. For Eva this causes years and years of frustration. For the rest of the family it creates an us-against-her atmosphere. Little by little this erodes whatever relationship these people share.

In my opinion, this is an excellent book. If the reader is looking for reasons for how or why something like the Columbine massacre happened, this book can provide some insight. For me, while I realize that was supposed to be the point of the book, I was just as fascinated by the family dynamics and what that quietly explosive situation finally produced.

"The world has to know the truth of what is happening, because they simply cannot remain silent while we die."

For those of us who did not know the truth this book was most surely essential reading.

At first I marvelled at what I was learning about the Nigeria-Biafra War of 1967-70. Told from the Biafran point of view the main characters are Biafran: Olanna and Odenigbo, well-off and well-educated academics; Ugwu, their houseboy; Kainene, Olanna's twin sister and Richard who is a British expat and Kainene's partner Their lives are laid before us as their characters are developed. Little by little uncomfortable, sometimes slightly shocking phrases begin to appear. Issues of race, culture, loyalty, class and ethnicity become intermingled and I struggled attempting to unravel the reasons for the characters’ behaviours.

I was not far into the book when I found myself often reaching for my tiny index sticky markers. I used these when I felt anger, compelled to ask a question, exclaim or simply love the turn of phrase of the author. Sometimes in Half a Yellow Sun it was the simplicity of what was said that was so compelling. All was not bleak and in places there were wonderful examples of hope and the survival of the human spirit. The young Ugwu dedicates himself to mastering English and is justifiably proud of his efforts while we see Richard, white European equally keen to speak Igbo. Both wish to be considered as achieving – so what is it about a culture that gives a character a sense of belonging and the acceptance?

I ‘knew’ that there were going to be the most terrible scenes of violence, descriptions of atrocities that beggared belief but was still shocked at the starkness. The historical political events continue as we witness human beings whom we have got to know in their everyday pre war life struggle to survive, looking for places to live, food to eat and people they have lost. Grief, violence and fear replace the evenings of comfort and dinner parties pre war. It makes you wonder why some become so preoccupied with material extras of life.

The strength of the human spirit does triumph in numerous ways. Here is one example from which I resolved to learn.

Edna has just heard of the cruel death of four little girls when the Baptist church in her home town had been bombed. Edna sobs herself to sleep and Olanna who has been attempting to comfort her

…….. ‘sat thinking about how a single act could reverberate over time and space and leave stains that could never be washed off. She thought how ephemeral life was, about not choosing misery’…….

So at the end, the lasting theme for me is one of man’s inhumanity to man. When will we learn to respect and value human life, refrain from taking up arms and give to those in greatest need ....

Do visit the author's website where you may read further regarding the history. Deeply moving are the personal stories of Nigerians who have responded to the book and have written their own personal reflections: http://www.halfofayellowsun.com/

In a series of long, highly detailed letters to her absent husband, Eva Khatchadourian writes of their life together and raising their children. One of whom (Kevin) ends up killing several schoolmates and a staff member in the high school gym.

This review is cross-posted at my blog.

I hardly know where to start writing about Half of a Yellow Sun. It was so brutal, and so powerful. Apparently I'm not the only one who really isn't quite sure where to start; there's no Wikipedia article about it yet in spite of the fact that it won this year's Orange Prize.

Before reading this, I knew very little about the Biafran War/Nigerian Civil War/Nigeria-Biafra War (whichever name you prefer --Adichie seems to prefer the latter). I kept setting aside the book, both to look up information about the war and to process what was happening in the narrative.

I think I'm most impressed by Adichie's ability to realistically portray the everyday lives of people living in turbulent times. Aside from finding themselves in the middle of a war, the characters have very different ideas, traditions and lifestyles, depending on whether they're older or younger, wealthy or poor, black or white, African or English, educated or illiterate. I loved this diverse look at the people of this time and place. And it was fascinating to see how they all keep trying to live as normally as possible in spite of the upheaval of war.

The narrative switches back and forth from the early 60s to the late 60s a few times, and I found this hard to follow. I don't think it's a flaw in the novel so much as that I realize I just have a very linear way of thinking. I would have had an easier time with a strictly chronological story. The last several chapters, though, just pound straight through to the end of the war, and these chapters are so devastating that I felt emotionally bruised for hours after finishing the book.

I can't really mention the part I most want to discuss with others who have read the book without spoilers, so if you haven't read the book yet and intend to, please stop reading now. There may also be spoilers in the comments if people comment on the spoilers below.

Hello everyone!

I'm Nymeth from Things Mean a Lot. Here are my picks for the challenge:

1. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (Pulitzer 2001)
   
2. The Color Purple by Alice Walker (Pulitzer 1983)
   
3. Beloved by Toni Morrison(Pulitzer 1988)
   
4. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (World Fantasy Award 2006)
   
5. Little, Big by John Crowley (World Fantasy Award 1982)
   
6. Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner (World Fantasy Award 1991)
   
7. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin (Hugo 1970, and Nebula 1969)
   
8. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushie (Booker Prize 1981)
   
9. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishuguro (Booker Prize 1989)
   
10. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Booker Prize 1997)
    
11. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (Newbery Medal 1978)
    
12. On Beauty by Zadie Smith (Orange Prize 2006)
    

I couldn't narrow it down to 12 so I picked 16 and I will see how many I get through during the year. As I read them I will put up reviews on my blog at Rhinoa's Ramblings

The books I have picked are:

1) Perdido Street Station - China Mieville (Arthur C Clarke Award)
2) Quicksilver - Neil Stephenson (Arthur C Clarke Award)
3) Iron Council - China Mieville (Arthur C Clarke Award)
4) Life of Pi - Yann Martel (Man Booker Prize)
5) The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood (Man Booker Prize)
6) The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy (Man Booker Prize)
7) Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha - Roddy Doyle (Man Booker Prize)
8) American Gods - Neil Gaiman (Bram Stoker Award and Hugo Award)
9) Eats, Shoots & Leaves - Truss (British Book Prize)
10) Wild Swans - Chang (British Book Prize)
11) Beowolf - Seamus Heany (Costa/Whitbread Prize)
12) Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood (Giller Prize)
13) Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanne Clarke (Hugo and World Fantasy Award)
14) On Beauty - Zadie Smith (Orange Prize)
15) Beloved - Toni Morrison (Pulitzer Prize)
16) Perfume - Patrick Suskind (World Fantasy Award)
17) Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson (Newbery Medal)

Verbivore here - I realized that I never posted my list here, only on my site. So without further ado, this is what I shall be dipping into for a lovely year of reading. I took books from eight different awards (Pen/Faulker, Man Booker, Costa/Whitbread, Canadian Governer General Award, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, Orange Prize, Pulitzer) and made sure I picked six women and six men.

Here are my selections:
Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson
The Echo Maker, Richard Powers
Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
The Underpainter, Jane Urquhart
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Mark Haddon
Waiting, Ha Jin
In America, Susan Sontag
Life of Pi, Yann Martel
Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
When I Lived in Modern Times, Linda Grant
The Idea of Perfection, Kate Grenville

Plus a few others that I'm sure will make it into my hands for more hours of reading fun. I'll be reading one for every month starting with Gilead in July. Anyone else reading this one? Looking forward to our cross-posting and discussing!

Here is my challenge list after days of deliberation. I'm so excited about this challenge. I've decided to use it to branch myself out into genres I don't usually read and to expose myself to new authors I haven't encountered yet. I've also selfishly included some Pulitzer-prize winners to further my own personal goal of working my way through all of those. But I kept the number down to three to keep the spirit of a challenge.

1. On Beauty by Zadie Smith (Orange)
I've been wanting to read this for awhile and recently bought White Teeth, which I haven't read yet, either.

2. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin (Nebula)
Having recently finished the Earthsea books, I am a renewed fan of LeGuin's. (I remember liking her as a kid after reading the first Earthsea book.) I'm curious about her other works.

3. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (Pulitzer)
This is the third Pulitzer winner. I'm planning on having finished the first two in June.

4. Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington (Pulitzer)
This the fourth Pulitzer winner. Again, to pursue the completion of my personal goal.

5. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (Newbery)
I like YA and children's novels. I'm curious about the most recent winner.

6. Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins (Newbery)
If you read the most recent winner, you might as well read the next to most recent winner. You never know when you'll want to finish that list, too, one day.

7. Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear (Agatha)
I never read mysteries so this is a genre I wanted to represent in this challenge. I checked through the Edgar winners but they looked too scary for me (probably why I tend to shy away from mysteries). But on the Malice Domestic website Agatha winners are described as "...mysteries that contain no explicit sex, excessive gore, or gratuitous violence; usually featuring an amateur detective, they have a confined setting and characters who know one another." Sounds like my cup of tea.

8. Possession by A.S. Byatt (Man Booker)
I recently bought this at the used bookstore. Thought I'd throw in a few TBRs.

9. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (Costa/Whitbread)
My brother and his fiancée read this in Iraq while they were stationed in Fallujah and they liked it. I've been wanting to read it for awhile.

10. Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (Hugo)
Branching out into science fiction

11. Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip (World Fantasy)
Further explorations into the fantasy genre

12. The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton by Jane Smiley (Spur)
Definitely new territory for me, the western-set novels. Plus I started Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel but have never read any of Jane Smiley's fiction.

Alternates

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Man Booker)
own it-TBR
2. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (Nebula)
TBR
3. American Gods by Neil Gaiman (Nebula)
I keep hearing about Neil Gaiman from other book bloggers.
4. Dune by Frank Herbert (Nebula)
I think I remember my dad reading this in the early 80s. I never had an interest but now I'm curious.
5. Sophie's Choice by William Styron (National Book Award)
TBR
6. One of Ours by Willa Cather (Pulitzer)
Pulitzer goal; 5th winner