Tag Archives: Charles Baxter

Top Ten Books I Read In 2012

Posted by Kate W in Fiction, Non-fiction and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

top-ten-best-books-2012

Recently, a member of my book group called me a ‘book pusher’. I feigned disbelief – “I don’t push books onto people!” I exclaimed. But I do. I do it all the time. Once I’ve read a really good book, I want everyone around me to share the joy.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new ‘top ten’ challenge is posted – anyone can join in. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books I Read in 2012. Or, in other words, the Top Ten Books I’ve Been Pushing on People This Year.

1. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach – my favourite book for the year.

2. Of a Boy by Sonya Hartnett – this book will never leave me.

3. The Forrests by Emily Perkins – unusual and very special.

4. Tigers in Red Weather by Lisa Klaussman – sublime… Where’s the gin? Continue reading →

Top Ten Tuesday – Favorite New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2012

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

top-ten-new-to-me-authors

Well, finally a list that can’t possibly contain any John Irving (but see what I did there, slipped the name in… Are you thinking about Owen Meany now?!).

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new ‘top ten’ challenge is posted – anyone can join in. This week’s topic is Top Ten Favorite New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2012.

1. Chad Harbach – The Art of Fielding took Harbach ten years to write. I sincerely hope we don’t have to wait a decade for his next book.

2. Emily Perkins – New Zealand born Perkins thrilled me with her exquisite saga, The Forrests.

3. Laura Dave – for sharp chick-lit. Continue reading →

Book vs Film: Feast of Love

Posted by Kate W in Book vs Film and tagged with , ,

Book. By a whisker.

  • The book has an extra layer of detail. Important in understanding the motives of some characters.
  • Hey filmmakers, don’t mess with Baxter’s intriguing beginning and sublime conclusion.
  • The actors in the film were all slightly too good-looking (especially Bradley, played by Greg Kinnear) to fit with Baxter’s story.
  • Winning film moment though – the ‘falling in love’ scenes between Katherine and Jenny, and Oscar and Chloe.

The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter.

A bad run…

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with , , , , , ,

My Twitter hash tag to accompany #reading of late has been #4shitbooksandcounting – seriously, is my bad book run penance for the glorious Baxter, Tiffany and Hartnet weeks?!

One of my Twitter pals wisely suggested re-reading some old favourites to break the spell – good idea. I may have to turn to some character-rich Henry James or some sentimental John Irving to get back on track.

At the risk of a new hash tag, #5shitbooksandcounting, I’m going to quickly read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins to see what all the fuss is about. If that’s not reasonable, it will be ‘Hello Irving and James’!

What do you do when you have a bad run of books?

PS. The picture above is of a sculpture made from 25,000 Dr. Seuss Books for the New York Public Library – I love it.

‘The Feast of Love’ by Charles Baxter

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with , , ,

The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter is indeed a feast – a reading feast.

It took me a few chapters to really get into the story – it’s about an insomniac author, Charlie Baxter, who takes a walk through his neighbourhood in the middle of the night and meets with a friend and fellow insomniac, Bradley. Bradley convinces Charlie to write a book about love and from there, the story unfolds.

“Bradley urges Charlie on saying, “Okay. Chapter One. Every relationship has at least one really good day…”’

At first, there are many seemingly disjointed threads to the story (which is why it took a bit of ‘getting into’). However, that quickly changes and you see how intricately lives become interwoven. None of the relationships seem farfetched and I think this can be attributed to Baxter’s sublime writing style – detailed but not forced; witty when in character; and spot-on for the ‘slow reveal’. Continue reading →