I'm off to MacDowell again, glory hallelujah. God I love that place. But I'm planning on reading a bunch so I have to update before I go. I'm in a hard place with my next book. I've tried a couple of different things and they haven't worked. I'm praying for inspiration. Wish me luck.

Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida

I loved this book. She writes like Joan Didion.

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

I didn't feel bad about mine. Now I do. I swear it's sagging just a little.

The Lost by Daniel Mendelsohn

If you only read one book this year, let it be this one, okay?

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

Or let it be this one. This may be the best unfinished novel I've ever read. And one of the best novels I've ever read.

Restless by William Boyd

I adore William Boyd. So why didn't I love this book?

The Mystery Guest by Gregoire Bouillier

A bizarre yet entertaining little book.

Mother's Milk by Edward St. Aubyn

I'll never get sick of his vile characters. And he's maybe the funniest writer ever. A line of dialogue about a fat lady getting into an airplane seat. She thanks them for her patience and Roberts says, "It's sweet of her to thank us for something we haven't given her. Perhaps I should thank her for her agility."

The Unfinished Novel and Other Stories by Valerie Martin
She's a lovel writer. Got a little sick of the women's relationships, though.

Good Faith by Jane Smiley
I was ripping along happily to nearly the end, then I suddenly stopped caring. Probably more to do with me than the book, because this lady sure can turn a phrase.

The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut
Could Africa be any more depressing?

The World Below by Sue Miller

I wish I could write book after book with such grace and competence.

Blue Nude by Elizabeth Rosner

I just needed more story, but I loved the kibbutz part. So familiar to me.

Don't Get Too Comfortable by David Rakoff

AGAIN I caused a scene on a plane by laughing like a maniac while reading a Rakoff book.

The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud

I can't really figure out why I didn't like this book more.

After This by Alice McDermott

It's not charming Billy, but then what ever will be?

Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose

She's pompous as hell, and her book list is positively asinine, but I did learn some things from this book.

The Post Birthday World by Lionel Shriver
Great idea for a novel.

The Uses of Enchantment by Heidi Julavits
Awesome. Hysterically funny and wrenching. And not just because she's my friend.

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
She's amazing, but my favorite is still Behind the Scenes at the Museum.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
My editor loved this book.

We're in Maine, on something of an extended vacation. Vacation for us means we don't do anything but work and play with the kids. It's been pretty grand, but frankly I'm surprised I haven't done as much reading as I expected. Maybe it's because the kids are obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and we watch it every night. I've also spent time getting my butt kicked at Scrabble, as usual. Playing Scrabble with my husband is exactly no fun at all.

A Woman in Jerusalem by A.B. Yehoshua

I love Yehoshua. Reading him you know you're in the hands of a great master. That said, this book is a bit slighter than recent ones.

How I Came Into My Inheritance by Dorothy Gallagher

Don't let the last name fool you, she's the daughter of Jewish reds from Russia and writes a truly hilarious memoir of her childhood.

The Law of Dreams by Peter Behrens

You all know I have a soft spot for sweeping historical fiction.

No Direction Home by Marisa Silver

I like this book, a sweet rambling story. I didn't, however, buy the love story for a minute.

The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner

Stegner is really one of the greats. I love his fiction.

The English Teacher by Lily King

An interesting novel with a loathsome main character.

The Dissident by Nell Freudenberger

This is a fine novel, but I truly loved some of her stories.

The Verificationist by Donald Antrim

It says more about me than him, but as soon as people started flying I lost interest.

Shutterbabe: Adventures in Love and War by Deborah Copaken Kogan

Okay, she's my friend, but this book is a delight.

At the end of the week we leave for nearly two months in Maine. Not sure how that's going to work -- we have no childcare and tons of work to do. Michael is laid out with RSI in his hands, and I'm not sure if what I'm feeling is sympathy pains or if I'm going to get it, too. Damn those hellish track pads. Anyway, I'm updating a little early, and then might not for a while.

Larry’s Party by Carol Shields

One of the things that surprised me about this quiet, lovely, novel, is how BAWDY it is. When she writes about sex, she does so beautifully, but also graphically. Kind of cool, since she look like a genial, reserved professor.

In the Cut by Susanna Moore

I really feel like my life would be better if I didn’t have stuck in my brain the image of this woman’s nipple sliced off and stuck into the pocket of her murderer.

The Invisible Circus by Jennifer Egan

I think I read this years and years ago but I remembered nothing. Why is it that I retain so little, even from books like this one, which I enjoyed? I’m so envious of people who can recall with amazing accuracy everything that they’ve ever read.

The Girls by Lori Lansens

I've always loved the whole side show evilness. One of us, one of us.

The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith

I let this book's bad reviews sway me and didn't read it until now. I thought it was great and I'm ashamed of myself.

The Good Mother by Sue Miller

Yes, I reread this again. It just helps me to read Sue Miller when I'm writing.

The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner

Michael says I read this years ago, but I don't remember. Sigh. The writing is, of course, incredible, almost incredible enough for me to rise above the fact that much of the novel is about this man raging against age and, inevitably, death. Almost. Not quite. I feel the same about this book as I do about later Roth. I have a hard time being interested, although I'm sure in 20 years or so I'll be as obsessed with aging as they are.

Because it is Bitter and Because it is my Heart by Joyce Carol Oates

I feel like I'm just discovering Oates afresh.

Shiksa Goddess by Wendy Wasserstein

She's a much better playwright than essayist.

Memoirs of a Muse by Lara Vapnyar

This book cracked me up.

July, July by Tim O'Brien

Such a good writer, even if his women characters don't act quite like women, more like men's idea of women.

Can you Hear the Nightbird Call by Anita Rau Badami

I can't say anything about this novel, because I'm judging a contest.

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

Definitely my favorite book this time around. Magnificent.

Indecision by Benjamin Kunkel
This book is good enough, but if it had been written by a woman, with a female main character undergoing the same experiences, it would have been dismissed as chick-lit. It's a comment on the profoundly sexist nature of the literary scene that this book was hailed as possessing unambiguous literary merit.

The Darling by Russell Banks
I usually shy away from books about Africa. Something about them -- the light is too harsh. I know that sounds insane, but it's the best I can do to describe how I feel. But this book was mesmerizing. Shows the power of good writing to overcome any bias.

No God In Sight by Altaf Tyrewala
I was sent this book because the editor read my booklog and knew I have a weakness for Indian fiction. Man, did I love this. Tiny little fragments that together make a wonderful story.

Possession by A.S. Byatt
I reread this novel because I thought it would be useful to Winter's End, the book I've been working on for the past year. Then, last week, I decided that my novel isn't working. It just plain sucks. I'm throwing it away and starting something new. But at least I had a chance to reread Possession.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
I am obsessed with food. I love it, I'm freaked out by it. I don't do anything socially other than see movies and eat. I serve only organic food to my kids, and I'm convinced we all have lurking spongiform encepholopathy. Which is why this book is perfect for me.

Theft by Peter Carey
I love Peter Carey, and at some point reading this book I decided there was no point to my being a novelist. I mean, I am incapable of writing like this, so why bother. I got over it, perhaps to literature's detriment.

The Chrysanthemum Palace by Bruce Wagner
He's a terrific writer. But the story didn't seem to keep my attention like I wished it had. He says something almost nice about Michael, though.

Digging to America by Anne Tyler
Can I just be Anne Tyler? She's exactly the kind of novelist I want to be.

Maps for Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam
Wow. Terrific book. Great writer. And, um, I can't believe how miserable these people are.

The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty
It is truly pathetic that I haven't read this book until now. I'm a moron.

Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb
How can I not have heard of this terrific writer until now???

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby just cracks me up.

Oh the Glory of it all by Sean Wilsey
Ok, I have to admit it, this is not a book I would normally pick up, but Melissa at Diesel (a fabulous local bookstore-unlike Black Oak which is a nightmarish local bookstore owned by a truly vile cretin who screamed at us last time we were there spending over one hundred dollars in his store because our children had pulled about ten books off the shelf in the children's section. We were happy to clean it up, we always do, and a little confused at the abuse.) insisted I read it. She was so completely right. It's amazing. Truly hysterical and sad. I'm planning my comment to Dede Wilsey should I ever meet her. "Oh you're the toxic witch I've read so much about."

The Nimrod Flip Out by Etgar Keret
These stories are terrific and weird as hell.

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
I'll read anything this man writes. He's great.

It's been a while since I updated, and I've been reading a bunch...I was on book tour in Europe (Germany and Amsterdam) and spent a lot of time wandering the city, stopping in cafes and reading.
Once again I'm trying to read primarily for my novel which means novels about women, novels with characters who are at once sympathetic and complicated.

The Good Wife by Stewart Onan
This book is marvelous. I'm a sucker for a long story, and this once takes place over 25 years. And you know how I feel about prison and prison reform. I will say this - if this novel had been written by a woman, it would have been dismissed as "women's fiction."

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
I especially liked the little boy, and I thought the 9/11 stuff was done better than anyone else has done it. It had true emotional resonance. The grandfather's story did not, however, grab me as much.

Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh
This book works much more successfully than her recent novel, Baker Towers. I admire what she did, the three narratives, the man viewed only through the lens of his wives.

The Missing World by Margot Livesy
Delightfully creepy.

Morgan's Passing by Anne Tyler
I usually love Anne Tyler, but this book bugged me. Perhaps it was simply that the main characters were the usual Tyler mass of ticks and
idiosyncrasies, but despite the obvious pleasures of that, they didn't seem interesting enough to me.

Every Visible Thing by Lisa Carey
Yay! Another Lisa Carey novel!!!

A Family Daughter by Maile Meloy
I loved this novel, despite the fact that the ending disappointed me.

Any Bitter Thing by Monica Wood
I seem not to be able to get enough of these dark and gloomy east coast winter novels...

Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
Have I mentioned that he's my favorite writer? He's just incredible. Truly.
The PLOTS!!

Where I was From by Joan Didion
I keep reading and rereading Didion to remind myself to write simply,
sparely, elegantly. I wish I could write like her.

Mr. Bridge and Mrs. Bridge by Evan S. Connell
Next time someone complains about my characters not being likeable, I'm going to point them to these masterpieces.

Astonishing Splashes of Colour by Clare Morrall
This book deals with the same essential plot as Love and Other Impossible Pursuits...well, without the adultery.

Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris
I would have like this book MUCH more had I not guessed the huge secret in the first five minutes. The problem with writing suspense is that it RUINS you for other suspense novels. You're too in tune to how they are constructed, or something. I like being surprised, and I never am anymore.

Name all the Animals by Alison Smith
This book is so damn sad. I just kept crying.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
I read this book to see how it's done. Jodi sits happily on the best-seller lists. She writes a certain kind of book, and does it really well. I wanted to pick it apart and see its bones. See if there's a chance I could write something that would appeal in the way hers does. To as many people. I know, a pretty venal reason to read a book. What can I say?

Daniel Isn't Talking by Marti Leimbach
There are a new spate of books out there about autism. I think this one will likely be one of the best. She knows of what she writes.

A Million Nightingales by Susan Straight
Susan Straight now proves that she can master historical fiction with the same grace as contemporary. God, I love her writing.