List of 2019 Books

This is a list of the books I starred after reading them in 2019. In all I began (didn't always finish) 237 books. These 110 are my top picks.

 

 

Jan 2019

Dorothy Baker                          Cassandra at the Wedding

Deborah Levy                           Things I Don't Want to Know

Robin Sloan                               Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore

Ann Hui                                    Chop Suey Nation

Tom Wilson                              Beautiful Scars

Bradford Morrow                      The Prague Sonata

Christopher Fowler                    Hall of Mirrors

 

Feb 2029

Kate Atkinson                           Transcription

Anne Lamott                             Almost Everything

Iona Wishaw                             Sorrowful Sanctuary

Colin Cotterill                            Don't Eat Me

Madeline Miller                         Circe

Ursula K. LeGuin                      Buffalo Gals

Tayari Jones                             Silver Shadow

Tom Cowen                              Shamanism as a Spiritual Practice

Jonathan Lethem                       The Feral Detective

Katherine V. Forret                   Amateur City

Thomas King                            A Matter of Malice

 

            March 2019

Pat Barker                                The Silence of the Girls

Miriam Toews                           Women Talking

Liv Stromquist                           Fruit of Knowledge (G)

Keigo Higashino                        Newcomer

Haruki Murakami                      Killing Commendatore *

Philip Pullman                           His Dark Materials (3 vol.)

David Chariandy                       Brother

Patrick DeWitt                          French Exit

Rose Tremain                           The ___ Sonata

D. Preston & Lee Child             Verses for the Dead

Edward P. Jones                       All Aunt Hagar's Children

Ian Rankin                                In a House of Lies

Elizabeth McCracken                The Gian's House

 

            April 2019

Nina Stibbe                               Love, Nina

Rose Tremain                           Merivel

Anjali Kumar                            Stalking God

Sulari Gentill                              Miles Off Course

Alan Jenkins                             Plot 29

Michael Frank                           The Mighty Franks

J. J. Marria                               Gideon's Staff

Donna Leon                              Unto Us a Son Is Born

Deborah Eisenberg                    Your Duck Is My Duck

 

            May, 2019

Gail Honeyman                         Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine                                          

Ann Cleeves                             Wild Fire

Rose Tremain                           Evangelista's Fan

Alan Melville                             Death of Anton

Jenny Diskin                             In Gratitude

Helen DeWitt                            The Last Samurai

Samantha Harvey                      The Western Wind

Anakana Schofield                    Malarky

Esi Edugyan                              Washington Black

Ngaio Marsh                             Opening Night

Katy Bowman                           Dynamic Aging

Damian Barr                             Maggie and Me

Edna O'Brien                            The Little Red Chairs

Eden Robinson                          Son of a Trickster

Ursula K. LeGuin                      Conversations on Writing

Viv Albertine                            To Throw Away Unopened

David Sedaris                            When You Are Engulfed in Flames

 

            July 2019 

Curtis Sittenfeld             Eligible

Jan Morris                                In My Mind's Eye

Abraham Vesenghi                    Cutting for Stone*

M. Sjowall & Per Wahloo          The Locked Room

Lucy Foley                                The Hunting Party

Frances Fyfield                         Not That Kind of Place

   "      "                                                Seeking Sanctuary

Papul Theroux                           My Other Life

Ellie Griffeths                            The Stone Circle

Frances Fyfield                         The Nature of the Beast

 

            Aug 2019

Rachel Naomi Remen                My Grandfather's Blessings

James Lee Burke                      New Iberia Blues

David Pirie                                The Patient's Eyes

Lewis Hyde                              A Primer for Forgetting

Jo Nesbo                                  Cockroaches

Jaspaer Fforde                          Get into a Good Book

Georges Simenon                      Maigret's Anger

Steve Burrows                          A Dance of Cranes

Maurizio de Giovanni                 Cold for the Bastards of Pizzzofalone                                        

Aleksandar Hemon                    This Does Not Belong to You

Farah Heron                             The Chai Factor

Marion Winik                            The Glen Rock Book of the Dead

           

September 2019

Amy Hemple                            Sing To It

Georges Simenon                      Maigret & the Ghost

Sonali Dev                                Pride, Prejudice & Other Flavors                                   

Ruth Reichl                               Save Me the Plums

Alex. McCall Smith                   The Second Worst Restaurant in France                                    

Sarah Smarth                            Heartland

Lori Prior-Palmer                      Rough Magi

E. C. R. Lorac                          Murder in the Mill Race

 

            Oct 2019

Lee Child                                  The Killing Floor

Lee Child                                  Tripwire

Philip Pullman                           The Secret Commonwealth

Margaret Yorke                                    Cause for Concern

Rex Stout                                  The Red Box (Nero Wolfe)

Gail Bowen                               What's Left Behind

Mark Salzman                           The Laughing Sutra

 

            November 2019 

Kate Atkinson                           Big Sky

Booth Tarkington                       Novels and Stories

Alan Bradley                             The Golden Tresses of the Dead           

Booth Tarkington                       The Magnificent Ambersons

Jill Ciment                                 The Body in Question

Terry Shames                           A Risky Undertaking for Loretta

Matias Faldbakka                      The Waiter

Josephine Tey                           To Love and Be Wise

Georges Simenon                      Maigret Travels

 

            Dec 2019

Maylis de Kerangal                   The Cook

Josephine Tey                           The Franchise Affair

Margaret Atwood                      The Testaments

Josephine Tey                           A Shilling for Candles

Janet Evanovich                        Twisted Twenty-Six

Ross MacDonald                       The Moving Target

  "    "                                       The Barborous Coast

 

Copyright © 2019 Ann Tudor
Musings blog: http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com

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Winter Shadows

Yesterday's afternoon sunshine

revealed long shadows of passers-by

and I mourned, lightly,

the lost moments of playing shadow tag with Georgia ss

at three, four, five—

maybe even six.

 

Now eleven, she's a bit above acknowledging the magic of shadows,

though perhaps it's the frigid air and icy ground

that discourage.

Or is it Nana whose response to cold air

and the long trek home

is not playful but urgent?

Nana's goal is Georgia's warm house.

Nana doesn't do well in the cold.

Nana can admire snowfalls

and Jack Frost's handiwork on windowpanes,

but her admiration takes place

from the safety and relative warmth

of indoors.

 

Time enough for shadow-play

when the days are longer

and air is milder.

 

 

 

Copyright © 2019 Ann Tudor

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Wake Up and See

It will be sad,

a waste, even,

something to be regretted,

mourned—

if you don't wake up to see.

 

Some lucky few are born awake,

some achieve awakening young

or in middle age.

Some even later.

And some don't wake up at all,

ever,

to see what is before them.

 

See? I told you it was sad.

But it isn't enough,

I'm sure you'll agree,

to have a single waking moment.

Better than nothing,

but not enough.

 

At some point we'd better start hoping

that those who believe

we come around again are right.

We all need a second

(or third or tenth)

kick at the can,

a second (or third or tenth) chance

to wake up a little sooner

to take part in our lives

to be present to the moments

we are,

miraculously and generously,

offered.

 

 

Copyright © 2019 Ann Tudor
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My Annual Xmas Reminder

I send out this piece every year in mid-December, mainly as a reminder to myself. (You might want to admire the way I reduce my own list of things-to-do by recycling this Scene from the Journey instead of writing a new one.) Here's the message:

 

This is such a time of list-making for me. The list I made this morning includes "make lists," proving that the high-tension time is well on its way. So I decided to make a new list for myself.

CALM DOWN. If it doesn't get done, will the world end? Don't get frantic about trifles (or truffles, either, though I wouldn't mind having one right now).

SIMPLIFY. You envision a Christmas dinner made up of X number of dishes. Well, how terrible would it be if you served X minus 1? Or X minus 2? Or even X minus 3? (Is Chinese take-out completely out of the question?)

SMILE.

LET GO OF the idea that you are solely responsible for the holiday happiness of everyone you know.

Bring an OPEN HEART to every encounter.

GIVE to those who are less fortunate. Whether it's time or money that you give, and whether it's a lot or a little, giving will help everyone, including you.

And as a gift to all of you, I offer this prayer from the Dalai Lama:

May the poor find wealth,
those weak with sorrow find joy.
May the forlorn find new hope,
constant happiness, and prosperity.
May the frightened cease to be afraid
and those bound be free.
May the weak find power and
may their hearts join in friendship.

In the words of Tiny Tim, blessings on us every one!

 

 

Copyright © 2019 Ann Tudor
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Peaches the Dog

A big dog, hairy and rust-coloured with black paws. Intelligent face, strong, wolf-looking shoulders. He seemed to be all on his own as I met him on the sidewalk, and an unleashed (big) dog makes me nervous. And then I heard his owner calling him. She was a chubby petite in an expensive-looking white winter coat. "Peaches," she called. Peaches looked at her. "Come on," she called as she walked past me. Peaches promptly ran across the street, mouth wide open and tongue lolling in a mocking laugh.

 

The owner called him several more times in vain, and then she tried a classic exasperated-mother trick (which doesn't work more than once on any toddler): "Okay, Peaches, I'm going. Here I go. You can't come with me. Have a nice day on your own, Peaches. Have a nice LIFE." (This last part was, I assume, for my benefit.) Throughout these threats Peaches had turned to look at her, head cocked, very alert. He obviously understood everything she was saying. But he also knew, from past experience, that her threats were empty. So Peaches turned around, tail high, and loped away, happy as could be.

 

By now the owner was sputtering, perhaps embarrassed that I could see how completely out of control her dog was. Peaches romped through the parking lot and I was startled when I found him waiting for me between two parked cars, but it was clear by now that Peaches was so busy amusing himself with this game that he had no interest in frightening me.

 

I continued to my appointment. Peaches continued playing catch-me-if-you-can. The owner continued to call him with a complete lack of authority in her voice.

 

What do you do when the dog is smarter than its human roommate?

 

 

Copyright © 2019 Ann Tudor
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Everything We Know

Let's just forget it,

if you catch my drift.

Let's just walk away from everything we know.
We're talking about a lot of knowledge,

I acknowledge.

But just think how corrupted it is,

how sullied by the daily thrust and parry

of our divided world.

It's my belief that the radical act of walking away

will sweep out the space of our hearts,

making room,

making elegant, splendiferous room,

for what is to come.

 

And look!

Watch those little heart-dwellers

creep back into the still, swept space.

peering cautiously at you.

Tempt them with morsels if you will.

Invite these pure and innocent denizens

to share the newly emptied space of your heart.

Perhaps you will awake to find them

ministering

to your needs.

 

 

Copyright © 2019 Ann Tudor
Musings blog: http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com

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Write Truth

Open, sesame!

Will that magic phrase unlock

the obdurate blank surface

and reveal the meaning I'm striving for?

 

Will "open, sesame!" painlessly give me

similes, images,

juxtapositions, ironies?

 

Probably not.

I'll have to come up with these all by my lonesome,

and they won't come easily.

 

Aim for truth.

The right truth—mine or yours?

Write the right truth, no matter how small.

When written right,

small truths expand to fill the space.

A tiny truth, if it's the right one,

is as big as a star, and as far

from my doing as the star is from us.

Writing is manual labour, says the poet.

Breaking rocks all day leaves me

with a pile of rubble.

 

 

Copyright © 2019 Ann Tudor
Musings blog: http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com

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Saying Nothing

The bliss of silence must be learned.

As babies we treasure our sound loosed upon the world.

And then we learn words and

we share ourselves as if such sharing

is our birthright.

 

How glorious, then, to turn to silence:

no careless expression of thought

or feeling (overwrought).

Instead we recognize that we are larger

than speech.

The connections that sustain us

are clean,

when we no longer have to explain ourselves.

 

My past, your past—

to reveal these would be the work

of a lifetime (and tedious for all).

How much wiser, then,

to still our voices.

Silence.

Bliss.

 

 

Copyright © 2019 Ann Tudor
Musings blog: http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com

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Loving the World

Is it supposed to be so hard?

Born with a gloomy aura,

I struggled

to love my world.

 

But it became easier with each passing year.

If I live long enough

I hope to love my world freely.

Effortlessly. Wholly.

 

In the meantime, I balance incensed righteousness

with the robin singing as if just for me,

the cardinal insistently claiming his territory.

I read the day's measure of bad news

even as I am overwhelmed

by the sweetness of the Japanese tree lilac

at my fence.

 

My murderous thoughts are mitigated 

by the blooming linden tree,

its branches high above the pavement,

its scent drifting to me

as I pass beneath it.

 

That's all I have, in the city:

a cardinal, a robin, sweet shrubs.

 

But sensual delight instructs me,

eventually,

in the art of loving the world.

 

 

Copyright © 2019 Ann Tudor
Musings blog: http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com

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Devour, Wolfville, NS

We just arrived back in Toronto after spending a week in beautiful Wolfville, Nova Scotia. The occasion of the trip was Devour, the Food Film Festival, a five-day extravaganza of eighty films, plus three large dinners, prepared by chefs from Canada, the U.S., and Europe. Culinary workshops were taught by well-known chefs and there were also workshops on film-making, foraging, wine-tasting, and cheese-tasting—as well as trips to wineries and breweries.

 

My reason for writing about the festival here (aside from the hope that some of you might be inspired to attend Devour next year) is to tell you about a few of the movies that inspired me.

 

Two movies ("Dive" and "The Food Fighter") deal with the question of food waste, showcasing people who work tirelessly to inform us and to persuade (for example) large grocery chains to send their perfectly good packaged products to soup kitchens rather than to the dumpsters behind their stores. Very inspiring stories.

 

"Billion Dollar Bully" investigates the accusations that Yelp! is running a mob-like extortion scheme.

 

"The Game Changers" views plant-based eating not just as the best choice environmentally but as a way for athletes to achieve their best results. Fascinating and very persuasive.

 

Finally, "Maxima" and "Honeyland" are portraits of very strong women thriving in harrowing circumstances. Maxima lives in mountainous Peru, where her small piece of land is coveted by a giant gold-mining company. "Honeyland", set in rural Macedonia, follows the life of a woman who uses ancient traditions in the keeping of her bees.

 

All of these movies are well worth your time. "The Game Changers" is already on Netflix, so it's easy to find. I urge you to watch for the others during the next year, whether on-line or at your local theatre.

 

And do go to www.devourfest.com to learn more about the festival, which will celebrate its tenth anniversary next year.

 

 

Copyright © 2019 Ann Tudor
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