Books of 2014

Already having 7 great books for 2015, it is time to set aside Burning Natchez by Greg Iles and Moving Day by Jonathan Stone and reflect on 2014:

From the 113 books I read in this great year which did I give five stars in my rambling style of grabbing books wherever I am, inspired by what I am seeing, what I am teaching, and what stands out in the independent book stores I visit.  Lots of really good books, but only a few do I give my five star rating and that rating has no rationale other than how I felt when I finished the book:

***** listed in sequence from the last read to the first.  Not in rank order.

• You Are My Sunshine - Stanley Gordon West - a multi-generational ranch family and their complexity as they grow move out, move back. West is good to his name capturing the largest of the land.
• America's Other Audubon Joy Kiser.  A good story about a work hidden in the archives.  A young genius is inspired by Audubon and involves her family in the collection of nests and eggs that fill her magnificent paintings.
• Paw and Order - Spencer Quinn.  The lovable dog and his barely efficient detective partner are in D. C. where they manage to cross over to a level of spy story intrigue, but don't worry Chet the Jet - the best dog detective in the world is still hilarious and intelligent.
• Scoop - Jeff Miller.  Who knew that buying and continuing an ice cream business in Hayward, WI could be so funny and informative.  As you would assume from this rating it is about a small town adjusting to a gay couple, a new voice, and in turn, their adjust to the town.
• The Book Thief - Makus Zusak.  This excellent story is set in a small German town during the war and is a good look at the importance of books as a repository for truth.
• Ragtime, E. L. Doctorow.  This is a book of invention, communal unrest and racism.  It is 1906, but it is also today.
• Ordinary Grace, William Kent Krugar.  An outstanding and strong story of death in a small town where the conflicting emotion of a death is both a reflection on the person and the people who were connected to that person.
• Genius of Place, Justin Martin.  A biography of Frederick Law Olmstead and his work to create parks and preserve a sense of Place.
• Home Sweet Anywhere, Lynne Martin.  About a couple that sells their home and freely lives wherever they want around the world.
• The Stages, Thom Satterlee.  A Danish mystery set in Copenhagen.  With the narrator suffering from Asper and accused of murder this is an insightful story and mystery.
• The Homesman, Glenden Swarthout.  Set in Nebraska, a covered wagon full of women who are bound for a mental institute provides for many personality dynamics with a less than forthright guide and a determination to get things done right.
• The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert.  Excellent look at our planet and our dying species.  Kolbert has examined global climate change and other issues which all come together in this book.

****Listed from first read to last, no order of rank intended and titles without notes.

• Old Man River, Paul Scheider
• Madam, Cri Lynn and Kelly Martin (early New Orleans prostitution)
• The Trail to Seven Pines, A Hopalong Cassidy story by Louis L'Amour
• Unfathomable City, Snedeker and Solnit - Examining New Orleans by maps
• The Dark Horse, Craig Johnson.  Longmire store.
• The Story of Earth, Robert Hazon.
• The Red Mans Bones, Benita Eister.  Life of George Catlin.
• The Hammer.  Sports Illustration collection of stories about Hank Aaron
• Badluck Way, Bruce Andrew.  Ranch in SW Montana
• The English Major. Jim Harrison. Sex, Drugs, and life's journey
• Lincoln Letter, William Martin
•  Born to Run, Christopher McDougall
• American Naitons, Colin Woodard. Differences that prevent the United States from uniting.
• The Whiskey Rebels, David Liss.  Hamilton's bank and the country distillers.
• Deadball, David Stinson.  Baseball in the ghostly parks that of historic America
• Going Somewhere, Brian Benson.  Bike ride from WI to OR
• West of the Revolution, Claudio Saunt.  Events in North America while the revolution took place in the East.
• The Good Thiefs Guide to Amsterdam, Chris Ewan.
• Let them Eat Shrimp, Kennedy Warne.  The loss of mangroves and the impact on sea food.
• Cinnamon Kiss, Walter Moseley
• Hydro Carbon Hucksters, Zubrowski
• War Dogs, Rebecca Frankel
• Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain (read again for ???time)
• River of Conflicts: River of Dreams, bilone Whiting Young.
• Toys of the 50's. 60's 70's, Roberts and Sher
• In the Kingdom of Ice, Hampston Sides.  Tragedy of ship Jennette and her explorers.
• Spirit of the Ojibwe, Balbin Baille.  Story of Lacourt O'reilles reservation and people

Sorry, but no space for 3,2,1 stars.

The Bohemians by Ben Tarnoff

This book was one I looked forward to reading for the insight I would get into writing as it developed in the west, but it soon became much more - in fact it set a high standard for the new year and allowed me new insights in to the complex life and personality of Mark Twain as his career makes the critical turn in the Gold Camps. 

The circumstances of this time period have never been laid out so thoroughly and Twain's very complex personality really plays out in this book, but even more so because of the contrast with his contemporaries who form the Bohemians. Ina Coolith, Charles Warren Stoddard, and Bret Harte complete the foursome that flips literature from East to West and back again. Each of these made a major contribution during their lifetimes, but only Twain ascended to the Master's level. 

We see this group like so many writers groups - I just finished watching the hilarious movie Authors Anonymous and in this small group of four we find the basis for many stereotypes. Ina Coolbrith is, perhaps, the saddest. She obtains the status of state poet laureate in old age, but it is the life she lives, tied to the bonds of her family. She cares for the old, raises children that are not hers, watches Stoddard sail to the islands and Twain and Harte move east, but she is bound to the place and is sad because of it.

Stoddard is another who becomes a role player in the group. He is a man lost in his own world and unable to identify with the world around him. His sexuality finally finds expression in the warm and idyllic islands of the Pacific and he is able to create one great work of literature, but his spiral cannot continue upward and he loses his position in literature as he struggles to be a secretary for Twain and other roles he is not suited for.

Harte is the man of immense talent and an even larger ego. "A DANDY" in his fancy clothes, a skeptic, a critic, and bitter in his philosophy and writing. Luck of Roaring Camp is his classic. It pulls him from the West to the East and by leaving California which had provided his muse he has only his inflated sense of self left. He will insult and injure all who reach out to him and his ego will not allow himself to be rescued.  This will include his most popular work the Heathen Chinee that originally was a plea to understand the racism that impacted the Chinese and ultimately became an instrument to increase the racism.  He sees himself as a martyr, but in fact he is a self destructing narcissist and his tragedy lacks sympathy because he has cut off all who would mourn.

But the group is driven by Twain, who, like Harte, begins by allowing cruelty and self righteousness to affect his early writing. The result is a need to periodically run from the storms he creates. The Bohemians help to ground him and they would all have remained friends if Harte had not developed such a toxic and acerbic presence that will finally flip friendship for enmity. In the end, it is Harte's criticism of Twain's home (he lived there free) and then of Livy (Twain's wife) that makes the separation complete.

We can follow Twain who is driven by jealousy of Harte's success and then see him rise to the ultimate level of literary reputation. The entwined lives are fascinating