Books of 2007

Here are the books I read in 2007, albeit a bit late. I have ranked them in order of my preference, and while the ones at the bottom are on the list, I wouldn't necessarily recommend them. The first 10 I love, and I couldn't really rank them with precision because they are so different in writing styles and stories.

1. Possession: A fantastic, dense but thoroughly engrossing historical fiction centered around the hidden love affair of English poets Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte.
2. The Hummingbird's Daughter: A beautifully written novel about Teresita, the Saint of Cabora and the great aunt of the author
3. Special Topics in Calamity Physics: the story isn’t epic or unbelievably clever. The writing, however, is original and it’s a pleasure to read the entire way through.
4. Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende. I feel should be able to say “by Isable Allende” and have that speak for itself. Every work of hers is captivating and beautifully written.
5. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. Again, McEwan takes a relatively simple scenario, a couple’s wedding night, and deftly constructs an intriguing story that carries with it the motif of the unpredictable yet inevitable consequences of a decision made in a split second. Overall, a delightful read.
6. Middlesex: from the first sentence my attention was captured. I flew through this book because I cared so much what happened to each character. A complex, compelling and tragic story that is a must read.
7. White Teeth by Zadie Smith.
8. Birds Without Wings
9. Corelli's Mandolin
10. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Mitchell’s style is refreshingly original. He manages to create 6 stories, each with its own genre, and delicately interweave them keeping me engrossed and awestruck. Overall, a compelling and ambitious read.
11. The Russian Debutante's Handbook
12. The Hero's Walk
13. The Inheritance of Loss. A Booker Prize winner that is a delight to read.
14. The Road This book demonstrates that an author does not need to appeal to sentimentality to capture the reader.
15. The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan. Potentially my least favorite of Ian McEwan’s. McEwan has an impeccable ability to fit into a novella (with imagery, description, theme, etc.) what would take most authors hundreds of pages. Anyone familiar with the motifs in McEwan’s works will still be surprised by The Comfort of Strangers. Overall, an interesting read.
16. The Emperor's Children
17. Number 9 Dream by David Mitchell. Again, Mitchell’s style is so original that after reading Cloud Atlas, I purchased this book. The story is clever, interesting, unpredictable, and at times disturbing. I waffled between hating and loving the protagonist. Mitchell writes with such clarity that I felt I was with the protagonist while he experiences trauma after trauma. Overall, an intriguing read.
18. The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason. This is a historical fiction work about Burma in the midst of British imperialism. I enjoyed it immensely. The plot is original and raises questions of personal identity and self-discovery. Given the locale, the characters, and the story, I felt the author could have used more description to really make me see the location and surroundings. Overall, an enjoyable read.
19. Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje. After reading The English Patient, Anil’s Ghost and now Divisadero, I am left feeling as though there is some literary quality to Ondaatje’s work that I am unable to appreciate. The story is clever and meticulously constructed, and Ondaatje write beautifully. However, I did not become absorbed in the story, and I failed to care about any of the characters. Overall, a tedious read.
20. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I would say that Hosseini made a tactical error. He published his best work first, leaving this fan of the Kite Runner disappointed in the book that followed. I suspect that much of the fanfare over A Thousand Splendid Suns has been carried over from the Kite Runner. So as not to overlook the obvious: Hosseini paints a dramatic and detailed portrait of Afghanistan. His use of imagery deserves credit. However, the plot was predictable, and unfortunately I felt the character development of the two female protagonists was mechanical. Overall, a tedious read.
21. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. This is second to last, because neither the story nor the characters captivated me. It vacillates between multiple narrators, the main two being Leo and Alma. Leo’s story is by far the most interesting while Alma’s seems to make the story drag. It is perhaps because Krauss is married to Jonathan Safron Foer, one of my favorite authors, that I had high expectations for this book leaving me disappointed. Overall, an onerous read.
22. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. While I appreciated the historical elements present in this book, there is little else to praise. While the narrator is a likeable and sympathetic elderly man, the plot is predictable and trite. It’s an easy read and perhaps most appropriate for an airplane or “beach read.” Overall, a lackluster read.