How To Deal With "The New York Times 100 Most Notable Books Of 2018 List!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                    Girls, you have to hand it to me, I am making up for not writing, by writing more today, than I have, in a long time.  There is no way I can cover this topic in a single post, because I also have to relate what I think The Times will pick as the Top Fiction Five, as opposed to what I might choose.  Limiting this topic to fiction, which is my primary interest, is a start.

                                    So, what I am going to start with is the books on the list that I have actually read, and then the ones I need to read.  The other topics I will write in other posts.    So, let us start with the List, and what I have read.


                                      List Books I Have Read So Far!

                                      1.

More people than I were impressed by this book, when I read it.  I will say, right now, and will state again, I think it will end up in the Top Five, Meaning, if it does, I will have to reread it again, to give it some careful consideration.  Recall, I did the same thing with "White Teeth," and disliked it just as much the second time!  So, we will see!

2.

                             I loved this more than some.  I called it "the first great read of 2018," and said it was expansive in its insights of feminism, female relationships, and the dangers of relying too much on a mentor.

                                3.

This book was my year's conundrum.  Many loved it, and, while it may not end up on The Times List, it will end up on many.  I loved the parts set in Chicago, during the AIDS crisis, but not the latter day, searching for daughter in Paris sequences.   For me, Makkai could not decide what story she wanted to write, and tried to write both. She should have stuck with the better, more engrossing, one.

4.

When I read this book, earlier this year, I found Silber's writing more arresting than her prose. A generational tale of two women and a child, and the blending of each's stories just did not come together for me.  I am not sure if it will turn up anywhere else, but Silber has written better stuff.

5.

This certainly surprised the hell out of me, when it turned up on the list.  It was an enjoyable, fun read, for those who enjoy grizzly fiction, as do I, but, really, it simply transplanted the Yoselyn Ortega case from New York's Upper West Side to Paris.  The reader brings to it knowledge, and what frightens one most.  But I will say the final sentence is one of the most chilling of the year.

6.

Upon reading this novel, earlier this year, I called it disturbing, and compared its structure to Joan Tewkesbury's screenplay for Robert Altman's 1975 masterpiece, "Nashville." In Oakland, CA a group of folk with different agendas convene at an American Indian folk festival, and the results are , if not surprising, harrowing.  This could make MY list!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7.

As I have said, time and again, I have tried Ondaatje, and he has never impressed me.  But, with this re- imagining of Dickens' "Our Mutual Friend" set in World War II, and following the plight of two children, Nathan and Rachel, it is perhaps the most moving of his books I have read.  And this was way back in June, and it has stayed with me.  Where it ends up, who knows, but it worth reading if one has not!

8.

                                                You have heard me earlier today on this one.  Adventurous and picaresque, it appeals to that level of testosterone still in me that enjoys Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson, and the like!  I can tell you it will make MY list, but I am not sure where!

                                                   So, THAT, darlings, is what I have to read so far.  Now, let's examine what I HAVE to read.  More to list, but less to say, not having read them.

                                                     Let's blast off, dolls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!