Category: Books

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LA Lit Fic: A new monthly book club party at The Last Bookstore

LA Lit Fic with Siel Ju book club at The Last Bookstore

LA Lit Fic with Siel Ju book club at The Last Bookstore

After blogging about all the great book clubs in L.A., I’m now taking the only logical next step. I’ve teamed up with The Last Bookstore to start a brand new book club on L.A. fiction!

Called LA Lit Fic, this book club will read novels by L.A. writers, or from L.A. presses, or featuring L.A. in a big way. The goal is to get L.A. people reading L.A. fiction — and meeting L.A. writers too!

At each monthly book club party, I hope to have the author her or himself drop at the end to answer burning questions, sign books, and hang out with the fans. Yes, I said book club party (not meeting). There will be wine and an equally festive non-alcoholic drink, plus cheese, crackers, cookies, and crudite.

Get your ticket now! Your $35.95 party ticket includes the month’s book, party eats and libations, entree to a cool off-limits nook of The Last Book Store, a chance to meet the author and get your book signed — plus good times with fellow L.A. book lovers, including me!

Edan Lepucki Woman No 17We’ll kick off our inaugural book club party with Edan Lepucki’s Woman No. 17 — a fun, snarky, and emotionally-charged read starring a recently-separated memoir writer and her nanny — who’s really a performance artist playing the part of a nanny. There’s intrigue, illicit romance, estranged mothers, and lots of SoCal sun — basically all the things you might look for in a good L.A. novel.
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LA Lit Fic with Siel Ju
(Facebook event page)
Our March read: Edan Lepucki’s Woman No. 17
Tuesday, March 20 at 7:30 pm – 9 pm (Edan arrives 8:30 pm)
The Last Bookstore, 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles
Tickets: $35.95 (includes a copy of the book, party, and more)
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I hope to see you there! Feel free to email or tweet me with any questions. And if you’re an L.A. novelist with a book that’s just out or about to come out — and you’re game for a future book club party — get in touch with me.

Earlier:
* 6 best book clubs in Los Angeles
* 11 best bookstores in Los Angeles for writers

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November book reviews: A prince, a duchess, and a Harley rider

Brief reviews of books by contemporary authors I read this month — along with photos of what I ate while reading. The list is ordered by the level of my enjoyment:

The Gravedigger’s Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates (Ecco, 2007)

“That sensation of things-falling-away. Once the ice begins to crack, it will happen swiftly.”
*
This 500+ page time by Joyce Carol Oates follows a good little girl who grows up in a Jewish family who escaped the holocaust — only to be exploited as low-wage workers and victimized by anti Semitism in the states. That’s just the beginning of the story, which goes on to cover a murder-suicide, domestic abuse, vagabonding, class passing, musical genius, repeated self-invention, and a lot more. Pick it up if you’re in the mood for an engrossing American saga.

Harley and Me: Embracing Risk On the Road to a More Authentic Life by Bernadette Murphy (Counterpoint, 2016)

“Am I able to risk knowing who I really am?”
*
Woman learns to ride a motorcycle — then upends her life by taking more risks — like rock climbing, half-marathoning in Bali, and leaving a decades-long marriage. I picked up Bernadette’s unexpected coming of middle age memoir after we were on a panel together at Skylight Books — and I’m glad I did. It reiterated for me the value of trying things you’re bad at, getting vulnerable, and going boldly into the unknown.

The Guineveres by Sarah Domet (Flatiron Books, 2017)

“Maybe that’s just what nostalgia is: a willingness to embrace the pain of the past.”
*
I picked up The Guineveres on a whim — and ended up getting attached to the four girls, all called Guinevere. The four bond growing up in a convent orphanage, each desperately searching for a sense of belonging amid punitive nuns, a kindly alcoholic priest, and comatose soldiers wounded from the war. The palpable sense of loss and desire for connection touched me.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Mariner, 2002)

“My life is like a memento mori painting from European art: there is always a grinning skull at my side to remind me of the folly of human ambition.”
*
This one was another chance read I downloaded for free from Amazon before my trip to Miami earlier this month. I loved the melding of scientific and zoological facts, realistic-sounding worst case scenario survival tips, and lonely emotional drama. The ending was amazing. Should I watch the movie?

The Silent Duchess by Dacia Maraini (English trans. from Feminist Press, 2000)

“To participate in embracing the bodies of strangers who have become close and intimate through the printed page, is this not is good as experiencing that embrace, with one additional advantage: that of being able to remain in control of oneself?”
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Dacia Maraini’s The Silent Duchess is a sumptuous read, following the deaf and mute Marianna in early 18th century Sicily as she discovers the truth of her past and starts to determine her own future. The descriptions of her wealthy, tradition-bound, complicated aristocratic life is rich and sensuous and vivid. I discovered this book through Boxwalla; thanks Boxwalla for the lovely reads.

The Night Language by David Rocklin (Rare Bird, 2017)

“It’s a different language, the words that come quietly at night. Don’t mistake what we’ve talked about for something we can talk about in daylight.”
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My friend David Rocklin’s novel came out into the world earlier this month! Here’s my full review of The Night Language, and my interview with David.

Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali (English trans. from Other Press, 2017)

“My judgments were formed of my own dreams and illusions. At the same time, I was absolutely sure that they would not deceive me.”
*
Madonna in a Fur Coat is a fantastic title for a novel, don’t you think? It tells the story of a shy, romantic young Turkish guy in the 1920s who falls in love with a painter /nightclub singer in Berlin. A bit melodramatic, slightly repetitive, but still a touching description of art and desire, hope and resignation. This book was another Boxwalla discovery.

Good Bones by Maggie Smith (Tupelo Press, 2017)

“The woman doesn’t know how the story ends. / Like the mountain, it has a shape, / but she’s too close to see it whole.”
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The poem’s in Maggie Smith’s collection are largely about a mother’s desire to protect her daughter from a dangerous world. She and I got to read together at a Red Hen Press literary salon in North Hollywood earlier this month. Thanks to everyone who came, and hope to see you at my future events!
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Boxwalla: A Book box for world literature lovers

If you want to read more international writers, but don’t know where to start, try a Boxwalla Book Box. This subscription box service promises to send you two new reads at a time — featuring writers from all over the world.

Boxwalla’s picks seem pretty idiosyncratic and, in general, lesser known. “All of them are must-read but not as widely read as they deserve to be,” claims the website. A recent Boxwalla Instagram post highlighted the writers from Asia featured so far, ranging “from the classicism of Tanizaki, to the experimental fiction of Can Xue and to the deceptively simple poetry of Ko Un.” I hadn’t even heard of any of these writers!

Was I missing out? Out of curiosity, I tried out a Boxwall Book Box earlier this year.

The first thing I discovered when it arrived: Though called a Book Box, there is no actual box. Instead, the two books are simply slipped into a drawstring bag, along with a letter insert with an intro to the month’s theme, authors, and the books.

The theme for my box was “Language and Identity,” and featured Armenian writer Zareh Vorpouni’s The Candidate and Jewish-American writer Cynthia Ozick’s The Puttermesser Papers. I’d never heard of these writers before either!

My favorite of the two was The Candidate, which follows a young Armenian expat in 1929 Paris, reeling from the sudden suicide of his friend. The poetic work covers a lot of ground — the Armenian diaspora, racism, writerly ambition, poverty. It made personal the international aftereffects of the Armenian genocide and combined it with the beautiful listlessness of artistic life in 1920s Paris —

I wasn’t as taken with The Puttermesser Papers, stories that follow a woman called Ruth Puttermesser through her odd little foibles, highlighting Jewish myths and traditions. Though it got great reviews and was nominated for a National Book Award, I ended up abandoning this book about half way in — It just didn’t hold my interest.

Overall I’m touched with Boxwalla’s mission to highlight books that deserve more attention. Each month’s selection takes you to a new place, so I imagine longer-term subscribers would become much more aware of world history and cultures over time.

A subscription costs $29.95 a shipment, and you can sign up now to get the December box — or more accurately, bag. Boxwalla also offers Green Beauty, Artisanal Food, International Film boxes — which appear to arrive in an actual box.

Earlier:
* The TNB Book Club: Get literary gems delivered to your door for under $10
* The Book Drop: Handpicked reads delivered from an indie bookstore

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September book reviews: Zhang, Rhys, Khong, Walls, Gray, Maum plus two guys with two-syllable names

Brief reviews of books by contemporary authors I read this month — along with photos of what I ate while reading. The list is ordered by the level of my enjoyment:

Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang (Lenny, 2017)

“All I had wanted for so long was to be part of a family that wasn’t mine.”
*
You guys, this book is so good. Sour Heart tells interconnected stories of girlhood as Chinese immigrants in NYC — the raw, unvarnished, gritty stories completely unlike, say, The Joy Luck Club. Four families packed into one room with rats and roaches, volatile mothers who threaten abandonment and suicide, alcoholism, adultery, claustrophobic closeness and latchkey kid loneliness — plus a lot of love and beauty and desire and survival. Pick this one up.

Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys (Constable, 1939)

“One day, quite suddenly, when you’re not expecting it, I’ll take a hammer from the folds of my dark cloak and crack your skull like an egg-shell.”
*
How have I not read any Jean Rhys until now?! Her dark, dissolute style is my new obsession. Loved this story of a woman who returns to Paris to battle the disappointments of the past and paranoia of the present. The ending is chilling —

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls (Scribner, 2005)

“I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire. It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes.”
*
I loved this poignant memoir — Jeannette’s parents are so irresponsible, fucked up, and abusive, yet also loving, steadfast, and wise in their own strange ways. The memoir’s also real eye opener that makes you rethink your beliefs about all sorts of social issues: poverty, work, self-improvement — even literacy and reading. I’m now curious about the movie —

Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong (Henry Holt, 2017)

“What I want to know is what counted for something and what counted not at all.”
*
I thought Goodbye, Vitamin would be a rather depressing read — after all it’s about a 30 year-old woman fresh from a bad breakup who moves back in with her parents to help out with her father who has Alzheimer’s — but the novel is actually full of love and forgiveness and humor. It reminded me to enjoy the small serendipities in life — both the ones that bond you to people for life and the ones that momentarily connect you to strangers in the grocery store.

Isadora by Amelia Gray (FSG, 2017)

“The silver tray of his heart holds two brown tincture bottles, each offering their own opiate. The first is marked Desire and the other Virtue; one clouds the mind and the other turns the stomach, but they have the same general effect in the end.”

Aren’t those lines a beautiful way of describing competing wants? I got to interview Amelia about her novel based on the dancer Isadora Duncan’s life. Here’s my full review of Isadora, along with a giveaway —

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (Random House, 2017)

“Doubt will fester as long as we live.”
*
I picked up Lincoln in the Bardo knowing nothing about it, just because I’m a fan of George Saunders’s short stories — so the novel surprised me and brought up a lot of questions too, namely: Why a slightly goofy, sort of historical yet largely paranormal story about the death of Lincoln’s young son? I mean, George’s stories are so varied — He really could have written anything. I wonder what made him choose this setting, topic, and style over others. Did it somehow choose him, or was this a deliberate decision on his part? Apparently he talks about this a bit on podcast interviews; I’ll need to listen to some of those —

Touch by Courtney Maum (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2017)

“All these humans with their disappointments and their desperate hearts, but it’s so much easier, so convenient, to blame emotional distance on a lack of time.”
*
I think my expectations for Touch might have been a touch too high. I liked it on a conceptual level — this idea of a screen-addicted, increasingly isolated society longing to return to simple human, physical connection — but I found the message a bit heavy handed, and thought the whole instant love thing between the protagonist and the hot younger guy too pat and easy. Isn’t real life — real touch — messier? In a good way?

Happy Gut by Vincent Pedre (William Morrow, 2015)

Among the foods I can’t really eat right now: dairy, eggs, gluten, almonds, and alcohol. That’s what I discovered after doing the Happy Gut program — an elimination diet plus gut health protocol I have mixed feelings about. Full review with all the details of my personal food issues here —
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September giveaway: Isadora by Amelia Gray

*** Winner selected! Congratulations to Isaly in Fort Worth, Texas! ***

I’m one of those people who don’t function well when there’s a lot of drama going on in life, yet I often find myself pulled towards it, and to people who go out of their way to seek it out. I think many people are this way — which explains why Isadora Duncan, with her brief, wayward life, provokes such fascination in the public imagination.

Widely considered the mother of modern dance, Isadora had quite the dramatic life, traveling all over the world to live, teach, and perform, flouting social mores to take on many lovers, and finally, dying tragically at 49 when her scarf got caught in the wheels of a car she was riding.

Many biographies have been written about Isadora, but Amelia Gray’s fictionalized account of Isadora’s life — plainly titled Isadora and published earlier this year by FSG — focuses on a lesser known period — when Isadora’s two young children drowned in a car that lurched into the Seine River. The historical novel follows Isadora through the time after the accident as she grieves, growing unpredictable, ascerbic, and mentally unhinged.

It’s a gorgeously-told story of a downward spiral. Isadora goes to the Greek island of Corfu to recouperate — where she struts around nude, urinates in public, and eats her children’s cremains: “It has come to be that I can eat only when the flavor is attended by the subtle ash of the children in my mouth.”

Yet she retains her wit, and her incisive observations of humanity. Of her skeevy doctor, Isadora muses: “The silver tray of his heart holds two brown tincture bottles, each offering their own opiate. The first is marked Desire and the other Virtue; one clouds the mind and the other turns the stomach, but they have the same general effect in the end.”

The novel is actually written from four perspectives: Isadora, her lover Paris Singer (the wealthy son of the Singer sewing machine magnate), her sister Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s lover Max. Each protagonist is uniquely vulnerable — and insufferable — preoccupied with their individual hopes and self-pity and senses of entitlement. Yet it’s hard not to be drawn to them, selfish as they may be. Elizabeth’s constant emotional repression, for example, is especially touching. She consoles herself through lonely times by gorging on rich food, “and hid[es] happiness from the others so they wouldn’t suspect her for it.” When she writes a new lover, she edits and re-edits her letter, excising all allusions to desire, herself, to home, until all that’s left is a single sentence: “R — Can you picture the morning?”

Isadora is the kind of book that makes me want to wallow and revel in despair, numbness, unprovoked aggression, self-loathing — all the habits and emotions I generally try to run away from. It also makes me want to live bigger, less afraid of what may become of me. “What use is there to life and love without the mystery of circumstance?” the fictional Isadora says. What indeed?

I’m excited to be giving away a copy of Isadora to my readers! All current email subscribers will be automatically entered to win one copy. Subscribe now if you’re not yet getting my occasional newsletters.

For a second chance to win, comment on this post below with the title of the last historical novel you’ve read. The giveaway closes September 30, 2017 at 11:59 pm PST.

Come back mid-month to read a Five Firsts interview with Amelia Gray.

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August book reviews: Mothers, lovers, and our multiple selves

Brief reviews of books by contemporary authors I read this month — along with photos of what I ate while reading. The list is ordered by the level of my enjoyment:

Person/a by Elizabeth Ellen (Short Flight/Long Drive Books, 2017)

“I click on the link as a way of saying hi. I click on the link as a way of saying I hate you and I love you and I wish we’d never met and I wish you were dead and I am sick and I wish I didn’t love you.”
*
It’s a strange and thrilling experience, reading as a finished book what you once read in rough manuscript form. Last summer, I read a draft of Elizabeth Ellen’s novel-in-progress while at a residency at The Anderson Center. At that time, the manuscript — a highly autobiographical work about a short-lived affair that turns into a years-long obsession — was less than 300 pages long. I devoured the whole thing in a night and sent her some comments. Full review here —

Mothers and Other Strangers by Gina Sorell (Prospect Park Books, 2017)

“My father proposed to my mother at gunpoint when she was nineteen, and knowing that she was already pregnant with a dead man’s child, she accepted.”
*
How can you read that first sentence and not read on? This tiny tidbit of Gina Sorell’s debut novel Mothers and Other Strangers gripped me when I first read it nine months ago and kept me in anticipation until the book finally came out in May — after which I devoured it in two days! Full review here —

So Many Olympic Exertions by Anelise Chen (Kaya Press, 2017)

“Eating, writing, sleeping, swimming. My vocation has all the features of vacation for most people.”
*
Anyone who mostly drives herself through goal-setting — and relatedly, struggles to enjoy downtime even as she procrastinates — will be able to relate to the hilarious but depressed protagonist Athena’s challenges. Read my full review at Los Angeles Review of Books’s BLARB.

South and West by Joan Didion (Knopf, 2017)

“I had only some dim and unformed sense … that for some years the South and particularly the Gulf Coast had been for America what people were still saying California was, and what California seemed to me not to be: the future, the secret source of malevolent and benevolent energy, the psychic center.”
*
Which contemporary authors are overrated? I got into a conversation about this with a couple other writers at a recent Pen Center USA event. Joan Didion’s name came up — and though I haven’t read enough of her oeuvre to come down on a side on this question, I do very much feel the heft of her reputation weigh on me whenever I pick up one of her books. Full review here —

The Sky Isn’t Blue by Janice Lee (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2016)

“If there ever was a city in which every inhabitant could tailor their existence and experience of that city completely, it is LA. Your LA is very different from my LA. My LA from a few years ago is different from my LA today.”
*
This poetic, evocative work by Korean-American writer Janice Lee will make you nostalgic for the Los Angeles you’re in now, the Los Angeles you want the city to be, and the Los Angeles that never was.

Drenched by Marisa Matarazzo (Soft Skull, 2010)

“In my dream I know that he remembers me, but forever we do not talk.”
*
Marisa Matarazzo’s short stories are dreamy and surreal — linked tales about young love tinged with fantastical elements: a boy with hot teeth of quarts, a girl with ashtrays for breasts. Drenched recalled for me Aimee Bender’s work quite a bit.

Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America by Tom Lutz (FSG, 2006)

“My sense of my own laziness may simply be the perverse guilt engendered by a work ethic that digs its dominatrix heel into my back and rarely lets me up.”
*
So my own sense of aimlessness earlier this summer convinced me to pick up Tom Lutz’s book — and I could totally relate to Tom’s description of feeling simultaneously lazy and productive! The personal parts of this book about Tom’s own life engaged me the most, though this is primarily a historical survey through the times of attitudes about work, productivity, laziness, and the meaning of a life well lived —

The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende (Atria, 2016)

“I was unable to give up my security, and so I was trapped in convention.”
*
I picked this book up for the West Hollywood Women’s Book Club and tried to like it — but just didn’t. This tale of a secret relationship between a rich Jewish woman and a poor Japanese gardener was marred by flat stereotyped characters, history dumping, and underdeveloped / implausible plot details. All of this did make for a lively book club discussion though! I’ve heard other books by Allende are better — Anyone have one to recommend?

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