Meritorious Fiction

I took a silly on-line quiz, which told me that the literary character I am most like is Mma Ramotswe, of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.   I think highly of Mma Ramotswe, but I could never be her.  I cannot drive a tiny white van, nor can I solve mysteries, except when it comes to finding the ketchup in the fridge.

I am not going to give you the link to the quiz, because it lumps together “introverted” with “stubborn and inflexible” which is not acceptable to me.  But it leads me to think I could post about the fiction I most enjoyed reading in 2013.  Many of these are books I read to complete my Summer Reading Merit Badge.

Category: My favorite

My favorite book this year was Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmund Rostand (translated into English by Lowell Bair).  It was my favorite not only because it is ridiculous and clever, but also because Younger Daughter and I read it together.  Since it is a play, it works well to read it out loud.  In fact, if we hadn’t been reading it together, I wouldn’t have read it on my own.  YD ended up memorizing one of Cyrano’s speeches and used it to audition for the fall play.

Category: Hard to Categorize

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

A remarkable book.  Is it a coming-of-age novel?  A portrait of insanity?   A historical novel?  It’s hard to say, but the writing is superb.  There are some very funny scenes, and some very violent scenes.

The Commissariat of Enlightenment by Ken Kalfus.  This is a very well written and very, dark book, about a specific time in history, but it does not come across as a traditional historical novel.  The despair and dissembling that began the Soviet era pervades the whole book.  I am amazed that I was able to finish it, because I usually cannot make it through such a bleak landscape, but the good writing spurred me on to the end. 

Category: Books which include the drinking of tea

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith

Another Mma Ramotswe book.  It is good to know that in some books there is always time for a cup of tea.

I really loved reading Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson – I found it to be amusing.  All the tea drinking is, well, very British.  As a tea drinker, I appreciated the prominence of tea in this book.

Category: Books by or about Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker stories by Dorothy Parker

Man, she was snarky!

Farewell, Dorothy Parker by Ellen Meister

In this book Dorothy Parker comes alive!  Sort of!  And saves the day!  Quite enjoyable.

Category: Ladies Looking for Love

Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day, by Winifred Watson

Shenanigans while finding true love in British night clubs.  No relation to the above mentioned Major Pettigrew. 

Emma by Jane Austen

A childish and bossy protagonist tries to make love matches for other people, with disastrous effect. 

The Dearly Departed  by Elinor Lipman

A young woman returns to the small town where she grew up, to find some surprises.  Quite entertaining, I thought, and kind of Austen-esque.

We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg

A fascinating and amusing story of a girl whose single mother raises her in spite of being paralyzed by polio.  Features an appearance by Elvis.

Category: Mysteries Silly and Serious

Rumpole on Trial by John Mortimer

I always love me some Rumpole.

Quaker Silence by Irene Allen

A Quaker sleuth?   Yup.

Nine Tailors : changes rung on an old theme in two short touches and two full peals

by Dorothy L. Sayers

I remember a fine BBC TV series way back when, featuring Lord Peter Wimsey.  I’ve read two of her mysteries in the past year, and liked them, although I was disappointed to discover some tendency toward anti-semitism in her writing.