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Woody Woodburn
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Ventura, CA 93003
Page-Turners Before Turning Page on 2018
Like a marathoner easing his stride in celebration over the final ten meters, with 16 days to go in 2018 I can coast in to my annual goal of reading one book a week.
Presently, I’m at 51 books. Actually, that tally is for published books. In truth, I’ve already reached 52 if you count the novel manuscript for “The Best Week That Never Happened” that recently sold to a publishing house and will come out in early 2020.
“Best Week” – written by my all-time favorite author, my daughter – was my favorite read this year, but since it’s not yet in print it will have to wait to officially make my annual Books I Loved This Year list below.
Let me begin with the latest 448 pages I’ve consumed, “Becoming” by Michelle Obama. The former First Lady is a first-rate writer and role model. Enlightening and inspiring, honest and revealing, “Becoming” is about as good as memoirs get. One complaint: I wanted more pages.
Speaking of more pages, “Cutting for Stone: A Novel” by Abraham Verghese was the longest book I read this year: 667 pages of terrific storytelling.
“A Prayer For Owen Meany” by John Irving is, from page 1 to page 627, masterfully told with heart and intrigue.
“The Long Ships” by Frans G. Bengtsson is another long book that is time well spent inhabiting. This 528-page-turner brings to life the Viking seafaring world of the 10th century.
“A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” by Mark Twain had me laughing out loud – and also wondering what took me so long to read it. Similarly, John Steinbeck’s “The Pearl” is a gem I’m glad I finally got around to reading.
“Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man’s First Journey to the Moon” by Robert Kursen was flat-out superb. Although it’s nonfiction, this remarkable Space Race book unfolds with the captivating storytelling of a novel.
Local westerns author Scott Harris, whose debut novel “Coyote Courage” I recommended previously, this year finished the second trilogy in this Brock Clemens’ series with “Battle on the Plateau”, “Mojave Massacre” and “Ambush at Red Rock Canyon.” All three are quick, fun reads.
Those who grew up in the 1960s will surely enjoy the nostalgic “Be True To Your School: A Diary of 1964” by former newspaper columnist Bob Greene.
Uniquely taking place almost entirely in a single hotel, “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles is, simply put, a masterpiece.
Two World War II winners: “The Snow Goose” by Paul Gallico, a former New York City sports columnist-turned-novelist, is about a hunchback and a girl, love and bravery, and the Battle of Dunkirk; while “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr is an equally spellbinding tale about love and survival.
Something old and something new: “A Man Called Ove” by Fredrick Backman and “There, There: A Novel” by Tommy Orange.
Speaking of old, “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Escaped” by Jonas Jonasson was surprisingly delightful, with the main character out-Forest Gumping Forest Gump in the way he meets historical figures.
Winning the Pulitzer Prize is a tall order to live up to, but “Less” by Andrew Sean Greer just might do so in how it entertains and lifts the spirits.
“Sing, Unburied, Sing” by Jesmyn Ward is a gritty, powerful novel taking place in rural Mississippi – and, at times, taking place in the “in-between” between death and heaven. Narrated by four characters, and three generations, in alternating chapters, “Sing” is perhaps the book that most moved me in 2018.
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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.
Check out my memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and my essay collection “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” …
- Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com