First, I must thank Briana at The Book Pixie for the holiday package she sent me as part of the Book Bloggers Holiday Swap. She sent me some holiday treats and a copy of Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt (which I've never read!). Thank you very much for your thoughtful presents, Briana, and happy holidays!! I just sent off a package to the blogger I picked in the holiday swap, so I won't post about it until she receives them.
Second, I am working on my Best Reads of 2010 list. I will post it at the end of the month, as I will still be reading through the month! I have read a lot of other Best of 2010 lists, and have been happy to see Room and So Much for That and some of my other favorite reads from the year.
Finally, has anyone read What's Left Is the Daughter, by Howard Norman? I keep coming across it and thinking that it looks like a good read. Is it terribly bleak and depressing? From Amazon:
On a stormy Nova Scotia night in 1967, the loner Wyatt Hillyer has come to terms with his life's choices and self-imposed separation from his daughter Marlais. Realizing that one of the most important gifts a parent can give a child is an honest picture of himself, Wyatt has decided to write his memoirs in the form of a letter on the occasion of Marlais' twenty-first birthday. With great clarity and economy he slowly discloses the events of his parents’ scandalous deaths in 1941, his teenage years living with his aunt and uncle, the joys of fatherhood, and what led to his abandoning his only daughter and her mother. Returning to Canada's Maritime provinces in his latest novel, What Is Left the Daughter, acclaimed author Howard Norman has created an unpredictable and absorbing story of an imperfect and tragic life at a turning point. This short and potent novel will leave readers replaying events and reconsidering Wyatt and the other unique characters long after reading the final pages.
OK, off to read one of the two books I need to finish by next week. Eek.