BOOKS READ IN 2017

What did you read in 2017?

What were your favorite reads?

Please tell!

We'll talk about favorite reads on WOSU's All Sides Weekend: Books

I've listed books read below. 

A few left over from 2016, the rest from 2017.

* indicates I especially liked this book

** indicates I loved this book

+ indicates I was able to interview the author,.

These were my favorites read in 2017:

(in order of when read)

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

A harrowing  upbringing as a bi -racial child in South Africa

Lincoln in the Bardo Dan Saunders

Completely original, well at least since Edgar Allen Poe died. 

+No one Cares About Crazy People by Ron Powers

Non-fiction. Two adult sons with schizophrenia. One survives. The other doesn't. The parents find a way to live on.

+Stephen Florida by Gabe Habash

The unconventional life of a college wrestler

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Because as a white guy who was raised in a pricey suburb I had no idea.

Defending Jacob by William Landy

The teen age son of a  D.A. is accused of murder. A devastating twist near the end. Just as you were getting comfortable...

+Toscanini: Musician of Conscience by  Harvey Sachs

Mr. Sachs's second, greatly expanded biography of conductor Arturo Toscanini (1865-1957). An artist with a messy private life, a searing musical talent who stood up to Mussolini and Hitler.

The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen

Unconditional love.

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

A journey in Ireland with the Irish from 1945 to today. Infuriating and redemptive.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Vietnam, being there and living with the repercussions. Required reading for anyone who lived through the 1960s but was too young-or clueless-to understand at the time.

2016

Middlemarch George Eliot

The Pickwick Papers Charles Dickens

The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky

I’ll Take You There Wally lamb

Moonglow Michael Chabon

Last Girl on the Freeway: Joan Rivers Leslie Bennett

Patient HM Luke Dittrich

The Heavenly Table Donald Ray Pollock

In the Darkroom Susan Faludi

Victoria by Daisy Goodwin

Evicted by Matthew Desmond

His Final Battle: FDR’s Last Year  Joseph Llelveyd

How to Survive a Plague David France

Eleanor and Hick by Susan Quinn

Conclave Robert Harris

When Paris Sizzled Mary McAuliffe

Eileen Otessa Mostfegh

The Reactive Masande Ntsghenga

Valiant Gentlemen Sabina Murray (Roger Casement)

2017

Do Not Say We Have Nothing  Madeleine Thien

Absolutely on Music conversations with Ozawa

*North Water Ian McAuliffe

The Sleepwalker Chris Bohjalian

*Commonwealth Ann Patchett

Victoria The Queen Julia Baird

Rasputin Douglas Smith

*Born a Crime Trevor Noah

Two by Two Nicholas Sparks

*Class Lucina Rosenfeld

Sandcastle Girls  Chris Bohjalian

Sweetbitter Stephanie Danler

Private Lives of the Tudors  Tracy Broman

The Paris Architect Charles Belfoure

God’s Kingdom Howard John Mosher  Kinneison family Vermont

*The Dry Jane Harper murder mystery Australia

Emma Alexander McCall Smith

Revolution in Color: John Singleton Copley Jane Kamensky

Robert Lowell: Setting the River of Fire Kay Redfield Jamison

The Bone Orchard Paul Doiron

*+The World Will be Saved by Beauty: An intimate portrait of my Grandmother, Dorothy Day  Kate Hennessy

Idaho Emily Ruskovich

Days Without End Sebastian Barry

The Long Loneliness Dorothy Day

Host Robin Cook

The Devil in Webster Jean Hanff Gorelitz

Home Harlan Coben

You Can’t Go Home Again Tom Wolfe

On the Edge of Gone Corinne Duyviss

*The Inheritance Nikki Kapsembellis Alzheimer’s DeMoe family

*Ill Will Dan Chaon

*Lincoln in the Bardo Dan Saunders

Elizabeth Bishop Miracle for Breakfast Megan Mullaly

Life with Judy Garland Sid Luft

Easy Essays Peter Maurin

Dorothy Day: A Radical Devotion Robert Coles

One of the Boys Daniel Margariel

The Book of American Martyrs Joyce Carol Oates

Stranger in the Woods: The Story of the Last True Hermit Michael Finkel

Loaves and Fishes Dorothy Day

*Tenth of December (stories) George Saunders

* No one cares about crazy people Ron Powers

Mockingbird Songs Wayne Flynt

Dr. Knox Peter Spiegelman

The Whistler John Grisham

Since We Fell Dennis Lehane

*House of Names Colm Toibin

*Anything is Possible Elizabeth Strout

Inga (Arvad) Scott Faris

Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Fact of a Body Alexandria Marzano Leznevich

Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign Jonathan Allen and Amie Parness

Jesus Sons (stories) Denis Johnson

Angels Denis Johnson

Anne Boleyn A King’s Obsession Alison Weir

*Rebel Mother Peter Andreas

*+How to Survive a Summer Nick White

When the world stopped to listen: Van Cliburn’s Cold War Triumph  and the Aftermath Stuart Isaacoff

The End of Eddy Edourard Louis

*Trajectory (stories) Richard Russo esp. “Voices”

Isadora Amelia Gray

*Saints for All Occasions J. Courtney Sullivan

The Child Fiona Barton

The One Man Andrew Gross

Prince Charles Sally Bedell Smith

We Could be Beautiful Swan Huntley

Sometimes Amazing Things Happen Elizabeth Ford, MD

*+Stephen Florida Gabe Habash

*+Toscanini Musician of Conscience Harvey Sachs

Al Franken Giant of the Senate

Modern Gods Nick Laird

You Should Have Left Daniel Kehlmann

He’s Got Rhythm: The Life and Career of Gene Kelly by Sara and Cynthia Brideson

Mighty Jack Ben Hatke

**The Hate U Give Angie Thomas

  T-H-U-G L-I-F-E

(They Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody)

We Were the Lucky Ones Georgia Hunter

The Hue and Cry at Our House Benjamin Taylor

*The Accusation Bandi

    ( short stories smuggled out of N. Korea)

Friedelind Wagner: Richard Wagner’s Rebellious Granddaughter Eva Rieger

The Game of Crowns: Elizabeth, Camilla, Kate Christopher Andersen

This is my face, try not to stare Gabourey Sidibe

There Your heart lies Mary Gordon

See What I Have Done (Lizzie Borden) Sarah Schmidt

Jackie’s Girl Kathy McKeon

*Mrs. Fletcher Tom Perrotta

Making Rent in Bed-Stuy Brandon Harris

Roots Alex Hailey

Less Andrew Sean Greer

*Defending Jacob William Landay

Dying Cory Taylor

The Last Place you Look Kristen Lepionka

What Happened Hillary Clinton

Camino Island John Grisham

The Last Tudor Phillippa Gregory

Mission Flats William Landay

Liner Notes Loudon Wainwright III

Wonder RJ Palacio

*Crimes of the Father Thomas Kenneally

Submission Michel Hollebecque

**The Return of the Prodigal Son Henri Nouwen

Growing up Kennedy Laurie Graham

Turtles all the Way Down John Green

Column of Fire Ken Follett

My Life with Bob Pamela Paul’

**The Heart’s Invisible Furies John Boyne

Love, Henri: Letters of Henri Nouwen

Adam Henri Nouwen

*The Ninth Hour Alice McDermott

Unbelievable My Front Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History  Katy Tur

Bed Stuy is Burning Brian Platzer

 Victoria and Abdul Sharbani Basu

Twenty-Six Seconds: A Personal history of the Zapruder Film Alexandra Zapruder

Prague Sonata Bradford Morrow

American Radical: Inside the World of an Undercover FBI Agent Tamer Elnoury

*The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien

 *A History of Loneliness John Boyne

Overweight Sensation:  The Life and Comedy of Allan Sherman Mark Cohen

*Little Fires Everywhere Celeste Ng

Our Mutual Friend Charles Dickens

Birdcage Walk Helen Dunsmore

Oriana Fallaci Cristina DiStefano

Broken Irish Edward J. Delaney

Priestdaddy Patricia Lockwood

Thomas Merton on Gandhi

"...Gandhi recognized, as no other world leader of our time has done, the necessity to be free from the pressures, the exorbitant and tyrannical demands of a society that is violent because it is essentially greedy, lustful and cruel. Therefore he fasted, observed days of silence, lived frequently in retreat, knew the value of solitude, as well as the totally generous expenditure of his time and energy in listening to others and communicating with them. He recognized the impossibility of being a peaceful and nonviolent man if one submits passively to the insatiable requirements of a society maddened by overstiumulation and obsessed with the demons of noise, voyeurism and speed."

A Tribute to Gandhi included in Seeds of Destruction by Thomas Merton, published in 1961.

James Levine

I spent a lot of my time between 1979 and 1991 at the Metropolitan Opera. Usually as a standee, when $2.00 admitted you to the top floor of the opera house. Hard to see, but oh my, you could hear the splendor. And splendor it was:  the final performances of Nilsson, Bergonzi, Price and Sutherland, Scotto a lot, Milnes, Pavaortti still in his prime. Domingo singing to break your heart.

The greatest splendor was the Met orchestra and chorus. They attained world class status on their own, regardless of the soloists on a given night. The reason for all of this magnificence was James Levine.

To my dying day I will never forget James Levine's conducting in the last five minutes of Pelleas et Melisande, as the orchestra expired shortly after the heroine. Levine made Parsifal so beautiful you would stand through five hours more. His opening of Die Walkure left the audience terrified as Siegmund literally ran for his life.

The Met during my years WAS James Levine James Levine James Levine. Good.

I heard the rumors. You couldn't be within a mile of Lincoln Center or anywhere he conducted  (Vienna, Munich, Bayreuth, Chicago, Ravinia, Boston, Tanglewood) and not hear the rumors. They long predated my time in New York. James Levine liked to have sex with teen age boys. The Met engaged an African American tenor-who was at least an adult and presumably willing-to keep the conductor away from kids. Better not stand with your back to him if you are a young man. People made jokes. Adults, well placed professionals made jokes, not just idiotic kids like me.

Nobody knew anything.

It was all rumor. You can't prosecute a rumor. You can't take a rumor to court. There was never any proof offered and there were no specific accusations. You know why not? Because, the rumor mill insisted, there were huge amounts of payola, from the Met, and from Levine's management, (run by a now deceased titan long thought to have controlled all aspects of the classical music business). There were stories of divas and or their husbands coming up with alibis or bail.

Now men are coming forward claiming James Levine abused them sexually when they were young music students. I believe the men. How does coming forward benefit them? What their bravery has done is finally put a stop to the abuse. Levine is a 75 year old man in a wheel chair who I suspect has conducted his last performance. (The Verdi Requiem last Saturday. I sat listening in my car in a parking lot not caring if I was late for a commitment, the performance was so thrilling) I'm not sure what the system can do to Levine other than destroy his reputation and career. I loved his work, but after what I've read, he's getting off easy.

What troubles me-not quite as much as the abuse suffered by his victims*-are the gossip and the jokes I heard and indulged in those many years ago. I'm ashamed. I share the fury being directed toward the highest levels of Met management who are smugly "taking these accusations very seriously." Denials of any cover ups are flying out of Lincoln Center but I don't believe them.
Rumors of child abuse should have been enough to remove Levine and those  protecting him. Take all of your august financial resources and try to prove the rumors. If you really can't then they remain rumors. But was any powerful effort made to find the truth thirty years ago? Or were people too afraid of Mr. Wilford and busy CYA. A lot of the abuse currently reported took place in the late 1960s, before Levine was ever at the Met. How was this not known? How far back does the company's complicity go? To Rudolf Bing? Certainly in later years its ridiculous to suggest that no one in authority, the people who raised the money and signed the checks knew nothing about this-that they lacked facts.

That Levine's criminal activities and the cover ups at the highest levels of music management combined will destroy the Metropolitan Opera is a possibility. Who will give them money now? Who will join a board that may be corporately responsible for covering up criminal behavior?
It's grossly unfair to the hundreds of people who work for the Metropolitan Opera. People who go to work every day in whatever capacity, who depend upon the Met for a paycheck, who did nothing wrong and should not have to forfeit their livelihoods. Decision makers, if complicit, should pay. They were the people who had the authority to make the abuse stop. They chose to pay, deny and look the other way. For of the rest of us, in the audience, on the bus, walking past Lincoln Center, who traded gossip and made jokes, we'll have to try to forgive ourselves and hope all of these men get the best justice possible.

I'm relieved not to be in a position of deciding whether of not Levine's recordings should be played on the air. Since last week I've been listening to a Levine conducted 1987 performance of Nozze di Figaro with Van Dam, Battle,von Stade and the wonderful Elisabeth Soderstrom. I've put it away. It's not less wonderful since the news broke. But I am. The Met was a home to a lot of us, even those of us from humble circumstances. Now that home is no longer a safe place.

*I dislike the term victim but if it was ever appropriate.....