Enjoy the best books we forgot to review

I was in a bookstore yesterday and noticed The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters sitting on a shelf—its bright-blue, evocative cover evoking a slap-the-forehead reaction in me. After all, I’d eagerly made my way through its unusual, intriguing pages last summer, and then promptly forgot it. (That’s more a reflection on my flagging memory than on the book itself, which was eerie, exotic, and enjoyable.) After this forced-restart of my internal book-memory, I realized that there are several very good books that I read in 2006 and, well, forgot to review. I’ve jotted down my fond-and-newfound memories of some of them below:

• The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, by Gordon Dahlquist: This is sexy, literary science fiction. After young Celeste Temple receives a letter from her fiancé, in which he ends their engagement, she sets off on a Victorian adventure that’s sometimes convoluted but is ultimately fun and engaging. She uncovers a secret, bizarre society bent on creating the titular glass books—creations so devious and overpowering that the quest for their possession results in scandalous murders, sexual scandals, and at least one high-speed chase via dirigible. Dahlquist’s imagination is ever so twisted, and his novel is a stylized spin through a unique fantasy world.
• Saturday, by Ian McEwan: I began this novel immediately after putting down a poorly written and unsatisfying vampire story. I still remember being struck by the strength and clarity of McEwan’s prose—a vast improvement after the Dracula tale. Far from such sensational story lines, McEwan’s novel depicts a day in the life of a London neurosurgeon—a day in which his comfortable, complacent life takes an unexpected turn. The result is first-rate contemporary literature.
• Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel: A memoir presented in the style of a graphic novel, this book is a subtle, provocative, intelligent look back at Bechdel’s adolescence. Author and artist of the syndicated Dykes to Watch Out For comic strip, Bechdel is no stranger to tough issues. But her vivid, unflinching depiction of her father’s death (was it suicide? was he gay? was there more to the story?) results in a very compelling, insightful autobiography.
• Flyboys: A True Story of Courage, by James Bradley: This is the amazing account of nine U.S. airmen who were shot down near Iwo Jima in World War II. All but one of the men are captured by the Japanese, and they endure horrific neglect and torture before dying while imprisoned. The lone man who escapes (one George H.W. Bush) eventually becomes President of the United States. It’s a made-for-Hollywood story—that is, until Bradley details the war crimes perpetrated by U.S. forces in that same war. It’s sobering, respectable, and evenhanded—an engrossing read.