Liz's Top Twenty of 2014, Day 1

I just received the latest edition of the Penguin Random House Code of Conduct, so now seems like the ideal time to post a new piece to the blog. (Better now than after I look up the guidelines for social media, right? 2015: The Year of Willful Ignorance.) Also, Gianna seems determined to steal as many of my picks as possible before I have the chance to claim them as my own. Do you all understand the incredible burden I carry in trying to work with that woman? She's the Kim Jong Un of the blog-iverse! (Hack us North Korea! We crave the attention! ...I wonder if taunting dictatorships is in the PRH Code of Conduct? I may never know.)

Gianna is dividing up her picks into fiction and non-fiction. Unlike Gianna, my reading leaning heavily to the fiction side in 2014. I'll give you twenty picks, but it might be a stretch to come up with ten non-fiction ones unless you're okay with me vouching for books I haven't read.

This is the paperback
cover. It goes on sale
 2/3/15. The hardcover
is available now.

Fiction

The Ghost of the Mary Celeste by Valerie Martin. I wrote about this book almost a full year ago here. In fact, it was the first book I reviewed in 2014, but even a year later it's still in my head. The short version: the Mary Celeste was considered cursed because her captains kept dying on board, but that didn't stop Captain Benjamin Briggs from setting sail aboard her with his wife and child. Then the ship turned up floating in the Atlantic, no humans aboard, and became the ship of legend. Valerie Martin uses the history of the Mary Celeste, the captain and his family, and that era's fascination with mysticism to craft a great novel. Seances! Sir Arthur Conan Doyle! Ghost ships! Why haven't you read this book yet? WHY???

Non-fiction

I think Colson chose the
King of Hearts as a sign
of our love. 

The Noble Hustle by Colson Whitehead. OF COURSE I am picking Colson Whitehead. I hope that in choosing him, he will realize that my love should be requited and in turn choose me. Call me Colson! Why fight fate!? (Is aggressively pursuing an author a violation of the PRH Code of Conduct? Someone needs to look that up for me.) My literary hubby is a genius of dry wit and that's one of the reasons we are so perfect for each other. It's also one of the reasons that The Noble Hustle is so entertaining. I wrote about this book here, but in the event you're link-shy or perhaps worried that by clicking on the link you are going to be called to testify in my upcoming stalking case, allow me to summarize. This book is a chronicle of Whitehead's time preparing for and competing in the World Series of Poker. He undergoes rigorous training (learning how to sit for hours on end), finds sponsors (a Brooklyn bookstore), and studies the history of the game. It's also a chronicle of his funk after getting divorced since the two events overlap in his life. The book is both funny and thoughtful, and it's a book that embraces a philosophy I can support: it's all crap, so we might as well just play games until bedtime.

Texas Book Festival: Colson Whitehead

Now we've come to another installment of "Colson Whitehead, Will You Marry Me?" I'm sure I've mentioned the incredibly talented Mr. Whitehead on this blog before...such as here...and here...and here. In spite of the online stalking, my literary hubby for some reason agreed to travel to the Texas Book Festival again this year. I do consider this information as a sign that he's coming around to my version of reality. I can't wait to introduce Zorro to his new daddy!

"Keep that Liz weirdo away
from me."

Because I know that all of you would like to meet the man who's stolen my cold, cold heart, I encourage the masses of Adventures in Bookland devoted followers to attend Mr. Liz's Whitehead's Texas Book Festival panel. I guarantee that it'll be fun. The panel is about poker, and The Noble Hustle--Whitehead's book about competing in the World Series of Poker--is pretty darkly hilarious. And not only can you vet my future spouse (see if he minds a casual nuptial, as I don't really like ceremonies, or people, or clothes with buttons), but you can improve your own gambling skills. Learn firsthand how to sit for hours on end without losing concentration! Discover how antisocial introverts without job skills earn a living! Become the emotionless automaton you always hoped to be!

I love The Noble Hustle--one of my favorite books of the year--and Texas Book Festival gives you the opportunity to discover how great it is too.

Colson Whitehead will be speaking at 12:30 pm on Saturday, October 25, at the Texas State Capitol: Capitol Auditorium Room E1.004.

The Noble Hustle by Colson Whitehead

I have not been shy in professing my love for Colson Whitehead. I may have mentioned our one-sided love here and here, and he might be the reason I've rejected (thus far) all the convicts Gianna has suggested for dates. Whitehead is a genius novelist--see: The Intuitionist, John Henry Days (a Pulitzer Prize finalist), and Zone One--and one of the reasons I love his writing is that he manages to inject satirical humor into the direst situations. Trapped on an island with zombies? Nerds will know that naming the main character Mark Spitz is pretty perfect. So when my hubby beloved snuggle muffin pal Colson wrote a new book, of course I jumped all over it.

Colson Whitehead, I'm still
single. Call me?

The Noble Hustle is Colson Whitehead's nonfiction account of his journey into the world of sports. The ESPN website Grantland contacted Whitehead about writing a sports piece for their site, but the guy's a novelist; he doesn't play sports. He does, however, play poker. Since college, the author has been playing regularly with other authors--Nathan Englander--and creative types--film maker Darren Aronofsky--but he's never participated in professional tournaments. No problem. Grantland ponied up the $10,000 entrance fee and signed Colson up for the World Series of Poker.

Doubleday created cool posters
to promote the book.
"Anhedonia's native tongue has
fifty-seven words for sad."
I love this book.

On top of the poker tournament, the author's life is also in turmoil. He's recently divorced and between books. He's worried about his relationship with his daughter. Also, Whitehead claims to suffer from anhedonia, the psychological condition characterized by an inability to find pleasure in things most people find enjoyable. See where this is going? It's a fish out of water story told by a genius satirist with a knack for self-deprecation. First line of the book: "I have a good poker face because I'm half dead inside." Tell me more, dear Colson.

Because The Noble Hustle is ostensibly a sports book, Whitehead begins a strict training regiment. He...hires consultants specializing in yoga and meditation to help him focus while sitting for twelve hours. He practices sitting. He finds a poker coach--a middle aged, middle class woman who could have passed as a school teacher. He obsesses over being the first person eliminated from the World Series of Poker. He dons the proper attire. Most of the professional poker players wear corporate-sponsored garb; Whitehead creates a "Republic of Anhedonia" hoodie and is sponsored by a bookstore.

Whitehead at the WSOP,
ready for battle.

As the reader follows Whitehead's journey--what he calls "Eat, Pray, Love for depressed shut-ins"--insights into the culture, game, and idiosyncrasies of this subculture are illuminated. Vegas, baby. And beef jerky, since Jack Link's Beef Jerky sponsors the event. The online world of poker. The weird characters. The intensity of the games. The tells. The chips. The tournaments.

Yeah, this is a book about poker, but you don't need to be a poker player (I'm not) to love it. Here's a book that's both top-level participatory journalism and discovery memoir, but nothing is taken too seriously. It's genius and a ton of fun.