100 books in 2011 discussion
books you have read
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Miranda
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readmuchrunfar
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Dec 29, 2010 11:39AM
Ready to go for 2011!
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1. The Irrational Season (Madeleine L'Engle)finished 1.4.2010
I liked this okay--not as much as the two preceding books in the series. Like those, this one gives you a lot of insight into the life and thoughts of Madeleine as she wrote A Wrinkle in Time and other favorite books of mine.
2. Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantel)finished 1.6.2011
I like the premise (Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn from the POV of Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry's closest advisors) and the writing was pretty good. It would have been better if I hadn't had to go back and reread a lot to figure out who was speaking and where and when the action was taking place. Mantel has this annoying habit of always referring to Cromwell as "he" even when "he" ought to be referred to another antecedent. It also ends kind of abruptly, but it does make sense if you know a bit about what happens next.
3. Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage (Madeleine L'Engle)finished 1.11.2011
The most straightforwardly autobiographical of all the Crosswicks books. I love how-me-met stories and this is a good one.
4. Becoming Jane Eyre (Sheila Kohler)finished 1.15.2011
A nice little fiction about how events in Charlotte Bronte's life may have inspired her books, especially Jane Eyre. It also touches on her sisters' work.
5. Winter's Tale (Mark Helprin)finished 1.20.2011
This book is like red wine: It's heady, rich, and hard to take in in large doses. Some truly breathtaking language. To me it seemed like magic realism (sort of like One Hundred Years of Solitude).
6. In the Woods (Tana French)finished 1.21.2011
I didn't expect to finish this last night (i.e., this morning), but I couldn't put it down once they cracked the case. I don't read a lot of murder mysteries, but I think this one was a good one--lots of layers to it. I wish the narrator's mystery had been solved, but I think I understand why it was not. I actually guessed the mastermind of the murder and the object that turned out to crack the case, which is a big deal for me. :)
I have a hold on In the Woods at the library. I've been really looking forward to it.
Heather wrote: "I have a hold on In the Woods at the library. I've been really looking forward to it."After you read it, check the discussion forum for it on Amazon--I found some great analysis there. There's more to it than I picked up on when I was reading!
7. Unaccustomed Earth (Jhumpa Lahiri)finished 1.24.2011
Very similar to her previous work, which I am not complaining about. These characters, Bengali immigrants or the children of Bengali immigrants, seemed to be trying harder to escape the pressure of cultural expectation--marrying Americans, turning to alcohol. There was a common thread of such sadness, of parents unable to comprehend their American-raised children and partners/lovers being unable to comprehend each other. Some of the stories ended on notes of such hopelessness, especially the very last one. Still, it's beautiful work.
Miranda wrote: "After you read it, check the discussion forum for it on Amazon--I found some great analysis t..."Thanks for the tip!
8. The Onion Girl (Charles de Lint)finished 1.29.2011
I've been meaning to try this author for a good long while, and I'm glad I did. I think I would like to read more. This novel is a fantasy, but like the best fantasy, it's deeply entrenched in reality. In this case, some of worst symptoms of reality, actually. But it stays hopeful.
9. The Great Typo Hunt (Jeff Deck/Benjamin D. Herson)finished 1.30.2011
I was expecting kind of a light-hearted romp, but was actually rewarded with something much more thoughtful. Musings abound on subjects as wide-ranging as race, psychology, the media, the court system, education, the history and evolution of English, and yes, WHY typos should be corrected.
I couldn't help but notice that when using words in phrases in quotes, the book kept placing commas and periods outside the quotes. I'm pretty sure that usage is correct in the U.K. but not here. Just sayin'. :)
10. The Trail of Tears (Gloria Jahoda)finished 2.2.2011
Nicely written historical account--I found it hard to put down but hard to pick up at the same time because of the sadness of the story. Something I think I never quite grasped before is that in many cases the Indians were quite integrated into white life--they lived in houses, kept livestock, and tended fields...even owned slaves. They'd often converted to Christianity. Some fought back of course (Black Hawk is one I'm familiar with, having gone to college in the same area), but often they just wanted to live and let live. Instead they were cajoled, tricked, and forced to move, leaving only their names behind. It's a shameful story from an American white person's perspective, but one that must be told.
11. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (Dee Brown)finished 2.6.2011
Utterly heartbreaking. Account after account, often in the words of the survivors, of peaceful villages massacred, children deliberately killed, broken promises. It was hard to read but especially in the last half, I couldn't put it down.
12. Roots (Alex Haley)finished 2.15.2011
I can't really find anything to say about this book that will do it justice. I am just sorry I waited so long to read it. I have heard that some of Haley's claims about his genealogy and research are disputed, but I don't care--I still laughed and I still cried. It might not be fact, but it might be the truth.
13. Fragile Things (Neil Gaiman)finished 2.19.2011
This one didn't grab me like Gaiman's earlier collection, Smoke and Mirrors, but it was still a great bunch of stories and poems.
14. The Seekers (Daniel Boorstin)finished 2.20.2011
This is a thorough survey of men throughout history who have applied themselves to figuring out the meaning of life and the world. Boorstin touches briefly on everyone from Socrates to Einstein, spending just a few pages on each. It's a good introduction and interesting to see everything laid out roughly chronologically and compared.
15. Stones into Schools (Greg Mortenson)finished 2.23.2011
Greg Mortenson's passion for his cause is infectious and it really elevates this book. This book chronicles the evolution of the Central Asia Institute as his chosen local associates largely take over operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while Mortenson comes to terms with the fact that he has become the necessary public face and fundraising machine back in the States that supports their efforts.
16. Julie & Julia (Julie Powell)finished 2.24.2011
This was a fun book to read, especially after the heavy stuff I've been reading lately. Some of the recipes sounded horrifying, but others sounded positively mouth-watering and made me want to try. Maybe someday.
17. Prince of Annwn (Evangeline Walton)finished 2.26.2011
The first of a tetralogy of short novels, published in an omnibus edition. A little hard to follow at times, but a good story. The main problem was the profusion of typos. I'm talking big typos too, like a word misspelled in the title of one of the books in the inside flap of the dust jacket. I mean, seriously? Here's the punchline: the publisher of this edition is Overlook Press. Yes, they overlooked quite a lot. Ba-dum-chah. You can't make this stuff up.
18. A Walk in the Woods (Bill Bryson)finished 2.27.2011
I think I may have set a new record for passages read out loud to my husband for reasons of sheer hilarity. Besides that, there's a very impassioned appeal here to not forget the natural treasures we have around us. Because of that, and despite the many descriptions of misery and danger along the Appalachian Trail, I think I want to try it myself more than I don't want to.
19. The Children of Llyr (Evangeline Walton)finished 2.28.2011
I'm getting more used to Walton's writing style, which is more like Tolkien than say Robert Jordan or George R.R. Martin. So I enjoyed this one more. What I am not getting used to is all the mistakes I'm finding in the text. This is seriously a huge embarrassment for anyone who worked on this edition at Overlook Press. On the inside flap of the dust jacket, the current title was "The Children of Llyre" and everywhere else, "The Children of Llyr." That is only one of MANY exam...moreI'm getting more used to Walton's writing style, which is more like Tolkien than say Robert Jordan or George R.R. Martin. So I enjoyed this one more. What I am not getting used to is all the mistakes I'm finding in the text. This is seriously a huge embarrassment for anyone who worked on this edition at Overlook Press. On the inside flap of the dust jacket, the current title was "The Children of Llyre" and everywhere else, "The Children of Llyr." That is only one of MANY examples. Ouch.
20. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Brian Selznick)finished 3.6.2011
What a nice little story! It's a big book, but many pages contain only pictures so it was a very quick read. My parents had it lying around, so I dispatched it during the course of a weekend visit. It was a great little story and the pictures were wonderful.
21. Into the Forest (Jean Hegland)finished 3.7.2011
A little weird--but by and large, it rung true for me. This story of two sisters, survivors of a quiet, gradual apocalypse, is actually a little unnerving because it's so easy to imagine it really happening. The writing was clear and precise and the ending was a perfect mix of triumph and sadness.
22. The Song of Rhiannon (Evangeline Walton)finished 3.8.2011
I couldn't get into this one as much as The Children of Llyr. The characters just kind of mope around for most of the book. Also, I wasn't sure if I were reading The Song of Rhiannon or The Song of the Rhiannon--the "editor" (I use that term loosely) didn't seem to know either. Still marveling at the sheer number of mistakes in this omnibus edition.
23. The Island of the Mighty (Evangeline Walton)finished 3.22.2011
24. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (Barbara Kingsolver)
finished 5.2.2011
Part how-to manual and part essay collection on food issues. Along with some tasty-looking recipes. Enormously motivating to read this at this time of year, especially as I work to make my first vegetable garden a reality.
25. Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)finished 5.3.2011
I was interested in reading this book ever since hearing a TED talk by the author. It was enjoyable and made me want to simplify my own life. I feel like it addresses how many women feel--the push to "have it all"--family, career, etc, and how unrealistic that ideal is (at least, in the long term). Interesting to read given that I'm less than a year from turning 30.
26. The Thief of Always (Clive Barker)
finished 5.4.2011
Somehow I never read or heard of this when I was younger. I discovered it when some classmates did a book talk on it in a children's lit class I took in college and it's been on my list to read ever since. As children's fantasy goes, it's a quick, fun, deliciously spooky read.
27. Roverandom (J.R.R. Tolkien)
finished 5.4.2011
Originated from a tale Tolkien told his kids after one of them lost a toy dog. It's cute and very English. Its origin as a bedtime story is evident, but it doesn't grab you as well at other parts of the day.
28. Inheritance of Loss (Kiran Desai)finished 5.11.2011
I'm not sure what it was, but something about this book distanced me from its characters. I just could not get into it. The writing was good, and overall I liked the book more than I didn't like it, but it just didn't seem alive to me.
29. The Butterfly Tatoo (Philip Pullman)finished 5.23.2011
This had all the building blocks of a tragedy, including the inexorable feeling that no matter what decisions the characters made, they were already trapped by fate into a tragic outcome. Still, some of those decisions did seem contrived. I also admit I was thrown by the sex scene. I thought it was a pretty good sex scene really, but I started reading what I thought was a standard YA novel, so I was just a little surprised.
30. We (Yevgeny Zamyatin)finished 5.24.2011
The precursor to the more familiar dystophian novels, this one's protagonist wavers for the entire book between humanity and a machine-like life of precision. Although he considers his feelings a sickness, he can't help himself. Up until the last moment, you're not quite sure what is going to happen. The last scene is chilling.
Given that the final Harry Potter movie is about to come out, I thought it fitting to spend late June/early July rereading the whole series. And so:31. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
32. ... and the Chamber of Secrets
33. ... and the Prisoner of Azkaban
34. ... and the Goblet of Fire
35. ... and the Order of the Phoenix
36. ... and the Half-Blood Prince
37. ... and the Deathly Hallows
38. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Rebecca Skloot)I ran out of books to read while traveling home from vacation, so I picked this up at the train station in Chicago.
39. A Trip to the Stars (Nicholas Christopher)finished 7.25.2011
This book engrossed me like few others have lately. When I had to put it down, I couldn't wait to pick it up again. With that being said, it had a slow start and I read about 50 pages and put it aside for over a month. When I finally took it up again, I became hooked. I relished all the coincidences and twists of fate; to me, Christopher succeeded in weaving a world tinged with magic realism that I was more than happy to immerse myself in. I give away most books that I read these days...but this one is a keeper
40. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)finished 7.27.2011
The premise of this book is basically that when you die, you become an omniscient narrator, which I have to admit is a pretty cool storytelling device. I enjoyed it overall, though the beginning was of course difficult for me to read (I am a rape survivor). It's a little overwritten in places, but I didn't mind that so much.
41. Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro)finished 7.31.2011
Still ruminating on what I thought of this book.
42. The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafon)finished 8.1.2011
A mystery surrounding books...star-crossed romance...an entertaining but not annoying sidekick...this has all the good building blocks. For some reason it took me a while to get into it but I found it hard to put down in the last 200 pages.
43. Notes From a Small Island (Bill Bryson)finished 8.4.2011
Unsafe to read in public unless you don't mind being started at for occasionally laughing suddenly and uproariously.
44. I'm a Stranger Here Myself (Bill Bryson)--published as Notes from a Big Country in the UK.finished 8.7.2011
Like Bryson's other work, funny and interesting.
45. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass (Lewis Carroll)finished 8.11.2011
Somehow I hadn't read this until now, and it's been a billion years since I saw the Disney movie, but everything about it still seemed so familiar.
46. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)finished 8.11.2011
About all I can summon on this one is exactly what Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ' interpretation of a two-star rating: It was OK. It was a nice little story, but it just didn't resonate with me.
47. The Tales of Beedle the Bard (J.K. Rowling)
finished 8.11.2011
A quick, pleasurable little read.
48. Seaward (Susan Cooper)finished 8.24.2011
Not as engrossing as Cooper's Dark Is Rising Sequence. I found it to drag in the final third, but I liked the ending.
49. Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)finished 8.29.2011
I didn't think I would finish this massive book in August, but over the weekend and last night I couldn't stop reading it. I already knew the basic plot, but even so I couldn't put it down. I admit I skimmed the historical tangents, mostly because I wanted so badly to get on with the story. There's a lot to unpack here, and in my thinking about it, I've only scratched the surface. All I can say now is that I loved it.
Some shorties. I think I earned it after Les Miz at ~1,500 pages!!!50. The Book of Dragons (E. Nesbit)
finished 8.31.2011
Collection of children's stories involving dragons. "Cute" isn't the right word. I think I want "charming" and/or "delightful." I recommend an edition other than the Watermill Press version though, as that editor apparently needed to brush up on its/it's and your/you're.
51. Night (Elie Wiesel)
finished 8.31.2011
Not a book you can rate really...just something to absorb and learn from. This was so raw and spare--if a book could be an open wound, this would be one. It drove home, painfully, the point that the Nazis not only took away their possessions, lives, hope, sanity, etc. ... they reduced the Jews (and other minorities) to animals, able only to think about survival, with the ties of family and humanity receding.
52. Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience (William Blake)
finished 8.31.2011
I had been meaning to read this ever since Philip Pullman cited it as an influence on the His Dark Materials series.
53. The River Warren (Kent Meyers)finished 9.6.2011
I picked this up after reading one of Meyers' short stories in an anthology. I just remember the writing sucking me in almost despite myself, and this book was the same. There were some places where I felt he was trying a bit too hard, and the conclusions seemed a little too easy. But I didn't mind too much.
54. Peace Like a River (Leif Enger)finished 9.9.2011
The writing in this book is beautiful. I think without it I would have lost steam in the final third. After a seductive and engaging start, it stalled then. But the strength of the writing carried me through. The voice was just so likeable...it really did feel like someone telling a story. It strikes me this would be a good audiobook.
I related to the narrator--having grown up with a precocious but much-loved younger sibling, I recognized that mixture of pride faintly flavored with jealousy, and the feeling of inadequacy next to such brilliance.
55. A River Runs Through It and Other Stories (Norman Maclean)finished 9.11.2011
56. Writing in the Dust: After September 11 (Rowan Williams)
finished 9.11.2011
57. Voyageurs (Margaret Elphinstone)finished 9.16.2011
There was nothing bad about this book--it was nicely written, had a nice premise, was obviously meticulously researched...but I kept reading and waiting for something to happen. And waiting. And when something did, it was meh. But like I said, it was an interesting portrait of early 1800s Canada and Michigan. It's not a period of history I know much about, so that was good to read about.
58. Deerskin (Robin McKinley)finished 9.20.2011
I read this first as a teen, and I just didn't get it. Now, as a nearly 30-year-old sexual assault survivor (and dog owner), I recognized a lot in this story. That was part of the reason it was such a powerful read this time around, and the writing, though at times clunky, wove quite a spell. I also appreciated that the story was mostly, but not ALL, about healing and moving on. You do need to heal and move on. But you know what can really help with the healing and moving on? Seeing your attacker get some PAYBACK. For me, it was helping put him behind bars for 60 years. Here...a little more interesting...and immediate. It could be a slowish read, but the immensely satisfying climactic scene is worth it all.
59. The Bean Trees (Barbara Kingsolver)finished 9.25.2011
