À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for January.

Bought:

  • ?? I’m sure I bought at least one, but I don’t seem to have kept track. Probably because I SHOULDN’T be buying any whilst unemployed. Ah, well.

Read:

  • Everyone Remain Calm, by Megan Stielstra (stories)(electronic)
  • Zoo City, by Lauren Beukes (electronic)
  • Call for the Dead, by John LeCarre (library)
  • A Murder of Quality, by John LeCarre (library)
  • The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John LeCarre (library)
  • The Looking Glass War, by John LeCarre (library)
  • The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly (loan from Bill)

Wrapping It Up: Favorite Books 2011

My top six very favorite books read during 2011 were (not in any order) “Wonderstruck” by Brian Selznick, Love Is the Higher Law, by David Levithan, “State of Wonder” by Ann Patchett, “36 Arguments for the Existence of God”, by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein (that’s fiction, despite its non-fiction-like sounding title), “Mother’s Milk” by Edward St. Aubyn and “Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter” by Tom Franklin.

My final list of books read for 2011 is here and a little write-up on some other favorites, beyond the six mentioned in this post, is over here.

Turns out I haven’t done hardly any reviewing of books on Snip this year (I have been busy ya know!) but I still plan to whip through a few here and there until I find a job so I’ll add links to those if/when I post them! 😉

À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for December.

Bought:

  • A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
  • Falling Together, by Marisa de los Santos

Read:

  • Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery (re-read)(audio)
  • The Black Cauldron, by Lloyd Alexander (re-read)
  • A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
  • Falling Together, by Marisa de los Santos
  • Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai (borrowed from Chris)
  • One Day, by David Nicholls (borrowed from GD)
  • To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel, by Siena Cherson (library)
  • Foiled, by Jane Yolen
  • Steel My Soldiers’ Hearts: The Hopeless to Hardcore Transformation of U.S. Army, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, Vietnam, by David H. Hackworth (borrowed from Dad)
  • Life, by Keith Richards (borrowed from Dad)
  • No Dark Place, by Joan Wolf (thought I was borrowing it from Mom, turns out it was mine, loaned to her long ago)
  • Someday Soon, by Joan Wolf (borrowed from Mom)
  • The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, by Margarita Engle (library)
  • Enclave, by Ann Aguirre

Books Read in 2011

date refers to date finished; i.e., just b/c I finished two books in a given day doesn’t mean I read two entire books that day!

  • Enclave, by Ann Aguirre (12/27)
  • The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, by Margarita Engle (12/27) (biography) (poetry)
  • Someday Soon, by Joan Wolf (12/26)
  • No Dark Place, by Joan Wolf (12/26) (re-read)
  • Life, by Keith Richards (12/25) (memoir)
  • Steel My Soldiers’ Hearts: The Hopeless to Hardcore Transformation of U.S. Army, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, Vietnam, by David H. Hackworth (12/24) (memoir)
  • Foiled, by Jane Yolen (12/20) (graphic novel)
  • To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel, by Siena Cherson (12/20) (memoir) (graphic novel)
  • One Day, by David Nicholls (12/19)
  • Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai (12/18)
  • Falling Together, by Marisa de los Santos (12/17)
  • A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness (12/16)
  • The Black Cauldron, by Lloyd Alexander (12/10)
  • Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery (12/6) (re-read) (audio)
  • Three Cups of Deceit, by Jon Krakauer (11/11)
  • A Life in Stitches, by Rachael Herron (11/10)
  • Invitation to the Game, by Monica Hughes (11/10)
  • The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt (11/8)
  • Mockingbird, by Kathryn Erskine (11/8)
  • When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead (11/7)
  • Love Is the Higher Law, by David Levithan (11/6)
  • Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow, by Susan Campbell Bertoletti (11/6)
  • Charles and Emma; the Darwins’ Leap of Faith, by Deborah Heiligman (11/6)
  • Honeybee, by Naomi Shihab Nye (10/30) (poetry)
  • The Ocean Between Us, by Susan Wiggs (10/30)
  • Life as We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer (10/28)
  • The Demon Trapper’s Daughter, by Jana Oliver (10/23)
  • The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander (10/23)(re-read)
  • Feed, by M.T. Anderson (10/21)
  • Educating Esme, Diary of a Teacher’s First Year, by Esme Raji Codell (10/18)
  • Northlanders Vol 2: The Cross + The Hammer (10/15)
  • Northlanders Vol 1: Sven The Returned, by Brian Wood (10/15)
  • Jacob Have I Loved, by Katherine Patterson (10/15)
  • Where do you think you’re going, Christopher Columbus? by Jean Fritz, pics by Margot Tomes (10/10)
  • The Good Soldiers, by David Finkel (10/10)
  • Don’t You Know There’s a War On? by Avi (10/9)
  • Ten Birds, by Cybele Young (10/9)
  • The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin (10/9)
  • The Trouble with Thirteen, by Betty Miles (10/8) (re-read)
  • Wonderstruck, by Brian Selznick (10/8)
  • The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick (10/8)
  • Journey Into Mohawk Country, by George O’Connor (10/2)
  • Y: The Last Man — Unmanned, by Brian K. Vaughn (10/1)
  • Okay for Now, by Gary D. Schmidt (9/25)
  • Stitches, by David Small (9/23)
  • The Getaway Car: A Practical Memoir About Writing and Life, by Ann Patchett (9/22)
  • The Arrival, by Shaun Tan (9/18)
  • Lockdown, by Walter Dean Myers (9/17)
  • Fortune’s Bones: The Manumission Requiem, by Marilyn Nelson (9/15) (poetry)
  • The Patchwork Quilt, by Valerie Flournoy (9/11)
  • The Butter Battle Book, by Dr. Seuss (9/11)
  • Maizon at Blue Hill, by Jacqueline Woodson (9/10)
  • Weed Flower, by Cynthia Kadohata (9/10)
  • The Northern Girl, by Elizabeth A. Lynn (9/x) (re-read)
  • The Dancers of Arun, by Elizabeth A. Lynn (9/x) (re-read)
  • Watchtower, by Elizabeth A. Lynn (9/x) (re-read)
  • The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, by Peter Sis (9/4)
  • Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi (9/4)
  • Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest (9/3)
  • Ninth Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes (8/29)
  • Purgatory Chasm, by Steve Ulfelder (8/27)
  • A Summer to Die, by Lois Lowry (8/27) (re-read)
  • Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White (8/26) (re-read)
  • The New Teacher Book, from Rethinking Schools (8/24)
  • The Bone People, by Keri Hulme (8/21)
  • The Geography of Bliss, by Eric Weiner (8/12)
  • Heartless, by Gail Carriger (8/8)
  • Rebirth, by Sophie Littlefield (8/6)
  • The Cradle in the Grave, by Sophie Hannah (8/4)
  • Divergent, by Veronica Roth (8/1)
  • Maybe This Time, by Jennifer Crusie (7/26)
  • Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin (6/28)
  • The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss (6/26)
  • The Price of Honor, by Colonel David H. Hackworth (6/19)
  • Just Like Heaven, by Julia Quinn (6/19)
  • The Hunted, by Elmore Leonard (6/19)
  • State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett (6/18)
  • The Hero of Ages, by Brandon Sanderson (6/17)
  • One Bullet Away, the Making of a Marine Officer, by Nathaniel Fick (6/6)
  • Generation Kill, by Evan Wright (6/5)
  • Red Seas Under Red Skies, by Scott Lynch (6/2)
  • Trust No One, by Gregg Hurwitz (5/?)
  • All Clear, by Connie Willis (5/15)
  • Blackout, by Connie Willis (5/14) (re-read)
  • Relentless, by Lauren Dane (5/12)
  • Carry Me Down, by M.J. Hyland (5/12)
  • Blameless, by Gail Carriger (5/11)
  • The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch (5/7)
  • Killbox, by Ann Aguirre (4/28)
  • 36 Arguments for the Existence of God, by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein (4/28)
  • The Well of Ascension, by Brandon Sanderson (4/17)
  • Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson (4/14)
  • Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White (4/10) (re-read)
  • Changeless, by Gail Carriger (4/8)
  • The Berrybender Narratives, Book 1: Sin Killer, by Larry McMurtry (4/6)
  • Soulless, by Gail Carriger (4/5)
  • Aftertime, by Sophie Littlefield (3/29)
  • The Night Season, by Chelsea Cain (3/24)
  • Undercover, by Lauren Dane (3/18)
  • Tempest Rising, By Nicole Peeler (3/18)
  • Composed, by Rosanne Cash (3/15)
  • Magic at the Gate, by Devon Monk (3/15)
  • The Dark and Hollow Places, by Carrie Ryan (3/15)
  • How to Knit a Heart Back Home, by Rachael Herron (3/13)
  • Mother’s Milk, by Edward St Aubyn (3/12)
  • River Marked, by Patricia Briggs (3/9)
  • Faith Fox, by Jane Gardam (2/20)
  • Visitation, by Jenny Erpenbeck (2/14)
  • Across the Universe, by Beth Revis (2/1)
  • The Old Devils, by Kingsley Amis (1/27)
  • What the Librarian Did, by Karina Bliss (1/19)
  • The Sentry, a Joe Pike novel, by Robert Crais (1/18)
  • Hunger, by Jackie Morse Kessler (1/5)

Fiction: One Day, by David Nicholls

It was OK.

But I found the whole one day framing to be a little stupid since it was NOT actually the one day each year on which they saw each other or anything. Seemed a pretty arbitrary frame that falls apart as the novel moves on and the reader might want to hear about some other days as well. [Also seems like a blatant “hey When Harry Met Sally fans, come read this” advert but maybe that’s just me.] I mean when a chapter starts with something “having seen each other on and off for months now”, it renders that fact that we’re again focused on just this one day a little meaningless.

There were things I liked about it and I certainly agree with Emma that Ian was not the man for her…but is Dex really? The author maybe goes a little too far in giving you reasons to detest him and not enough instances of even halfway decentness for you to really be willing to fall for him yourself or put up with Emma’s love for him never going away.

Maybe on one of those OTHER days of the year, he did some stuff to redeem himself but we will never know.

À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for November.

Bought:

  • None? That might not be true but apparently I didn’t keep my usual list…

Read:

  • Charles and Emma: Darwins’ Leap of Faith, by Deborah Heiligman
  • Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow, by Susan Campbell Bertoletti (library)
  • Love Is the Higher Law, by David Leviathan
  • When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead
  • Mockingbird, by Kathryn Erskine
  • The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt (library)
  • Invitation to the Game, by Monica Hughes
  • A Life in Stitches, by Rachael Herron (loan from Carrie)
  • Three Cups of Deceit, by Jon Krakauer

Graphic Novels: The Northlanders series by Brian Wood & Ryan Kelly.

Wow, where have these been all my life? Whipped through volumes 1 (Sven the Returned) and 2 (The Cross + the Hammer) yesterday and can’t wait to read more. The art is GORGEOUS, super dark and lush and green and red. The stories are great. The hero/anti-heroes are compelling and twisted and brave and hurt.

So.Good.

These are begging to be movies. (Curses.) But if they get Skarsgard to play Sven, I’d go. (Wrong coloring I know. But…)

Oh, real life.

…in which the lion’s share of our days is full of meaningless details: minutes spent waiting for traffic lights to change, minutes spent searching for lost papers or misplaced keys, minutes spent half-listening to uninteresting conversations.

-from the textbook for my Children’s/YA Lit class (a content, not methods, class) Children’s Books in Children’s Hands.