Wrapping It Up: Favorite Movies 2011

I know when I finally posted my review of The Guard yesterday I told you it was in my top 5 or top 2….Yeah turns out it was #1! When I reviewed the list of what I saw in 2011 and compared film to film, it just kept beating out all the other contenders!

For my top 9 favorites, some worsts, and some randomly categorized references (best house lived in by main character, film that felt most like I’d seen it 89 times before, etc), go read my full wrap up of my 2011 favorite flicks over here.

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

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

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

Bought:

  • Rebirth, by Sophie Littlefield
  • Heartless, by Gail Carriger
  • Three Cups of Deceit, by Jon Krakauer*
  • Dead Iron; the Age of Steam, by Devon Monk*
  • Forever, by Maggie Stiefvater*

Read:
  • The Cradle in the Grave (Steph’s)
  • Divergent, by Veronica Roth (electronic)
  • Rebirth, by Sophie Littlefield
  • Heartless, by Gail Carriger
  • The Geography of Bliss, by Eric Weiner
  • The Bone People, by Keri Hulme
  • The New Teacher Book, from Rethinking Schools
  • Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White (re-read)
  • A Summer to Die, by E.B. White (re-read)
  • Purgatory Chasm, by Steve Ulfelder (Steph’s)
  • Ninth Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes

*Bookstore closing sale.

Dad’s and My Reading Challenge for 2011 [Updated]

Dad picked all contemporary novels written by women and I picked all contemporary novels written by men. (Yes, we planned that.)

January: month off / I was finishing up some 2010 books!

February: “Faith Fox” by Jane Gardem

March: “Mother’s Milk” by Edward St. Aubyn

April: “36 Arguments for the Existence of God” by Rebecca Goldstein

May: “Carry Me Down” by MJ Hyland

June: ” The Children’s Book” by AS Byatt

July: “In a Strange Room” by Damon Galgut

Aout: “Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel

ETA: DUE TO MY LACK OF TIME FOR PERSONAL READING RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE POSTPONED THE LAST FOUR MONTHS ON THIS LIST, and instead we will read those books in Jan-Apr of 2012. So there you have it.

September: “Freedom” by Jonathan Franzen

October: “The Air We Breathe” by Andrea Barrett

November: “Super Sad True Love Story” by Gary Shteyngart

December: “The Gate at the Stairs” by Lorrie Moore

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

Bought:

  • State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett
  • The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss

Read:

  • Red Seas Under Red Skies, by Scott Lynch (library)
  • Generation Kill, by Evan Wright
  • The Hero of Ages, by Brandon Sanderson (gift)
  • State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett
  • The Hunted, by Elmore Leonard (borrowed from Dad)
  • Just Like Heaven, by Julia Quinn (borrowed from Mom)
  • The Price of Honor, by Colonel David H. Hackworth (borrowed from Dad)
  • The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss
  • Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin (gift)