Mailbox Monday

Thanks to power-publicist Mary Bisbee-Beek, two books arrived at my house in time for Mailbox Monday.  Even though these are going straight onto my Guilt List, I am still excited about them.  Mary usually* sends me excellent books.

Eden Springs by Laura Kasischke (a historical mystery kind of thing involving the true story of a creepy religious colony on the shores of Lake Michigan in the early 1900s -- it's all I can do to not read it right this minute)



An American Map: Essays by Anne-Marie Oomen (essays inspired by travels -- so perfect for my mid-winter armchair traveler urges)



I also finally had a minute to run into Second Glance Books to briefly chat with Rachelle, my favorite Portland bookseller and use my Reading Local contest money.  I only had time to browse few the first shelves, but found three books before I even got to the "D" authors:

Nightwood by Djuna Barnes (on the Erica Jong list)

Talking it Over by Julian Barnes (I've never read his books, but Nick Hornby mentioned him favorably in The Polysyllabic Spree)



Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon (I loved the movie and think Chabon is a genius, so predict that this will percolate to the top of my TBR shelf fairly quickly)




*  I say "usually" because, although Mary has sent me several books that I have really, really enjoyed, such as Basil's Dream by Christine Hale (reviewed here) and Good for the Jews by Debra Spark (reviewed here), she is also responsible for The Letter from Death by Lillian Moats (reviewed here), my least favorite book of 2009.

List of the Day: Man Booker Prize/James Tait Black Memorial Prize Crossovers

Only three books have won both the Man Booker Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize:

Last Orders by Graham Swift in 1996;

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie in 1981; and

G by John Berger in 1972.

This may seem like no more than the answer to a random literary trivia question, but it is very important to those Anglophile readers participating in the Battle of the Prizes, British Version.

State of the Blog, Part Three: The Authors

This is the third part of my winter assessment of my 2009 reading progress and 2010 goals. Part One addressed my various lists. Part Two looked at my challenges.

This post looks at progress on my author lists.

THE AUTHORS


Kingsley Amis
Books read so far: 5/48
Books read in 2009: one (The Alteration)
Books I hope to read in 2010: at least one (One Fat Englishman, which I finished already)
Books on my TBR shelf: 6

Cara Black
Books read so far: 2/9
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: one, if the one on my TBR shelf is the next in order
Books on my TBR shelf: one

James Lee Burke
Books read so far: 13/17 (Dave Robicheaux series only)
Books read in 2009: 3

1. Black Cherry Blues
   
2. Pegasus Descending
3. The Tin Roof Blowdown (reviewed here)
   

Books I hope to read in 2010: 2 or 3 -- I'm almost done with them
Books on my TBR shelf: 3

Lee Child
Books read so far: 11/11 (unless he has a new one)
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: one if he gets a new one out
Books on my TBR shelf: zero

M. F. K. Fisher
Books read so far: 4/27
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: 2, but I have not decided which ones
Books on my TBR shelf: 4

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Books read so far: 8/13
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: probably zero, this is a future goal
Books on my TBR shelf: zero

Penelope Fitzgerald
Books read so far: 2/9
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: one (The Bookshop)
Books on my TBR shelf: 2

Richard Ford
Books read so far: 5/10
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: undecided
Books on my TBR shelf: 3

Jim Harrison
Books read so far: 19/19 (prose only)
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: zero, unless he has a new prose book this year
Books on my TBR shelf: zero

Nick Hornby
Books read so far: 2/11
Books read in 2009: one (High Fidelity, reviewed here)
Books I hope to read in 2010: 3

1. The Polysyllabic Spree (which I already finished)
2. Housekeeping vs. the Dirt
3. Shakespeare Wrote for Money

Books on my TBR shelf: one

John Lescroart
Books read so far: 16/17 (Dismus Hardy series and spin offs)
Books read in 2009: one (Betrayal)
Books I hope to read in 2010: one (A Plague of Secrets)
Books on my TBR shelf: zero

Elinor Lipman
Books read so far: 4/10
Books read in 2009: 3

1. My Latest Grievance, reviewed here
2. The Family Man  
3. The Inn at Lake Divine

Books I hope to read in 2010: one (Then She Found Me)
Books on my TBR shelf: 2

David Lodge
Books read so far: 2/15 (fiction only)
Books read in 2009: one (Changing Places, reviewed here)
Books I hope to read in 2010: at least 2, but I don't know which ones
Books on my TBR shelf: 8

Ian McEwan
Books read so far: 5/13
Books read in 2009: 2

1. The Innocent(reviewed here)
2. Saturday

Books I hope to read in 2010: at least one, but I do not have any on my TBR shelf
Books on my TBR shelf: zero

Jack Ohman
Books read so far: 5/10
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: one (Angler Management)

Books on my TBR shelf: one

Anthony Powell
Books read so far: 13/32
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: one (Venusberg)
Books on my TBR shelf: one

Philip Roth
Books read so far: 8/30
Books read in 2009: one (Goodbye, Columbus: And Five Other Short Stories, reviewed here)
Books I hope to read in 2010: at least one, but I haven't decided which one
Books on my TBR shelf: 5

Martin Cruz Smith
Books read so far: 6/6 (Arkady Renko series only)
Books read in 2009: 2

1. Red Square, reviewed here
2. Stalin's Ghost
   

Books I hope to read in 2010: zero, unless he comes out with another one
Books on my TBR shelf: zero

Julia Spencer-Fleming
Books read so far: 5/7
Books read in 2009: 3

1. Out of the Deep I Cry
2. To Darkness and to Death (reviewed here)
3. All Mortal Flesh (reviewed here)
   

Books I hope to read in 2010: 2

1. I Shall Not Want
2. One Was a Soldier 

Books on my TBR shelf: zero

William Styron
Books read so far: 2/10
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: probably zero
Books on my TBR shelf: 3

Anne Tyler
Books read so far: 4/18
Books read in 2009: one (The Amateur Marriage)
Books I hope to read in 2010: probably one, but I do not know which one
Books on my TBR shelf: 5

John Updike
Books read so far: 8/26
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: at least one, but I do not know which one
Books on my TBR shelf: 9

Andrea U'ren
Books read so far: zero/2
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: hopefully both of them
Books on my TBR shelf: zero

Simon Winchester
Books read so far: 5/16
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: two

1. The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology
2. Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded

Books on my TBR shelf: one

Review: Massacred for Gold

The Snake River divides the northeast corner of Oregon from Idaho and carved Hell’s Canyon, the deepest canyon in North America. In 1887, Chinese immigrants followed a trail of gold dust into the canyon to Dead Line Creek, a stream flowing over a large gravel bar to the Snake River. There, while mining for gold, as many as 34 of them were shot, axed, and beaten to death by a gang of horse-thieving outlaws from nearby Wallowa County.

This mass slaughter – undetected until bodies started floating into Lewiston, Idaho – went virtually uninvestigated and unavenged for over a century, until newspaperman Gregory Nokes covered a story about trial documents “discovered” in an unused safe in the county courthouse in Enterprise, Oregon. Nokes turned amateur historian, spending over ten years wringing every clue and theory out of the scant evidence he could dig up. The result is Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon.

The book covers the history of this long-forgotten incident, describing the varied contemporaneous accounts, the lackluster investigation, the escape of the three main culprits, and the halfhearted trial and foreseeable acquittal of three others. But he goes beyond the dry facts to question why no one at the time showed great concern for the victims – never bothering to learn or record more than eleven names of the people killed – and why even now the story tends to be hushed up and the victims forgotten without any lasting monument.

Nokes’s personal involvement and first person narration may be a little off-putting for those looking for a straight-forward historical account. But his approach is an effective way of presenting his opinions and highlighting questions raised by the skimpy facts without muddying the story. The reader knows what the evidence is, and what Nokes argues the evidence shows, and can make his own conclusions.

While Massacred for Gold has regional ties, Nokes puts the tragedy in national context. Any reader interested in the experience of 19th Century Chinese immigrants or the development of the American West will find this story fascinating.

NOTE

A slightly shorter version of this review was first published in the Internet Review of Books in December.

OTHER REVIEWS

(If you would like your review of this book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.)

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Flaneur

"Paris is a big city in the sense that London and New York are big cities and that Rome is a village, Los Angles a collection of villages and Zurich a backwater."

-- The Flaneur: A Stroll Through the Paradoxes of Paris by Edmund White

January is the month for armchair travel and this book is just the ticket.

State of the Blog, Part Two: The Challenges

I am not a big challenge person, although I appreciate the effort and hard work that bloggers go to to host so many enticing projects. I am too compulsive to sign up for a challenge and not complete it, so I do not sign up for many.

In 2009, I joined and completed four challenges. There are more I want to sign up for in 2010, but I am sticking with challenges focusing on the types of books I like to read.

2009 WRAP UP

The Sunshine Smackdown: Battle of the Prizes



I had to participate in this one -- I hosted it. The idea was to read one book that won the National Book Award, one that won the Pilutzer Prize, and one that won both. I am going to host it again in 2010, but it will start earlier, so not be a summer challenge.

My wrap-up post is here. I read and reviewed three books:

1. The Fixer by Bernard Malamud (winner of both the National and the Pulitzer; reviewed here)
2. Goodbye Columbus by Philip Roth (National winner; reviewed here)
3. Advise and Consent by Allen Drury (Pulitzer winner; reviewed here)
   

The 100+ Challenge



My book total for 2009 was 111, so I completed the challenge. But I was pretty lame about posting my reviews. I did for a month or so, then stopped, went back in the summer and added several, then tapered off completely. Here is my completed list of books read in 2009, with links to reviews. I am signing up again for 2010, but I probably won't be any better about active participation.


The Colorful Reading Challenge



This was fun in that it got me to read several books I probably would not have gotten around to if I hadn't been looking for colors in titles. I completed the challenge on December 31 and didn't do a final wrap-up post -- this post is the closest I got. I read and reviewed nine books:

1. RED: Red Square by Martin Cruz Smith (review) 
2. BLACK: Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke (mini-review) 
3. GOLD: Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California by Dinkelspiel, Frances (review) 
4. GREEN: Blue Planet in Green Shackles: What Is Endangered: Climate or Freedom? by Vaclav Klaus (review) 
5. YELLOW: A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris (review)
6. SILVER: The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso (review) 
7. RUST: American Rust by Philipp Meyer (review)
8. BLUE: Blue River by Ethan Canin (review)
9. WHITE: American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham (review)

The Spice of Life Challenge

This one was super fun because I love books about food, and I liked that there were several different categories of books. I hope Rebecca hosts it again, because I want to sign up for a higher level. In 2009, I signed up for the "Sampler" level and read and reviewed four books

1. Au Revoir to All That by Michael Steinberger (my non-fiction choice; reviewed here)
2. The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones (my fiction choice; reviewed here)
3. The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso (my cookbook choice; reviewed here)
4. Julie & Julia by Julie Powell (my memoir/essay choice; reviewed here)

2010 CHALLENGES

Battle of the Prizes: American Version

It's the National Book Award winners v. the Pilutzer Prize winners, Round Two.

I am going to host this challenge again this year, but instead of just taking place in the summer, it is going to start February 1 and run to the end of the year. Otherwise, the same rules as last year will apply. I'll get the sign up page posted soon.

Battle of the Prizes: British Version

I am going to add a new challenge this year -- a British version of the Battle of the Prizes. This one will pit Man Booker Prize winners against the James Tait Black Memorial Prize winners.  I hope too get it up by February 1, but I have to make a challenge button first and I am having trouble finding a good picture.

Chunkster Challenge

I am kicking myself for not signing up for this last year because I read enough books to meet the requirements. So I am going to sign up in 2010 for the "Mor-book-ly Obese" level. I am not sure which six 450+-page books (or three 750+-pagers) I will read, but there are several biggies on my TBR shelf that are vying for my attention.


Bibliophilic Books Challenge



I am excited about this one, because I thought I had imagined it, but it turns out it really exists. The point is to read books about books. They can be fiction or non-fiction, so there are plenty to chose from. There are many qualifying books on my TBR shelves right now, and I have really been in the mood for them.

I am signing up for the "Bibliomaniac" level, which means I have 12 to read by the end of the year. I do not have a final list yet, but I have several in mind, starting with Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree.


100+ Challenge



Even with my anticipated mediocre participation (see above), I am signing up because I am pretty sure I'll read more than 100 books this year.

Opening Sentence of the Day: A Very Private Plot

"Senator Hugh Blanton addressed the problem as an Old Testament prophet might have done."

-- A Very Private Plot by William F. Buckley, Jr.

It is 1995 and Senator Blanton is trying to pass a bill outlawing covert government action. His most popular argument is that a botched covert CIA operation in the mid-1980s almost triggered a Soviet first strike. Only two people in America know the truth -- CIA master-spy Blackford Oakes and former President Ronald Reagan -- and neither are talking.

This is the tenth (of 11) Blackford Oakes novels Buckley wrote. I read the first eight books years ago, skipped the ninth book by mistake, and picked this up on a whim. They are all intelligent, elegant spy novels that span the Cold War. I will definitely finish the two I have left, but I have half a mind to go back and read all of them again.

Teaser Tuesday: One Fat Englishman

"He congratulated himself on his foresight in constructing that dipsomaniacal son for the friend who was putting himself up in New York. Letting them enter one's base of operations was to be avoided whenever possible."

-- One Fat Englishman by Kingsley Amis

In this passage, protagonist Roger Micheldene is pleased with himself for inventing a zany excuse for why he and his casual paramour cannot meet at his place. The whole book is Roger seducing various women, Roger drinking, Roger eating, and Roger arguing literature or religion with academic types. Typical Amis. And as hilarious as always.



Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Dear Rose City Reader . . .

A reader in distress! 

My friend is in a quandary over a book her uncle gave her to read. It's not just any book -- it's a 900+ page tome he told her is his favorite book. She has now slogged her way through 200 pages, but it has been a battle, as she describes so eloquently below. 


I'm still pondering what advice to offer. Any suggestions? We've all been in her predicament -- what would you tell her?

Dear Rose City Reader:

As a follower of your blog, I trust that you'll appreciate my angry book rant and related dilemma:

My uncle and I, who really only see each other once a year at our family reunion, have a great tradition of exchanging book titles. He loves to read and discuss books - if we had an opening for a sincere and enthusiastic 60 year old Canadian guy in our all-girl book club, he might consider moving to Portland. He is so jealous of me.

I confess I haven't read all of his picks yet, but I do keep track of them on a running list. This last August, he not only gave me titles but two actual hard copies of "favorites" of his - one in particular that he positively raved about. I am reading it now... it's a 900+ page behemoth called "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts. I didn't balk at the length starting in, in fact I was kind of excited about a long, rich novel because he had raved about it so. But I am only a little over 200 pages in, and feeling like I have the equivalent of 7,000 pages to go rather than a measly 700. Basically I am using it to put myself to sleep at night. All my efforts to make friends with this book have failed.

The author is an Aussie who went off the deep end at some point in his young adulthood and committed a series of armed robberies, landed in prison, escaped from prison, lived as a fugitive for many years and ended up in Bombay where he started a medical clinic in the slums, bought and sold on the black market and got mixed up in the Indian mafia... and that just so happens to be exactly the life story of the "fictional" main character of the book. So for one thing... REALLY? But even if I could get past that, there is still the question of how, with subject matter like that, has the author managed to create a book so boring???

The story has the potential to be an intriguing page turner ripe with opportunity to explore the events and impact of a completely different kind of life than I will ever live... but somehow I find myself more excited about folding my kids' laundry than reading this book. It contains a mix of laborious travel journal, predictable philosophical musings, unsatisfying character sketches, and in the 200 pages I've read so far, tragically minimal plot or movement. There are entire paragraphs and passages that I just want to cross out in frustration, asking "why in the world did I need to know ANY of that?"

Case in point: "Abdullah rejoined us, bringing a cut-glass bowl filled with slices of mango, papaya, and watermelon. The scents of the fruits surrounded us as their tastes dissolved in our mouths. The singers began their next performance, singing just one song that continued for almost half and hour. It was a lush, tripartite harmony built upon a simple melody and improvised cadenzas." You've got to be kidding me. The protagonist has been whisked away in a car with two well-known mafia/assassin big-guys in Bombay, and he is unsure of the reason for their interest in him, and yet the author-who-is-actually-the-main-character dilly-dallies over the damn fruit bowl and the background music for an entire paragraph. Let me go back and read that again - was that CUT glass, you say? Did the tastes of the fruit dissolve in your mouth, or was it more of a melting sensation? Was there any pineapple? You didn't mention pineapple, but there could have been pineapple in the cut-glass bowl as well... Was it the song that lasted half an hour, or was it this plodding miscellany? It's beyond ridiculous. He chronically over-describes everything enough to make you think he was getting a kickback from his high school English teacher for each metaphor used.

The one saving grace is that the main-character-who-is-really-the-author meets and befriends a charming Bombay tour guide named Prabaker, and the dialogue between the two is hilarious. The accent and grammar are captured so well - I would guess a lot of it is taken directly from actual conversations with the real-life Prabaker. Prabaker's efforts to understand the crazy Aussie and to help the crazy Aussie understand Indian culture are priceless, and the affectionately nicknamed "Prabu" is described with respect and genuine care. I find myself especially fond of dear "Prabu," and sadly he has not been prominently featured in the last 50 pages or so. I miss him terribly.

So, Rose City Reader, I would very much appreciate your opinion or at least your commiseration. Here's my dilemma... I am 200+ of 900 pages in, with no sense that this book is actually going to go anywhere. Aside from Prabaker, I am completely over it. I could easily just put it down and move on to a Sylvia Plath for a little pick-me-up. Except for... my sweet uncle. He loved it! And he knows I'm reading it. And because books are a key element of our relationship, I would love to be able to talk with him about it. Even if I don't ever like the book, it would still be nice to know the full story arc and talk with him about the parts I did like. If I don't finish it, I won't be able to fully appreciate his insights and why he liked it so much vs. why I didn't. I know he would not be devastated if I didn't read it, but I do think it would make him kind of sad. I just don't know if I can make myself slog through it! My recreational reading time is so rare and precious, I feel like I am throwing it away on this book. But I'm also a big "finish what you start" type... Oh, the contradictions plague me like the relentless monsoons which fall from a slate-colored sky to form rivulets meandering like restless wanderers through the poorly planned avenues of the illegal slums of Bombay which sprung up during the construction of the city's tallest skyscrapers like bamboo shoots reaching thirstily toward the very source of the aforementioned monsoon rains... help!

-- Nervous Niece

Mailbox Monday

This book actually arrived a couple of weeks ago, but got lost in the post-Christmas mess in my house, so only made it to my Mailbox Monday list this week.

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

I got this through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program.  Even though I have vowed to lay off the Early Reviewer books, I asked for this one because it has been on my radar for a while (it is on the Anthony Burgess list of best 99 novels) and I want to read it. I didn't realize that this is the audio version, but that is fine by me.

Also, I cannot believe that I forgot to list this one last week -- I have wanted a copy for a long time and Hubby gave me a beautiful hardback edition for Christmas:

 99 Novels: The Best in English Since 1939 by Anthony Burgess. I have been keeping track of this list for a while now and while I haven't read many of the books on it, those I have read have been some real favorites.

State of the Blog, Part One: The Lists

It is now winter, a new year, and time to assess what progress I made on my lists in 2009 and what I hope to read this year.

My List of Lists is over in the right-side column. These are Prize Winners, Must Reads, and other lists of books I have read or intend to read for some reason or another. Also in the right-side column is a list of my favorite authors. I add to both lists from time to time.

This is a three-part assessment. This first part addresses the book lists. Part Two, coming soon, will deal with the challenges I participated in last year and plan to join this year. Part Three will run through the author lists.

THE LISTS

1899 Top 100
Books read so far: 7/100
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: 2

1. The Moonstone by Willkie Collins
   
2. Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz

Books on my TBR shelf: 13

All-TIME Top 100
Books read so far: 73/100
Books read in 2009: one-third (I read The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.)
Books I hope to read in 2010: two-thirds (I really hope to finish The Lord of the Rings.)
Books on my TBR shelf: 15

Anthony Burgess
Books read so far: 26/99
Books read in 2009: one (How to Save Your Own Life by Erica Jong; reviewed here)
Books I hope to read in 2010: 2

1. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood
   
2. Strangers and Brothers by C.P. Snow
   

Books on my TBR shelf: 20

BBC's Big Read
Books read so far: 52/100
Books read in 2009: 5+

1. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham(reviewed here)
2. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens(reviewed here)
3. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
4. Crime and Punishment
5. I Capture the Castle
6. plus another one-third for The Fellowship of the Ring
   

Books I hope to read in 2010: maybe none
Books on my TBR shelf: 11

Book Club
Books read so far: 15/16
Books read in 2009: 6

1. Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Keysey
2. Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
3. Davita's Harp by Chiam Potok
4. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
5. Plainsong by Kent Haruf
6. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
   

Books I hope to read in 2010: 6 (but I don't know what they are yet)
Books on my TBR shelf: one (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz)

College Board
Books read so far: 75/101
Books read in 2009: one (Treasure Island)
Books I hope to read in 2010: one (The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath)
Books on my TBR shelf: 14

Costa Book of the Year
Books read so far: 3/24
Books read in 2009: two

1. Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson, reviewed here 
2. The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney, reviewed here

Books I hope to read in 2010: 2

1. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
   
2. Small Island by Andrea Levy
   

Books on my TBR shelf: 2

Easton Press
Books read so far: 55/100
Books read in 2009: 3

1. Great Expectations (reviewed here)
2. Treasure Island
3. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
   

Books I hope to read in 2010: one (Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan)
Books on my TBR shelf: 25

Edgar Award
Books read so far: 4/55
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: one (New Orleans Mourning by Julie Smith)
Books on my TBR shelf: 5

Erica Jong
Books read so far: 29/100
Books read in 2009: one (The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley)
Books I hope to read in 2010: several, including

1. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
   
2. Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier
   
3. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
   

Books on my TBR shelf: 19

French Connection
Books read so far: 42/107 (and counting -- there are more books to add to the list)
Books read in 2009: one (Au Revoir to All That by Michael Steinberger; reviewed here)
Books I hope to read in 2010: at least 2

1. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
   
2. The Flaneur by Edmund White
   

Books on my TBR shelf: 20

Guilt List

Books read so far: I don't keep track, because I delete them after I read them
Books read in 2009: same
Books I hope to read in 2010: 5

1. The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos
2. The Art of Disappearing by Ivy Pochoda
3. The Evolution of Shadows by Jason Quinn Malott
4. Portland Noir, edited by Kevin Sampsell
5. The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt by Rulka Langer

Books on my TBR shelf: 5

James Tait Black Memorial Prize
Books read so far: 8/96
Books read in 2009: one (Saturday by Ian McEwan)
Books I hope to read in 2010: one (The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry)
Books on my TBR shelf: 7

LT Early Reviewers
Books read so far: 21/25
Books read in 2009: 10

1. The Amish Cook at Home by Lovina Eicher (reviewed here)
2. Blackbird, Farewell by Robert Greer (reviewed here)
3. American Rust by Philipp Meyer (reviewed here)
4. Au Revoir to All That by Michael Steinberger (reviewed here)
5. Forbidden Bread by Erica Johnson Debeljak (reviewed here)
6. The Tricking of Freya by Christina Sunley (reviewed here)
7. The Stettheimer Dollhouse by Sheila W. Clark (reviewed here)
8. Joker One by Donovan Campbell (reviewed here)
9. The Fire by Katherine Neville (reviewed here)
10. American Lion by Jon Meacham (reviewed here)
    

Books I hope to read in 2010: 4

1.  Maimonides: and the Biblical Prophets by Israel Drazin
2. Homer and Langley by E. L. Doctorow
3. The Wall in My Head: Words and Images from the Fall of the Iron Curtain, published by Words Without Borders Anthologies
4. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (audiobook)
   

Books on my TBR shelf: 4

Man Booker Prize
Books read so far: 21/43
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: at least one, but I don't know which
Books on my TBR shelf: 14

MLA's 30
Books read so far: 21/30
Books read in 2009: one and 1/3

1. The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
2. one-third for The Fellowship of the Ring
   

Books I hope to read in 2010: one (The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver)
Books on my TBR shelf: 4

Modern Library
Books read so far: all of them!
Books read in 2009: zero ( finished this list a couple of years ago)
Books I hope to read in 2010: none
Books on my TBR shelf: zero

National Book Award
Books read so far: 24/63
Books read in 2009: 4

1. The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
2. The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard
3. The Fixer by Bernard Malamud (reviewed here)
4. Goodbye Columbus by Philip Roth (reviewed here)
   

Books I hope to Read in 2010: 2 (for the Battle of the Prizes Challenge, but I haven't picked yet)
Books on my TBR shelf: 13

NBCC Award
Books read so far: 15/33
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: 2

1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
2. Counterlife by Philip Roth
   

Books on my TBR shelf: 9

Nobel Laureates
Authors read so far: 19/105
Books read in 2009: 3

1. The Complete Short Stories by Earnest Hemingway (reviewed here)
   
2. The Beggar by Naguib Mahfouz (reviewed here)
   
3. The Plague by Albert Camus
   

Books I hope to read in 2010: one (Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset)
Books on my TBR shelf: 30 (but most by authors already read)

Observer's Top 100
Books read so far: 55/100
Books read in 2009: 3+

1. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (reviewed here)
2. Men Without Women by Ernest Hemingway
3. The Plague by Albert Camus
4. plus another one-third for The Fellowship of the Ring

Books I hope to read in 2010: 2+

1. Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
2. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
3. the last two book in The Lord of the Rings
   

Books on my TBR shelf: 19

Orange Prize
Books read so far: 1/13
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: one (Small Island by Andrea Levy
Books on my TBR shelf: 4

Oregon Books
Books read so far: 3/20
Books read in 2009: two

1. The River Why by David Duncan
2. Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey 

Books I hope to read in 2010: maybe none
Books on my TBR shelf: 2

Pulitzer Prize
Books read so far: 38
Books read in 2009: 3

1. Advise and Consent by Allen Drury (reviewed here)
2. The Fixer by Bernard Malamud (reviewed here)
3. March by Geraldine Brooks (reviewed here)

Books I hope to read in 2010: at least 2, maybe 3:

1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
2.  something for the Battle of the Prizes Challenge, but I haven't picked yet

Books on my TBR shelf: 19

Radcliffe's Top 100
Books read so far: 86/100
Books read in 2009: one-third for The Fellowship of the Ring
Books I hope to read in 2010:6+

1. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
2. the rest of The Lord of the Rings
3. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
4. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
5. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
6. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
7. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
   

Books on my TBR shelf: 11

RCR Top 10
Books read so far: 10/10 (it's my list)
Books read in 2009: zero (the list did not change -- so far)
Books I hope to Read in 2010: maybe a new book will make it to the list
Books on my TBR shelf: zero

Well-Stocked Bookcase
Books read so far: 35/60
Books read in 2009: zero
Books I hope to Read in 2010: one (The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath)
Books on my TBR shelf: 14

I am thinking of concentrating on the Radcliffe list in 2010 because I have a shot at finishing that one once and for all. The books remaining also overlap with several other lists, so I could really make hay.

2009 Challenges

In 2009, I signed up for and completed four challenges:

The Sunshine Smackdown: Battle of the Prizes



I had to participate in this one -- I hosted it. I am going to host it again in 2010, but it will start earlier, so not be a summer challenge. My wrap-up post is here.  I read and reviewed three books:

1. The Fixer by Bernard Malamud (winner of both the National and the Pulitzer; reviewed here)
2. Goodbye Columbus by Philip Roth (National winner; reviewed here)
3. Advise and Consent by Allen Drury (Pulitzer winner; reviewed here)
   

The 100+ Challenge




My book total for 2009 was 11, so I completed the challenge. But I was pretty lame about posting my reviews. I did for a month or so, then stopped, went back in the summer and added several, then tapered off completely. Here is my completed list. I am signing up again for 2010, but I probably won't be any better about active participation.

The Colorful Reading Challenge



This was fun in that it got me to read several books I probably would not have gotten around to if I hadn't been looking for colors in titles. I completed the challenge on December 31 and didn't do a final wrap-up post -- this post is the closest I got. I read and reviewed nine books:

1. RED: Red Square by Martin Cruz Smith (review) 
2. BLACK: Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke (mini-review)
3. GOLD: Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California by Dinkelspiel, Frances (review) 
4. GREEN: Blue Planet in Green Shackles: What Is Endangered: Climate or Freedom? by Vaclav Klaus (review) 
5. YELLOW: A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris (review)
6. SILVER: The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso (review) 
7. RUST: American Rust by Philipp Meyer (review)
8. BLUE: Blue River by Ethan Canin (review)
9. WHITE: American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham (review)

The Spice of Life Challenge

This one was super fun because I love books about food, and I liked that there were several different categories of books. I hope Rebecca hosts it again, because I want to sign up for a higher level. In 2009, I signed up for the "Sampler" level and read and reviewed four books

1. Au Revoir to All That by Michael Steinberger (my non-fiction choice; reviewed here)
2. The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones (my fiction choice; reviewed here)
3. The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso (my cookbook choice; reviewed here)
4. Julie and Julia by Julie Powell (my memoir/essay choice; reviewed here)
   

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Polysyllabic Spree

So this is supposed to be about the how, and when, and why, and what of reading -- about the way that, when reading is going well, one book leads to another and to another, a paper trail of theme and meaning; and how when it's going badly, when books don't stick or take, when your mood and the mood of the book are fighting like cats, you'd rather do anything bu attempt the next paragraph, or reread the last one for the tenth time.

-- The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

Now, that's an opening sentence! Part of me (the Junior High English class dork part) wants to diagram it.

This is a collection of essays -- the first of three volumes -- that Hornby wrote for The Believer magazine, described on the cover as, "A hilarious and true account of one man's struggle with the monthly tide is the books he's bought and the books he's been meaning to read."  It's the famous person's version of a book blog.

Review of the Day: The New Confessions

“My first act on entering the world was to kill my mother.” So begins William Boyd’s The New Confessions, the pseudo-autobiography of John James Todd, a Scottish-born filmmaker whose career begins in the trenches of WWI and ends on the Hollywood blacklists of the 1950s.

Todd shares first names and outlook with his hero, French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and spends his career working on an epic film based on Rousseau's memoirs, The Confessions. His quest takes him on a rollicking journey from Berlin to Hollywood, wife to lover, peaks of fame to penury, and leaves a trail of wreckage and memories behind.

Todd is an engaging Everyman anti-hero – likeable even when he is not particularly nice. The book is warm, funny, and full of life from the opening page to Todd’s concluding ruminations.

Opening Sentence of the Day: One Fat Englishman

"What's he like?"

-- One Fat Englishman by Kingsley Amis

Not much to go on, but this cocktail party chit chat opening sentence becomes a clever dialog about a visiting linguistics professor and his hot wife. Amis is a real favorite of mine, so there is not much he can do wrong in my eyes. 

Books Read in 2009

This is the list of the 112 books I read in 2009, in the order that I read them. For an explanation of my rating system, see here.

Water the Bamboo by Greg Bell (reviewed here; 4/5)

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (on the MLA's Top 30 list and the College Board's Top 101 list)

Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey (4.5/5) (on the Top 20 Oregon books list)

Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger (reviewed here; 4/5)

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (reviewed here; 2.5/5)

Blackbird, Farewell by Robert Greer (reviewed here; 2/5)

Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming (3.5/5)

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (2.5/5)

Entres Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl by Debra Ollivier (which inspired my French Connections list; reviewed here; 3.5/5)

Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke (3.5/5)

Native America, Discovered and Conquered by Robert Miller (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (3/5)

The Top 10 Myths of American Health Care by Sally Pipes (reviewed here; 4/5)

The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard (National Book Award winner; 3.5/5)

Prisoner of the Vatican by David Kertzer (2.5/5)

The River Why by David James Duncan (3/5)

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (4/5)

Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse (3.5/5)

Crime and Punishment by Foyder Dostoevsky (on the Easton Press Top 100 list; 4.5/5)

Towers of Gold by Frances Dinkelspiel (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

The Innocent by Ian McEwan (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

The Letter from Death by Lillian Moats (reviewed here; 1.5/5)

The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler (3.5/5)

Basil's Dream by Christine Hale (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

The Stettheimer Dollhouse, edited by Sheila Clark (on my LibraryThing Early Reviewer list; reviewed here; 3.5/5)

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis (4/5)

Pagan Babies by Elmore Leonard (3/5)

Red Square by Martin Cruz Smith (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

The Mating Season by P. G. Wodehouse (3.5/5)

The Alteration by Kinglsey Amis (3.5/5)

Davita's Harp by Chiam Potok (3.5/5)

Skeletons on the Zahara by Dean King(discussed here; 3/5)

Saturday by Ian McEwan (James Tate Black winner; 3.5/5)

The Floating Opera by John Barth (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

Nell Hill's Style at Home by Mary Carol (3.5/5)

Inside the Red Mansion by Oliver August (reviewed here; 3/5)

March by Geraldine Brooks (Pulitzer Prize winner; reviewed here; 3/5)

Atget's Paris, published by Taschen (3/5)

Advise and Consent by Allen Drury (Pulitzer Prize winner; reviewed here; 4/5)

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (on the BBC's Big Read list, the Observer's Top 100 list, and the MLA's Top 30 list; reviewed here; 4/5)

My Uncle Oswald by Roald Dahl (reviewed here; 3/5)

Wall Street by Steve Fraser (reviewed here; 2.5/5)

A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris (reviewed here; 3/5)

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (reviewed here; 4/5)

Birds by Jeff Fisher (4/5)

The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket (3/5) 

The Beggar by Naguib Mafouz (Nobel Laureate; reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

Black Boy (American Hunger) by Richard Wright (reviewed here; 3/5) 

Changing Places by David Lodge (reviewed here; 4/5)

My Latest Grievance by Elinor Lipman (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

That's Amore! The Language of Love for Lovers of Language by Erin McKean (3/5)

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (4/5)

The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien (the All-TIME 100 list, the BBC Big Read, the MLA's Top 30 list, Radcliffe's Top 100 list, and the Observer's Top 100 list; 3/5)

After Dinner Speaking by Fawcett Boom (reviewed here; 3/5)

Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways: Big Ideas for Small Backyard Destinations by Debra Prinzing (reviewed here; 4/5) 

Super Sunday in Newport by Matt Love (2.5/5) 

Pegasus Descending by James Lee Burke (3.5/5)

Au Revoir to All That by Michael Steinberger (on my French Connection list; reviewed here; 3.5/5)

The Brothers K by David James Duncan (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

Hemingway and Bailey's Bartending Guide to Great American Writers by Edward Hemingway and Mark Bailey (3/5)

The Fixer by Bernard Malamud (National Book Award winner; Pulitzer Prize winner; reviewed here; 4/5) 

Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille (3/5) 

Forbidden Bread by Erica Johnson-Debeljak (on my LibraryThing Early Reviewer list; reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

To Darkness and to Death by Julia Spencer-Fleming (reviewed here; 3/5) 

Doctor Sally by P. G. Wodehouse (3/5) 

Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth (National Book Award winner; reviewed here; 4/5) 

Blue Planet in Green Shackles by Vaclav Klaus (reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

Underworld by Don DeLillo (reviewed here; 2.5/5) 

Dreams by Sigmund Freud (2.5/5) 

Paul Newman: A Life by Shaun Levy (reviewed here; 4/5)

Shalimar the Clown by Salomon Rushdie (3/5) 

The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke (reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones (reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audry Niffinger (2.5/5) 

Plainsong by Ken Haruf (3/5) 

All Mortal Flesh by  Julia Spencer-Fleming (reviewed here; 3.5/5)


Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (on the BBC's Big Read list, the College Board list, and the Easton Press Top 100 list; 3.5/5) 

Brick Lane by Monica Ali (3/5) 

American Rust by Philip Meyer (on my LibraryThing Early Reviewer list; reviewed here; 2.5/5) 

The Plague by Albert Camus (Nobel Laureate; on the Observer's Top 100 list; 3/5) 

Julie and Julia by Julie Powell (reviewed here; 2.5/5) 

Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson (Costa Book Award winner; reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

Ice Chorus by Susan Stonich (reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin (4/5) 

The Silver Palate Cookbook by Sheila Lukins and Julie Russo (reviewed here; 4/5) 

Stalin's Ghost by Martin Cruz Smith (3.5/5) 

Laughing Gas by P. G. Wodehouse (3/5) 

Joker One by Donovan Campbell (on my LibraryThing Early Reviewer list; reviewed here; 4/5) 

Freddy and Fredericka by Mark Helprin (reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester (reviewed here; 4/5) 

The Family Man by Elinor Lipman (3/5) 

The Age of Reagan, Vol. 2 by Steven Hayward (reviewed here; 4/5) 

Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington (Pulitzer Prize winner; reviewed here; 2.5/5) 

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (2.5/5)

The Complete Short Stories* by Ernest Hemingway (Nobel Laureate; reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney (Costa Book Award winner; reviewed here; 4/5) 

The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton (3/5) 

Incidents in the Rue Laguier by Anita Brookner (reviewed here; 3/5) 

Massacred for Gold by Gregory Nokes (reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

A Century of November by W. D. Wetherell (reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

Good for the Jews by Debra Spark (reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon (3/5) 

The Tricking of Freya by Christina Sunley (on my LibraryThing Early Reviewer list; reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

The Italian Lover by Robert Hellinga (reviewed here; 2.5/5) 

The Fire by Katherine Neville (on my LibraryThing Early Reviewer list; reviewed here; 2/5) 

How to Save Your Own Life by Erica Jong (reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham (reviewed here; 3.5/5) 

The Inn at Lake Divine by Elinor Lipman (3.5)

Blue River by Ethan Canin (reviewed here; 2/5)

Betrayal by John Lescroart (3/5)


* The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway includes all the stories published in several separate volumes, plus additional others. I counted this as one book, but the separate volumes subsumed by this omnibus are: In Our Time (on the Radcliffe Top 100 list), Men Without Women (on the Observer's Top 100 list), The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber and Other Stories, The Nick Adams Stories, and maybe others.