Mailbox Monday

I was out of town for a while and happy to come home to find several books had arrived in my absence. I also picked up a short stack on my travels.

Thanks go to Avis of She Reads and Reads for hosting Mailbox Monday in October.

Here's the list:

Two Gold Coins and a Prayer: The Epic Journey of a World War II Bomber Pilot and POW by James H. Keeffe III.  My husband is particularly excited about this one because he loves personal accounts of WWII.  He will probably read it before I get to it, although it does look interesting.



Green Oranges on Lion Mountain by Emily Joy.  This is a British doctor's memoir about working for two years in Sierra Leone. It looks very good and I can think of a couple of people who would like to get a copy of this one for Christmas.



Fish with What You Find by Jim Gilsdorf. This is a collection of articles about fly fishing and fly tying. I do neither, but it still appeals to me, maybe because of the adorable illustrations.



Trespass by Rose Tremain. This is a LibraryThing Early Reviewer book.  Apparently I have caught up enough on my list to get more books.



The New Woman by Jon Hassler.  This is my first (and maybe only) book I received as part of a book chain letter I sent out about two months ago.



Morte D'Urban by J. F. Powers.  This won the National Book Award. 



Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. This won the Pulitzer Prize.



The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey. I like the whole idea of these Soho Crimes international mysteries. This one is set in England.



Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby.  Because I am on a Hornby kick these days.



61 Hours by Lee Child.  Because I am on a Jack Reacher kick these days.

A Literacy Award

My thanks go to the talented Michele Emrath of Southern City Mysteries for passing on the "I'm a Literacy Builder" award to me. Deanna of The Other Side of Deanna created the award to recognize International Literacy Day and help promote literacy efforts around the globe. Here is a link to programs supported by the UN Literacy program.

Here are the rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Display the award logo on your blog site.
3. Tell us five of your favorite words and why you like them, (add as many as you like).
4. Pass the award on to three bloggers you feel are excellent literacy builders, and link to their sites – Yes, only three!
5. Contact the bloggers you’ve chosen and let them know about the award.

My words:

1. squirrelly: This is a great word because it exactly captures someone getting agitated and fidgety like a squirrel.

2. lunatic: I like the sound of lunatic and the old-fashioned idea that the moon caused insanity.

3. dipsomaniac: This is one of my all-time favorite words. It packs so much more punch than the more prosaic "alcoholic" and is more flexible in its variations -- dipsomaniacal, dipsomania, etc.

4. derelict:  Again, I like the sound of this word. Apparently, words with clicky sounds in them appeal to my inner ear. This is such a descriptive word, like "decrepit," although this one can be used as an adjective to describe a building or a noun to describe a person.

5. brigand:  Although there is not much opportunity to use this word, I like it and its bad guy kin, bandit and buccaneer.

6. scurrilous: This is one of those words that sounds great and proves that the English language can be infinitely precise.  It means to be vulgar or obscene and evil. I wonder what word describes someone who is refined or inoffensive but evil?

Passing it on to:

Paperback Fool
100 Books. 100 Journeys.
chaotic compendiums

Review of the Day: The Truth About Obamacare

In The Truth About Obamacare, Sally C. Pipes examines the details of the new health care law and tries to show what its implementation will mean for individuals, doctors, and the country. She argues that, contrary to supporters’ promises, the new program will make health care more expensive, limit options, lead to deteriorating medical care, and weaken America’s already frail economy.

Pipes is the president of the Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank based in San Francisco. In the debate over health care, she has definitely chosen her side, championing market-based reforms such as allowing the interstate purchase of health insurance and revising the tax code to encourage individually-purchased, instead of employer-provided, insurance. But Pipes is no ranting demagogue. She bases her arguments on the language of the bill and lots of research rather than emotional rhetoric.

Pipes's prognosis of health care under the new rules is grim.  However, she closes the book with an optimistic section on alternate proposals for solving America's health care problems.  She argues for repealing the recently-enacted statute and then focusing federal policy on encouraging increased individual purchase of health insurance, expanding Health Savings Accounts, and establishing a voucher system for the uninsured who cannot afford insurance and who do not already qualify for existing government programs.

The book is aimed at a general audience and, although dependent on some pretty dry statistics and detailed research, is readable and accessible. Those opposed to the new health care laws will definitely want to bone up on the subject with Pipes’s book. Proponents also may want to read the book to better understand some of the rational arguments against the new system.

OTHER REVIEWS

David Bandow's review from the Washington Times

Here is my review of The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen's Guide, also by Sally Pipes

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

Author of the Day: Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow (1915 to 2005) may have been born in Canada, but he was an American treasure. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976. He also won the Pulitzer Prize and won the National Book Award three times.

Bellow is a real favorite of mine. Henderson the Rain King didn't do anything for me, but I think Hertzog and Humbolt's Gift are wonderful.

Those I have read are in red; those currently on my TBR shelf are in blue. I plan to read them all eventually. I may have to re-read More Die of Heartbreak because I read it in high school and don't remember it.

Dangling Man (1944)

The Victim (1947)

The Adventures of Augie March (1953) (National winner; reviewed here)

Seize the Day (1956)

Henderson the Rain King (1959)

Herzog (1964) (National winner)

Mosby's Memoirs (1968) (short stories)

Mr. Sammler's Planet (1970) (National winner; reviewed here)

Humboldt's Gift (1975) (Pulitzer winner; reviewed here)

To Jerusalem and Back (1976) (memoir)

The Dean's December (1982)

Him with His Foot in His Mouth (1984) (short stories)

More Die of Heartbreak (1987)

A Theft (1989) (novella)

The Bellarosa Connection (1989)

Something to Remember Me By: Three Tales (1991) (short stories)

It All Adds Up (1994) (essays)

The Actual (1997) (novella)

Ravelstein (2000)

Collected Stories (2001)  (short stories)

OTHERS READING SAUL BELLOW'S BOOKS

If you would like links to you posts about Saul Bellow or reviews of Bellow's books listed here, please leave a comment with a link to your post(s) and I will add it.

NOTES

Last updated October 4, 2012.

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Case Has Altered

"Dorcas hated the fens."

-- The Case Has Altered by Martha Grimes.

That is, she hated the low, swampy wetlands of Lincolnshire. Understandable. Especially as she was about to walk across them at 11:30 at night, in pumps.

This is the 14th book in Grimes's 22-book series featuring Scotland Yard detective Richard Jury. I've never read any of her books before. While I am usually one to read a series in order, I will occasionally take a flyer on a new series by jumping in out of order with one of the books I picked up along the way.

So far, I have a mixed reaction to this one. I get a little sense that Grimes, who is American, is trying to out-English the English, with place names and characters that are just a bit over the top.

And maybe the point is more to read the series and get to like the recurring characters and their personal story lines, but the actual mystery solving seems a little thin. I'm three quarters of the way through and there's been only rehashing of the same circumstantial evidence on the one hand and, on the other, Jury sticking to the idea that his friend didn't commit the murders because he knows her.  There is a lot of repetition and not much forward progress.

I'd like to hear from fans of the series. Am I missing something?

Reading on the Road

This week's Booking Through Thursday question asks:

When you travel, how many books do you bring with you?
Has this changed since the arrival of ebooks?

The short answer is, "too many." And that hasn't changed a bit with ebooks, since I haven't jumped on that bandwagon. Although now that I listen to audiobooks on my iPod, my book anxiety when traveling has eased somewhat. With over 70 books loaded up, I know I won't run out.

I recently went on vacation, knowing I had limited space, knowing I would undoubtedly find books during my trip that I wanted to bring back, and knowing I wouldn't have lots of time to read -- and I still brought six books for the 11-day trip:

Echoes by Maeve Binchy
Proof by Dick Francis
The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux
The Case Has Altered by Martha Grimes
Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd
Enquiry by Dick Francis

I did race through Echoes and Proof, but got bogged down in The Mosquito Coast. It was an incredibly good book and, although exciting, not one to read lightly. I only made it halfway through The Case Has Altered. So it is clear that I overpacked the books.

The problem was compounded by gathering books as I went. Some I picked up on the take one/leave one shelves of our B&Bs, leaving the Binchey and Francis in return. But we also -- foreseeably -- went to a couple of used book stores and even stopped at a book sale at a cottage-cute little library in an Adirondack hamlet.  I ended up bringing seven books home with me, which will show up in next week's Mailbox Monday list.

How about you? I am interested to know what other people answer.

Review of the Day: Lunatic Express

Lunatic Express: Discovering the World . . . via Its Most Dangerous Buses, Boats, Trains, and Planes by Carl Hoffman.  (This review was first published here, in the Internet Review of Books.)


Carl Hoffman is a travel junkie. He hits the road like some men hit the bottle. His career as a journalist and author had taken him to the far edges of the world, writing about life aboard a chemical tanker in the Atlantic, flying missionaries in New Guinea, reindeer herders in Siberia, and driving the Baja 1000.

Hoffman came to crave these adventures the way any addict craves his drug of choice. As he describes it:

Home became even more strange to return to. The two lives were jarring[,] but I didn’t tell anyone how difficult it was becoming to straddle these two worlds. I was ever more open to the world and ever more closed at home . . . until the time that I looked forward to most was walking down that Jetway, rather than coming home.

Finally, what looked like a typical mid-life crisis blossomed into full-on travel withdrawals -- Hoffman became physically ill, but with no diagnosable malady. After a year of feeling as if he had “a simmering flu,” he was finally cured by spending two months on a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, writing about the search for Amelia Earhart.

Not surprisingly, Hoffman’s travel jones took a toll on his marriage. Back from the Earhart assignment, now separated from his wife, he was “conscious for the first time of a deep unhappiness, profoundly disconnected from the life I’d thought unshakable.” He decided that a real blowout of a travel bender was the answer to his problems, and the idea for The Lunatic Express was born. Hoffman wanted to travel around the world using only the most perilous means of public transportation -- the statistically most dangerous airlines, overcrowded ferries, treacherous buses, and perilous trains -- and write a book about his journey.

He sought to experience travel not as a holiday but as the necessary evil that most of the people in the world experienced.  Hearkening back to the French roots of the word travel, he described this necessary evil as “a simple daily act of moving from one place to another on the cheapest conveyance possible” but “still a punishing, unpredictable, and sometimes deadly work of travail. ” Hoffman spent five months traveling from his home in Washington, D.C., on a route that took him to Havana, then to South America, Africa, Indonesia, India, Afghanistan, China, Mongolia, and Russia, before a final leg on a Greyhound bus from Los Angeles back to home.

Each chapter opens with a snippet of a news story about a travel disaster -- airplanes crashing into mountains, ferries sinking, buses skidding off cliffs -- elated to the place or particular conveyance featured in that section of the book. Obviously, Hoffman survived to write the book, but the very real risks associated with his trek make his descriptions even more riveting. It is interesting enough to read about a rickety, overcrowded bus driving overnight through the Andes. But the tale becomes harrowing after reading of other buses along that route that plunged into 1,600-foot-deep gorges, killing everyone on board.

Hoffman’s clear, journalistic style is immediately engaging, depending as it does on descriptive details instead of purple metaphor. Readers feel the muggy heat of the Amazon; the smoky grit of the Indian train; the bone-jarring jolt of a propane truck driving off-road across the Mongolian steppe; and every rock hard, joint-numbing, third-class seat, bench, platform, and floor Hoffman tried to sleep on. Experiencing Hoffman’s travels second-hand will be uncomfortable adventure enough for most people.

The book concentrates on transport, as Hoffman rushes from train station to taxi to ferry dock to auto rickshaw to bus terminal. But his descriptions of the world beyond this series of conveyances are some of the best parts, including stories of his visits to a Brazilian gold mining barge, a bird market in Kabul, and this “Dickensian” auto garage in Nairobi:

Block after block of mud passageways littered with garbage and upended vehicles and men sleeping on piles of tires and the sparks of welders and the smell of smoke and oil and diesel and Bondo. It was one lane wide, with two-way traffic. It was hot and glaring, a place of burning fires and braziers and hammering and music, and the mud was so dark, so black, so viscous, it was like oil. It was the worst and the most compelling place I had ever seen.

Hoffman would have done better had he stuck to writing about the world outside his bus windows and spent less time gazing at his own navel. No matter how compelling his personal quest seemed to him, whether he was going to patch things up with his wife and learn to be content at home or continue roaming the world in search of distracting escapades is the sort of banal, existential conflict that is only interesting to the person conflicted.

Trying to make his personal angst relevant to the larger story only made things worse. The more Hoffman agonized over his feelings of isolation, his inability to bond with his friends, and his marginalization of his family, the more his anxieties seemed petty in comparison to the daily efforts of the people he traveled with. His conclusion -- that “I had to forgive myself and start again” -- is a particularly awkward way to wind up a book supposedly about the millions of people who face danger daily and who do not have the luxury of a fresh start.

But when Hoffman isn’t fretting about himself, The Lunatic Express is a terrific ride.

Teaser Tuesday

"Drainy was a bug-eyed boy with a shaven head and spaces between his teeth.  He had a collection of little cars and toy bikes made out of coathanger wire."

-- The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux.


This book is on the Anthony Burgess list of Top 99 novels, and it won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

Mailbox Monday

She Reads and Reads is hosting Mailbox Monday this month. Thanks Avis!

We got a couple of coffee table books this week. One belongs to my husband, one is mine. It's pretty easy to guess which is which. 

World War II: The Definitive Visual History by Dorling Kindersley




Timberline Lodge: A Love Story, edited by Julie Rose

Opening Sentence of the Day: Brazzaville Beach

"I never really warmed to Clovis -- he was far too stupid to inspire real affection -- but he always claimed a corner of my heart, largely, I suppose, because of the way he instinctively and unconsciously cupped his genitals whenever he was alarmed or nervous."

-- Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd.

My! That one got my attention.

This won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. William Boyd is one of my favorites.

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Mosquito Coast

"We drove past Tiny Polski's mansion house to the main road, and then the five miles into Northampton, Father talking the whole way about savages and the awfulness of America -- how it got turned into a dope-taking, door-locking, ulcerated danger zone of rabid scavengers and criminal millionaires and moral sneaks."

-- The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux.

Now that's some kind of opening sentence!

This book is on the Anthony Burgess list of Top 99 novels, and it won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

State of the Blog, Part Three: The Challenges

It's fall and time for another quarterly blog progress report. This is a three part assessment. Part One looked at my book lists. Part Two had to do with my favorite authors. This Part Three deals with my challenges.

I am hosting two "Battle of the Prizes" challenges this year and working on several others.  All are listed in the right-hand column. I've finished one challenges, added one, and am lagging behind on others. I have to bust a book move to get this task wrapped up by the deadlines.

CHALLENGES HOSTED BY ROSE CITY READER

Battle of the Prizes: American Version

National Book Award winners v. Pulitzer Prize winners, rules here. There is still time to sign up! The challenge doesn't end until January 31, 2011.

I am ashamed to say that I haven't read any of my three books yet. However, chaotic compendiums, 100 Books. 100 Journeys, J.G. at Hotchpot Cafe, and Musings are already finished.

Books read so far: zero (how shameful!)

Books I'm going to read for this challenge: 3

1. Them by Joyce Carol Oates for my National winner;
2. Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler for my Pulitzer winner; and
3. The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter for my double dipper choice.

Battle of the Prizes: British Version

Man Booker Prize v. James Tait Black Memorial Prize, rules here. Again, there is still time to sign up!This one doesn't end until January 31, 2011 either.

Books read so far: one (The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry for my James Tait Black winner; reviewed here) 

Books I'm going to read for this challenge: 2 more

1. The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch for my Booker winner; and
2. G by John Berger for my double dipper choice. 

CHALLENGES I AM PARTICIPATING IN

Bibliophilic Books Challenge



A challenge to read books about books. The home page is here.

I signed 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.

Books read so far: 5

1. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby (reviewed here);
2. The Flaneur: A Stroll Through the Paradoxes of Paris by Edmund White (reviewed here);
3. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman (reviewed here);
4. A Year in the World by Frances Mayes (reviewed here); 
5. Housekeeping vs. the Dirt by Nick Hornby (not reviewed yet).

Books I may read for this challenge (so many to chose from):

1. Shakespeare Wrote for Money by Nick Hornby; 
2. Rereadings: Seventeen Writers Revisit Books They Love, edited by Anne Fadiman; 
3. 99 Novels by Anthony Burgess;
4. The Well-Educated Mind by Wise S. Bauer;
5. How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom;
6. Studies in Classic American Literature by D. H. Lawrence;
7. The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald;
8. The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte; 
9. Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon;
10. At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries by Estelle Ellis;
11. The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World by Guillaume de Laubier;
12. Literary Essays by Mark Twain;
13. Speak Memory by Vladimir Nobokov;
14. Saul Bellow: A Biography of the Imagination by Ruth Miller;
15. Oscar Wilde: A Certain Genius by Barbara Belford;
16. Capote by Gerald Clarke;
17. Greene on Capri: A Memoir by Shirley Hazzard; and
18. Walks in Hemingway's Paris: A Guide To Paris For The Literary Traveler by Noel Fitch

Birth Year Reading Challenge 

This challenge is to read one or more books published in the year you were born, hosted by Hotchpot Cafe. My main post for this challenge is here.

Books read so far: two

1. Indian Summer by John Knowles (reviewed here),
2. The Valley of the Dolls by Jaqueline Susann (reviewed here)

Book Awards Challenge

The challenge involves reading ten books that won ten different prizes by November 1, 2010. The home page is here. Many of my picks overlap with other challenges, but I better get hopping.

Books read so far: 5

1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (National Book Critics Circle winner;
2. The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips (Discover Award winner; reviewed here);
3. Citizen Vince by Jess Walter (Edgar winner; reviewed here);
4. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (Costa winner; reviewed here); and
5. Small Island by Andrea Levy (Orange winner, reviewed here). 

Books I may read for this challenge:

1. Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler (Pulitzer winner);
2. Them by Joyce Carol Oates (National winner);
3. The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch (Booker winner);
4. G by John Berger (James Tait Black winner);
5. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (Nobel winner); and
6. Seaview by Toby Olson (PEN/Faulkner winner).

Chunkster Challenge

I signed up for the "Mor-book-ly Obese" level, meaning I will read six 450+-page books (or three 750+-pagers). Caribousmom hosts this challenge.

Books read so far: one (Three Loves by A. J. Cronin; reviewed here). Again, I better get those pages turning! I am behind on this challenge. I've tackled several big books this year, including the monumental Count of Monte Cristo, but I listened to the audiobooks. Those count in terms of a reading "life list" but not for this challenge, which specifically excludes audio books.

Books I may read for this challenge: 

1. Them by Joyce Carol Oates (which I am reading for my Battle of the Prizes: American Version challenge); 
2. The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch (which I am reading for my Battle of the Prizes: British Version challenge);
3. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (on the Radcliffe list);
4. Echoes by Maeve Binckey; and
5. one more that I haven't come up with yet because I was thinking of using Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell, but then realized it is a book of essays and that does not count.

100+ Challenge

I signed up for this because I am pretty sure I'll read more than 100 books this year. But I do not have my own post for it. The challenge home page is here.

I keep a book cover list of the books I've read this year in the right-hand column of this blog, although books don't show up over there if they are missing a cover picture on my LibraryThing library. I am up to 87 books so far this year if I didn't forget something. That happens.


Typically British Challenge (FINISHED)



I signed up at the "Cream Crackered" level to read eight "Typically British" novels. I blew through all eight pretty quickly, since probably half of the books I read qualify. The challenge home page is here.

So this is the first challenge I have completed this year. Jolly good!

Books read so far: 8

1. One Fat Englishman by Kingsley Amis (reviewed here);
2. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (finished, not reviewed);
3. The New Confessions by William Boyd (reviewed here);
4. Three Loves by A. J. Cronin (reviewed here);
5. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster (reviewed here);
6. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (reviewed here);
7. Everyday Drinking: The Distilled Kingsley Amis by Kinglsey Amis (reviewed here); and
8. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (reviewed here).

Daphne du Maurier Challenge

This Challenge is hosted by Chris at book-a-rama. I was late to this challenge and only signed up for it a few weeks ago. But it goes through April 19, 2011, so I have plenty of time.


I signing up for the "Dreaming of Manderley" category, to read three novels. Since I am still new to du Maurier, I'll am starting with the greatest hits.

Books read so far: one: Rebecca (reviewed here)

Books I plan to read:

1. The Flight of the Falcon; and
2. My Cousin Rachel.

Teaser Tuesday Trifecta

Because I seem to be reading books faster than Tuesdays come around, I have another triple teaser this week, from a diverse batch of books. They are all non-fiction, but that's about the only thing they have in common.

In this place and time, facing the world and my ignorance of it, everything has become sharper.  When I look at Maung, I see someone who has given himself over, completely, to a cause bigger than his one life.

-- Burmese Lessons: A True Love Story  is Karen Connelly (reviewed here)

Congress should change the federal tax code so that individuals and families can deduct health care [insurance] premiums from their taxes.

Companies, but not their workers, can write off the cost of coverage.

-- The Truth About Obamacare by Sally C. Pipes

On my right, the horseman eyed my breakfast. having finished his own.  Maybe he was just looking for a way to be friendly.

-- from "A Stranger in Town" in Another Way the River Has: Taut True Tales from the Northwest by Robin Cody (published by OSU Press).

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

Mailbox Monday

I recently heard Kathie England from Time for Success talk about simple time-management techniques. One that I liked in particular was using a minute timer to either set a limit for unimportant but tempting tasks like reading email, or to set a required amount of time to concentrate on an important project.

So I set off for Kitchen Kaboodle to buy a minute timer for my office.  But on the way, I stopped in at my neighborhood bookstore, Broadway Books, where I dawdled for an hour and walked out with a stack of books for Mailbox Monday. 

That's great for my reading pleasure, but what does it tell me about my time management skills?

My Lives: An Autobiography by Edmund White (because I recently read and enjoyed The Flaneur, reviewed here, for the Bibliophilic Books Challenge)



A Writer's House in Wales by Jan Morris (because her books on Venice and Oxford are favorites of mine)



The Snapper by Roddy Doyle (because I always mean to read more of his books besides Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha)



Blood From a Stone by Donna Leon (because I read one of her Venice mysteries, Death at la Fenice, and I want to read the rest of the series)

State of the Blog, Part Two: The Authors

Part of being a compulsive "list" reader is keeping track of the progress I make on my many lists. I try to do a comprehensive assessment every quarter.  This fall progress review is the most important to me since I still have time to accomplish some reading goals before the end of the year.

This is a three-part assessment. This second part looks at my author lists (in the right-side column). Part One reviewed my reading lists.  Part Three, coming soon, will deal with the challenges I joined this year.

So far this year, I have read 19 books by my listed authors. I'd like to get up to 24 by the end of the year -- and average of two a month seems pretty good.

THE AUTHORS

Kingsley Amis
Books read so far: 8/48
Books read in 2010: four (or two, depending how you count compilations):

1. One Fat Englishman (reviewed here); and
2. Everyday Drinking: The Distilled Kingsley Amis (reviewed here), which includes the complete, previously published volumes:
• On Drink;
• Every Day Drinking; and 
• How's Your Glass

Books I hope to read in 2010: probably no more
Books on my TBR shelf: 5

Kate Atkinson
Books read so far: 2/8
Books read in 2010: one (Case Histories, for the Typically British Challenge)
Books I hope to read in 2010: 2

• One Good Turn
• When Will There be Good News?

Books on my TBR shelf: 2

Cara Black
Books read so far: 2/9
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: one, Murder in Belleville
Books on my TBR shelf: one

William Boyd

Books read so far: 3/16
Books read in 2010: one (The New Confessions, reviewed here)
Books I hope to read in 2010: one more (Brazzaville Beach)
Books on my TBR shelf: 4

James Lee Burke
Books read so far: 13/17 (Dave Robicheaux series only)
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: maybe none
Books on my TBR shelf: 3

Lee Child
Books read so far: 13/14
Books read in 2010: one (Gone Tomorrow)
Books I hope to read in 2010: one more (61 Hours)
Books on my TBR shelf: one

A. J. Cronin

Books read so far: 1/25
Books read in 2010: one (Three Loves, reviewed here)
Books I hope to read in 2010: that may be it for this year
Books on my TBR shelf: 5

M. F. K. Fisher
Books read so far: 4/27
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: maybe one
Books on my TBR shelf: 4

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Books read so far: 8/13
Books read in 2010: 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 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: one (The Bookshop, for the Bibliophilic Books Challenge)
Books on my TBR shelf: 4

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

Dick Francis
Books read so far: 4/47
Books read in 2010: two

1. Second Wind (reviewed here); and
2. Under Orders.

Books I hope to read in 2010: 2 more

1. Proof
2. Shattered

Books on my TBR shelf: 4

Jim Harrison
Books read so far: 20/20 (prose only)
Books read in 2010: one (Farmer's Daughter, reviewed here)
Books I hope to read in 2010: no more
Books on my TBR shelf: zero

Nick Hornby
Books read so far: 5/11
Books read in 2010: 3

1. The Polysyllabic Spree (reviewed here)
2. Housekeeping vs. the Dirt
3. Juliet, Naked (reviewed here)

Books I hope to read in 2010: one more (Shakespeare Wrote for Money)
Books on my TBR shelf: 3

John Lescroart
Books read so far: 16/17 (Dismus Hardy series and spin offs)
Books read in 2010: zero
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 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: one (Then She Found Me)
Books on my TBR shelf: 2

David Lodge
Books read so far: 3/15 (fiction only)
Books read in 2010: one (Deaf Sentence,reviewed here)
Books I hope to read in 2010: maybe one more, but I don't know which one
Books on my TBR shelf: 8

Ian McEwan
Books read so far: 5/13
Books read in 2010: zero
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 2010: one (Angler Management, reviewed here)
Books I hope to read in 2010: no more

Books on my TBR shelf: zero

Anthony Powell
Books read so far: 14/32
Books read in 2010: one (Venusberg, reviewed here)
Books I hope to read in 2010: no more
Books on my TBR shelf: none

Philip Roth
Books read so far: 7/30
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: at least one, but I haven't decided which one
Books on my TBR shelf: 11

Martin Cruz Smith
Books read so far: 6/6 (Arkady Renko series only)
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: zero, unless I get my hands on Three Stations
Books on my TBR shelf: zero

Julia Spencer-Fleming
Books read so far: 5/7
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: one (I Shall Not Want)
Books on my TBR shelf: zero

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

Anne Tyler
Books read so far: 4/18
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: one (Breathing Lessons, for my Pulitzer pick for the Battle of the Prizes challenge)
Books on my TBR shelf: 5

John Updike
Books read so far: 10/26
Books read in 2010: 2

1. The Witches of Eastwick
2. The Widows of Eastwick

Books I hope to read in 2010: no more
Books on my TBR shelf: 10

Andrea U'ren
Books read so far: zero/2
Books read in 2010: 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 2010: 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: 2

State of the Blog, Part One: The Lists

I love fall, with that back-to-school snap in the air that always fills me with energy.  I am invigorated by autumn and always feel like I can accomplish a thousand things before the end of the year.  With that in mind, let's see how much I've accomplished so far.

This is the first of my quarterly blog assessment posts.  This first part addresses the book lists. Part Two, coming soon, will take a look at the author lists.  Part Three will deal with the challenges I joined 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.

So far in 2010, I have read a total of 28 books from my various book lists. That is better progress than I would have guessed, but I am still daunted by the number of books on my TBR shelves. I should spend more time reading and less time playing with my lists.

THE LISTS


1899 Top 100
Books read so far: 7/100
Books read in 2010: one, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
Books I hope to read in 2010: one more, either:

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

Books on my TBR shelf: 16

All-TIME Top 100
Books read so far: 75 and 2/3 of 100
Books read in 2010: 2 and 1/3

1. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
2. Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion (reviewed here)
3. The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien (one-third of The Lord of the Rings)
   

Books I hope to read in 2010: no more
Books on my TBR shelf: 14

Anthony Burgess
Books read so far: 28/99
Books read in 2010: 2

1. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (reviewed here)
2. Titus Groan by Mervin Peake (reviewed here)

Books I hope to read in 2010: one more (The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux)
Books on my TBR shelf: 20

BBC's Big Read
Books read so far: 57 and 2/3 of 100
Books read in 2010: 5 and 1/3 (wow!)

1. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
2. Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake (reviewed here)
3. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (reviewed here)
4. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
5. The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien (one-third of The Lord of the Rings)
6. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (reviewed here)

Books I hope to read in 2010: no more, but I'm on a roll, so who knows
Books on my TBR shelf: 7

Book Club
Books read so far: 18/18
Books read in 2010: 3

1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
2. The Red Tent  by Anita Diamant
3. Small Island by Andrea Levy (reviewed here)

Books I hope to read in 2010: one more (but I don't yet know what it will be)
Books on my TBR shelf: none

College Board
Books read so far: 76/101
Books read in 2010: one (Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney)
Books I hope to read in 2010: one more (The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath)
Books on my TBR shelf: 18

Costa Book of the Year
Books read so far: 6/24
Books read in 2010: 3

1. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
2. Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney 
3. Small Island by Andrea Levy  (reviewed here)

Books I hope to read in 2010: no more
Books on my TBR shelf: one

Easton Press
Books read so far: 57/100
Books read in 2010: 2

1. The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
2. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas 

Books I hope to read in 2010: no more
Books on my TBR shelf: 32

Edgar Award
Books read so far: 8/56
Books read in 2010: 3

1. New Orleans Mourning by Julie Smith
2. Citizen Vince by Jess Walter (reviewed here) 
3. Down River by John Hart

Books I hope to read in 2010: no more, I don't think
Books on my TBR shelf: 4

Erica Jong
Books read so far: 32/100
Books read in 2010: 3

1. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbon (reviewed here)
2. Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion (reviewed here) 
3. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (reviewed here)

Books I hope to read in 2010: 3 more, if I'm lucky

1. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
   
2. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
3. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Books on my TBR shelf: 22

French Connection
Books read so far: 46/112 (and counting -- there are more books to add to the list)
Books read in 2010: 4

1. The Flaneur: A Stroll Through the Paradoxes of Paris by Edmund White (reviewed here) 
2. L'Affaire by Diane Johnson
3. My Life in France by Julia Child (reviewed here)
4. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas  

Books I hope to read in 2010: one more (The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
Books on my TBR shelf: 25

Guilt List

Books read so far: I don't keep track, because I delete them after I read them
Books read in 2010: same
Books I hope to read in 2010: 13 more (I'll be busy)

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. Soldiers in Hiding by Richard Wiley
5. Jumptown: The Golden Years of Portland Jazz 1942-1957 by Robert Dietsche
6. Another Way the River Has: Taut True Tales from the Northwest by Robin Cody   
7. An Architectural Guidebook to Portland by Bart King 
8. The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees
9. A Geography of Secrets by Fredrick Reuss  
10. To the Woods: Sinking Roots, Living Lightly, and Finding True Home by Evelyn Searle Hess 
11. 42 States of Grace by Maureen Hovenkotter

Books on my TBR shelf: 11

James Tait Black Memorial Prize
Books read so far: 8/96
Books read in 2010: one (The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry; for my Battle of the Prizes, British Version challenge)
Books I hope to read in 2010: 3

1. G by John Berger; also for my Battle of the Prizes, British Version challenge
2. Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd
3. The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux

Books on my TBR shelf: 11


LT Early Reviewers
Books read so far: 27/30
Books read in 2010: 8

1. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (reviewed here)
2. Maimonides: and the Biblical Prophets by Israel Drazin
3. Homer and Langley by E. L. Doctorow (reviewed here)
4. The Wall in My Head: Words and Images from the Fall of the Iron Curtain, published by Words Without Borders Anthologies (reviewed here)
5. Short Stories, Book I by Anton Chekhov (reviewed here)
6. A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks (reviewed here) 
7. Burmese Lessons: A True Love Story by Karen Connelly (reviewed here)
8. Peaceful Places, Los Angeles by Laura Randall (reviewed here)
   

Books I hope to read in 2010: 2 more

1. The New York Stories by Elizabeth Hardwick
2. Beautiful Maria of My Soul by Oscar Hijuelos 

Books on my TBR shelf: 2

Man Booker Prize
Books read so far: 21/43
Books read in 2010: one (The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga)
Books I hope to read in 2010: 2 more (for my Battle of the Prizes, British Version challenge)

1. G by John Berger 
2. The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch

Books on my TBR shelf: 15

MLA's 30
Books read so far: 22/30
Books read in 2010: 1 and 1/3

1. (The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
2.  The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien (one-third of The Lord of the Rings)

Books I hope to read in 2010: no more
Books on my TBR shelf: 4

Modern Library
Books read so far: all of them!
Books read in 2010: 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: 26/64
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to Read in 2010: 2 (for the Battle of the Prizes, American Version challenge)

1. Them by Joyce Carol Oates
2. The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter

Books on my TBR shelf: 13

NBCC Award
Books read so far: 16/34
Books read in 2010: one (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz)
Books I hope to read in 2010: one more (Counterlife by Philip Roth)
Books on my TBR shelf: 11

Nobel Laureates
Authors read so far: 20/106
Books read in 2010: one (Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney)
Books I hope to read in 2010: one more (Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset)
Books on my TBR shelf: 32 (but most by authors already read)

Observer's Top 100
Books read so far: 59/100
Books read in 2010: 3 and 1/3

1. Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
2. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler 
3. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
4. The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien (one-third of The Lord of the Rings)

Books I hope to read in 2010: no more
Books on my TBR shelf: 18

Orange Prize
Books read so far: 3/14
Books read in 2010: 2
Books I hope to read in 2010:

1. Small Island by Andrea Levy (reviewed here)
2. The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville (reviewed here)

Books on my TBR shelf: 4

Oregon Books
Books read so far: 3/20
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: maybe none
Books on my TBR shelf: 2

PEN/Faulkner

Books read so far: 7/30
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: 2

1. Soldiers in Hiding by Richard Wiley (also on my Guilt List)
2. Seaview by Toby Olson

Books on my TBR shelf: 12

Pulitzer Prize
Books read so far: 40/85
Books read in 2010: one (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz)
Books I hope to read in 2010: at least 2 (for the Battle of the Prizes Challenge) 

1. The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter
2. Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler

Books on my TBR shelf: 19

Radcliffe's Top 100
Books read so far: 88/100
Books read in 2010: 4 and 1/3

1. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster (reviewed here)
2. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
3. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (reviewed here)  
4. The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien (one-third of The Lord of the Rings) 
5. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (reviewed here) 

Books I hope to read in 2010: 2

1. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
2. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein

Books on my TBR shelf: 8

RCR Top 10
Books read so far: 10/10 (it's my list)
Books read in 2010: one (Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbon; reviewed  here)
Books I hope to Read in 2010: probably none -- one change this year is a big step already
Books on my TBR shelf: who knows?

Well-Stocked Bookcase
Books read so far: 35/60
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to Read in 2010: 2

1. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
2. Them by Joyce Carol Oates

Books on my TBR shelf: 13