Teaser Tuesday: Side Trips from Cowboy

When the strings start popping and the package we have wrapped in our denial and delusions starts to come undone and chaos begins to spread as it does on sinking ships and airplanes falling out of the sky, even the most atheistic person on board says, "Oh, God!" And so did I.

-- Side Trips from Cowboy: Addiction, Recovery and the Western American Myth, by Sandy Compton. This is a book of personal essays that follow the author on his adventures through the Mountain States and his own 12 steps. It's good.

Compton is the author of the novel, Archer MacClehan & the Hungry Now, sort of a contemporary Western adventure, and Jason's Passage: From the Blascomb Family Chronicles, a collection of three related short stories.

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

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

Alyce at At Home With Books is hosting in January.  Please stop by her wonderful blog!

I got a stack of books last week:

Wild in the City: Exploring the Intertwine: The Portland-Vancouver Region's Network of Parks, Trails, and Natural Areas by Michael C. Houck and M. J. Cody (a good inspiration to get out there and do some hiking; from OSU Press)



Light on the Devils: Coming of Age on the Klamath by Louise Wagenknecht (from OSU Press and a good pick for the Memorable Memoirs challenge)



Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield (thanks go to Amused By Books because I won this in her December giveaway)



I got a stack of books from Second Glance Books to fill in a couple Santa forgot to bring:

Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes (a new to me author; this is the first in his Inspector Appleby series and perfect for the Vintage Mystery challenge)



A Comedy of Terrors by Michael Innes (the 6th Appleby mystery)



Arthur & George by Julian Barnes



My Life As a Man by Philip Roth



She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith (in a nice, but very plain, boxed edition with illustrations; this will be my "classic play" choice for the Back to the Classics challenge; it is on the Easton Press Greatest 100 list)

Review: High Stakes

 

High Stakes is a particularly good Dick Francis book, which says a lot, since they are all first-rate. It follows the tried and true Francis formula of a hero who is successful in a particular profession, has a connection with horse racing, and gets drawn in to solve a crime.

In this case, Steven Scott is the inventor of a popular line of mechanical children's toys who used his wealth to buy racehorses. But Scott's lack of hands-on involvement makes him a sitting duck for a shady trainer working a con on gullible owners.

High Stakes is more of a caper than Francis's usual, more straightforward who-done-it. Scott figures out the con early on and puts together his own, elaborate sting to catch the bad guys. This involves recruiting a mishmash team of amateurs, all with particular skills or connections, a horse-buying trip to Florida, and a love affair with a firecracker American gal.

It's no spoiler to say that the good guys prevail and the bad guys get their comeuppance. But, like always, it’s a great ride.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this or any other Dick Francis book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

This is my first book for the European Reading Challenge and counts as my UK choice.  What country will I visit next? Probably Italy, when I participate in the Venice in February Challenge.

2012 Challenge: What's in a Name?

 

INCOMPLETE

This is my first year to sign up for the popular What's in a Name Challenge, now hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Click the button or the link for more details and to sign up.

Here's How It Works

Between January 1 and December 31, 2012, read one book in each of the following categories:

• A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title

• A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title

• A book with a creepy crawly in the title

• A book with a type of house in the title

• A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title

• A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title

My Books

Here are some possibilities from my TBR shelves.  Those I finished are in red, with links to reviews (hopefully).

TOPOGRAPHICAL:

• Swan Peak by James Lee Burke (reviewed here)
• Nickel Mountain by John Gardner

SKY:

• The Stars Look Down by A. J. Cronin
• Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane
• Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow (reviewed here)

CREEPY CRAWLY:

• The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth
• Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville

HOUSE:

• Out of the Shelter by David Lodge
• The Gate House by Nelson DeMille
• Home Truths by David Lodge (reviewed here)

CARRIED:

• The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie
• The Black Book by Ian Rankin
  
• The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (reviewed here)

CALENDAR:

• The Year of the French by Thomas Flanagan
• A Month of Sundays by John Updike (reviewed here)

NOTE

Last updated on December 27, 2012. I came close to finishing, but never got around to a Creepy Crawly book.

State of the Blog: Part Two, the Authors

Four times a year, I do a review of the books I've read so far.  In January, that review covers all the books I read the last calendar year.

This is the second of my quarterly blog assessment posts.  This one takes a look at my author lists over in the right-hand column. The first part addressed my lists. Part Three will deal with the challenges I joined this year.

NOTE: If you are systematically reading the books of any of these authors, please leave a comment here or on the post for the author's list (click on the title below or in the right-hand column) and leave a link to any related post. I will add the links on the author's list post.

I recently split my author list into two parts: General favorites and Mystery favorites.  See here for discussion.

In 2011, I read 40 books by my favorite authors.  For the list of all 116 books I read in 2011, go here.

GENERAL FAVORITES

Kingsley Amis

• The Crime of the Century
• The Anti-Death League(reviewed here; a Burgess favorite; read for the Birth Year Reading Challenge.

Maeve Binchy

• Evening Class (1996)

William Boyd

• Brazzaville Beach (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, challenge);
• Nat Tate: An American Artist 1928-1960 (reviewed here) 

Nick Hornby

• Shakespeare Wrote for Money

Elinor Lipman

• Then She Found Me

David Lodge 

• Therapy (reviewed here)

Ian McEwan

• Solar

Philip Roth

• The Human Stain (reviewed here)

C. P. Snow

• George Passant (originally titled Strangers and Brothers) (reviewed here)

Anne Tyler

• Breathing Lessons (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version challenge)

John Updike

• Beck: A Book (reviewed here)

P. G. Wodehouse

• The Indiscretions of Archie; 
• The Girl on the Boat

MYSTERY FAVORITES

Kate Atkinson

• When Will There Be Good News?
• Started Early, Took My Dog (reviewed here)

Lee Child

• Gone Tomorrow
• 61 Hours 
• Worth Dying For (reviewed here)

Dick Francis

• 10 Lb. Penalty
• Bolt
• Banker (reviewed here)
• Knockdown
• Break In
• Decider

P. D. James

• A Mind to Murder
• Unnatural Causes
• An Unsuitable Job for a Woman 
  

Donna Leon

• Death in a Strange Country

John Lescroart

• A Plague of Secrets (reviewed here);
• Treasure Hunt

Helen MacInnes

• The Hidden Target

Ian Rankin

• Strip Jack
• Knots and Crosses
• Hide and Seek
• Tooth and Nail 
  

Dorothy L. Sayers

• Clouds of Witness (reviewed here)
• Unnatural Death 

Julia Spencer-Fleming

• One Was a Soldier (2009) (reviewed here)

Opening Sentence of the Day: Side Trips From Cowboy

It's July 9, about half-way through the process of writing this book and nearly a year since Margetty and I went to the Big Hole and retrieved the black amulet.

-- Side Trips from Cowboy: Addiction, Recovery and the Western American Myth, by Sandy Compton.  That's an opener to catch my attention, although the title already did that.

Compton is the author of the novel, Archer MacClehan & the Hungry Now, sort of a contemporary Western adventure, and Jason's Passage: From the Blascomb Family Chronicles, a collection of three related short stories.




A Few More Pages hosts Book Beginnings every Friday.  The event is open for the entire week.

State of the Blog: Part One, the Lists

Four times a year, I review the books I've read to that point and see what kind of progress I've made on my books lists and reading projects.  This winter review session is always my favorite because it is a wrap up of the books read by the end of the last calendar year.

This is the first of three 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 book lists are over in the right-side column. These are now divided into Prize Winners and "Must Reads" and include lists of books I have read or intend to read for some reason or another. Also in the right-side column are lists of my favorite authors. I add to these lists of lists from time to time.

NOTE: If you are working on any of these lists, please leave a comment here or on the post for the list (click on the title below or in the right-hand column) and leave a link to any related post. I will add the links on the list post. 

In 2011, I read 47 books from my book lists.  The list of all 115 books I read in 2011 is here.

THE PRIZE WINNERS

COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR

Books read in 2011: none

EDGAR AWARD

Books read in 2011: The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook (reviewed here).

JAMES TAIT BLACK MEMORIAL PRIZE

Books read in 2011:

• G by John Berger (reviewed here; read for my 2010 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, challenge);
• Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, challenge).

MAN BOOKER PRIZE

Books read in 2011:

1. G by John Berger (reviewed here; read for my 2010 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, challenge);
2. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, challenge)

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

Books read in 2011:

• Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon (reviewed here; read for my 2010 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge);
• Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge); 
• The Hair of Harold Roux by Thomas Williams (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge)

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD

Books read in 2011:one, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, challenge).

NOBEL LAUREATES

Books read in 2011: none.

ORANGE PRIZE

Books read in 2011: one, On Beauty by Zadie Smith (reviewed here)

PEN/FAULKNER

Books read in 2011: one, The Human Stain by Philip Roth (reviewed here)

PULITZER PRIZE

Books read in 2011:

• Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge);
• All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge);
• Tinkers by Paul Harding (read for Book Club)

THE "MUST READS"

1899 TOP 100

Books read in 2011: one, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (reviewed here)

ALL-TIME TOP 100

Books read in 2011: All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge)

ANTHONY BURGESS

This list is from 99 Novels: The Best in English Since 1939 by Anthony Burgess, which I finally read this year. My review is here. 

Books read in 2011: 

• George Passant, the first volume of C. P. Snow’s 11-volume Strangers and Brothers series (reviewed here);
• Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor;
• The Rebel Angels (Cornish Trilogy, No. 1) by Robertson Davies (reviewed here)
• The Anti-Death League by Kingsley Amis (reviewed here)

BBC'S BIG READ

Books read in 2011: one, Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.

BOOK CLUB

Books read in 2011:

• Honolulu by Alan Brennert; 
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (reviewed here);
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery;
• Tinkers by Paul Harding (Pulitzer winner)

COLLEGE BOARD

Books read in 2011:

• The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.;
• Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (reviewed here)

COOKBOOK LIBRARY

Books read in 2011:

• Classic Spanish Cooking: Recipes for Mastering the Spanish Kitchen by Elisabeth Luard (reviewed here) 
• With a Jug of Wine by Morrison Wood (discussed here) 

I've read many foodie books that weren't cookbooks.  I think I'll start a new list.

EASTON PRESS

Books read in 2011:

• The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.;
• Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (reviewed here)

ERICA JONG

Books read in 2011:

• Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor; 
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (reviewed here); 
• The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein.

FRENCH CONNECTION

Books read in 2011:

• The Food of France by Waverley Root (reviewed here);
• Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell;
• The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein; 
• Meet Me in Venice by Elizabeth Adler;
  
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery;
• French Spirits: A House, a Village, and a Love Affair in Burgundy by Jeffrey Greene

GUILT LIST

Books read in 2011:

• One City's Wilderness by Marcy Cottrell Houle (reviewed here); and
• Maps and Shadows by Krysia Jopek (reviewed here);
• Started Early, Took My Dog (Jackson Brodie, No. 4) by Kate Atkinson (4/5; reviewed here);
• Because You Might Not Remember by Don Colburn;
• The Losing Role by Steve Anderson (reviewed here);
• Spinning the Law: Trying Cases in the Court of Public Opinion by Kendall Coffey;
• Real Women, Real Wisdom: A Journey into the Feminine Soul, edited by Maureen Hovenkotter (reviewed here)
• Very Bad Men by Harry Dolan (reviewed here); 
• Carry Yourself Back to Me by Deborah Reed (reviewed here);
• 42 States of Grace by Maureen Hovenkotter (reviewed here)

LT EARLY REVIEWERS

Books read in 2011:

• Shipwrecks, Monsters, and Mysteries of the Great Lakes by Ed Butts (reviewed here);
• Nat Tate: An American Artist: 1928-1960 by William Boyd (reviewed here);
• The Reluctant Detective by Martha Ockley (reviewed here);
• One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming (reviewed here;
• American Terroir by Rowan Jacobsen (reviewed here);
• The Hair of Harold Roux by Thomas Williams (4/5; reviewed here)

MLA'S 30

Books read in 2011: none.

MODERN LIBRARY

Books read in 2011: zero (finished this list a couple of years ago).

OBSERVER'S TOP 100

Books read in 2011:

1.  The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James; and
2.  Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor.

OREGON BOOKS

Books read in 2011: none.

RADCLIFFE'S TOP 100

Books read in 2011:

• The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James;
• The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein;
• All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge)

ROSE CITY READER'S TOP 10

Books read in 2011: none so far. Who knows if the list will change this year.

VENICE BOOKS

This is a new list that I just created in 2011. I plan to make more progress in 2012 when I participate in the Venice in February Challenge.

Books read in 2011:

• Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon;
• Meet Me in Venice by Elizabeth Adler

WELL-STOCKED BOOKCASE

Books read in 2011: All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge)

2012 Challenge: Henry Green Week

 

FINISHED

Stu at Winstonsdad's Blog hosted a challenge-type event called Henry Green Week from January 23 to 29, 2012.  Click on the button or the link for more details or to sign up. 

I read Green's best-known book, Loving, because it was on the modern Library's Top 100 list.  It didn't knock my socks off, but I've been meaning to give him another chance.  So this event may be just what I need to find the inspiration to continue with the trilogy.

I have the second and third books of the trilogy, Living and Party Going, on my TBR shelf. I am going to read Living for this event.

UPDATE:  This challenge is completed. I read Living and reviewed it here.  I didn't like Living any more than I liked Loving.  I will probably finish Party Going one of these days because it is on my TBR shelf, but I'm not in any hurry.

Teaser Tuesday: Soldiers in Hiding

Just then Kazuko came back carrying the ingredients for tea on a flat wooden tray.  She pushed the tray into the room as a woman in a restaurant might and then slid in after it.

-- Soldiers in Hiding by Richard Wiley. This is the story of a Japanese-American jazz musician trapped in Tokyo after Pearl Harbor and drafted into the Japanese Army.  It takes place 30 years after the war, as he struggles with his own war guilt.

Soldiers in Hiding won the 1987 PEN/Faulkner Award.  This edition is published by  Hawthorne Books, with a new preface by the author.

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

2011 Challenge: Vintage Mystery Challenge, Wrap Up

The Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge is hosted by My Reader's Block. The goal is to read mysteries written before 1960. I signed up at the "In a Murderous Mood" level with the goal of reading four to six books, by at least two different authors, by the end of the year.

I finished the challenge, but I only reviewed one, for some reason.

It was one of my very favorite challenges and I signed up for the 2012 version, with the goal of reading at least eight books by woman authors. I also plan on reviewing more of them!

BOOKS READ

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout

The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers (reviewed here)

Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers

The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

Alyce at At Home With Books is hosting in January.  Please stop by her wonderful blog!

Here is a short list of books I got last week:

Glow by Jessica Maria Tuccelli. This looks like it is going to be really good. Amazon describes it as "A breathtaking Georgia-mountain epic about the complex bond of mothers and daughters across a century." Wow.



This could be a pick for the Southern Literature Reading Challenge, once I finally get my sign up post up.

Thanks go to intrepid book publicist, Mary Bisbee-Beek, for getting me an early copy of Glow.

Mary also got me a copy of Midnight Sun, Arctic Moon: Exploring the Wild Heart of Alaska by Mary Albanes (see trailer here).



This one has huge appeal for me right now because I am in Anchorage this week, where it is 0 degrees, snowing, and there is no "midnight sun" because there is really no sun at all -- 3 hours in midday, but with the snow, it's hard to see.

The Devil's Elixir by Raymond Khoury. This looks like a real rip-roarer. Pure fun.

Books Read in 2011

This is the list of the 116 books I read in 2011, in the order that I read them.

Looking back, I am pleased to see that I read a mix I am happy with -- I read some of my favorite authors, some books I've been meaning to get to for a long time, a couple of big classics, some vintage mysteries, plenty of prize winners, and some that were just pure fun. 

There is not much rhyme or reason to whether I review a book or not.  Some of my favorite books go without a review. For an explanation of my rating system, see here.

If you have reviewed any of the book I reviewed, and you would like your review listed on mine, please leave a comment on my review post for that book with a link to your review and I will add it.

2011 BOOKS

The Human Stain by Philip Roth (4.5/5; reviewed here)

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James (3/5)

A Study in Scarlet by (Sherlock Holmes, No. 1) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (4/5)

When Will There Be Good News? (Jackson Brodie, No. 3) by Kate Atkinson (4/5)

A Mind to Murder (Adam Dagliesh, No. 2) by P. D. James (3.5/5)

Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon (4/5; reviewed here)

Strangers and Brothers (aka George Passant) (Strangers and Brothers, No. 1) by C. P. Snow (3.5/5; reviewed here)

By the Rivers of Babylon by Nelson DeMille (3.5/5)

365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life  by John Kralik (3.5/5; reviewed here)

10 Lb. Penalty by Dick Francis (3/5)

Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell (3/5)

G by John Berger (2/5; reviewed here)

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu (3/5)

Shipwrecks, Monsters, and Mysteries of the Great Lakes by Ed Butts (3.5/5; reviewed here)

Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler (3/5; reviewed here)

Death in a Strange Country (Commissario Guido Brunetti, No. 2) by Donna Leon

99 Novels: The Best in English Since 1939 by Anthony Burgess (4.5/5; reviewed here)

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (4/5; reviewed here)

Blindfold Game by Dana Stabenow (3/5)

Bech: A Book by John Updike (4/5; reviewed here)

Bolt by Dick Francis (3.5/5)

Bad Things Happen (David Loogan, No. 1) by Harry Dolan (4/5; reviewed here))

Maps and Shadows by Krysia Jopek (3/5; reviewed here)

The Food of France by Waverley Root (4/5; reviewed here)

The League of Frightened Men (Nero Wolf, No. 2) by Rex Stout (3/5)

Indiscretions of Archie by P. G. Wodehouse (3/5)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Millennium Trilogy, No. 3) by Stieg Larsson (3.5/5)

Honolulu by Alan Brennert (3/5)

Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor (4/5)

Strip Jack (John Rebus, No. 4) by Ian Rankin (3.5/5)

The Sign of the Four (Sherlock Holmes, No. 2) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (3.5/5)

The Warden (Chronicles of Barsetshire, No. 1) by Anthony Trollope (4/5)

The Marvelous Album of Madame B: Being the Handiwork of a Victorian Lady of Considerable Talent by Elizabeth Siegel (4/5; reviewed here)

Started Early, Took My Dog (Jackson Brodie, No. 4) by Kate Atkinson (4/5; reviewed here)

One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer (3.5/5)

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier (3.5/5)

Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman (3/5)

Because You Might Not Remember by Don Colburn (4/5)

The Losing Role by Steve Anderson (3.5/5; reviewed here)

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (3/5; reviewed here)

Knots and Crosses (John Rebus, No. 1) by Ian Rankin (3.5/5)

Cause Celeb by Helen Fielding (3.5/5)

Banker by Dick Francis (4/5; reviewed here)

Clouds of Witness (Lord Peter Wimsey, No. 2) by Dorothy L. Sayers (4/5; reviewed here)

A Plague of Secrets (Dismas Hardy, No. 13, or San Francisco, No. 17) by John Lescroart (3.5/5; reviewed here))

The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich (3.5/5)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (4/5; reviewed here)

The Crime of the Century by Kinglsey Amis (3/5)

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein (2.5/5)

Meet Me in Venice by Elizabeth Adler (3/5)

Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd (4/5; reviewed here)

The James Joyce Murder (Kate Fansler, No. 2) by Amanda Cross (3/5; reviewed here)

Marrying the Mistress by Joanna Trollope (3.5/5)

The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook (3/5; reviewed here)

The Bookman's Promise by John Dunning (3/5)

Knockdown by Dick Francis (3.5/5)

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (4/5)


The Hidden Target by Helen McInnes (3/5)

Break In by Dick Francis (3.5/5)

Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley (3.5/5)

Evening Class by Maeve Binchy (3.5/5)

Spinning the Law: Trying Cases in the Court of Public Opinion by Kendall Coffey (2.5/5)

Locations by Jan Morris (4/5; reviewed here)

The Rebel Angels (Cornish Trilogy, No. 1) by Robertson Davies (4/5; reviewed here)

Treasure Hunt (Wyatt Hun, No. 2, or San Francisco, No. 18) by John Lescroart (3/5)

American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields by Rowan Jacobsen (4/5; reviewed here)

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer (3/5)

A Friend From England by Anita Brookner (3.5/5)

Decider by Dick Francis (3.5/5)

42 States of Grace: A Woman's Journey by Maureen Hovenkotter (3.5/5; reviewed here)

Very Bad Men (David Loogan, No. 2) by Harry Dolan (4/5; reviewed here)

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (4/5; reviewed here)

Hide and Seek (John Rebus, No. 2) by Ian Rankin (3.5/5)

One Was a Soldier (Clare Fergusin, No. 7) by Julia Spencer-Fleming (3.5/5; reviewed here)

Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories From the Local Food Front by Joel Salatin (3.5/5; reviewed here)

On Beauty by Zadie Smith (3/5; reviewed here)

Unnatural Death (Lord Peter Wimsey, No. 3) by Dorothy L. Sayers (3.5/5)

Don't Vote It Just Encourages the Bastards by P. J. O’Rourke (3.5/5)

The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie (4/5)

Unnatural Causes (Adam Dagliesh, No. 3) by P. D. James (3.5/5)

The Reluctant Detective (Faith Morgan, No. 1) by Martha Oakley (3/5; reviewed here)

Nat Tate: An American Artist, 1928 – 1960 by William Boyd (3.5/5; reviewed here)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (2.5/5; reviewed here)


The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (4.5/5)

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope (4/5)

Past Perfect by Susan Isaacs (3/5)

Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited by Vladimir Nabokov (3.5/5)

Nine Simple Patterns for Complicated Women by Mary Rechner (3.5/5; reviewed here)

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (2/5)

Carry Yourself Back to Me by Deborah Reed (4/5; reviewed here)

Girl from the South by Joanna Trollope (3/5)

Real Women, Real Wisdom: A Journey into the Feminine Soul, edited by Maureen Hovenkotter (4/5; reviewed here)

The Anti-Death League by Kingsley Amis (2.5/5; reviewed here)

Shakespeare Wrote for Money by Nick Hornby (3.5/5)

Drood by Dan Simmons (3/5; reviewed here)

4 Blondes by Candace Bushnell (3/5)

The Finishing School by Muriel Spark (3.5/5)

Solar by Ian McEwan (3.5/5)

The Girl on the Boat by P. G. Wodehouse (3/5)

Cathedral by Nelson DeMille (4.5/5; reviewed here)

All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (4.5/5; reviewed here)

French Spirits: A House, a Village, and a Love Affair in Burgundy by Jeffrey Greene (3/5)

With a Jug of Wine by Morrison Wood (3.5/5)

61 Hours (Jack Reacher, No. 14) by Lee Child (3.5/5)

Odds Against by Dick Francis (3.5/5)

Crooked House by Agatha Christie (3.5/5)

Therapy by David Lodge (3.5/5; reviewed here)

The Hair of Harold Roux by Thomas Williams (4/5; reviewed here)

Tooth and Nail (John Rebus, No. 3) by Ian Rankin (2.5/5)

Bleak House by Charles Dickens (4/5)

Delights and Prejudices: A Memoir with Recipes by James Beard (5/5; reviewed here)

The Man Who Knew Too Much by G. K. Chesterton (3/5)

Dear Money by Martha McPhee (3.5/5)

Worth Dying For (Jack Reacher, No. 15) by Lee Child (3.5/5; reviewed here)

Tinkers by Paul Harding (2.5/5)

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (Cordelia Gray, No. 1) by P. D. James (3.5/5)

2012 Challenge: Memorable Memoirs

FINISHED

Melissa at The Betty and Boo Chronicles is hosting the 2012 Memorable Memoirs Reading Challenge. I am signing up at the Autobiographer level to read five to nine memoirs in 2012, although I think I will be closer to five than nine. [UPDATE: It looks like I will get to nine!]

One of my general reading goals for this new year is to read more of the non-fiction books on my TBR shelves. This challenge dovetails with the Non-Fiction, Non-Memoir Challenge I am also doing.

Click the button or the link above to go to the challenge post for details and to sign up.

BOOKS, POSSIBILITIES, REVIEWS

Those I have read are in red, with links to reviews, if applicable.

Greene on Capri: A Memoir by Shirley Hazzard (reviewed here)

Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl (reviewed here)

Vie de France: Sharing Food, Friendship, and a Kitchen in the Loire Valley by James Haller (reviewed here)

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

Witness by Whittaker Chambers (reviewed here)

Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen

Books by Larry McMurtry

The Tuscan Year: Life and Food in an Italian Valley by Elizabeth Romer

Shaken and Stirred: Through the Martini Glass and Other Drinking Adventures by William L. Hamilton

My Grandfather's Son by Clarence Thomas

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World's Most Famous Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn

Writing Places: The Life Journey of a Writer and Teacher by Howard Zinsser (not reviewed)

A Personal Odyssey by Thomas Sowell (not reviewed)

Lift by Kelly Corrigan (not reviewed)

There is a lot of crossover possibility with this list. All will crossover with the TBR challenges I joined, and others will count for the Foodie's Challenge, the Chunkster Challenge, or the European Reading Challenge.

NOTES

Last updated on December 28, 2012. I've now read eight, which means I've finished the challenge, but I hope to finish Personal History by Katharine graham before the end of the year.