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.