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.

Opening Sentence of the New Year: Soldiers in Hiding

It gives me pleasure to hinder American tourists occasionally.

-- Soldiers in Hiding by Richard Wiley.

A Bambara proverb goes thus: "go to the village where you don't have a house, but take your roof with you." 

-- from the new Introduction by Wole Soyinka, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature.

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




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

2012 Challenge: TBR Pile Challenge

 

(incomplete)

I've already signed up for two TBR challenges for 2012: the Mt. TBR Challenge hosted by Bev at My Reader's Block and the Off the Shelf challenge hosted by the team at Bookish Ardour.

Adam at Roof Beam Reader is hosting a similar challenge he calls the TBR Pile Challenge.  This is for books that have been on your TBR shelf for more than a year -- since before January 1, 2011.

I signed up because I like the commitment demanded of participants, who must pick 12 books to read and review.  I plan to use this challenge to finally read some books that I have been meaning to read for many years. And I plan to maximize crossover with other challenges.

Click the button or the link above for details.

MY BOOKS

The date after the book is when I added the book to my TBR shelf -- not when it was published.
The books I have finished are in red.

The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (2001) (Non-Fiction, Non-Memoirs Challenge; Back to the Classics Challenge; reviewed here)

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John LeCarre (1982) (reviewed here)

A Bell for Adano by John Hersey (2003) (a Pulitzer winner for the Battle of the Prizes, American Version; reviewed here)

Friends and Lovers by Helen McInnes (2007) (Vintage Mystery Challenge); not reviewed)

The Comedians by Graham Greene (1998) (Books Published in the First years of My Life Challenge; reviewed here)

On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking, and Entertainments from the American Revolution to the Food Revolution by Michael and Ariane Batterberry (Non-Fiction, Non-Memoirs Challenge; reviewed here)

How To Read and Why by Harold Bloom (2009) (Non-Fiction, Non-Memoirs Challenge reviewed here);

Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow (2009) (What's in a Name Challenge; a National winner for the Battle of the Prizes, American Version; reviewed here)

Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (2001) (a Booker winner for the Battle of the Prizes, British Version); reviewed here)

World Without End by Ken Follett (2010) (Chunkster Challenge; Tea & Books Reading Challenge; reviewed here)

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (1992) (Chunkster Challenge; Tea & Books Reading Challenge)

Redemption by Leon Uris (2007) (Chunkster Challenge)

TWO ALTERNATES

Witness by Whittaker Chambers (2009) (Chunkster Challenge; Memorable Memoirs Reading Challenge; reviewed here)

Personal History by Katharine Graham (2007) (Chunkster Challenge; Memorable Memoirs Reading Challenge)

NOTES

Last updated January 9, 2013.  Katharine Graham killed this one for me. I just couldn't get finished with her autobiography before the end of the year.

Review of the Day: Worth Dying For

 

Worth Dying For is Lee Child’s 15th book featuring ex-military cop, Jack Reacher. This one has Reacher fighting the bad guys in Nebraska farm country, 60 miles from the nearest local police.

All Reacher books could have the same review: “A breakneck thriller that will keep you up late turning pages.” These books are all about action, excitement, and plot. Not that the plots are complex, but there is always a lot going on. The central story is always Beowulf fighting Grendel – the big, strong, stranger who sweeps in to protect the townsfolk from a monster.

And it works. Over and over. These books are paperback crack.

OTHER REVIEWS

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

NOTES

This counts as one of my books for the 2011 Chunkster Challenge.  Although, I have to say that these 525 or so pages went by a lot faster than most.  500+ pages of the adventures of Jack Reacher aren't like reading The Adventures of Augie March, for example.  No criticism intended for either Child or Bellow.

2012 European Reading Challenge: Review List

The European Reading Challenge
January 1, 2012 to January 31, 2013

THIS IS THE PAGE TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS.

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE,

OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE.

TO ADD YOUR WRAP UP POST, GO TO THIS PAGE. 

When you review a book for the 2012 European Reading Challenge, please add it to this list using the linky widget below.  Please link to your review post, NOT the main page of your blog.

Please put your name or the name of your blog, the name of the book you reviewed, and the country of the book or author. For example: Rose City Reader, Doctor Zhvago, Russia.

If Mr. Linky acts up, please leave a comment with a link to your review and I will figure out how to add it. 

LIST YOUR REVIEWS HERE

MORE ABOUT THE CHALLENGE

The European Reading Challenge lets participants tour Europe through books. For all the details and to sign up, please visit the main challenge page.

The gist: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour.

Teaser Tuesday: The Leaves of Fate

The next day, my crew well armed, I informed Hunt that I was to sail that week.  "Our preparations mostly done, you can stay and finish salting the fish and then sail to Spain and sell the good, Poor John having a ready market there."

-- The Leaves of Fate by George Robert Minkoff.

This is the third volume of Minkoff's In the Land of Whispers trilogy about Jamestown and America's earliest days.  I haven't read the first two, The Weight of Smoke and The Dragons of the Storm, but I this one is good on its own.

It takes a while to get into because it is written the way they talked in the 1700s.  But it is a great yarn once you get into it. 

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!

Last week, I was still celebrating and didn't post the list of books I got for Christmas. Here they are.

Hubby came through with some very nice book presents.  He got me six P. G. Wodehouse books, in the cool Collector's Editions published by Overlook Press.

The Man with Two Left Feet
Big Money
Service With a Smile
Jill the Reckless
The Coming of Bill
Mr. Mulliner Speaking



He also scored big with an older set of Robert Louis Stevenson books.  They all have the same plain, dark green cover, and the 10-volume set includes:

The Black Arrow
The Dynamiter
The Master of Ballantrae
The Merry Men
New Arabian Nights
Prince Otto
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Kidnapped
Virginibus Puerisque
Treasure Island
A Child’s Garden of Verses

And, finally, he got me Tony Blair's autobiography,  A Journey: My Political Life.



One of my book-ish friends gave me a lovely copy of The Fine Art of Italian Cooking by Giuliano Bugialli.



My law partner gave me Poems and Prose by Gerard Manley Hopkins.



And my associate gave me Left Coast Libations: The Art of West Coast Bartending: 100 Original Cocktails by Ted Munat, Michael Lazar, Jenn Farrington (Photographer). I think it is a hint to start offering more than ice as a mixer.

 

Happy New Year!

Here's to another happy year of reading good books!

2012 Challenges: Back to the Classics and A Classics Challenge

There are a couple of "classics" challenges I want to participate in in 2012. These go right along with some of the TBR challenges I've signed up for, as well as my Battle of the Prizes Challenges, both American and British, and the European Reading Challenge.

BACK TO THE CLASSICS

INCOMPLETE

Sarah at Sarah Reads Too Much is hosting the Back to the Classics Challenge again this year and this time around, I am signing up.  Click on the button or the above link to go to the main challenge post for details and to sign up.

The idea is to read a "classic" from each of the following nine categories:

• Any 19th Century classic

• Any 20th Century classic

• Reread a classic of your choice

• A classic play

• A classic mystery/horror/crime fiction

• A classic romance

• A classic that has been translated from its original language to your language

• A classic award winner

• A classic set in a country that you (realistically speaking) will not visit during your lifetime -- countries that no longer exist or have never existed count.

A CLASSICS CHALLENGE

INCOMPLETE

I am going to do the Back to the Classics Challenge in combination with Katherine's 2012 A Classics Challenge at November's Autumn.

A Classics Challenge will be very fun because it has a blog hop spin.  Katherine will post a "prompt" on the 4th of each month, inviting posts related to the classic books participants are reading at the time.  The goal is to read seven "classics" and participate in at least three monthly prompts.

MY BOOKS AND REVIEWS

I am going to pick nine books now, one for each of Sarah's categories.  These may change as I go along.  As with all my challenges, I am going to try to read books that are currently on my TBR shelf. Although, in this case, I include my virtual TBR shelf -- the audiobooks that have been on my iPod for a long, long time.

Once I've read the book, it is in red and includes a link to my review.

• The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (19th Century; reviewed here)

• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré's (20th Century; reviewed here)

• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (re-read; reviewed here)

• A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen or She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith (play)

• Dracula by Bram Stoker (horror; reviewed here)

• Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (romance; reviewed here)

• Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (translation)

• A Bell for Adano by John Hersey (award winner -- Pulitzer; reviewed here)

• Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz (unvisited country -- Roman Empire)

This 1899 list of the Daily Telegraph's Best 100 Novels in the World is also full of ideas.

NOTES

Last updated December 26, 2012.  I have to throw in the towel on these two.  I clobbered a couple of good ones for the Back to the Classics, but did a horrible job with the Classics prompt format.

2012 Challenge: Chunkster and Tea & Books Challenges

Wendy at Caribousmom and Vasilly at 1330V have teamed up to host the 2012 Chunkster Reading Challenge.

GOES UNTIL JANUARY 31, 2013

This is the third year I've participated in this challenge.  In 2010, I bit off more than I could chew, signing up for six books and only finishing four.  So I scaled back in 2011 to the "Chubby Chunkster" four-book level. 

Despite my less than stellar performance in years past, I am signing up for the Do These Books Make my Butt Look Big? option to read SIX chunksters from the following categories: two books 450 - 550 pages; two books 551 - 750 pages; and two books longer than 750 pages.

One of the reasons I upped the pressure is because, for the first time, collected editions of essays or short stories count.  That increased my options.

The other reason I'm in for six books is because I can overlap with the Tea & Books Challenge hosted by Birgit at The Book Garden.  I am signing up at the Berry Tea Devotee level to read four books longer than 700 pages.  If I really get on a roll, I'll upgrade to the 6-book level.

INCOMPLETE

BOOKS, REVIEWS, & POSSIBILITIES

I have finished six books so far, of which three count for the Tea & Books Challenge and five for the Chunkster Challenge:

World Without End by Ken Follett (1,024 pages); reviewed here; 


The Gate House by Nelson DeMille (800 pages), reviewed here;

Witness by Whittaker Chambers (802 pages), reviewed here;


The Book and the Brotherhood by Iris Murdoch (624 pages), reviewed here;

Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (511 pages), reviewed here; 

Glittering Images by Susan Howatch (462 pages), reviewed here;


I figured out how to sort the TBR books in my LibraryThing library by the number of pages, so I can check that list for inspiration.  Here are some possibilities:

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (960)

More Matter: Essays and Criticism by John Updike (928)

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (862)

Redemption by Leon Uris (848)

The Charm School by Nelson DeMille (816)

Ancient Evening by Norman Mailer (800)

A Personal History by Katharine Graham (642)

The Life of Noel Coward by Cole Lesley (608)

NOTES

Last updated on December 26, 2012. I fell one short for the Tea & Books Challenge.  The Chunkster goes until January 31, 2013, so I have time to finish one more in the 551 - 750 category. I am working my way through Katharine Graham's autobiography, so should finish this challenge shortly.

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Leaves of Fate

By what consequence am I foretold!

-- The Leaves of Fate by George Robert Minkoff.

This is the third volume of Minkoff's In the Land of Whispers trilogy about Jamestown and America's earliest days.  I haven't read the first two, The Weight of Smoke and The Dragons of the Storm, but I understand that this one is good on its own.

This holiday week is always a great time to cuddle in with an absorbing novel.



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

2012 Challenge: Audio Book Challenge

FINISHED

Teresa at Teresa's Reading Corner is hosting the 2012 Audio Book Challenge. Click on the button or the link to go to the main challenge page for  more details. 

I signed up for the "Married" level to read (with my ears) 40 audio books.

"Married" is a pick-your-own-number level (over 25).  I listened to roughly 50 audio books in 2011, so 40 is probably a little low, but I am hoping that joining this challenge will inspire me to write more reviews of the audio book I listen to.

MY BOOKS

The Coffee Trader by David Liss

High Stakes by Dick Francis (reviewed here)

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (reviewed here)

Dracula by Bram Stoker (reviewed here)

My Grandfather's Son by Clarence Thomas

Shroud for a Nightingale by P. D. James

Blood Sport  by Dick Francis (reviewed here)

Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe by Thomas Cahill (reviewed here)

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

What's So Great About Christianity by Dinesh D'Souza

The Black Tower by P. D. James (reviewed here)

Driving Force by Dick Francis

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

Tinkers by Paul Harding (reviewed here)

Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope (reviewed here)

Dressed for Death by Donna Leon

The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson (Booker winner; reviewed here)

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

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black

Other People's Children by Joanne Trollope

Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships by Daniel Goleman

Spies of the Balkans by Alan Furst

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (reviewed here)

Trespass by Rose Tremain

The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner (reviewed here)

Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley

The Silver Swan by Ben Black

The Edge by Dick Francis

Writing Places: The Life Journey of a Writer and Teacher by Howard Zinsser

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

Brother and Sister by Joanna Trollope

Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil by Tom Mueller, reviewed here;

The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren (National winner)

Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler

Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (reviewed here)

Death of an Expert Witness by P. D. James

The Honourable Schoolboy by John Le Carre

A Personal Odyssey by Thomas Sowell

The Children of Men by P. D. James

About Face by Donna Leon

NOTES

Last updated on December 26, 2012.  So far this year, I've read 42 books with my ears and am going to finish one more before the end of the year. But I haven't reviewed many, especially lately. I always have great intentions of writing reviews, but have fallen way behind.

2012 Challenge: Vintage Mystery Challenge

INCOMPLETE

Bev at My Reader's Block is hosting the Vintage Mystery Challenge again in 2012.  This was one of my favorite challenges in 2011.

The idea is to read mysteries by more than one author, all published before 1960. 

This year, Bev has several "vintage themes" to choose from or invites participants to make up their own theme.

Click the button or the link above to go to the main challenge post for more details.

I am using two of Bev's suggested themes, signing up for the Golden Age Girls  and Cherchez le Homme categories to read eight books by female authors or featuring female detectives and eight by male authors or featuring male detectives.

I have in mind reading more Agatha Christie, because I read a couple in 2011 and loved them. My plan is to start with this:



Murder on Board, an omnibus edition of three novels by AC: The Mystery on the Blue Train, Death in the Air, and What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw.

Another possibility include a couple of pre-1960 Helen McInnes books, perhaps  Assignment in Brittany (1942). Friends and Lovers (1947), Rest and be Thankful (1949), or North from Rome (1958), all on my TBR shelf now.

MY BOOKS AND REVIEWS

• Dracula by Bram Stoker (reviewed here);
• The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (reviewed here);
• Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie; 
• The Rubber Band by Rex Stout (reviewed here);
• The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie;
• Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh (reviewed here);
  
• The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (reviewed here);
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle; 

NOTES

Last updated December 27, 2012.  I read 5 of my 8 female books, and only 3 of my 8 male books. Uh oh. Better luck in 2013!

Teaser Tuesday: Jumptown

Action central was Williams Avenue, an entertainment strip where you could find jazz twenty-four hours a day.

-- Jumptown: The Golden Years of Portland Jazz 1942-1957 by Robert Dietsche, published by the OSU Press. Great cover.  And great Portland history.


There is an interesting story about where Dietsche came up with the Jumptown title. The Portland Trailblazers adopted it, but it's not as historically authentic as it sounds.

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

2012 Challenge: European Reading Challenge (My Challenge List)

TAKE THE GRAND TOUR

January 1, 2012 to January 31, 2013

FINISHED

This is my sign up page for the European Reading Challenge. Please see the main challenge page for more details or to sign up.  Go to this page to post your reviews.

The gist: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour.

It's my challenge, so I am signing up at the highest level, the Five Star (Deluxe Entourage) level, to read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.

I originally thought I'd go for the Agritourisimo version for foodie readers – to read  food-related books written by European authors or about European food, cooking, restaurants, culinary traditions, farming, winemaking, etc.  This would be a good tie-in with the Foodies Read 2 Challenge.  But I didn't see enough qualifying books from different countries on my TBR shelf, and my main goal for 2012 is to climb Mt. TBR. 

BOOKS, REVIEWS, & POSSIBILITIES

So far, I have read the five books I need to complete the challenge:

• High Stakes by Dick Francis (UK; reviewed here)
• Serenissima by Erica Jong (Italy; reviewed here) 
• People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (Bosnia; reviewed here) 
• Vie De France: Sharing Food, Friendship and a Kitchen in the Loire Valley by James Haller (France; reviewed here)
  
• Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson (Norway; not reviewed)

I am not sure yet if I will read more books this year, but some possibilities for next year from my TBR shelves include:

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie (American; Russia)

The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker (Dutch; Holland)

Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz (Polish; Nobel)

Death in the Truffle Wood by Pierre Magnan (French; France)



The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass (German; Germany)

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (Norwegian; Norway)

How German Is It = Wie Deutsch Ist Es by Walter Abish (Germany; PEN/Faulkner)

I, the King by Frances Parkinson Keyes (American; Spain)

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (Russian; Russia)

NOTES

Last updated on October 5, 2012.

Mailbox Christmas 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).

Lady Q at Let Them Read Books is hosting in December.  Be sure and visit her terrific blog!

Santa brought me a lot of books, much to my delight. But I am too busy celebrating to post them yet.  They'll be posted in my first Mailbox Monday of the new year!

Merry Christmas!

1 Day to Christmas!

2012 Challenge: Graham Greene Reading Challenge

FINISHED

MY BOOKS

• The Comedians, reviewed here; 
• May We Borrow Your Husband?, reviewed here. 

ORIGINAL SIGN UP

Carrie at Books and Movies is hosting the Graham Greene Reading Challenge in 2012, to encourage people to read more of his books.

I am signing up for the "Getting Your Feet Wet" level to read two GG books in 2012.

I already planned to read The Comedians for the Birth Year Reading Challenge, so that will be my first choice.

I am not sure yet which my second book will be, but I'm going to maximize crossover with other challenges, like the Mt. TBR Challenge and my European Reading Challenge.

The following are also on my TBR shelf already, so it will be one of these:

The End of the Affair (1951)

Travels With My Aunt (1969)

Doctor Fischer of Geneva or the Bomb Party (1980)

Getting to Know the General: The Story of an Involvement (1984)

The Tenth Man (1985)

I am also going to get a GG post up with a list of all his books.  He is a favorite of mine, so he should go on my list of favorites.



NOTE

Last updated December 26, 2012.

2 Days to Christmas!

Opening Sentence of the Day: Jumptown

When most people think of the origins of jazz, Portland, Oregon, is not the first place that comes to mind.

-- from Jim Swenson's Foreword to Jumptown: The Golden Years of Portland Jazz 1942-1957 by Robert Dietsche.

Inland seaports with good railroads make for great jazz, especially during wartime, when there is an acceleration of fresh ideas and fashions from the thousands of servicemen and defense workers arriving.

-- from "The Dude Ranch: Where Jump Was a Noun," the first chapter.


This is another great book published by the Oregon State University Press.

Hubby is a huge classic jazz fan, so most of what we listen to is jazz from this era. I got this out to keep him entertained over the upcoming family visit.
 



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

3 Days to Christmas!

2012 Challenge: Mt. TBR & Off the Shelf Challenges

FINISHED

Bev at My Reader's Block is hosting the 2012 Mt. TBR Challenge.  I am signing up at the Mr Kilimanjaro level to read 50 books off my TBR shelves in 2012.

The team at Bookish Ardour is hosting a similar TBR challenge called Off the Shelf.  I am signing up for the 50-book On a Roll level.

Click the buttons or the links above to go to the main challenge pages for details.

According to LibraryThing, there are currently 1,284 books on my groaning TBR shelves.  So I have plenty to choose from.

Here is a picture of my TBR fiction wall.  These challenges were made for me!

MY BOOKS AND LINKS TO REVIEWS

Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth, reviewed here;

The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark, reviewed here;

A Case of Need by Michael Crichton;

Living by Henry Green, reviewed here;

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré, reviewed here;

Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe by Thomas Cahill, reviewed here;

The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain, reviewed here;

Serenissima by Erica Jong, reviewed here;

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, reviewed here;

A Bell for Adano by John Hersey, reviewed here;

Murder in Belleville by Cara Black, reviewed here;

World Without End by Ken Follett, reviewed here;

The World of Herb Caen by  Barnaby Conrad, reviewed here;

The Black Book by Ian Rankin, reviewed here;

A Month of Sundays by John Updike, reviewed here;

Vie de France by James Haller, reviewed here;

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson;

The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson (Booker winner; reviewed here);

On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking, and Entertainments from the American Revolution to the Food Revolution by Michael and Ariane Batterberry, reviewed here;

A Time of Hope by C. P. Snow, reviewed here;

Home Truths by David Lodge, reviewed here;

Glittering Images by Susan Howatch, reviewed here;

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black; 

Trespass by Rose Tremain;

Greene on Capri: A Memoir by Shirley Hazzard, reviewed here;

Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer, reviewed here;

The Gate House by Nelson DeMille (800 pages), reviewed here;

Witness by Whittaker Chambers (802 pages), reviewed here;

Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow, reviewed here;

Swan Peak by James Lee Burke, reviewed here;

The Comedians by Graham Greene, reviewed here;

How To Read and Why by Harold Bloom, reviewed here;

Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley;

The Folks That Live on the Hill by Kingsley Amis;

Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh, reviewed here;

Venetian Mask by Mickey Friedman;

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers, reviewed here;

Monsieur Pamplemousse Investigates by Michael Bond, reviewed here;

Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler;

Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey, reviewed here;

The General's Daughter by Nelson DeMille;

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, reviewed here;

The Honourable Schoolboy by John  le Carré;

Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes;

May We Borrow Your Husband? by Graham Greene, reviewed here;

The Book and the Brotherhood by Iris Murdoch;

Lift by Kelly Corrigan; 

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle;

Friends and Lovers by Helen MacInnes; and

See's Famous Old Time Candies: A Sweet Story by Margaret Moos Pick

NOTE

Last updated on January 9, 2013.