Catherine aka ladygata dives in...

Only hit 55 in 2010, but it's another year, so let's do this!

Good luck on hitting 75 this year! Welcome to the group!

Welcome!

Thanks!

I guess I'll start with a big one:

1.Life by Keith Richards
I went through an interesting phase in my late teens when I read every biography I could get my hands on about the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Queen. Though I've toned down a bit on these books (everyone who was remotedly related to these group published a tell-all, not always well-written), once in a while a book comes along that I can't resist.

I'd never been keenly interested in Keith Richards, until I looked at a book about various people and their libraries and his was included. Now he's a book lover and he's written an autobiography (with help). I was curious.

It was actually one of the better life stories. There's tragedy, addiction, romantic involvements, and a recipe for Bangers and Mash. So, despite the occasional foray into the technicalities of music (all Greek to me), I was interested all the way through.

And a big old tome to carry me into 2011.

Sounds like your reading year is off to a great start!

Good Luck on hitting 75! Less forthcoming about your age...HMMM...:0) Just wanted to welcome you and make fun of you...lol.

Welcome! Your Currently Reading pile looks amazing -- how's it going?

Welcome! It looks like we have an L.M. Montgomery love in common as well as science fiction.

Sibyx, all I can say is, it's going! I don't know where it's going...

Haven't read L.M. Montgomery in years, but her books I'd say are some of the most important ones in my formative years...and probably the reason why I dye my hair red! (I mean, no, it's natural...what dye?)

And...

2. Let's Bring Back by Lesley M. M. Blume
It's written in encyclopedia form, but fun to read right through. I loved walking down memory lane, seeing all the forgotten favorites along the way. Some things, like corsets, I could live without, though Blume does make a good case for them. And table manners...bring it on!

That looks like a lot of fun!

I agree with Lucy - that book does look fun!

3. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens...
One of the shorter Dickens novels, and the first of his I actually breezed through. If Dickens was really trying to emphasize the horrible treatment of the poor, then he succeeded. Oliver's an orphan boy who just can't seem to catch a break for most of the book, but he retains an inner goodness. He's a little pathetic, but I guess I would be too in his situation.

Dickens seemed to be anti-Semite, especially in his portrayal of Fagin but it's hard to get uppity about this from the hindsight of a century and a half. There were some female generalizations I don't agree with, either, but again, passage of time.

The only other thing I wasn't crazy about, though it's certainly not limited to Oliver Twist or Dickens for that matter, is the overreliance on coincidence. If everything took place in a very small town I'd understand, but in a place like Victorian London it doesn't make sense to randomly run into people in different situations, only to find out you have some kind of familial connection or past history, or many friends in common. Recently I went to London, and relatives of mine from another state just happened to be going to the same museum on the same day, and the same tour as my sister and I. If we hadn't mentioned our plans a few months earlier, we would have run into each other and had the surprise of our lives. So, yes, coincidences happen. They're fun, but in a novel a little bit goes a long way.

Hi There

I'm compiling a list of birthdays of our group members. If you haven't done so already, would you mind stopping by this thread and posting yours.

Thanks.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105833

4. The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop
This book was completed just before the real takeoff of e-readers, so it's even more nostalgic to me than it's intended to be. It's a brief history of books, book sellers, and libraries, and the author's own history in the book trade. Definitely a book you want to read in its hardcover paper form...it's a nice cozy size and extols the beauty of a good bookshop.

#14: I bought that one either last year or the year before. I really need to get it read!

#15: It's become even more moving since the Borders Bankruptcy announcement. I get the convenience of e-readers, but we need to keep bookstores alive as a physical destination! Hope it's possible. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to spend even MORE time reading at home with my own tea (not that I'm complaining...)

#16: The Borders that was here in Sherman closed down at least a year ago. I had only visited that particular store maybe twice, so I am used to doing without it.

5. The Sherlockian
I'm wary of pastiches and even author-as-detective novels, but Graham Moore did a good job making this feel original. Having Arthur Conan Doyle force himself to think like his hated character was intriguing, and the reaction of modern day Sherlock Holmes fanatics to a murder of one of their own intertwined well. One particular conversation between a 21st century man and woman was especially memorable: though we love reading about Victorian times, wouldn't it only be fun to actually go back to that time if you were a white male? I've thought about that myself.

#18: I have seen several good reviews of that one. I need to get hold of it soon.

#18 I ran across that one in the stacks at the library where I work and stuck it on my TBR list. Glad to hear a positive review.

6. Freddie & Me: A Coming-of-Age (Bohemian) Rhapsody by Mike Dawson

About the writer's (artist's) growing up as a Queen fan. I really related, except for the fact that I can't draw.

7. Henrietta Sees it Through by Joyce Dennys

An ER book, and finally one I actually had a good time reading! Those are few and far between.

8. The Lost Art of Reading by David. L. Ulin
A short book but a long essay, wrapping around a re-reading of The Great Gatsby, which I have yet to read. Basically it discusses how people read differently now, because of internet, e-books, etc. (he's not anti-technology per se), and why shutting everything out to just read a book is underappreciated.

9. Imagined London by Anna Quindlen
My ongoing need to torment myself reading about a city I don't get to visit often enough...and it appears I'm not the only one with this problem.

10. One of our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jealous!!! Mine hasn't shipped yet!

My public library's done an amazing job getting the last few Fforde books to me as early as possible. I usually end up buying it anyway, but not until I've read the borrowed version in its entirely. Shame he's only doing one appearance in NY this time, and it's on a day I won't be able to go.

11. The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope

Like most Victorian novels, he could have trimmed about 100 pages off the story and it would have been just as good.

Sometimes I had to remind myself that it was a 19th century story, as it had so many close parallels to modern times. Not as PC of course, but reaching in that direction.

12. The Immortal Dinner

Wherein I got a peek into the lives and friendships of the artist/diarist Haydon, Keats, Wordsworth, Lamb and others. That time period always fascinates me, and it was especially poignant since a good portion of the people who were at this dinner in December 1817 died within a few years of this event.

13. The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson
I don't know much about this reclusive poet, though I'm starting to read up on her. Not sure how much of this was speculative or artistic license, but it was well written.

Emily Dickinson is one of the few poets whose poetry I enjoy reading. The novel looks like an interesting read.

Yeah, it was all right, though they never really pinpoint when she starts writing.

14: A Red Herring Without Mustard
Third Flavia De Luce novel. Not crazy about the whole Gypsy fortune telling angle.

15: The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie
An ER book: two books in a row I actually liked! Review forthcoming.

My ticker says I have 60 books to go to hit 75. Sigh...if I must...

16: Little Town on the Prairie:
Obviously spurred on by reading The Wilder Life, this has always been my favorite 'Little House' book, complete with cats, mice, lice and Nellie Oleson. And it never hurts to have illustrations (thanks Garth Williams! are you still alive?)

>36 PensiveCat: That's always been my favorite of the series too!

I am very behind on threads, Catherine. Hopefully I can keep up with you from here on out though.

That's okay...I'm super behind on all the threads, but when that time is taken up by reading I don't feel bad at all!!!

#40: Understood :)

#17: Reading the OED by Ammon Shea

Anyone who loves words, and book challenges, would appreciate this book. And it made me realize that I need to pick up a good dictionary or two.

>42 PensiveCat: I really enjoyed that one as well. Hope your next read is just as good. Now I'm off to latibulate. ;)

#18: These Happy Golden Years
My next read is just as good! In a totally different way. I just love the whole courtship, and the slightly menacing beginning with the miserable Mrs. Brewster. Nellie finally gets vanquished, and Laura gets married.

#19: Muriel Spark: The Biography by Martin Stannard

It seems Muriel Spark was completely behind this biography, and one wonders what she would have thought of it. I've read a few of her novels, though after this I've gotten a basic synopsis of her entire oeuvre. It took me forever to read, and at times I was tired of it, but I'm glad I got to know the writer of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and A Far Cry from Kensington a bit better. I'm not sure I would have liked to meet her...she knew she was a genius and would brook no criticism. I know a few people like that and they need a wide berth.

#20: -The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan

I have to do a full review for this one elsewhere. This is one of my favorites of the year so far.

At the rate I've been reading, it seems I'll hit 60 books by the end of 2011. We'll see about that!

#21: Shakespeare's Lost Kingdom
Certainly an interesting read for any Shakespeare fan. The author is too quick in the beginning to assert that the Earl of Oxford was the real writer of the Shakespeare works, and though there were certain good arguments, I'm not completely sold on it. Too many 'clues' that could go either way. Also a bit grossed out about the double incest factor.

#22: Adventures on the High Teas: In Search of Middle England by Stuart Maconie

#23: Hugh and Bess by Susan Higginbotham

At the rate I've been reading, it seems I'll hit 60 books by the end of 2011. We'll see about that!

Do not worry about the numbers, Catherine! Just enjoy the reads and the discussions :)

Thanks Stasia! I do like a challenge, though.

#24: The Two Pound Tram by William Newton
Had this for 5 years on my shelves; read in one day. It didn't really make sense to me: two brothers buy a tram pulled by a horse in the 1930's and one of them becomes something of a war hero. Somehow King George VI shows up, someone I'd never done much reading on and then the week I see "The King's Speech" here he is, with his speech impediment! Guess that's what happens.

I think I will give The Two Pound Tram a pass.

I hope your next read is a better one for you!

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it beyond saying it wasn't horrible.

Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier
One of my favorite time periods, though personally I could've done without the New Years Eve parties. Guess it helped emphasize the changing time in the transition between the Victorian and Edwardian era.

The only book by Chevalier that I have read thus far is Remarkable Creatures, which I very much enjoyed. I will have to give Falling Angels a try.

#26: The New Yorkers by Cathleen Schine
Pretty quick and easy read, good beach reading if I'd ever get to the beach. Lots of dogs and people, though I wasn't particularly endeared to most of the people.

#27: Contested Will by James Shapiro
A history of the many theories of who wrote Shakespeare and why.

#57: I will have to see if my local library has that one.

Congratulations on making it 1/3 of the way through the challenge, Catherine!

Oh wow, yay I did make it 1/3 thru!!!! I tend to read quicker in the summer for some reason - my nails grow quicker too, though I doubt they're related.

#28: The Meowmorphosis
I can has Kafka?

That single sentence amuses me so much, but I don't think I'll pick up the book.

Yeah, I wouldn't have rushed to read it, but it's an Early Reviewers book so I decided to have a go at it. I used to read 'cat books' all the time, and was sad to hear that Lillian Jackson Braun had died, but it's not really my thing now. If I want my fix I'll usually just look at capshuned kitties or breathe in their dander at home.

#29: Pies and Prejudice: In Search of the North

Really sums it up! Actually, I'm glad I had the north of England opened up to me. I'd only ever been to Liverpool but had a great-great-grandfather from Sunderland, so there was a bit of curiosity. I might have related a bit more to Adventures on the High Teas: In Search of Middle England though because a lot of the north seemed to center around sports and steel and shipbuilding. There was enough humor (thankfully not oversaturated) and music and food and history to tide me over.

Halfway through the year, and I've got no finished books to report...I'm in the middle of nearly ten books, which means I'll probably finish a bunch at once. Why do I do this to myself? Love.

Just as I suspected...here's two more:

30: Elizabeth I: a Novel by Margaret George

The story of the later years of Elizabeth's reign, starting with the Armada and told by the Queen and her cousin Lettice Knollys, who she was at odds with to say the least. I wasn't sure if I liked Shakespeare being so prominent in the story...nothing against him but it was too plot devicey for me. Otherwise it was well written, sympathetically from both points of view. Elizabeth was presented as more likeable and in less denial than her father, in Margaret George's "autobiography" of Henry VIII. I was a large book but by not overwhelming or overdone.

31: The Dog Who Came In From the Cold by Alexander McCall Smith

>65 PensiveCat: I'm an odd duck and prefer histories of the Tudor period to novelizations. It's one of the few periods where I'm so picky. Weird brain quirks. But I'm glad you enjoyed your read. :)

#66 I actually do too, though there are some exceptions. I read The Other Boleyn Girl a long time ago, and was a bit put off by the liberties taken in it, though not as much as its movie version. However non-fiction speculations on Shakespeare authorship, like the above Shakespeare's Lost Kingdom, are less realistic than some novels.

And about The Dog Who Came in From the Cold: I love Alexander McCall Smith, and his books are my version of beach reads. I do have to put my reservations on a shelf while I read them, though. Nearly all of his characters are experts on wine, art history, classical music, and risotto. While I'd love to live in that kind of world, I just don't know those kind of people in my generation clumped in one area, so it feels less like a real setting (even in London,) and more like some urban fairyland.

I read a short bio of Spark years ago, can't think who wrote it -- but she did have a colorful life. Definitely not a comfortable person!

#32: Is This the Real Life? The Untold Story of Queen

Not entirely untold, actually. Besides what's happened with what's left of the band in the past decade, I recognized most features of its history from other biographies. It wasn't bad, but I was a little turned off by typos and year errors. They even got Freddie Mercury's death day wrong! Really?

#33: Howard's End is on the Landing
Made me want to curl up in my home library and read and reread...

#34 Mrs. P's Journey
One of the most dysfunctional families produced the mapper of London A-Z.

#69: How can an editor let something slip through that is so blatantly wrong?! That kind of stuff drives me nuts!

I know! It doesn't bother me when I see typos here - though I try to correct my own when I can. A published book has absolutely no excuse. The date discrepancies kill me the most.

#72: Yeah, I hate it when facts are screwed up in a book. Especially considering that they are so easily checkable these days.

And on in my non-fiction kick:
35. Eating for England
A definite read for Anglophiles, particularly those who actually like a lot of English food. As someone who squeals at the thought of going to Tea & Sympathy, this was one of my favorite books of the year.

36. Do Not Pass Go: From the Old Kent Road to Mayfair by Tim Moore
More fun in London. Tim Moore throws the dice on his London Monopoly board and spends time everywhere he lands. It got dull in certain parts for me (waterworks?), but I was just glad to be along for the ride.

37. Keats in Rome:
A very small book I bought at Keats' house in Hampstead last year. It covers his last months in Italy, progressively getting worse. Morbid!

#74: I will have to see if I can locate a copy of Eating for England. The book sounds like one I would enjoy! Thanks for the recommendation, Catherine.

#76: I don't know if you should thank me or blame me for all the fillings and high calories. But if you can get past that, there's also A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down.

and now:
38. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction:
Confirming my instinct that one shouldn't read to impress, but to follow one's own whim. If that whim leads you to the classics, then that's a bonus!

#77: Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it!) my local library does not have Eating for England.

Congratulations on making it to the halfway point of the challenge!

#78: I had to buy it from amazon I think...only cost a few bucks.

#79: Amazon will have to wait for next year for me - I am on a book-buying ban in this one :(

Good for you! I'm trying to curtail my buying as well - having a massive TBR pile helps.

I also just found out there's a place on the Upper East Side that specializes in candy from England. Oh the perils of living in New York!

In New Jersey -- over the bridge from Philly -- I came across a HUGE supermarket that had candy from many countries with labels of origin. It was fascinating and marvelous and awful simultaneously!

My TBR pile is so bad that I really am not interested at the mo' in doing more than putting books on my wishlist!

I love candy and other product with packaging I don't see in my local grocery store. We actually have a lot of variety here (Queens, I mean really), but even so.

39. Sicilian Odyssey
Another top destination on my list, and not just because I'm half Sicilian. Can you really call yourself Sicilian if you haven't been there? I call myself Scottish too, but at least I spent a few days there. For someone with an island-dwelling ancestry, I sure do get sea sick. My history-loving self wants to see the place that has been influenced/inhabited/conquered by so many cultures. I'm not interested at all in the mafia stuff.

40. Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman

An ER book, by one of my favorite authors. Richard I and the Crusades.

41. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
I can finally read the Thursday Next novels and understand what the deal with Miss Havisham is.

42. Thomas Hardy by Claire Tomalin

I liked her biography on Pepys, and this one was also pretty good. It was longish, but so was Hardy's life. I've read a lot of his novels and some poems, and it's always helpful to understand the man behind the writings.

43. Alone in the Kitchen With an Eggplant

Everybody has a different view on eating alone.

44. 1215: the Year of Magna Carta

I love me some Plantagenet history.

45. A More Perfect Heaven by Dava Sobel
Not as good as Galileo's Daughter, in my opinion, but having a play in the middle of the book was different.

46. Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir

47. Shelley and his world by Claire Tomalin

I wasn't that into the layout of the book; it just went on without as much depth as I'd like. It was designed like some book you'd use for a school project. At least I learned enough about PB Shelley to realized he wasn't my favorite person.

48. Geek Girls Unite by Leslie Simon

I ran across this book recently, and it only took me a day to read. It was fun to celebrate the existence of fellow female geeks. They're divided into categories like fangirls, music geeks, literary geeks, and so on, though I would say you could be a combination of both. The only thing I didn't understand was, in the Literary Geek section when there were lists of websites to bookmark, Library Thing was left out. What gives?

That book is totally going on my TBR list. :)

>93 MickyFine:: Yeah it's a lot of fun.

49. Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson

An in-depth but not overwhelming book about the life and time of William Shakespeare. It also addresses the authorship issue in a very matter of fact way in the concluding chapter.

50. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

One of the best of the year. It blew me away, how it engaged my sympathies and even made me cry a little bit.

So glad you loved Bel Canto. I read it when I was in high school (not for class, just for me) and adored it. It's one of those novels that even after the plot points disappear from your brain, the emotions stick around and whenever someone mentions it, I automatically go, I loved that book.

I think Bel Canto is one of the more memorable books I read this past year.

I can't believe it took me so long to even know of its existence. Apparently it was inspired by a hostage situation in Peru in the 90s - just a couple of years before I went to Peru myself. You'd think I'd have heard of it...but this was before LT and indeed before I began using the interwebs.

51. Broken Colors by Michele Zackheim

Depressing Tragedy + Art = Broken Colors

52.
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and Other Concerns by Mindy Kaling

A fun book by one of The Office (American) writers, aka Kelly Kapoor.

53.
London Under by Peter Ackroyd
Picked up by the end, but some of it dragged a little (mainly because I don't care much for hydraulics)

54.
The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

Stayed up last night finishing this. It's a Sherlock Holmes novel, and though it's not written by Conan Doyle it comes pretty close to his writing style.

55.
How Shakespeare Changed Everything
I'll never look at starlings the same ever again.

56. Women of the Cousins' War
The life of three women: Jacquetta, of Luxembourg and her daughter Elizabeth Woodville (wife to Edward IV of England), and Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. Basically the Wars of the Roses' effect on three women.

57. The Shakespeare Thefts: In Search of the First Folios by Eric Rasmussen
I don't think I'd be able to touch a copy of the First Folio if I ever saw one.

58. A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz
There's something compelling about men who enjoy and respect Jane Austen's work. When I get around to my re-reads, I'll have more to muse upon.

I need to read that one at some point. Your comment definitely piqued my interest further.

59.
Wallace Shawn's Essays

I liked Part 2 better, since I'm not really into politics. (I have to say it...) not reading this book would be Inconceivable!

As a note, I changed my username from LadyGata to PensiveCat, because even though my username came first it tended to become confused with a certain performer. Thinking about that too long made me pensive, I guess. (I also collect fountain pens and just love corny puns.)

60.
Turn Right at Machu Picchu
I've actually been to Machu Picchu, though I wish I'd read this first.

61. If Teacups Could Talk
It's a little bit out of date (written in the 90s), but the message is timeless: take time to enjoy tea with friends.

>109 PensiveCat: Turn Right at Machu Picchu is on my wish list. I'm glad to see that you thought it was a worthwhile read.

It was good - a couple of moments lagged at the ending, but the author's notes interspersed with Bingham's experiences were interesting.

I like your new name!

Thanks!!!

62. The Forgotten Affairs of Youth by Alexander McCall Smith

I find Isabel Dalhousie to be a bit smug*, but her mind tangents are fun to follow.

I think she's written to be that way anyway.

63. Leaving Van Gogh by Carol Wallace
Sad to say, I related to the utter hopelessness of trying to help certain people with severe mental troubles.

64. Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
A re-read, because I missed it.