LB's 11 in 2011

Hi all,
I'm going to attempt a step challenge in 2011.

Hopefully, I won't get too overwhelmed.

J- (11 or 1, just like blackjack)
Books Leftover/ Whatever I Want

10 - (10 books from the 2010 edition)
1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

9 (The 9 judges of the Supreme Court)
nonfiction-- mostly American Politics & gender politics

8 8 great books I already own/books I did not pay for

7 7 Mysteries

6 Books I haven't read, but it seems like everyone else has

5 The 5 Continents I haven't seen
books from South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antartica

4 Authors new to me

3 3 books of a trilogy

2 Book club books

A (1 major tome)
600+ pages

Jack- Surprises Await
If I read a lot this year, 11. If I don't read that much this year, only 1.



1. The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde finished 7.5.11
2. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde finished 7.25.11

Possibilities I Am Jby Cris Beam

10- My quest to get to 10% of the 1,001 books you must read before you die



1. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Finished 12.27.10. ****
2. The World According to Garp by John Irving. Finished 12.27.10 ** 1/2
3. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde finished 1.15.11 *****
4. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut finished 6.21.11
5. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury finished 7.13.11
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

9- Justices of the Supreme Court (nonfiction )



1. Hope on a Tightrope by Cornel West *** finished 1.19.11
2.The Political Brain by Drew Westen finished 4.7.11
3. Bossypants by Tina Fey 4.16.11
4. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson finished 6.2.11
5. True Compass by Edward Kennedy 8.6.11
6.
7.
8.
9.

Possibilities:
The Lost Soul of Higher Education by Ellen Schrecker
The Nine by Dorothy L. Sayers

8 Great Books I Already Own/ Books I didn't have to pay to read



1. World War Z by Max Brooks finished 5/9/11
2. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte finished 5/10/11
3. The Big Over Easy by Jasper FForde finished 5/23/11
4. Netherland by Joseph O'Neill finished 5.31.11
5. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde finished 6.12.11
6. Go the F*** to Sleep by Adam Mansbach finished 7.1.11
7.
8.

7 Mysteries Category finished 4.10.11



1. Fatal Grace by Louise Penny *** Finished 2.19.11
2.Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon finished 1.28.11
3. Dressed for Death by Donna Leon finished 2.13.11
4.The Cruellest Month by Louise Penny finished 3.4.11
5.A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny 3.23.11
6. The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny finished 4.2.11
7. Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny finished 4.10.11

Possibilities:
The Sherlockian by Graham Moore

6- Has Everyone Already Read This?



1. The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis finished 4.17.11
2.One for the Money by Janet Evanovich finished 4.27.11
3. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley finished 6.22.11
4. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer 6.27.11
5. The Bell Jar finished 6.28.11
6.

Possibilities:
1984 by George Orwell
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
The Feminine Mystique

5 Continents I've Never Seen

South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antartica
Books either set in or with an author from (fiction or non)



1.Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Ethiopia) finished 2.23.11
2.
3.
4.
5.

Possibilities:
Orphan Pamuk (Turkey- Asia)
Oscar and Luncinda- Australia
The Power of One - South Africa

4 New Authors to Me


1. Still Life by Louise Penny ***** finished 2.3.11
2. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin finished 4.13.11
3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett finished 7.23.11
4.

Possibilities:
Katja From the Punk Band by Simon Logan

3 -- The 3 books of a Trilogy


1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
3. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Category Finished 1.11.11

2 Book Club Books
We read slowly. . .


1. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins reread finished 4.25.11

Possibilities
1. Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof

CATEGORY COMPLETED: 4/25

A- 1 Great Tome
600 pages + please.



1. A Game of Thrones finished 8/6/11

Possibilities

1. How long is Bleak House?
2. A Game of Thrones at 720 pages. Too excited about the HBO series.

@12 -- My edition of Bleak House is 990 pages, so I'd say it qualifies! :) Good luck with your challenge!

@13, haha, maybe I set the bar too low when I said 600+.
Bleak House has been sitting on my shelf for years now.

And after the blizzard of 2010--- it begins!

1) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ****


Category Chosen: 1001 Books
Category "Could Have Been Chosen"- New Author; Tome

I had meaning to read this book for a while, but it had always escaped me. The book itself is interesting, and Holmes' deductive skills are impressive. I found myself trying to figure out the mysteries as I read along, but I don't think that the reader has enough information to draw the proper conclusions. So, my major fault with the 12 stories is a plot strategy-- I wanted to predict the end of the mystery and I couldn't do it. Overall, great. Recommend.

2) The World According to Garp by John Irving ** 1/2


This book is my second attempt at something by John Irving, after A Prayer for Owen Meany. I thought the reason why I didnt like APfOW was that I read it in high school over the course of a day for a paper, and I rushed it. But now after not rushing one of his works- let's just say that, I don't like Irving's style. He writes for pages and pages and I never feel like he gets anywhere. Sometimes I find myself enjoying the depictions of the scenery, but I feel like his characters are hollow (his women characters especially so). The Cider House and Rules and I will most likely never meet.

Adding all of my pictures and some of my possibilities has taken up a good chunk of my afternoon, in the best of possible ways. :)

When it comes to books - it's time well wasted!

I enjoyed Sherlock Holmes so much that I read the entire collection. Yeah I couldn't predict the outcomes either I guess my skills just aren't up to par.

I didn't read 1984 and Pride and Prejudice until last year so you're not too far behind.

@19- I think maybe they write them so there isn't a real way to figure them out. At least that's what makes the mystery buff in me feel less bad.

@20- This category hopefully will help me catch up quickly :D

3-5) The Hunger Games *****, Catching Fire **** andMockingjay **** by Suzanne Collins



Read these books on a day and a half binge. The first book was such wonderful YA dystopian fun (I guess you can say dystopias are fun-- to read at least). Competing in the Hunger Games felt action packed and I worried for the characters. Usually in trilogies I find that the middle book tends to drag, and the hunger games trilogy is no exception. Book 2 finds the main characters going back into the hunger games again. Still interesting (I stayed up all night reading-- literally) but I wasn't recommending it the way I did the first. Mockingjay is perhaps the darkest book, and the series finale. No spoiler, but I think the ending of the trilogy is beyond weak, and I almost want to rate the third book lower than I did simply because of the ending.

6) The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde *****



I can't say enough wonderful things about this book. I think the writing is beautiful. I think the topic is interesting and smart. It's definitely dark, but I was never bored. Imagine a portrait that takes on all of your misdoings, and changes as you stay the same!!

And now, I think I'm going to start putting quotes about reading (when I can find them) into my posts. Or maybe just fun quotes, we'll see!

"Words! Mere words! How terrible they were! How clear, and vivid, and cruel! One could not escape from them. And yet what a subtle magic there was in them!"

What a wonderful quote :) I really enjoyed The Picture of Dorian Gray as well.

Might make my first category change. Changing 4 New Authors, to 4 Mysteries-- I'm trying to make it through the Donna Leon Commissario Brunetti Series.

7)Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon **** 1/2



Category: 7 Mysteries

Death in a Strange Country is Donna Leon's 2nd mystery in the Commissario Brunetti series. I've been enjoying the mysteries tremendously. In this story, an American military member is found dead in one of Venice's canals. As many around him believe that the man has been robbed, Brunetti searches for the truth. Drugs, pollution, Venezian politics, art, and corruption-- Leon's book is extremely intriguing, and her depictions of Venice (even gruesome Venice) are enough to make me want to be there (traveling is always a risk, right?). It's somewhat far fetched, in my mind, that Brunetti is so easily able to bypass protocols on his search for justice, but I do love a neat ending, and Leon doesn't disappoint. Recommend.

I'm continuing along on my journey in the series.

Those all sound like really cool categories. My favorite book of all-time is The Power of One and it takes place in South Africa so I would recommend that for that category. As far as Supreme Court books go, you should check out Jeffrey Toobin's The Nine. It is an absolutely fascinating look at the Supreme Court from behind closed doors. Hope you don't mind the suggestions - and GOOD LUCK!

8) Ishmael by Daniel Quinn ** 1/2



Category: Book Club Books

After already reading My Ishmael, Ismael's sequel for a class on global interaction, this book was a lot of old hat for me. Sure, Daniel Quinn is great at making you question the world around you, your own cultural assumptions and narrative-- but, let's just say My Ishmael is better than the original. In each story, a gorilla seeks a pupil and instructs that pupil on how to see past their own side of the world. Ishmael's pupil is an older man, and he's sickening.

Would I recommend Quinn as an author, yes. Would I recommend this book as an introduction to him, no not crazy about it.

@weejane: I love the suggestions, stop by any time :)

I'll put them on my possibility lists right now!!

9) Hope on a Tightrope by Cornel West *** 1/2


Category: 9: Nonfiction

10) Still Life by Louise Penny *****



Category: 4: Authors New to Me

Read about this author on someone's thread (if I could remember who, I would thank them-- oops!) and boy am I glad I did.

Wonderful mystery set in Three Pines, a small Canadian town. Jane is a staple of the community, who everyone seems to love as their former teacher and current friend. After stopping an attack on two of hear friends and later debuting a painting for an upcoming gallery showing, Jane is found murdered by a hunting arrow. The characters were well developed and rich, the plot thickened when I wanted it to, but not in ways I expected. One complaint was the way the female detective was treated, even though she helped to break the case wide open (but that's a complaint to bring up with fictional characters- not the author :) )

And I will continue on with Inspector Gamanche.

I am glad to hear that you liked Still Life! I have a copy buried in mount TBR. I did read A Fatal Grace, the second book in the series last year in December, as it is set around Christmas time. I enjoyed it very much, and you do get to see more of the female detective.

I'm very behind on my reviewing books, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. But going to visit PhD programs has been both stressful, and good for my reading.

I'll end up somewhere in the fall, but making the decision first seems near impossible :)

I'll catch up on reviewing soon!!! PROMISE!

11) Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese *** 1/2



Category: 5 Continents I've never seen (Book 1/5)

After recently trying Ethiopian food for the first time, this book was almost as delicious as the food. It tells the story of two brothers, conceived by a nun who dies in child birth, and a father who is a great doctor living in Ethiopia. The boys are raised by other doctors at the Missing Clinic. The story starts in India, moves to Ethiopia, and finishes in America. I really enjoy the descriptions of the clinic and how they acknowledge that good medical practices change dramatically depending on the resources available.

I think the writing is beautiful, and describes the landscapes in vivid bursts. The politics of the region (with the army, coups, etc) seems to be accurate, frightening, and keeps me glued to my seat. I also think that the book was at its best towards the beginning, drags in the middle, but finishes well at the end.

It's now been over a month since I finished reading and I still remember quite a bit. See, I said I would catch up on reviewing and here I go!!!

12) Dressed for Death by Donna Leon **



Category: 7 Mysteries

I feel like this mystery missed the mark for me. Maybe it was me. It was a library loan and due too quickly so I read really quickly and didn't let it meld into my brain.
I know mystery stories probably shouldn't get into that deep part of your brain where you question your life choices (I think that's how brains work, the important stuff seeps inside), but I rushed and thus was unimpressed.

Category: 7 Mysteries

13) A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

I'm a sucker for Three Pines. Ruth is one of my favorite characters going. Although, the daughter in this book... I didn't sympathize with her, I just felt like she was creepy. (The rest of the Armand Gamache books follow. . .)

Sometimes I just get so sucked into a series, and I thought for a little bit that it would be the Donna Leon books, but these characters are just so much more ...FUN.

14) The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny


Always beware of that house on the hill. People have been dying in that house for the past three books.

15)A Rule Against Murder also called the Murder Stone by Louise Penny

Just when I was thinking that I was going to wait for this book to be either shipped from to my library or come out in trade paperback, I happened to find it. I was traveling to visit my upcoming graduate school (Indiana) when I happened to stop into their local library and there was this and the next book in the series, on sale, in hardcover, for much cheaper than a trade paperback. SCORE!

I like this book's title better as the Murder Stone. It makes more sense. After all, a giant stone statue commits the murder in this story. I also liked this book because the murder, though involved three pines people, did not take place in the same house as all of the others. I'm happy Inspector Gamache gets to travel.

16)The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

Maybe a spoiler:

By the end of this story, I expected everything to be tied up in nice neat bows. Then it wasn't. I left with so many questions, I was frustrated and anxious to get the next book.

A dead hermit arrives in the bistro. There is a cabin in the woods, stuffed with treasures. There is a new couple in the house on the hill, and they are turning it into a spa resort. Three Pines is changing, but staying the same. Olivier and Gabri's relationship has been dramatically altered and I hope not forever.

17) The Political Brain by Drew Westen


Category: 9 Justices of the Supreme Court 2/9 ****

Interesting book about the role of emotion in political decision making. I don't know if I necessarily agree with Westen, especially when he says things about democratic politicians getting bogged down with numbers and logical thinking (those aren't his words, that's my impression). Maybe I'm a bit wonky, but I LIKE that sort of stuff from a politician.

18) Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny



Category: 7 Mysteries

And I'm all caught up in the Three Pines mystery series. Some of my mysteries are answered. The book takes place in Quebec city, and involves a recovering Armand Gamache. He has just been through a catastrophic police escapade where he almost was killed, but others were not as likely. He's trying to escape from himself, but invariably ends up working on a murder investigation.

Olivier has been sentenced, but Gabri writes Gamache daily to ask "why would he move the body," and it's a good question. The murder of the hermit is informally investigated again.

I left this book feeling like I had missed something. When Gamache described what had happened and the attack on the police, I felt like I didn't understand it. Maybe Penny will clue people in in her next book, but it was a hurried ending.

IN OTHER NEWS: 1 CATEGORY COMPLETE!!!!!!

19)Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin ***



Chick lit, and fluffy. Rachel is in love with Dex, who is engaged to Darcy (Rachel's best friend). I honestly might continue with the series, they're pretty great beach reads for a not too stressful plot.

Also, loved how she described Kensington to a tee. The pub name, the park details, the Prince Albert statue. I used to live in Earl's Court which is around the block, and I was happy she got the details correct.

I'm all caught up in reviewing!!
Surprised to only be at 20, thought there would be more.
I suppose 37 more books is not too shabby only for April.

20/57 (35.1%)

On to Tina Fey's Bossypants, which came yesterday from the Amazon man (along with two cookbooks!).

Read the back cover and see for yourself:
"You'd be really pretty if you lost weight." (College Boyfriend, 1990 )

"Tina Fey is an ugly, pear-shaped, overrated troll." (The Internet )

"Mommy, where are my pretzels?" (Tracy Morgan )

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR BOSSYPANTS:

"I hope that's not really the cover. That's really going to hurt sales." (Don Fey, Father of Tina Fey )

"Absolutely delicious!" (A Guy Who Eats Books )

"Totally worth it." (Trees )

"Do not print this glowing recommendation of Tina Fey's book until I've been dead a hundred years." (Mark Twain )

"Hilarious and insightful. Laugh-out-loud funny -- oh no, a full moon. No! Arrgh! Get away from me! Save yourself!" (A Guy Turning into a Werewolf )

Congrats on finishing a category. I am happy to see that the Three Pines series was such fun. I have read the first two in the series and plan on getting to the other books later this year.... at least that is the plan ;-)

@42 Good luck with your plan. My own plan is to whatever I want. So far, so good :)

20)Bossypants by Tina Fey



Category: 9 Nonfiction

I not so secretly love Tina Fey. I think she's a wonderful comedian, and I'd like to be more like her in the future. I also spent much of this book wondering how I get my real dream job of writing jokes (for money!) as opposed to giving them away for free like I do now (I've been doing it all wrong!). Mostly memoir, Fey does a great job mixing jokes and clever observations in with her life story.

My only critique is that she jumps in time throughout the book. Because she groups what she's talking about by experience (what working for snl was like, what having a baby was like, etc) she goes forward and backward and it gets a little hard to know where you are (is she in college, is the baby 1, 20?)

Sped through it, definitely recommend.

On to Game of Thrones! Bought the paperback and may ultimately regret my format choice. The font is so small, and the pages are so thin. It's like they wanted to write on flower petals! It's going to be a mess real fast! Here goes :)

21)The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe C.S. Lewis



Category:6, Has Everyone already read this?

Probably an appropriate choice the week before Easter, but I started this book a few months ago. Then I stopped, and saw it sitting there with another 60 pages left.

Lovely book, 4 stars.
Anyone have some Turkish Delight?

@45

LOL! I really am not a fan of Turkish Delight, but every time I read that book I crave it!

22) The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins



Category 2: Book Club

Had to reread the Hunger Games for my upcoming book club. Had to ... like it was a chore! I was only supposed to read the first 4 chapters, but I couldn't stop.

23) One for the Money by Janet Evanovich



Category 6: Has Everyone Already Read This?

Picked up this book once before after dozens of beach time recommendations. Honestly, I only finished it this time because I was on a plane and couldn't reach the other book in my bag. It was okay.

Congrats on finishing a category!

I haven't read One for the Money yet, but I was considering it for my challenge this year. I know you said it was okay but would you recommend it?

I really want to read The Hunger Games because it has been recommended by so many people.

@49, I don't think I would recommend it unless you wanted to get through something very very quickly. From what I understand of the series, it gets better as it goes, but I just didn't get into the plot line. I didn't identify with the characters (except for the grannie, she was fun). If I gave it stars I'd say 2. It's an okay read, it's fast. But there's better mysteries for sure.

@50 Do it! Promise you won't regret it!!

>48 lbucci3: I read the first 2 Janet Evanovich books a while back, and had much the same reaction. I wouldn't mind reading another one -- if, like you, I were on a plane and had nothing else to read -- but I decided that there were too many other mystery series that I liked better to continue with this one.

>47 lbucci3: I just got Hunger Games last week and I'm eager to get to it soon!

I see you are another Louise Penny fan! Jealous that you managed to read your way through all of them! Which would you say is your favourite so far?

Oh, and congratulations on finishing a category! Woot!

Haha, thanks!
I think I liked A Fatal Grace the Best. But I am a sucker for Ruth, I think she's such a wonderful gruff vulgar character that everyone acts like bothers them but is such a loved part of her community, and I think that story is when she comes into more of her wonderful-ness.

Category: 8 Great Books I already Own
24) World War Z by Max Brooks


Had borrowed this book from a friend and it had been sitting on my shelf much longer than any borrowed book should. I really enjoyed reading about the war against zombies, it was fast paced and extremely interesting. The short little story clips reminded me of a documentary trying to piece together what happened after the fact.

Is it wrong that it sounded like it could actually happen that way? Like there could be a new plague, and people probably would deny it or try to patent new vaccines that did nothing, or would have to change everything they thought about military strategy.

A great read. **** 1/2

Category: 8 Great Books I already own

25) Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

Okay, so technically I didn't already own this book. BUT I did own a Kindle, and it was free on it (so I didn't have to BUY it). Maybe I should change the category to 8 books I don't have to pay for (kindle, library, bookshelf, borrow, etc). Whatever, close enough.

On to the actual book. Like many of the other people taking part in the group read, I also was put off by Agnes at first. In the fights with her pupils she seems so arrogant, and unaware. However by the end of the book, I feel okay with her, she's grown up a bit. At first I thought Agnes was a flaw in the book, that as a character she was the worst. Then I thought about it more. She's a somewhat spoiled kid writing in her diary. She's supposed to take her own side, and blame others. That's what diaries are for! I think I like her more as the story progresses because I like the adult she is becoming, and didn't like her in her adolescence.

First Anne Bronte, was I crazy about it? not really. Simply Ok ***

Category 8: 8 Great Books I already Own/**Didn't have to pay to read**

**- changed the title of my category, because I came to realize that I wasn't reading books I owned, I was reading tons of borrowed books (so whether they were from friends or from the library they got to leave my shelves, which I suppose was the objective)

26. The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde



This book follows the Nursery Crime Division of the police force, a rag tag croup of detectives & employees headed by DI Jack Spratt (still eats no fat) and the new detective Mary Mary (who wasn't that contrary). Together they investigate the murder of Humpty Dumpty and meet other Nursery characters along the way. This was my first Fforde work, and I'm eager to start on the Eyre Affair.

I thought this book was a cerebral and hysterical look at nursery rhymes told for grown-ups (let's be honest most of those rhymes were crazy violent).

Totally recommend.

**** 1/2

27. Netherland by Joseph O'Neill



Category: 8 Great Books I Already Own

This book has been on my shelf partially read for years. I kept trying to read it, and finally I came close enough to the end to call it quits (I actually gave up on the last fifteen pages). Maybe it was that I don't understand cricket, but I think the story was deeper than cricket. Maybe it was that I kept getting distracted by brighter shinier books, this seems like the realest possibility to me. This book tells the story of a family after 911, the break-ups and makeups and the ties to things that remind the narrator of home.

It was probably a very good book, but it caught me at the wrong time. I didn't relate. So it was a bust for me.

You will love The Eyre Affair. I have not read The Big Over Easy yet but do have it on mount TBR. Thanks for the review. :)

Just finished The Eyre Affair, it was wonderful! I'll review soon, too many lazy days reading getting in the way of actually reviewing!

Thanks for stopping in!

I am so glad that you liked it!! :)

28) The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Category 8 Great Books I Already Own



I don't much know what to say, but I loved this book. I think Fforde is clever without being contrived, and funny without being disgusting. Thursday Next, Special Ops litera-tec popping back in time to Jane Eyre! Rescuing the manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit-- it's all great! Fun, fast, lovable, WONDERFUL

29) In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
Category 9 Nonfiction



This was my first audiobook in a long while ( and by long while I mean at least 10 years- probably more) and it was wonderful to listen to in the car or before I went to sleep at night! If anyone regularly gets audio books the reader of this one was superb!

This tells the story about the American ambassador to early Hitler's Germany. Larson does a great job of not telling the parts of the WWII story that everyone already knows. Instead, he focuses on this family, and their story. He tells of a daughter falling in love with a Russian man, a daughter who regularly flirted with the S.S. soldiers, and seemed to slide into Nazi-ism for a time. Larson is a great writer, and I should pick up Devil in the White City soon!

Recommend, also- if you get the audiobook I'd recommend that as well!

30) Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Category 10 1001 books



There's a soft spot in my heart for Vonnegut, and this book is no exception. Originally, the story of one of the first creators of the atom bomb recently deceased, the author then goes on to enter into the lives of his three children (Newt, Angela and Frank), the creation of Ice-Nine ( a compound that will make much of the planet uninhabitable), and life in the Republic of San Lorenzo.

The interspersing of Bokonism kept me entertained as well.

Recommend (also, I'm on quite a good streak of liking books!)

31) The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
Category: 6 Has Everyone Already Read this?



I enjoyed the book... but here is imo its biggest flaw.

***SPOILER?: When she speaks to the Inspector at the end of the book, he gives her one day to let her father see everything (24 hours!) and then Flavia's father tells her to write the King. So Flavia writes to the King and then waits ONE WEEK to hear back from him!
What the heck happened to 24 hours, huh Alan Bradley? Arrest Flavia De Luce! /SPOILER END***

This book tells the story of aspiring chemist, and young detective, eleven year old Flavia DeLuce and her search to figure out who killed Horace Bonepenny in her back garden. Could it have been her father? Was it Dogger (sorry if that's misspelled, I listened to the book and didn't "read" it!), who is prone to having blackout episodes? Flavia is on the case, learning about stamps, interviewing related figures and otherwise getting herself into trouble.

I liked the book, and likely will continue the series. I am in no real rush to do so, despite the rather large following here on LT (or at least I thought I saw quite a few people reading and raving about these books).

Finally- if you get the audiobook version -- you've made a huge mistake. The narrator imo does a great disservice to the text and is unnecessarily nasal-y. Gross.

@ 62 -- So glad you liked The Eyre Affair -- I love Fforde's books! The rest of the Thursday Next series is also wonderful.

@65- my library doesn't have them, so I've been using ILL but it's taking forever!

Doesn't have them?? :faints

32) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer *****

finished June 27.11
Category: Has Everyone Already Read This?



Seemed like everyone was singing this book's praises over the last year, and I was sitting waiting with it on my shelves. Idk, something about pale yellow books that makes me think "oh, it can wait to be read" BUT I SHOULDN'T HAVE WAITED! I adored this book. It was so charming, and I really enjoyed how Juliet and Isola and all of the members of Guernsey became friends first through their letters and continued their friendship in person. I'm from a very small state, and I appreciate the way groups of people come together and become friends. Isola, I think, was my favorite character because I think she seemed like people I know- people out looking for clues but missing them all, and people who are just so excited to know you and get to know you that it's contagious!

If anyone was like me and lulled by the pretty yellow cover- do not be fooled! Pick it up!

Currently- I'm finishing up The Bell Jar because nothing says summer like bone crippling depression! It's actually pretty good, but pretty dark.
Be back soon!!

I'm so glad you liked The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society -- I loved it as well! I think it's on my list of all-time favorite books.

Also, your comment about "nothing says summer like bone-crippling depression" made me laugh. Hope you enjoy the book!

33) The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Category: Has Everyone Already Read This?



Did I like this book?

Yes. Maybe.

I had friends who read this book and loved it. That's what encouraged me to pick it up, because they felt like it had been a part of them. They appreciated Esther's desire to not be pinned down, her rejection of all of the things around her, her battle within herself. They saw her fight to keep her head above water, and stay alive, when all of her was uncertain if that was what she wanted.

I suppose they identified with her in some sort of way, and in some ways there is a beauty in that feeling. Plath's writing is flowing, it is poetic without being too much. You can tell she's a poet. But, I don't think I identified with the text in quite the same way my friends did. Her suitors seemed nice to me, she seemed to be the one getting in her own way, hating everyone because she hated herself.

I suppose I'm a bit happier, and didn't see myself in the text. So, overall, a mixed bag.

34) Go the F*** to Sleep by Adam Mansbach
8 books I didn't pay for (this year)



A lot of talk about this book this year. Just a fun picture book about the stress of putting a child to sleep (no, you can't have a glass of water. you went to the bathroom twice already). I'm not a parent but even still-- a quick funny picture book to look at in the bookstore.

Half Year Recap:

J- Whatever I Want-- 0/1
10- 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die-- 4/10
9- Nonfiction -- 4/9
8- Didn't pay this year -- 6/8
7- Mysteries 7/7 COMPLETE
6- Everyone Else Has Read- 5/6
5- Continents-- 1/5
4- Authors new to me- 2/4
3- A Trilogy- 3/3 COMPLETED
2- Book club books- 2/2 COMPLETED
A (1 major tome) - 0/1

Total= 34/56 (60.7%)
Ahead of the game, but trying to get most of my challenge done before September hits and I'm back to school!

Favorite book so far of 2011: I've had a good year so far but it's really a toss up between World War Z, Cutting for Stone and The Eyre Affair

Least favorite book so far this year: The World According to Garp just wasn't for me.

Great reviews! The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was one of my favourite reads the year I read it. I also enjoyed learning about how people made do with so little.. The parts about the shutting down of the bookstore and how the upper classes clothes became shabby the quickest when they were cut off from the outside world stuck with me.

Hearing things like the ritziest clothes got the dirtiest and shabbiest makes me a little happier to be in my cotton duds :)

Thanks for stopping in!!