lalbro's 11 in 11

A year into my time at LibraryThing, I have noticed some things about my reading. First, I start a lot of books that I never finish. Second, thank God for my subway commute time (which will be even better now that I can nook!). Third, lists are a really good way to keep track of what you want to read. Fourth, I want the room to read outside of my list...

Now, I didn't quite make my 100 mark, in fact, I'm still working on getting to 1/2 way. But I really liked the way that the category challenge makes you stretch. So last summer, I read The Age of Wonder, a book that I might have decided not to read in the past...but did read because it was on my list, and so I remembered to read it!

So, for 2011, I am going to do a stepped challenge, where the number of books may be more attainable given my time constraints, and will also participate in the 75 in 2011 challenge to see if I can meet that goal, regardless of categories.

Category 1: Trying Out A Group Read

0 of 1 COMPLETED

1. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

Category 2: Being A Woman

0 of 2 COMPLETED

1. When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women From 1960 to the Present, by Gail Collins
2. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft

Category 3: Reflections on Parenting

1 of 3 COMPLETED, although not from my TBR list....

So, I have a large stack of these books on my TBR list. I will try again this year to make a dent....

1. Manhood For Amateurs by Michael Chabon
2. Madeleine's World: A Child's Journey From Birth to Age Three by Brian Hall
3. Raising America: Experts, Parents, and a Century of Advice About Children by Ann Hulbert
4. No Biking in the House without a Helmet -- FINISHED 8/11

Category 4: Narratives in Short Story

0 of 4 COMPLETED

1. Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall, by Kazuo Ishiguro
2. Once the Shore: Stories, by Paul Yoon
3. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
4. A Good Fall by Ha Jin

Category 5: The Wide Wide World

3 of 5 COMPLETED

I do love to read about science, and discovery, but often find that I don't read as much as I'd like. So, I'll bring over some from the 1010 list, and then add some new ones.

1. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer -- FINISHED 6/11
2. Deep Blue Home: An Intimate Ecology of Our Wild Ocean -- FINISHED 4/3/11
3. The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom, by Graham Farmelo -- CURRENTLY READING
4. The Art and Politics of Science, by Harold Varmus
5. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks -- FINISHED 7/2/11

Category 6: On Books

1 of 6 COMPLETED

One of my favorites from last year, and one that I plan to finish several books in that were started but not finished last year.

1. 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley. I am currently reading this one, but fear I won't get it done before 1/1/11. So this may well be a cross-over book!
2. How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. I read about 2/3rds of this in 2010. I will finish it in 2011.
3. Reading Like A Writer by Francine Prose. One I've started to read three times. I WILL finish it in 2011.
4.The Writer As Migrant by Ha Jin
5. Losing My Cool by Thomas Chatterton Williams
6. Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination

7. Howards End is on the landing
8. The Reading Promise -FINISHED 6/30/11
9. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction -- CURRENTLY READING

Category 7: Kids Pick -- Mom Reads Harry Potter

0 of 7 COMPLETED

My husband read all but the last of the Harry Potter books to my eldest, I only read the first two books to my youngest. Now, after much discussion, the children have decided that I really must read ALL of the Harry Potter books. So, here you go.

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Category 8: Order Matters

7 of 8 COMPLETED

So, I tend to read a lot in this category, but didn't include it last year, as it seemed to be a lesser category....but I've decided to include it. So, books on organizing life, and homes, and finances, and offices....here we come!

1. A Perfectly Kept Home Is The Sign Of A Misspent Life by Mary Randolph Carter
2. What's A Disorganized Person To Do? by Stacey Platt -- COMPLETED
3. At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson --- COMPLETED 5/3/11
4. Live More, Want Less: 52 Ways To Find Order in Your Life by Mary Carlomagno -- COMPLETED 6/2/11
5. The 100 Thing Challenge: How I Got Rid of Almost Everything, Remade My Life, and Regained My Soul by Dave Bruno -- COMPLETED
6. Lighten Up: Love What You Have, Have What You Need, Be Happier With Less by Peter Walsh
7. Making It All Work by David Allen -- COMPLETED 1/11
8. Store It! -- COMPLETED
9. The 25 Best Time Management Tools -- COMPLETED 9/9/11
10. The Nine Rooms of Happiness - COMPLETED

Category 9: Autobiography/Biography

4 of 9 COMPLETED

1. Let's Take The Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell -- COMPLETED 1/31/11
2. Failure is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words by Lynn Sherr
3. Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr
4. The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok -- COMPLETED 4/8/11
5. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey -- COMPLETED 2/1/11
6. The Water Is Wide -- COMPLETED 5/12/11
7.
8.
9.

Category 10: Food For Thought

6 of 10 COMPLETED

As a food blogger, I find that I read a lot about what and how we eat. I should not have any difficulty meeting this category's numeric requirement. I have quite a few books on my shelf already that fit here.

1. Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly, by James E. McWilliams
2. Twain's Feast by Andrew Beahrs
3. Kitchen Literacy: How We Lost Knowledge of Where Food Comes From and Why We Need to Get It Back by Ann Vileisis -- COMPLETED 2/17/11
4. The Ethical Gourmet by Jay Weinstein. COMPLETED 1/6/11
5. Farmer Jane: Women Changing The Way We Eat by Temra Costa -- COMPLETED
6. High On The Hog: A Culinary Journey From Africa to America by Jessica B. Harris
7. American Terroir -- COMPLETED 4/30/11
8. A Tiger In The Kitchen --COMPLETED 5/15/11
9. American Wasteland -- COMPLETED
10.

Category 11: Fiction from "Best Of" Lists

7 of 11 COMPLETED

I will meet my quota here too. I will finish the last novel that I'm currently reading for 2010 The Lacuna, and will make my 10 in that category. I'm thinking that 11 won't be a stretch here.

1. Room by Emma Donoghue -- COMPLETED 3/25/11
2. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
3. The Infinities by John Banville -- COMPLETED 4/30/11
4. A Free Life by Ha Jin -- COMPLETED 1/13/11
5. The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano -- COMPLETED 2/17/11
6. How To Read The Air -- COMPLETED 5/4/11
7. Swamplandia -- COMPLETED 6/11
8. Sister -- COMPLETED 9/4/11
9.
10.
11.

I'm looking forward to your Food for Thought category. A couple of the items are on my wish list.

Great categories! I'm starring your thread and looking forward to your comments on your reading.

#13: Thanks! Food for Thought should have lots of great reading in it.

#14: I look forward to your comments on mine!

Starred!!

I will definitely have fun following your reading year as I'm *totally* interested in all of your categories except for Harry Potter and kids (my youngest will be 25 years old this July - so I'm past the"young kids" stage of my life).

It's great to find another "foodie" here among LT's bibliophiles. Hooray for us!!

Thanks for taking the time to post on my thread and giving me links to yours.

Have a wonderful 2011!

I'll be following your thread as well! I'm planning to read Harry Potter for the first time as well. Good luck on your challenge!

Great! I'll be looking forward to your reactions to Harry Potter!

Sounds good, I look forward to hearing more about the foodie books! :)

Well, the first book completed in 2011 is The Ethical Gourmet, definitely a foodie book! I guess my interests are pretty continuous with last year's reads :)!

Written in 2006, this book is quite interesting to read in 2011. So much more attention is being paid to how we make decisions as to what to eat than then. Given that, much of the information he includes in his book is widely known now, and it read to me more like a review than anything new. However - he has an excellent list of websites to shop for organic, local, and humanely raised food, many of which I was not aware of. And, he has many great recipes that I am looking forward to trying.

Bottom line - a great introduction to the topic if you are not already part of the eat local, eat organic, eat sustainably space - and a great resource if you are looking for support in making wise choices.

I'm already a part of "eat local, eat organic, eat sustainably space" but I'm wishlisting that book anyway! :)

It's pretty good reading - and really quite interesting to read now. I'm sure that when it was published in 2006, it was considered novel!

Looking forward to trying the recipes most though...and if they're good enough, blogging about them! His section on cooking with grains and vegetables is particularly appealing to me.

Have you read "It's All Too Much" by Peter Walsh? It was the first organizing/de-clutter book I read, and it's still my favorite.

No, Heather, I haven't! I'll need to add it to my to-ready list!

Live More, Want Less is a quick, but not altogether inspiring read. While I am totally in agreement with decluttering and the removal of "stuff" as a way to free up living space (both physical and mental), I didn't resonate with many of her vignettes. Maybe it's because I am have never shared the shopaholic state to the degree that she (and many of her clients do). Sure, I love a good sale, and I have a reasonable stockpile of food --- but nothing like what she described. So, not on my recommended list. Glad it was quick though!

Apparently I read one novel a month....at least this year! Loved Swamplandia - a great way to kick off summer reading. Mysterious, magical, compelling.