Milda-TX thinks books are heaven in 2011....................................

About 60 books in 2009, barely broke 40 in 2010... but maybe the 3rd time's the charm?!

I hope so! I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I will keep fingers, toes, eyes and anthing else needed crossed for you, Milda! Glad to see you back!

Welcome back!

Hi Milda! I'm looking forward to seeing what you read in 2011!

Hello! You can do it! It's really all about the books anyway :) ...silly numbers...

Hi Milda
I was drawn to your thread as I have just received 84 Charing Cross Road in the mail from Book Depository and I have picked up Swan Thieves many times and put it back in the bookshop. I see we have quite a number of books in common so I will follow your reading with interest.

Helen! Leave Swan Thieves at the bookstore! It was a little long and boring. It's a story about painters and the obsession of one artist that drives him a little crazy, but in the end that craziness isn't explained all that well. The words were lovely and lulled me into reading for 600 pages, but the plot was slow and predictable and the characters not too compelling. Basically, I finished the book only because my sweet daughter was kind enough to try to figure out which book to buy me for Christmas, and that was just sooo nice of her, so I had to keep going.

I could have sworn I posted here already. Well, I'm here now, Milda. I hope you have some great reads in 2011.

After big ol' heavy Swan Thieves I was ready for something silly. So, I picked an Elmore Leonard off the shelves: The Hot Kid. It's a story from shoot-em-up cops-and-robbers 1930's Oklahoma. The title refers to a US Marshal, Carl Webster, who was only 15 when he shot his first thief. He is hot indeed - I liked him and will have to look for more stories about him.

Next I picked up Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year. I had given this book to my daughter, who's in her freshman year of college and studying education. She loved the book and has read it multiple times, but left it in the car after we dropped her off at her dorm today. (snf snf, I miss her already!) So far I'm liking this book a lot, too.

holey schnikies I finished 2 books today! I liked Educating Esme a lot, even though I can't imagine my baby daughter being as cynical as the author. Was glad I got Em the "expanded version" of this book because it comes with what looks like some helpful lists in the back... to include more books for her mommy to buy for her.

woo hoo, day off on Monday - hoping for more yucky rain so I have an excuse to read some more. :)

#11: woo hoo, day off on Monday - hoping for more yucky rain so I have an excuse to read some more

Sounds like a good plan to me, Milda! We were getting rain here earlier in the day, but I think it is gone for now.

Book #4 for the year was Frankenstein. My daughter read this in high school and recommended it to me. It was an interesting don't-fool-with-mother-nature story. But it's so sad and lonely and cold. Maybe it was more enjoyable to read and discuss in class...? It took me all weekend to finish it, because it's not such an easy read.

I agree with you about Frankenstein - I had remembered it much differently than it actually was! I heard on NPR recently that a woman wrote a sequel from the monster's point of view. Can't remember the title now though.....

I'm not sure which sequel you mention above, but I recently read The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein. It's a pretty good re-interpretation of the story.

#5 for the year was an impostor. I picked up a copy of Cold Comfort Farm, thinking I was going to be reading a classic. All along I felt like I was missing something.... realized after I finished it that I have an abridged version. Shoot. It was still silly and fun, though, but a disappointment.

So happy that my SantaThing package finally arrived and included The Dew Breaker. The first story was soo good... I think I'd better take this collection slowly though - sounds like it will get more sad and more difficult to read...

Oh no! An abridged version of Cold Comfort Farm? It's not even that long! The full-length one is still silly, but it was one of the best books I read last year. I hope you pick up the full version some time.

#16: I am with Carly in thinking that an abridgement of Cold Comfort Farm completely unnecessary! I am very surprised.

Congrats on finally getting your SantaThing package, Milda.

#16 - The Dew Breaker is a wonderful, but difficult book. There is a clear connecting thread through the stories that makes the package even more impactful. Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

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

Thanks to brenzi's wonderful review, I picked up The Girls from the library. It was terrific, as promised. :)
Dumb touchstone thingie....

>21 Milda-TX:. I see what you mean:-). I assume you are referring to Lori Lansens ' The Girls.
She is one of my favourite writer's. I have read three of her novels now and she writes beautifully, never failing to move me.
When the touchstone brings up the wrong book or author, click on 'others' and it should bring up a list of alternatives and select the correct one.

#21: I loved The Girls when I read it. I am glad to see you thought it was terrific, Milda!

>22 HelenBaker: - I clicked "others" a couple of times and it just froze. I don't have patience for that...
I didn't realize she has 2 more books - glad to hear they're good too - I'll go look for them now!

My daughter's so sweet - she saw my review of The Girls on facebook, and I said I'd like to read more by the author, so she ordered a new Lansens book and had it shipped to me. So cute.

Just finished Dive from Clausen's Pier, which took me way too long because I was annoyed at the main character. Ms. Packer writes really well, so I couldn't just give up on it.

Hi, Milda! I'm going to do my best to follow along with your reading journey. You can make 75 books this year - third time's the charm. :-)

woo hoo, finished another book today - yay for weekends! #8 for this year was Nickel and Dimed, where author tries out jobs in the service sector to see whether she can get by on minimum wage. The way she did this was kinda cheater-y, but still, it was interesting. Kinda scary that it was written so long ago and certainly the economy has made things worse since then. But eww, no maid service for me, thank you very much...

Hi Milda, you've been kinda quiet lately but I see that you've been reading some good books. Hey, that's making better use of your time than "wasting" it on the computer.

That's a sweet story about your daughter sending you a Lansen book out of the blue. What did you get? I have Rush Home Road by her that I seem to be saving for a rainy day. Thank goodness we get lots of rain here in Missouri in the spring!

Hi Milda! I'm reading The Girls right now too and loving it. I'll be interested to hear it you like your new Lori Lansens book.

And I agree that Nickel and Dimed was kind of scary.I got to hear Barbara Ehrenreich read from that book a few years ago. She's a very interesting speaker.

Hi again! My daughter sent me The Wife's Tale - I haven't started it yet and in fact after reading the description I'm a little wary of it, since it's my 25th anniversary in October and I could stand to lose a few pounds myself! :) But I'm sure I won't be able to resist for too long.

#9 - The Sign of Four, the 2nd of the Sherlock Holmes novels. I've never read these stories before, and found Holmes and Watson were a little more fun than I expected them to be. But, got a little tired of the long explanation/wrap-up in this book, so I'm not sure I'll bother to pick up any more of them.

#10 - The Reluctant Fundamentalist was so very good. I loved the way the book was a conversation, and how the tension built.

Currently reading The Lacuna and enjoying it a lot. Just happened to have weekend visitors a couple of weeks ago, and spent hours in the San Antonio Museum of Art's amazing Latin American art collection... which turned out to be a very nice history lesson to help me appreciate this book even more.

I loved The Wife's Tale and Lacuna. It is great when you find a connection to your book which increases your enjoyment. I'm hoping it won't be long before there is a new Lori Lansens title out.

Funny, another connection between reading and real life - Lacuna even helped me answer a Jeopardy question last night. :)

#11 - The Lacuna - was pretty amazing. Kingsolver's writing is wonderful, the history is interesting, the politics thought-provoking, and, apparently unlike other reviewers, I liked the characters, too.

De-lurking to say, I liked the characters in The Lacuna too!

I agree with you and Genny, Milda. The Lacuna was one of my favorites. Glad you liked it.

It's infinitely sad what lunatics like Stalin can get away with. Between Shades Of Gray will teach another generation of kids to not let it happen again.

Hello, Milda. I have been away for a bit, but am going to follow you from here on out. . .

Hi Stasia - read Between Shades of Gray and review it for me, will you? So more people read it? Story hits way too close to home for me. (My parents got out of Lithuania in time but some of their relatives suffered in Siberia.)

Hi Milda, I have added it to my wishlist. Not one I have come across before. Beautiful cover draws me for starters.

#38: Send it my way and I will take care of it for you :)

#40, gotcha, thanks!

#13 was Naughty Neighbor. I wanted a light audiobook to listen to in the car, and this was all I found at the library. It was fluffy, repetitive, silly - but that was okay with me, because I really just wanted some noise. Don't ask me about any major plot points because I'm not sure I could tell you.

Hmm... the touchstone works while I'm editing this but disappears when I post. Oh well.. to be more specific this is an Evanovich.

#41: No problem!

#14 was Swamplandia!. I wanted to like this book, I truly did. But YUCK, it was Yucky, and I ended up so angry. Noticed by her review that brenzi probably hated the same twist that I did... so aggravating, so unnecessary, so Yuck.

Good thing is, I can officially cross off swamp lands as the kind of place I want to live one day.

Dang, I was crabby about that Swamp book wasn't I? :)

But yay, #15 was awesome! A Visit from the Goon Squad. Loved it. Started out a little worried whether I'd be able to put up with all the sex drugs and rock-n-roll, but it was just so fun to read I got over that quickly enough. Don't worry too much about not being able to keep up with who's who - it really does flow pretty easily once you get into it. Looking forward to reading it again someday - and I hardly ever say that about a book.

>44 Milda-TX: Popping up to say I liked that one too, and my reactions were very similar to yours. I think I did reread parts of it, because when I got to the end I so wanted to make sure I had all the characters straight and could figure out all the connections.

I loved A Visit from the Goon Squad too. It is definitely one of those books that I think I could read again someday.

And Swamplandia is on my TBR list, but I'm not rushing to get to it after reading several less than glowing reviews!

I really need to get to Goon Squad one of these days!

Hey Stasia, should I stick Goon Squad in the same package with Between Shades of Gray for you? Hey, btw, I was visiting my mom this weekend and she asked me to teach her how to use amazon, and her very first purchase was Between Shades of Gray for my sister's birthday. Turns out the author is the niece of my mom's bridesmaid.

For Mother's Day my husband was sweet enough to pick me up a Kindle! Fun! And since I had 6 hours on the plane this weekend, I got to read my first Kindle book. #16 for this year was Please Look After Mom. It's a story about an elderly Korean woman who disappears, and it tells about her life from various points of view as her family searches for her. It was really really good, very sad and sweet, and had interesting details about life in Korea.

Also started Room while on the plane. Wow, it's creepy good.

#48: That would be great, Milda!

Congrats on the Kindle! I hope you like it as much as I do my Nook.

I really liked Room. I hope you do too!

#17 = The Checklist Manifesto. I heart checklists and I really like reading Dr. Gawande, so this book was fun to me. I can see how people thought it would've made a better article than book, but really, I like all the stories. The author's enthusiasm is infectious. (ha, get it? oh brother.) And it's one of those kind of books you can set aside for awhile and pick up again a month later - one of those carpooler kind of books. Or good for that long wait in the doctor's office.

#50: I thought I already had that book in the BlackHole, but I checked and it was not there. Now it is!

no way - how is it possible for a book to escape that deep BH of yours for so long, Stasia?! :)

#52: I have no idea!

Checklists are so satisfying--I'll have to look for that book.

>54 carlym: Just heard a story about a coworker's daughter suffering from an infection she caught in the hospital and had to refrain myself from saying "a-HA! it's because her hospital should've used a CHECKLIST!"

#18 was From the Ground Up: The Story of a First Garden. I really enjoyed it - it's a happy little story, each chapter dedicated to a different gardening issue and ending with a practical tip. It was a nice chapter-at-bedtime kind of book, for sweet flowery dreams.

#55: I should try From the Ground Up just to see if I can manage sweet flowery dreams! lol

#55: Checklists do save us from all sorts of mistakes!

>55 Milda-TX:: Thanks for the smiles, Milda. Actually, the checklist comment was a LOL moment, but I also liked what you said about a 'happy little story' and the 'sweet flowery dreams.' The garden book sounds like perfect nighttime reading for this time of year.

One of the books I picked up at Borders the other day was My Antonia, because I was feeling like a classic (maybe because I just had a birthday? ha ha!). Just finished it today. Oh my goodness, all the descriptions of the landscapes and seasons were just so lovely. I was glad that Lena's storyline was a little less predictable than Antonia's, because if all the girls ended up the same way, I would've thrown the book across the room.

#20 for the year was just started and finished today - it was so amazing, I couldn't put it down: Artist of the Floating World. (Thank you SantaThing!)

Artist of the Floating World sounds amazing! I just added it to my wishlist (and thumbed your review).

#59: I love My Antonia! My favorite Cather. I am glad you enjoyed it, Milda. I also enjoyed An Artist of the Floating World. You have had a couple of great reads in a row. Keep it up!

#21-Room: A Novel. Dang I'm glad I saved this for plane rides, because it was a little too creepy for me to read at bedtime... I can't say I'm all that glad I read it, but it was a page-turner, that's for sure. I looked at a few reviews and some readers were irritated with the same couple of things as I was: baby talk and breastfeeding. Ha, sounds like a book title right there. ;).

#22 - The Things They Carried. My husband brought this on vacation and of course I had to borrow it away. Wow, what an amazing, haunting book. I wasn't old enough during Vietnam to be aware of much, and oh, does this author make me glad of that, more than any number of those war movies I've cringed through...

#23 for the year was Crooked Letter. Enjoyed it. Bummed I finished it before the July TIOLI Edgar challenge thingie.

#62: Sounds like I enjoyed (although I am not at all sure that is the proper word for it!) Room more than you did, Milda. I thought the book was terrific.

#63: Another terrific read. I have read a couple others of O'Brien's, but 'Things' is the one that has stuck with me the most.

#64: One of these days my local library will have that one so that I can finally get it read!

You've read some of my favorite books lately, Milda... My Antonia is one book that I reread occasionally with increasing enjoyment.

So where did you go on vacation? Somewhere to escape the heat I hope.

Hi Donna, yeah, went to San Diego for my sister's wedding. The weather is always perfect in San Diego! But, weddings are a lot of work. So now we are preparing for our REAL vacation this fall. It will be our 25th anniversary in Oct, and we are spending it in Maine. I'm so excited, never been there! Read book #24 cover-to-cover in one day this weekend, to get in the mood for making vacation plans. It was Acadia: The Complete Guide: Mount Desert Island & Acadia National Park. Gorgeous pictures in this book!

#67: Congratulations on 25 years, Milda! That is quite an accomplishment. I am sure you will love Maine - and I am more than a little jealous that you are going and I am not :)

Stasia isn't the only one who is jealous. I'm ready for another New England trip, and the Bar Harbor area is one of those I'd like to visit. I also have a few other places in New England that I'd like to visit (mostly for genealogical research purposes).

I just can't wait... Have been to Niagara Falls and Washington DC, but nowhere in-between or more north and east of those!

I hope you have a wonderful time!

I hope you have a great vacation--I've been wanting to go to Maine as well, especially during the summer when it is so hot here but so pleasant-sounding there!

Oooh, Maine! That's one of the places that I'd like to visit some day too! I love planning for trips. The Acadia book sounds like an excellent one!

Oh my goodness, the endless days of 100-degree temps here... I just can't wait for that trip in the fall!

#25 for the year was a book I received via Early Reviewer: It's All About the Bike. What on earth was I thinking, asking for that book. Yuck. But I did my duty, finished it, and posted a review.

Picked up #26, She Walks In Beauty: A Woman's Journey through Poems from the library this weekend. I'm not much of a poetry reader, but I would like to try, and this book was a wonderful way to ease into it. Really enjoyed Ms. Kennedy's introduction to each section... she seems like such a thoughtful, kind person... and do you know, after browsing through a whole book of poetry, one of my favorite parts was in the Acknowledgments, which Caroline ends by saying: "Most of all, I would like to thank my friends and family, who make me happy to get up every morning knowing I might talk to them that day." What a warm way to end this lovely book.

You really seem to be getting through the books. But I guess it's holiday time for the Northern hemisphere. -2 frost here this morning. A clear sunny day, but fire going. I do enjoy the variety of weather our seasons offer.
I, like you, have little experience of poetry and yet wouldn't mind trying some. She Walks inBeauty sounds a good starting point.

Ahhh Helen, frost sounds sooooo nice right about now...

#27 is kinda not a real book but I read it almost cover-to-cover last night so it counts close enough: Frommer's Day Maine Coast Day by Day. Helpful as we decide how to divide our vacation days between driving up to Acadia, staying at Bar Harbor, and searching for moose inland. Lotsa pictures, handy size, quick recommendations and referrals for stuff to do and places to go, and of course, LOBSTER. Sooo looking forward to the trip.

I wish I could join you. I've loved the Southern Maine coast, but I want to explore more of the state.

#28 was Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris. It was clever and funny, but cringe-worthingly cruel and sad at the same time. PETA members should stay away from this one.

#78: I am not a PETA member, but I think I will stay away just the same :)

29th book for the year was 26a. Coming of age story of half-Nigerian twin girls growing up near London in the 80s. Liked some parts of the book better than others but boy the writing was so lovely I could forgive the boring bits. There's some 'magical' pieces that I would guess some people might not enjoy but it worked for me.

I enjoyed 26a too Milda. It was shortlisted for Whitbread Best First Book and deservedly so in my opinion. A promising young writer. Sad that it is really her and her twins story though.

#80: I already have that one in the BlackHole. Glad to see you liked it, Milda!

Helen, I really loved the parts at the end... won't say exactly what I guess since it's kind of a spoiler... and even more so when I found out after I read the book that she also had a twin and the same kind of thing happened. It must've been so cathartic for her to write this story.

Book #30 for the year was one I received through LTER: Train of Small Mercies. It was good, and I have added it to the stack that I need to get in the mail to Stasia. :)

I have seen good reviews of Train of Small Mercies. Thank you for adding it to my stack! :)

#31 was a re-read of Case Histories because so many LTers are reading the sequels and I couldn't jump into them unless I remembered the first book...

Another preparing-for-our-Maine-vacation book was #32 for the year: Empire Falls. Loved this story of Miles, who runs the Empire Grill, and his family and neighbors in a down-on-its-luck small town in Maine. Lots of interesting characters to care about and sub-plots to figure out. Really good book, and even made me laugh out loud a few times.

I loved Empire Falls when I read it a few years ago. I think it is my favorite book by Russo. Glad you enjoyed it, Milda!

More prep-for-vacation reading, Hull Creek: A Novel of the Maine Coast. It was okay, a little slow, kinda like I'd imagine a lobsterman's life would be, in an off-year especially. We'll eat a lotta lobstah next month, to help those lobstahmen out a little.

#34 for the year was an LTER: The Puppy Diaries. It was meh. My own puppy is almost a year old and such a cutie-pie, I adore her! So this book seemed kinda joyless in comparison... Plus, I swear: name-drop much? That part was a little tiresome.

Hi Milda, it sounds like you are doing your due diligence by reading up on Maine before your trip. I've only been there once for a short time and would love to go back and explore it a bit more. Another atmospheric book about an earlier time set in Maine is The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Arne Jewett. It has lots of lovely descriptions of the coastline and islands back in the late 1800s. I would imagine the scenery hasn't changed that much except for the addition of more houses and people.

Thanks for the rec, Donna!

We are home from Maine - had a wonderful, relaxing trip full of lovely sights and way too much good food. We were lucky enough to see a huge bull moose strutting around a lake in Baxter State Park and a mama and baby humpback pair dancing by our boat in Bar Harbor. Enjoyed the art museum in Portland during our first night, and a Hopper exhibit plus the Arctic display at Bowdoin on our last day. In between, the foliage and scenery were amazing. Ahhhhh, vacation... tomorrow I must start planning the next one.

#35 for the year was the Bossypants audiobook, which we enjoyed on the road in Maine. I loved it - Ms. Fey and I agree on many topics, so it made me laugh out loud a lot. Too bad it has a lot of f-words and adult material in it, so I can't offer the whole thing to my daughters just yet. Maybe just a few excerpts, like how the rules for improv apply to life... what a great chapter...

#36 was Under The Table: Saucy Tales from Culinary School. I took it on our trip because we were planning to hit some great restaurants in Portland and Bar Harbor. It was an okay vacation read, but a little too tame (not 'saucy' enough to keep my interest). I remember liking Kitchen Confidential much better.

Sounds like a fantastic holiday Milda. You had me dragging out the atlas as geography isn't my strongest point. I am better informed now, thank you.

I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed the trip to Maine. We saw a couple of moose on our trip to Colorado this summer. I love them! Planning a vacation is half the fun, so I think that starting to plan to the next one is a great idea.

And I loved Bossypants too. I read it from the library, but I think I want my own copy!

#37 was Birding Babylon. Excerpts of a journal by a soldier in Iraq that included notes on the natural world around him. thought it would be more interesting, but it just read like a list of the birds he spotted. Bummer.

Also read over 150 pages of Doc so I'll count it as #38 even though I was too bored to finish it. Disappointed about that, too. No worries though - taking a little break from work next week, so I'm sure to have time to pick up something good to read. :)

Today I bought a car, then finished a book. Finishing the book was much more satisfying and fun, of course. #39 for 2011 was The Moonflower Vine. It was lovely.

I'm moving to Club Read for 2012, since I'll never ever make 75 books. Maybe I'll see some of you there? Happy 2012!

Well, we really don't care about the numbers, but I hear the Club Read folks are a good lot! :) Some of our Challengers are also over there, so I'm sure you'll see some familiar faces.

I loved The Moonflower Vine, Milda. Glad you liked it too. I'll peek in on you in Club Read in 2012, but will miss seeing you here!