Cutestlilbookworm's Reading Journal 2011

2011 BOOKS READ LIST



January
Who Will Cry for the Little Boy by Antwone Fisher
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
The Living Blood by Tananarive Due
Cain's Apples by Bryan Lee (short story, Smashwords download)
My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Christine King Farris
Oh No: Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World by Mac Barnett
Getting to Happy by Terry McMillan
Love by Toni Morrison

Currently reading
The Living Blood by Tananarive Due

Browsing
The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion

Good Finds
I picked up some great deals at a book store that unfortunately is going out of business.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen~ I've heard this is a must read
Make it Super Simple by G. Garvin~ I can't resist a good cookbook and I enjoy his show...not to mention, he's a nice piece of eye candy (bad bookworm!)
Between the Assassinations by Aravind Adiga ~ The White Tiger was on my Best of 2010 list, so I'd like to read another book by him although this one didn't get rave reviews.
Who Will Cry for the Little Boy? by Antwone Q. Fisher ~ I'm not a big poetry reader but the book has only 80 pages, so why not...I find his story inspiring and I'm sure his poems will be thought provoking.
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez ~ I've wanted to read this book for a quite a while after seeing the movie...plus, I enjoy reading Marquez.

2 - Nice group of books you picked up there. What do you think of The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion so far? I'm cookbook obsessed as well.* This year I might try to include what I'm cooking in my thread too.

*Also I didn't know how G. Garvin was so thanks for heads up....ahhh, Google Images. :)

Welcome to the group! If you're feeling game, come over to the introductions thread and say hello!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/104375

>janepricestrada, So far I like it. There's a lot of information provided about each region but its broken down into bite sized morsels (corny right) which makes it easier to digest (couldn't help it) what you've read. She also includes some recipes and plenty of tips and knowledge nuggets. It would be nice if there was a special edition with pictures of the cuisine and regions like in Spain...A Culinary Road Trip

@fannyprice Thanks! Will do.

Love in the Time of Cholera is a beautiful book. I know you'll enjoy it. I've been meaning to reread it, but probably not anytime soon.

Yay! I finished my first book of the year. As previously mentioned, I don't read poetry very often. In fact looking at my reading history for the past 3 years you won't find any. Who Will Cry for the Little Boy was a welcome change from the usual for me, not to mention I finished it in less than an hour. If you've seen the movie based on his life you'll know that he had a rough childhood and experienced abandonment. Isolation is a common theme in his poems, however many also are about love; lost love, unrequited love, wondering if he'll ever find love and a wonderfully written love poem dedicated to his wife. I appreciate that poems came straight from his heart, but some of them were very simplistic, amateurish (?). He does preface in his introduction that his "poems are usually not what I hope to convey to others, but rather, they are my way of speaking to myself. The words are my cadence combined with my spirit." Overall, it was a decent read.

5: Sounds yummy! I keep looking at cookbooks even though I rarely cook anymore.

My daughter is an absolute HP fan and even at age 18 asked for the DVD boxed set and a Slytherin wall scroll for Christmas. She was delighted to see that I signed up for the Harry Potter Reading Challenge in the Blogosphere. I completed the first book in the series and my first for the challenge with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I can't believe it took me so long to check out this series, what an adventure! The twist at the end was certainly unexpected. The story offered a great introduction to the young hero Harry Potter, but leaves you yearning for the next book to find out the answers to many unrevealed secrets about his parents and 'You Know Who'.

I will be moving on to the next book in the series come February, so in the meantime I'm going to try and finish up the The Living Blood and get my hands on a copy of Love:A Novel by Toni Morrison for my F2F book club.

10 - I quite enjoyed the HP series as well. It went through our family like the flu - first my youngest sister, then my mom, then my middle sister, then me.

You're so fortunate that you don't have to wait two years between HP books, which I did as a grown-up.

Love is a wonderful read: original and provocative. Morrison is one of our most brilliant living writers, imho.

@jane, my youngest two like movies...perhaps they'll move on to the books when they are reading at that level. Right now my 9yo is into The Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series. For a while it was like pulling teeth to get her to read age appropriate books until she discovered those stories.

Fabulous Finds

I renewed Living Blood, it's taking me a lot longer to get through than anticipated. The first few chapters were moving along slowly and focused primarily on a young boy's losing battle with leukemia and how the father is coping with that coupled with the recent loss of his wife. It thoroughly sets the stage for his desperation to find a miracle cure however I'm ready for a little more action! I couldn't help but peek ahead a few pages and Fanaa, the 3 year old child of immortal parents, who doesn't have full control or knowledge of the extent of her powers kills someone with just a thought. Now that's what I'm talking about :-)

Some other books I picked up:
Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates I haven't read any of her books, but have read many raves and positive reviews of her books.

Recommended to me by the librarian, Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks another highly recommended work.

For my long car rides I picked up Getting to Happy by Terry McMillan. I'm going to have to dig out my old copy of Waiting to Exhale in order to re-familiarize myself with the characters.

One of my favorite chefs Daisy Martinez has a new cook book, Daisy: Morning, Noon and Night, so I grabbed that too!

Finally, I found in excellent condition Wally Lamb's The Hour I First Believed. I couldn't resist...it was only $1. I just don't know where I'm going to put it, my shelves are FULL!!

I'm with you on Joyce Carol Oates. That is, I've read many rave reviews, but haven't read enough of her to really "get" her, so I've decided that I need to try some more of her books. Too many people whose opinions I respect really like her. I've only read a few anthologized short stories and Black Water, which is a novella. Haven't heard of Zombie, though, so I'll be interested in hearing your thoughts when you get to it.

Oh and I loved The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

I still haven't picked up a copy of Love for my f2f book club...I'm debating whether or not to purchase the eBook for 3 bucks when I know I'm going to want the physical book on my shelves with the rest of my Toni Morrison collection. I just don't want to pay full price and haven't been able to locate a copy at my usual spots (library sales, BM, used bookstores). What I did find at Classics Bookstore in Trenton this morning is a better copy of Pillars of the Earth (the gold edged Oprah edition as opposed to my raggedy old paperback), an excellent condition hard back copy of Like Water for Chocolate and a comfortably worn copy of July's People by Nadine Gordimer. Great finds all for only $13!