Bridget's 25 in 2011

I am so happy to have found this group! I'd fallen off the reading wagon because of a crazy-busy job and an addiction to Angry Birds. I really wanted to find a challenge to motivate me to spend more time reading and this is just the thing, especially since I am starting mid year. I read two books on my recent vacation, so I will start with those and hope I can keep up the pace of roughly one book a week. Guess I better put Dr Zhivago aside and settle on some less ambitious reading.

Following the lead of others, I will keep a running list of what I've read in this first post, with mini-reviews and end of book celebrations in future posts.

Encouragement, suggestions, thoughts, and opinions from other bookworms welcome!!

READ:
1. The Work of Wolves - Kent Meyers
2. Atonement - Ian McEwan
3. Falling Man - Don DeLillo
4. Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
5. Candide - Voltaire
6. Falling Angels - Tracy Chevalier
7. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
8. Fleshmarket Alley - Ian Rankin
9. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
10. The Coffee Trader - David Liss
11. The Department of Lost and Found - Allison Winn Scotch
12. Open House - Elizabeth Berg
13. The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. - Sandra Gulland
14. The Cookbook Collector - Allegra Goodman
15. The Good Thief - Hannah Tinti
16. Five Quarters of an Orange - Joanne Harris
17. Children in the Holocaust and World War II: Their Secret Diaries
18. The Red Scarf - Kate Furnival
19. The Hunger Games

IN PROGRESS

- The Bedside Baccalaureate

-

During my recent vacation, I finished two books that had been gathering dust on my bookshelf - The Work of Wolves and Atonement. I enjoyed them both. I had read other Ian McEwan novels, but this was the first Kent Meyers. I loved the lead character, Carson Fielding. Totally my idea of a modern day cowboy. This is a good read even if you don't care for westerns.

I am now trying to knock out Falling Man by Don DeLillo. I don't love it - probably because I have been reading it half-heartedly for more than six weeks. But is on the 1001 book list - at least one edition of it - so I am determined to see it through.

I've never heard of the 1001 book list--what is it?

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die by Peter Boxall is a list compiled by a bunch of literary critics. A lot of people on LibraryThing are trying to read the list, but it is pretty daunting sometimes. Most of the books are not easy reads. I try to make sure every other book I read is from the list. I love lists! There are similar books for movies, albums, and food.

I love the lists too! I love it when I can cross one off when I've finished a book, so I also try to stick to either that list or the one from 100bestbooks or whatever it's called.

I really, really enjoyed Atonement, but have never read any of his other books. Are they as good?

Actually, in retrospect, I have only read one other book of his - Amsterdam. I thought that was really good. I'll have to add some of his others to my wish list. I thought I'd read more, but I think I got him confused with J.M. Coetzee.

OK, I powered through Falling Man. Parts of it were very good - the characters were engaging. But it flipped around a lot and sometimes I wasn't sure which character was speaking.

Now I am on to Water for Elephants. A few chapters in and its looking to be a fast, enjoyable read. I think I might tackle Candide after that - short but challenging!

#4 Thanks--how about the 1,000 or so books sitting on my nightstand, shelves, floor, boxed away--I think I better read those first before I die :(
Not to mention all the wonderful books I read about on LT that seem to crowd out the books in my apartment....I may need to live to about 200....

Ha! You are so right....who needs a list someone else developed? I am always adding books to my shelves and wishlist.

#8-I'm hoping to live to be hundreds of years old, like Yoda. Of course, by then I'll probably be two feet tall, green, and shriveled!

10> Unless you're secretly the Doctor.

Finished Water for Elephants and really, really enjoyed it. I especially liked how the book ended. If you haven't read this yet, I would definitely recommend it.

Off to try Candide which much shorter and will probably take me longer!

Finished Candide. I liked this book a good deal more than I expected to. It was easy to read and entertaining, even if you don't want to analyze the social and political satire.

Time to start another book. Think I'll go with Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier.

Finished Falling Angels in one day! It was so nice to lay around and read for the better part of the day. Next up is The Handmaid's Tale.

Finished The Handmaid's Tale last night. Today I start Things Fall Apart.

I've put Candide and Water for Elephants on my to-read list!

16 - I hope you enjoy them puffinmuck!

I have somehow gotten myself into the state where I am reading three books at once. I try not to do that, but yesterday I was investigating my library's ebook program and couldn't resist downloading something even though I had just started Things Fall Apart. I still prefer the feel and smell of a physical book, but instant gratification is nice and I suppose it is good for the environment? Fleshmarket Alley is the ebook. I am also reading through The Bedside Baccalaureate a few pages at a time. It's a compilation of one page "lessons" on history, art, science, economics,etc. to refresh or supplement what you may or may not have learned in college. There are two editions (that I know of) and we picked them up at Costco. I'm not a huge reader of non-fiction, but these go at a good pace and do interest me in reading further.

Finished Fleshmarket Alley. It was an eBook from the library - I wish they'd had earlier ones in the series because some of the back story was missing. Nevertheless, it was pretty good overall. A little slower paced than some of the crime fiction I have read. Don't think I will rush to read his other work, but perhaps if I stumble across it...

Finished Things Fall Apart. I hate when I finish a book that I know I should have loved, and I didn't. I get the message and the writing was fine, but it just didn't excite me. I was glad when it was done.

Oh well...moving on. Sadly, I could not decide what to read next from the stack of books on my desk. I usually ask my husband to pick a number, but the bum is asleep. So I found a random number generator on the web. It chose book number six...The Coffee Trader. I just picked this up from the Half Price Books clearance rack. The author won an Edgar for a different book, so I hope this is worth the dollar I paid for it. Man, I love the clearance rack!

Finished up The Coffee Trader - it was very good. Nice twists in the plot up through the end. Now I am starting The Department of Lost and Found.

Finished The Department of Lost and Found last night. This book was very good - sad, funny, hopeful. Will be diving into Open House by Elizabeth Berg next.

Finished Open House tonight. Another good one! I thought it was a very sweet book. Time for The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B..

Finished The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. and liked it well enough that I ordered the other two from the series off Amazon. Until those arrive, I have an ebook to keep me busy - The Cookbook Collector.

Finished The Cookbook Collector. I liked the book, but it was a little hard to get into it. I almost abandoned it 100 pages in. I'm glad I stuck with it. Next up is The Good Thief. I am also still reading The Bedside Baccalaureate bit by bit, and I just picked back up a book with excerpts from the diaries of children in World War II that I picked up at the Dallas Holocaust museum a few months back.

Despite the fact that it has been so dreadfully hot in the Midwest and I've been indoors, I didn't manage to get much reading done in the last month. I did finish The Good Thief which I really enjoyed, and read Five Quarters of an Orange which was also good. The Bedside Baccalaureate and the book with excerpts from the diaries of children in the Holocaust have been gathering dust. I'm so close on the diaries, I think I will try to knock that out today, then I will feel better about starting The Red Scarf.