RedBowlingBallRuth's 2011 reading adventure continues PART 2! :)

You can find my first thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106236

What I've read so far this year:

January:

1) Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
2) Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
3) The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barberry
4) Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
5) The Diamond as Big as the Ritz and Other Stories by F- Scott Fitzgerald
6) Bob Dylan by Håvard Rem
7) Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

February:

8) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
9) Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
10) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
11) The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

March:

12) The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
13) I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
14) The Outcast by Sadie Smith
15) Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
16) Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
17) The Girls by Lori Lansens
18) Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
19) Skinny Bitch by Freedman and Barnoin

April:

20) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
21) Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
22) A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
23) Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
24) Big Fish
25) Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
26) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
27) Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
28) Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
29) Solar by Ian McEwan
30) All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris

May:

31) From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
32) The Piano Teacher by Janick Y. K. Lee
33) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
34) In Defense of Food by Muchael Polla
35) Johnny Got his Gun by Dalton Trumbo
36) True Grit by Charles Portis
37) Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
38) A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

June:

39) Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
40) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
41) The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins
42) The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
43) Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan
44) The Paris Wife by Paula McLaine
45) Annabel by Kathleen Winters

July:

46) The Vampire's Assistant by Darren Shan
47) An Odd Boy by Doc Trogden
48) Fight Club by Chuck
49) Min mangel på stolthet of fordom i jakten på Me Darcy by Ingrid
50) The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
51) Small Wars by Sadie Jones
52) Life of Pi by Yann Martel
53) A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemmingway
54) The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

August:

55) Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
56) A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot
57) 2001: A Space Oddyssey by Arthus C. Clarke
58) Alice's Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
59) Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemmingway
60) Tunnels of Blood by Darren Shan
61) Glamour: Women, History and Feminism by Carol Dyhouse

September:

61) Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger
63) Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
64) Moab is My Washpot by Stephen Fry
65) The French Lietuenant's Woman by John Fowles
66) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
67) A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgesse
68) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
69) A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

October:

70) The Secret Lives of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
71) Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams
72) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
73) Touching from a Distance by Deborah Curtis
74) Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
75) Alice Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
76) Ape House by Sara Gruen

Read so far in November:

78) Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
80) The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde
81) Nineteen-Eightyfour by George Orwell
82) Midnight Over Sanctaphrax by
83) On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
84) The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells

85) The BFG by Roald Dahl

Once more I needed something light-hearted and fun to read after a somewhat draining The Island of Doctor Moreau, and The BFG fit the bill perfectly. I haven't read a lot of Dahl's work before, but I will from now on do an effort to do so. The BFG is so much fun, I love the playful use of words especially, and The Big Friendly Gianht himself is a very endearing character.

I read Doctor Moreau earlier this year and I agree. It was was a chiling and distubing read- and very thought-provoking.

Funny...I have just read Dr. Jekyll and needed some lighter...I ended up with a children's book: The Railway Children.

I have not read anyhting by Roald Dahl....but have Danny, the Champion in a danish translation which will be one of my next reads....

Reminder: Do book your calendar for the Oscar Wilde read in January.

The Island of Dr. Moreau, like all the other H. G. Wells books I have read so far gives the feel of a small ray of sunshine at the end of a really dark tunnel and his imagination, specially once you consider at the time the books were written, is simply amazing!

#8: Oh, you just reminded me that I really want to read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - it's one of those that's always been on my TBR pile but somehow never get read. It's nice to have some lighter books as counterweight to the heavier ones, and children's books seem to be the perfect solution, I've found! :)

#9: Duly noted! ;) I purchased my copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray a few weeks ago, so I'm good to go. :)

Wow, nicely put. I agree, the imagination of his ideas and novels are truly astonishing. Must read more by him - I have The Time Machine on my Sony e-reader, so will try to read that sometime in the new year I think.

A combination of computer and internet problems, coupled with a stressing few weeks of frantic studying has made my monthly wrap up quite late. Never the less, here's the..

November wrap up:

78) Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
79) Nineteen-Eightyfour by George Orwell
80) Midnight Over Sanctaphrax by
81) On Chesil Beach by H. G. Wells
82) The Island od Doctor Moreau by Ian McEwan
83) The BFG by Roald Dahl

Books read: 6
Pages read: 1717
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Total books read: 83
Total pages read: 24332




This was a quite dark and depressing reading month, with several dark dystopian novels. Though a genre I love, it can be a little too much. Favourite books of the month must be the beautiful and heartbreaking On Chesil Beach, and the chilling and memorable The Island of Doctor Moreau.

84) The Annotated Alice by Lewis Carroll, Martin Gardner

I read this in preperation for an exam, and while I just read Alice's Adventures a few months ago it was just as fun this time around. Gardner's edition is chock-full of annotations filled with interesting, and sometimes not no interesting, tidbits of information on anything remotely related to "the Alices" or Carroll himself. Perfect for anyone Alice-obsessed, or writing a paper. :)

85) On the Road by Jack Kerouac

While I'm glad I've finally read this modern classic, I can't say I really understand why this book is as popular and well known as it is. I liked On the Road, but it felt much longer than its 281 pages. Kerouac's book does has several moments of beauty and philosophic ponderings that I really liked an appreciated, though. Sal is an interesting character, though I don't understand Sal's near obbsession with the manic and frantic Dean - who is another interesting character. A godd read, but I just don't understand what all the fuss is about.

That's exactly how I felt. I read it solely for the "now I've read it".

#11 You have interchanged the authors for On Chesil Beach and The Island of Doctor Moreau. How did you like 1984? It is one of my all time favourites, as you must have guessed, I am a fan of Dystopian novels too.

On the Road still remains "one of those books I need to read one of these days".

I am an Alice fan, yet undecided on whether I will give the Annotated version a try.

#13: I have mixed feelings about On the Road - I read it on the train and Greyhound-bus on a trip across USA and that added some extra to the novel - kind of got me into a special "on the road" feeling that I liked - but I got tired of it in the end. It should have been half the length. It's very repetitive and of course unstructured - but I guess on purpose.

#14: Nice to see I'm not alone in my feelings about On the Road. :)

#15: Indeed I have, silly me! Thanks for letting me know. :) I really enjoyed Nineteen-Eightyfour, but it was just so dark and bleak. Almost too much so I thought.

You should give Annotated Alice a go if you're a fan - if you discover you don't like reading the annotations, just skip it, ans simply enjoy the story. :)

#16: That sounds like the perfect context in which to read On the Road! I agree - it just wasn't quite my thing I think.

86) Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

I actually intended to read this book back in October as a Halloween read - which it would have been perfect for - but alas, it did not happen. It may have taken me a while to get around to reading Full Dark, No Stars, but it was worth the wait; as I always find with King, this book was highly engrossing, with great character and a relatively high ick-factor.

87) The Republic of Trees by Sam Taylor

In this dystopian YA novel, four kids run away from their homes with the intention of creating a perfect society based on Rosseau's The Social Contract. At first everything is fine, and the kids are enjoying a carfree existence in the forest, living as one with nature, nurturing strong friendships and budding romances. As a new girl appears and joins the newly formed society of The Republic of Trees, things start taking a darker and far more sinister turn.

A disturbing and thought-provoking read. Makes me want to re-read Lord of the Flies!

December wrap up:

84) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
85) On the Road by Jack Kerouac
86) Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
87) The Republic of Trees by Sam Taylor

Books read: 4
Pages read: 1151
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Total books read: 87
Total pages read: 25483




December turned out to be an unexpectedly busy month, and I therefore didn't get to read as much as I wanted and hoped to. Still, some good read were consumed!

New year, new thread :)

http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=130088