brewergirl's 75 book list 2013

I am creating a thread here mostly as a way to track my reading for the year. I use tags for that, as well, but thought I would keep a list here where I can make some comments. Note that I am listing re-reads but am not counting them in my totals.




I also have a thread in the ROOT group for 2013 where I am trying to read 35 books that were already on my shelf as of 1/1/13 ... so there will be some cross-overs that are on both lists.

January ... 9 books (plus 3 re-reads) ... see message 2
February ... 4 books (plus 1 re-read) ... see message 6
March ... 3 books (plus 4 re-reads) ... see message 7
April ... 7 books (plus 1 re-read) ... see message 8
May ... 13 books ... see message 9
June ... 9 books ... see message 10
July ... 7 books ... see message 11
August ... 4 books (plus 1 re-read) ... see message 12
September ... 5 books ... see message 13
October ... 10 books ... see message 14
November ... 8 books (plus 1 re-read) ... see message 15
December ... 5 books (plus 1 re-read ... see message 20

January progress

#1: The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde ... The latest in one of my absolute favorite series!

#2: Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore ... This was a re-read. I'm thinking of suggesting this for a book group at church!

#3: When We Were the Kennedys by Monica Wood ... Nice memoir of growing up in a Maine paper mill town.

#4: Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin ... Been meaning to read this one for a long time but just never got around to it. Now I just need to go see the Lincoln movie.

#5: Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones ... I just got this as part of SantaThing and really enjoyed it.

#6: Cover Story by Gerry Boyle ... The first I have read of him, but he is a Maine author with 2 series set in Maine so I will probably look for more!

#7: In the Dark Street Shineth: A 1941 Christmas Eve Story by David McCullough ... This is a very short book that talks about Winston Churchill's visit with FDR on Christmas Eve in 1941 and also tells the background of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas."

#8: Jack Maggs by Peter Carey ... This is a loose spin off of the story of Magwitch, the convict from Great Expectations. Not as great as I had hoped so it took me a while to get through it.

RE-READ: The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare ... My book group was discussing children's literature so I re-read this. It was one of my favorites. Later I discovered her other books ... The Sign of the Beaver, The Bronze Bow, and Calico Captive.

RE-READ: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg ... Another childhood favorite read in preparation for my book group's discussion.

RE-READ: John Adams by David McCullough ... I re-read this for a different book group.

#9: Port City Shakedown by Gerry Boyle ... The first in a different series. This one was set in Portland, Maine, but am not sure about the next one.

Updated 1/31/13

Welcome! Good start to the year.

I think I'd be terrified to suggest Lamb as reading at churches I've belonged to, but I certainly think it would be a good choice for required reading! I'll be very curious to hear how it goes if you do.... Good reading, meanwhile!

I updated message 2 with some recent reads.

February progress

RE-READ: American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard ... One of my favorites. He argues that the different regions of North America think differently today and that those differences go back to whichever ethnic/national/religious group first settled there. So although both New England and, say, Virginia joined in the American Revolution, they did so with very different outlooks on what the new nation/confederation should look like. I was struck by this several times while reading John Adams ... seeing the differences between the views of Adams and of Jefferson.

#10: Habibi by Craig Thompson ... A beautiful graphic novel that I got at the library.

#11: Hogfather by Terry Pratchett ... I haven't read a Discworld novel in a while and forgot how much I enjoy them.

#12: Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy by John Julius Norwich ... How appropriate that I was reading this book when the Pope announced that he was stepping down. I enjoyed this but admit that I let a lot of the European political & military history wash over me.

#13: The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady ... by Elizabeth Stuckey-French ... Had this on my shelf for a year. I actually read it in February but forgot to list it.

Updated 4/24/13

March progress

#14: Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel ... A great follow up to Wolf Hall.

RE-READ: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin ... I re-watched Seasons 1 and 2 of the HBO series in preparation for Season 3 later this month. Then I picked up the first book thinking I would just skim through it but ended up reading cover to cover. I had forgotten how many differences there are ... so, of course, I will probably re-read the next couple of books at least!

RE-READ: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin ... Another re-read gearing up for season 3 of the HBO series.

#15: Port City: Black and White by Gerry Boyle ... Second in his Brandon Blake series set in Portland, Maine.

#16: Swamplandia! by Karen Russell ... A book I have had on my shelf but hadn't gotten read. Not quite sure what I think ... it wasn't what I was expecting.

RE-READ: Chocolat by Joanne Harris ... We watched this for my church's Movies That Matter series, so I re-read it. I had forgotten how different the movie is from the book.

RE-READ: A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin ... Another re-read in preparation for the HBO series.

April progress

#17: Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer ... Read this for my book group.

#18: Pox: An American History by Michael Willrich ... I bought this after hearing the author speak at the Maine Festival of the Book in 2012.

#19: Nun's Story by Kathryn Hulme ... I love this movie with Audrey Hepburn and didn't realize it was based on a book. I spotted this while just browsing the shelves at the library.

#20: Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough ... Interesting look at the young Teddy Roosevelt.

#21: Congregation: The Journey Back to Church by Gary Dorsey ... Interesting look at one man's view of a UCC church in Connecticut. It reminded me of my own church in a lot of ways.

#22: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck ... Read this for a book group although it has been on my shelf for quite a while. Even without a fast-paced storyline I read right through it in a couple of days.

#23: Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks ... Another great historical fiction by Geraldine Brooks.

RE-READ: Tai-Pan by James Calvell ... An old favorite. I listened to it this time on audiobook.

May progress

#24: The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng ... Recommended by a nurse last summer while my mother was in the hospital. It is set in Malaya during World War II. Interesting after having read The Jungle is Neutral, The Railway Man, and The Singapore Grip.

#25: A Study in Revenge by Kieran Shields ... This is his second book, set (like the first) in Portland, Maine, in the 1870s. A good mystery!

#26: When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson ... Had this on my shelf for a year as a recommendation from someone in book group. I enjoyed it and will probably pick up another of hers.

#27: The Youngest General, A Story of Lafayette by Fruma Kasdan Gottschalk ... Bought this at a library sale years ago. I love these old hard-cover children's history/biography books! It covers his early life up through the American Revolution.

#28: White Dog Fell From the Sky by Eleanor Lincoln Morse ... I saw lots of write-ups since the author lives locally. It was a good read ... set in Apartheid South Africa and Botswana.

#29: Case Histories by Kate Atkinson ... Got this at the library. I actually like it better than the first Atkinson that I read earlier this month.

#30: Six Years by Harlen Coben ... Got this at the library after hearing about it on a podcast. Very good thriller/mystery.

#31: The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman ... Another library book that I heard about on a podcast.

#32: The Marquis de Lafayette: Bright Sword for Freedom by Hodding Carter ... Another old children's history/biography that I bought at a library sale. This one covers Lafayette as an adult and covers both the American Revolution and the French Revolution.

#33: Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny ... Got this at the library on the recommendation of friend who likes the author. This particular book is the latest in a series, but I will probably go back and read the ones that came before. Murder mystery set in Quebec.

#34: Mudbound by Hillary Jordan ... Had this on my shelf for a while. Glad I finally read it because it was good!

#35: Suddenly, the Cider Didn't Taste So Good by John Ford ... Great stories about life as a Maine game warden!

#36: The Story of the War of 1812 by Colonel Red Reeder ... Another old children's history book that I picked up at a library sale a few years ago.

June progress

#37: Watership Down by Richard Adams ... I had never read this and really enjoyed it. Read it for book group.

#38: The Reservoir by John Milliken Thompson ... Had this on my shelf for a while. Very good.

#39: Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson ... My first of hers that was not a Jackson Brodie novel. Very good but had to pay attention as it jumped around in time.

#40: One Good Turn: A Jolly Murder Mystery by Kate Atkinson ... Another Jackson Brodie novel.

#41: Natural Elements by Richard Mason ... My first of his books. Very good.

#42: So Much for That by Lionel Shriver ... This one was just okay. A very long rant about the US health system. Not that the rant is unjustified ... it just took over the story.

#43: The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell ... Pretty good story of 2 girls on their own after their parents die.

#44: The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall ... First in a series. Very good mystery set in India, so I will probably read others.

#45: The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny ... This is the 2nd of her Inspector Gamache mysteries that I have read. I think I will go back and start the series from the beginning. Very good.

July progress

#46: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald ... I had never read this so figured it was time.

#47: Last Friends by Jane Gardam ... I loved Old Filth and this is the 3rd in the series. Very good.

#48: Still Life by Louise Penny ... This is the first in the Inspector Gamache mysteries. I really enjoy these.

#49: A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny ... I am (not so) slowly working my way through the Inspector Gamache series.

#50: The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny ... Yet another Inspector Gamache book!

#51: The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout ... Newest book by one of my favorite authors. Very good but not as great as Olive Kitteridge.

#52: Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson ... This is the most recent in the Jackson Brodie series. As wonderful as the others.

August message

#53: A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny ... Another Inspector Gamache book. (I'm not being a very adventurous reader this summer, am I?!)

#54: The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian ... Read this for book group. Very good ... like all of his books!

RE-READ: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson ... Re-read this in preparation for (finally!) reading Home.

#55: Home by Marilynne Robinson ... I have had this on my shelf for a while and loved it! It tells the story of the Boughton family that is also told in Gilead ... this time from the perspective of the Boughtons instead of Ames.

#56: The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny ... Another Inspector Gamache book.

September progress

#57: Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight ... Borrowed from the library. Pretty good mystery/suspense.

#58: The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters ... A quick read but pretty good mystery.

ABANDONED: The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber ... I rarely give up on a book, but after 200 pages I gave up on this one. It wasn't bad, but I just wasn't interested. On to another book!

#59: The Hangman by Louise Penny ... A novella in the Inspector Gamache series.

#60: Dodger by Terry Pratchett ... I listened to an audio version of this YA novel ... set in London about a street boy named Dodger and a man he meets named Charlie Dickens.

#61: Christine Falls by Benjamin Black ... Have had this on my shelf for a few years. I can't remember now where I heard about it but I didn't realize it was part of a series. I may check for the others.

October progress

#62: Troubles by J. G. Farrell ... I read his Empire Trilogy backwards. I started with The Singapore Grip then The Siege of Krishnapur and now finally Troubles. I have had this on my shelf for several years. I finally picked it up because I had just read Christine Falls, which was also set in Ireland. It wasn't until I pulled the book from my shelf that I realized the introduction was by John Banville ... who actually wrote Christine Falls under the name Benjamin Black.

#63: A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny ... Yet another Inspector Gamache from the library. Only 1 more to go!

#64: The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal ... Read this for book group. Not bad but not something I would have picked up on my own. I was most interested in the parts where he traced his family's history in Vienna up through WWI and WWII. I was less taken with the descriptions of art and artistic details.

#65: MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood ... Saw this at the library and couldn't resist. Probably could have benefited from re-reading the Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood but there was a pretty good summary at the beginning to remind me of the players.

#66: Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton ... Had this on my shelf for a while. It was pretty good.

#67: Being Esther by Miriam Karmel ... Heard her at the Boston Book Festival this past weekend and picked this up. Very good.

#68: Your Call Is (not that) Important to Us: Customer Service and What It Reveals About Our World and Our Lives by Emily Yellin ... I work in customer service so picked this up a couple of years ago. An interesting look at how customer service has changed, outsourcing, technologies, etc.

#69: The Water Castle by Megan Frazer Blakemore ... Read this on the recommendation of a children's librarian I know. Very nice young mystery set in Maine.

#70: How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny ... I am finally caught up with all of the Chief Inspector Gamache books! Another great read.

#71: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman ... Most of my experience with Neil Gaiman has been on audiobook where he is the narrator ... as was this book. I enjoyed it!

November progress

RE-READ: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel ... Re-read for book group.

#72: The Last of the Doughboys: The Forgotten Generation and Their Forgotten World War by Richard Rubin ... An excellent look at the last World War I veterans and the first World War.

#73: The Zimmerman Telegram by Barbara Tuchman ... Had this on my shelf for a while and finally read it. Appropriate followup to The Last of the Doughboys. And I finished on November 11th! Now I just need to read The Proud Tower to go along with this one and her The Guns of August to round out my Tuchman World War I books.

#74: God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World by Stephen Prothero ... Had this for a while. Pretty good overview.

#75: Bad Little Falls by Paul Doiron ... Third in the Mike Bowditch mystery series.

#76: Massacre Pond by Paul Doiron ... Fourth (and latest) in the Mike Bowditch mystery series.

#77: A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness by Nassir Ghaemi ... An interesting look at why some mental illness may help leaders in times of crisis.

#78: Strangers on the Beach by Josh Pahigian ... A mystery set in Old Orchard Beach, Maine ... not bad.

#79: The Returned by Jason Mott ... Not a bad read about what happens when people suddenly come back from the dead ... not as zombies, but as they were in life.

I finished my goal of 75 on 11/15/13!

Congratulations on passing the 75 mark! I'm pretty sure that I have one of Paul Doiron's books (probably the first in series) on a wish list. I may have to read The Last of the Doughboys. It sounds like a good book.

Congrats!

Congratulations for completing the challenge! :)

December progress

#80: The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff ... This is a book I got from SantaThing last year but never read. Very good. I may need to get the next in the series.

#81: Chosen by a Horse: How a Broken Horse Fixed a Broken Heart by Susan Richards ... A touching memoir and reflection about a horse/person relationship.

#82: Tenth of December by George Saunders ... I had read one of these stories already but picked up the whole collection at the library. (I was really hoping to finish on 12/10/13 but finished earlier!)

ABANDONED: Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris ... Didn't get into this one and so stopped after about 80 pages.

#83: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey ... A pretty good science fiction for YA.

#84: Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton ... Very entertaining graphics/comics.

RE-READ: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman ... This is my 3rd time reading this book. Re-read it now for a book group. Excellent!