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1carlym
I realized that I started a 2016 thread in the 2015 group :) I cleared 75 for 2015 and am hoping to repeat in 2016.
2carlym
1. Serge Bastarde Stole My Baguette by John Dummer
2. The Instructions by Adam Levin
3. Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell
4. Volcanoes: A Beginner's Guide by Rosaly Lopes
5. When to Walk by Rebecca Gowers
6. An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor
7. I Work at a Public Library by Gina Sheridan
8. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
9. Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
10. The History of Underclothes by C. Willett and Phyllis Cunnington
11. The New World of Mr. Tompkins by George Gamow
12. After the Apple by Naomi Harris Rosenblatt
13. Immortal Milk by Eric LeMay
14. Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster
15. Taming Texas by James Haley and Marilyn Duncan
16. The Riddle of the Labyrinth by Margalit Fox
17. Spunk and Bite by Arthur Plotnik
18. A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
19. The Secret Man by Bob Woodward
20. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
21. Lois the Witch by Elizabeth Gaskell
22. Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
23. Striding Folly by Dorothy Sayers
24. Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson
25. The Island of Lost Maps by Miles Harvey
2. The Instructions by Adam Levin
3. Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell
4. Volcanoes: A Beginner's Guide by Rosaly Lopes
5. When to Walk by Rebecca Gowers
6. An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor
7. I Work at a Public Library by Gina Sheridan
8. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
9. Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
10. The History of Underclothes by C. Willett and Phyllis Cunnington
11. The New World of Mr. Tompkins by George Gamow
12. After the Apple by Naomi Harris Rosenblatt
13. Immortal Milk by Eric LeMay
14. Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster
15. Taming Texas by James Haley and Marilyn Duncan
16. The Riddle of the Labyrinth by Margalit Fox
17. Spunk and Bite by Arthur Plotnik
18. A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
19. The Secret Man by Bob Woodward
20. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
21. Lois the Witch by Elizabeth Gaskell
22. Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
23. Striding Folly by Dorothy Sayers
24. Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson
25. The Island of Lost Maps by Miles Harvey
3carlym
26. Oxford Blood by Antonia Frasier
27. The Brandons by Angela Thirkell
28. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
29. Fieldwork: A Geologist's Memoir of the Kalahari by Christopher Scholz
30. The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E.L. Konigsberg
31. Cool Repentance by Antonia Fraser
32. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
33. Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich
34. Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich
35. Four to Score by Janet Evanovich
36. High Five by Janet Evanovich
37. Hot Six by Janet Evanovich
38. Seven Up by Janet Evanovich
39. Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich
40. To the Nines by Janet Evanovich
41. Krishna's Dialogue on the Soul, trans. Juan Mascaro
42. Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich
43. Kierkegaard in 90 Minutes by Paul Strathern
44. Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs by Paul Carter
45. The Handbook by Epictetus
46. English Windsor Chairs by Ivan Sparkes
47. Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich
48. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
49. Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich
50. Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich
27. The Brandons by Angela Thirkell
28. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
29. Fieldwork: A Geologist's Memoir of the Kalahari by Christopher Scholz
30. The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E.L. Konigsberg
31. Cool Repentance by Antonia Fraser
32. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
33. Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich
34. Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich
35. Four to Score by Janet Evanovich
36. High Five by Janet Evanovich
37. Hot Six by Janet Evanovich
38. Seven Up by Janet Evanovich
39. Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich
40. To the Nines by Janet Evanovich
41. Krishna's Dialogue on the Soul, trans. Juan Mascaro
42. Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich
43. Kierkegaard in 90 Minutes by Paul Strathern
44. Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs by Paul Carter
45. The Handbook by Epictetus
46. English Windsor Chairs by Ivan Sparkes
47. Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich
48. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
49. Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich
50. Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich
4carlym
51. If Nuns Ruled the World by Jo Piazza
52. The Mines of Neptune by Elisabeth Mann Borgese
53. The Book of Kells by Bernard Meehan
54. On Compiling an Annotated Bibliography by James Horner
55. The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis
56. Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich
57. The Campaign for Domestic Happiness by Isabella Beeton
58. The Coronation Ceremony of the Kings and Queens of England and the Crown Jewels by Tessa Rose
59. Watt's Perfect Engine by Ben Marsden
60. Secrets of Stylists by Sasha Morrison
61. I Know I Am, But What Are You? by Samantha Bee
62. The Measure of a Man by Martin Luther King, Jr.
63. The Christians and the Fall of Rome by Edward Gibbon
64. Megachurches & America's Cities by John Vaughan
65. Who's the Blonde that Married What's-His-Name? by Carol Boswell and Lenore Skenazy
66. Underground by David Macaulay
67. Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
68. The Importance of Being Seven by Alexander McCall Smith
69. Civilization and its Discontents by Sigmund Freud
70. Free for All by Dan Borchert
71. Travels with My Donkey by Tim Moore
72. Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick
73. Power, Politics, and Print by Barbara McCrimmon
74. The 13th Element by John Emsley
75. High Rising by Angela Thirkell
76. All the Presidents' Pets by Mo Rocca
77. Death of a Chimney Sweep by M.C. Beaton
78. The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith
79. The Revolving Door of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
80. The World in a Box by Anke Te Heesen
81. Young Men in Spats by P.G. Wodehouse
82. The Captive Press in the Third Reich by Oron J. Hale
52. The Mines of Neptune by Elisabeth Mann Borgese
53. The Book of Kells by Bernard Meehan
54. On Compiling an Annotated Bibliography by James Horner
55. The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis
56. Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich
57. The Campaign for Domestic Happiness by Isabella Beeton
58. The Coronation Ceremony of the Kings and Queens of England and the Crown Jewels by Tessa Rose
59. Watt's Perfect Engine by Ben Marsden
60. Secrets of Stylists by Sasha Morrison
61. I Know I Am, But What Are You? by Samantha Bee
62. The Measure of a Man by Martin Luther King, Jr.
63. The Christians and the Fall of Rome by Edward Gibbon
64. Megachurches & America's Cities by John Vaughan
65. Who's the Blonde that Married What's-His-Name? by Carol Boswell and Lenore Skenazy
66. Underground by David Macaulay
67. Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
68. The Importance of Being Seven by Alexander McCall Smith
69. Civilization and its Discontents by Sigmund Freud
70. Free for All by Dan Borchert
71. Travels with My Donkey by Tim Moore
72. Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick
73. Power, Politics, and Print by Barbara McCrimmon
74. The 13th Element by John Emsley
75. High Rising by Angela Thirkell
76. All the Presidents' Pets by Mo Rocca
77. Death of a Chimney Sweep by M.C. Beaton
78. The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith
79. The Revolving Door of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
80. The World in a Box by Anke Te Heesen
81. Young Men in Spats by P.G. Wodehouse
82. The Captive Press in the Third Reich by Oron J. Hale
7bethany89
Nice idea of putting placeholders! Have put Serge Bastarde on my TBR list, because it's right up my street.
8carlym
Well, to be honest, I didn't like it that much. I love travel books and living-in-a-foreign-country memoirs, but this one isn't that well written.
10carlym
2. The Instructions by Adam Levin. It took me a couple of hundred pages to get into this book, and for a couple of hundred after that, I thought I would like it. Then I felt like I was just wasting time and wound up skimming the last several hundred. My problem with this book is that I couldn't find very much in it that was real. I don't mean that I found the plot unrealistic--of course it is--but even in the craziest fantasy, there has to be something that seems true. Here, Gurion's relationship with his parents seems true, and I liked those parts. And I do think that if a child like Gurion existed, his writings would be long and rambly and crazy like this book, so in a sense, the author did a good job in creating that character. But no one would want to read the crazy writings of a ten-year-old who thinks he might be the messiah, and that's where the problem comes in. There are just pages and pages and pages of internal monologues and weird conversations between the kids, none of which advance the plot or develop the characters. And the kids' characters and relationships are not well developed--most of them seem flat, and the motivations for their actions are either un clear or cliched. I felt that the author was too invested in his own cleverness and needed to listen to a good editor who could have told him to take a good idea and some good bits and rework it to cut out all the nonsense in between.
12carlym
After I finished Wild Strawberries, I went out and bought a whole stack of other Angela Thirkell books. I am excited to find a new-to-me prolific author!
13carlym
4. Volcanoes: A Beginner's Guide by Rosaly Lopes. I enjoyed this and learned quite a bit from it. Lopez goes through various aspects of volcanoes in a step-by-step fashion (kinds of lava, kinds of explosions, etc.) that makes the information easy to follow. She includes examples of volcanoes that fit each type and provides historical details about their eruptions and how those eruptions affected the people nearby.
5. When to Walk by Rebecca Gowers. This novel is told from the point of view of a slightly disabled woman whose husband walks out on her. It's the story of the week following that event, and each chapter describes one day. A big part of the novel revolves around her new and strange interactions with the woman who lives downstairs, something that is never quite resolved. It's supposed to be a story of transformation/growth, but there is a lot of meandering around and then a sudden jump from point A to point B. I didn't hate it, but I never really got into it or felt like I knew the main character.
6. An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor. Hmm. I read this for the Dewey Decimal Challenge. I'm Christian and was interested to read something from Taylor, an Episcopal priest who left the church but remained a Christian. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular spiritual practice, decoupled from church doctrine and practice. I liked some of the ideas but overall found it to be a little much--there was a lot of "appreciate every detail on every leaf you see" kind of stuff.
7. I Work at a Public Library by Gina Sheridan. I read this short e-book on a plane trip recently, and it was perfect for that. It's a collection of funny stories from librarians about their interactions with library patrons. It reminded me of the Readers' Digest section on funny stories from army life, which I used to read at my grandparents' house.
8. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh. This isn't quite a graphic novel, but it is filled with cartoons, and it is based on the author's blog. I thought a lot of the chapters were insightful, especially those on her experiences with depression, but I wished that they had been sorted into a more logical order. They didn't seem to be in chronological order, and they jumped around among depression, childhood, dogs, and other topics.
5. When to Walk by Rebecca Gowers. This novel is told from the point of view of a slightly disabled woman whose husband walks out on her. It's the story of the week following that event, and each chapter describes one day. A big part of the novel revolves around her new and strange interactions with the woman who lives downstairs, something that is never quite resolved. It's supposed to be a story of transformation/growth, but there is a lot of meandering around and then a sudden jump from point A to point B. I didn't hate it, but I never really got into it or felt like I knew the main character.
6. An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor. Hmm. I read this for the Dewey Decimal Challenge. I'm Christian and was interested to read something from Taylor, an Episcopal priest who left the church but remained a Christian. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular spiritual practice, decoupled from church doctrine and practice. I liked some of the ideas but overall found it to be a little much--there was a lot of "appreciate every detail on every leaf you see" kind of stuff.
7. I Work at a Public Library by Gina Sheridan. I read this short e-book on a plane trip recently, and it was perfect for that. It's a collection of funny stories from librarians about their interactions with library patrons. It reminded me of the Readers' Digest section on funny stories from army life, which I used to read at my grandparents' house.
8. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh. This isn't quite a graphic novel, but it is filled with cartoons, and it is based on the author's blog. I thought a lot of the chapters were insightful, especially those on her experiences with depression, but I wished that they had been sorted into a more logical order. They didn't seem to be in chronological order, and they jumped around among depression, childhood, dogs, and other topics.
