mrstreme's 50+ books in 2008

Welcome to my 2008 "50" book challenge post! In 2007, I completed 79 books, but this year, my number of books should go down because I plan on reading some "chunksters" that I avoided last year. Whatever the quantity, my top goal is to continue reading quality books that will "live" with me for a long time. If you have any book recommendations, feel free to let me know!

2008 Books Completed

1) Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (review)
2) The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (review)
3) The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta (review)
4) The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (review)
5) On Agate Hill by Lee Smith (review)
6) Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (review)
7) Two Brothers - One North, One South by David H. Jones (review)
8) The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (review)
9) Boom! Voices of the Sixties by Tom Brokaw (review)
10) Choosing Sophie by Leslie Carroll (review)
11) The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari (review)
12) Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo (review)
13) A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen (review)
14) Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon (review)
15) The Sister by Poppy Adams (review)
16) People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (review)
17) Bulls Island by Dorothea Benton Frank (review)
18) How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen (review)
19) Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana by Anne Rice (review)
20) Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult (review)
21) The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway (review)
22) The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (review)
23) March by Geraldine Brooks (review)
24) Digging to America by Anne Tyler (review)
26) The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Merrill Block (review)
27) Marley and Me by John Grogan (review)
28) Jamestown by Matthew Sharpe (review)
29) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (review)
30) Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian (review)
31) The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani (review)
32) Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore (review)
33) Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan (review)
34) Becky: The Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher by Lenore Hart (review)
35) The Crimson Portrait by Jody Shields (review)
36) America America by Ethan Canin (review)
37) Property by Valerie Martin (review)
38) Tara Revisited by Catherine Clinton (review)
39) Janeology by Karen Harrington (review)
40) Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray (review)
41) The Known World by Edward P. Jones (DID NOT FINISH) (review)
42) Moloka'i by Alan Brennert (review)
43) Resistance by Owen Sheers (review)
44) The Faith of a Writer by Joyce Carol Oates (review)
45) Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (review)
46) The Gathering by Anne Enright (review)
47) Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (review)
48) Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (review)
49) The Keep by Jennifer Egan (review)
50) The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (review)
51) The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler (review)
52) Resistance: A Woman's Struggle and Defiance in Occupied France by Agnes Humbert (review)
53) Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (review)
54) The Colour by Rose Tremain (review)
55) Coal Black Horse by Robert Olmstead (review)
56) Exit Ghost by Philip Roth (review)
57) Simple Meditation and Relaxation by Joel Levey and Michelle Levey (review)
58) Possession by A.S. Byatt (review)
59) So Long At The Fair by Christina Schwartz (review)
60) The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates (review)
61) The Road Home by Rose Tremain (review)
62) A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein (review)
63) Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (review)
64) No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (review)
65) For One More Day by Mitch Albom (review)
66) The Secret River by Kate Grenville (review)
67) The Believers by Zoe Heller (review)
68) Atonement by Ian McEwan (review)
69) Negotiating With The Dead by Margaret Atwood (review)
70) An Exact Replica of a Figment of my Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken (review)
71) Fire In The Blood by Irene Nemirovsky (review)
72) The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (review)
73) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (review)
74) The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (review)
75!!!!) This One Is Mine by Maria Semple (review)
76) The Night Watch by Sarah Waters (review)
77) Matrimony by Joshua Henkin (review)
78) Etta by Gerald Kolpan (review)
79) Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld (review)

I'm looking forward to following your list. Have fun!

With one completed already!! :-)

I'll be following your list here and on your blog.

2) The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (review)

I have you starred mrstreme - will be dropping in regularly.

amandameale - I have been watching your threads as well and always look forward to seeing what you read. Thanks for coming by mine!

3) The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta (review)

I was disappointed with "The Abstinence Teacher" as well. It seemed like he had an interesting crop of issues on the table, but he dealt with all of them in a very sketchy way. If you read anything else by Perrotta, I'll be pricking up my ears, because he seems like a writer with a good deal of craft.

4) The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (review)

mrstreme: just read your review on above book. You don't look like Mrs anyone - you look like a teenager. Are you?

amandameale---"How ruuude", as we used to say over here. mrstreme is a mature sophisticated adult, just like the rest of us. Really. (Stop poking me. I'll tell Mom!)

I don't know about you, mrstreme, but as someone who also looks way younger than I really am (I'm a college professor who often gets confused as a student), I don't actually mind the confusion most of the time. I just think to myself, if ten years from now I still look ten years younger than I am, I'll probably be pretty happy about that!

amandameale is my NEW BEST FRIEND! LOL.

I am almost 36 years old, and yes, that is a recent picture of me on my blog. It was taken after I cut 10 inches of my hair off to donate to charity, thus the youthful glow!

But I am not sure about "mature, sophisticated" claim from laytonwoman3rd (wink, wink). =)

Oh yes, you are indeed mature and sophisticated! And I agree with scaifea, milk the youthful looks for all they are worth. In my 30s people often thought I was in my 20s. Now I'm in nearly 46 and that doesn't happen anymore. So enjoy it while you can!!

5) On Agate Hill by Lee Smith (review)

6) Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (review)

7) Two Brothers - One North, One South by David H. Jones (review)

8) The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (review)

9) Boom! Voices of the Sixties by Tom Brokaw (review)

10) Choosing Sophie by Leslie Carroll (review)

11) The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari (review)

12) Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo (review)

13) A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen (review)

14) Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon (review)

Hi Jill - well done - you are really motoring with your books. I am so enjoying my reading at present - just taking time to savour the great books.

15) The Sister by Poppy Adams (review)

Hi, Jill--great work on your progress. I checked into one of your reviews, wound up on your blog and was stunned to see how many challenge groups (the Back to History one looks like fun)you're in!!! Ye gods, how do you find the time to do them all, what with working, children, etc?

Loved your review of Gentlemen of the Road and he reason why you chose it.

Hi, Joyce! Thanks for visiting my blog. Thankfully, a lot of the reading challenges are perpetual ones like The Pulitzer Project, which is why I can manage it. Sometimes, I feel like I am preparing for the "Olympics of Reading" with my book commitments, but I get a lot of joy and a feeling of accomplishment when I meet my goals - it makes it worth it to me.

I hope you're doing well! You are a reading machine too!

16) People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (review)

Congratulations Jill - this sounds like a book that could be on my tbr mountain!

Loved your review of People of the Book, Jill--really excellent. Sounds like something for my ever-growing wish list!

I think both of you, Julie and Joyce, would enjoy People of the Book. I hope you have time to read it one day!

17) Bulls Island by Dorothea Benton Frank (review)

OK Jill People of The Book is on the list! You are really going well =)

BTW I was looking at a blog yesterday to find that the writer had actually listed all their tbr - it ran to about four screens. I think she is very brave!

18) How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen (review)

19) Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana by Anne Rice (review)

20) Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult (review)

21) The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway (review)

22) The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (review)

Jill,

Wow - What a list! Congrats. I feel like I have read many of them, but actually only three. Many to put on my TBR.

My latest favs are Mudbound and The Story of Forgetting. Just in case you are interested...

Nancy

Hey, I loved your review of The Yiddish Policemen's Union. Much better than the book itself (imo)! I read it a year ago and remember liking Chabon's unique writing style, esp. those wonderful metaphors, but just couldn't get into the revisionist history. I keep meaning to read something else by him. Any suggestions?

#40 - Nancy - I keep hearing wonderful things about The Story of Forgetting, and believe it or not, I have two copies on my shelf. I should get to it.

#41 - Donna828 - This is my second Chabon novel (the first was Gentlemen of the Road, which I couldn't necessarily recommend. I hope to read his The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay later this year, which he won the Pulitzer for.

23) March by Geraldine Brooks (review)

Jill -

I see you are now reading Digging to America. I will be curious to hear your thoughts when you are done.

What other Brooks books have you read?

Nancy

Nancy: I have only read March and People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. I would like to get Year of Wonders soon. Have you read her stuff?

I saw an ad for Mudbound the other day, and that seems like it's right up my alley too!

I loved Year of Wonders, Highly recommend it. She has visited our store a few times - really delightful. I still haven't read People of the Book, but her presentation was fascinating and made me want to read it. Unfortunately, there is only so much time...

I would imagine Ms. Brooks is delightful - she has such a nice smile in her photo! =)

24) Digging to America by Anne Tyler (review)

25) Lafcadio, The Lion Who Shot Back by Shel Silverstein (review)

26) The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Merrill Block (review)

Sounds like a good book. Yet another one to add to my list.

27) Marley and Me by John Grogan (review)

28) Jamestown by Matthew Sharpe (review)

I had been considering adding Jamestown to my "to be read" list, but I can't make up my mind! I might give it a try this summer.

#54 - GeorgiaDawn - it's an odd book. I will be curious to hear your thoughts if you read it.

29) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (review)

Way to go - :)

30) Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian (review)

31) The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani (review)

Really nice review, Jill.

32) Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore (review)

33) Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan (review)

I tried to post on your blog but it kept giving me an error so not sure if it went through.

But anywho, loved your review....glad to hear that this was a good book because I am about to start it today. Not sure I can do it in one sitting like you...but we'll see.

Thanks for posting here, Irish, because your message never came through on my blog. I will be curious to hear what you think of this book. I hope you find it as compelling as I did!

34) Becky: The Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher by Lenore Hart (review)

35) The Crimson Portrait by Jody Shields (review)

36) America America by Ethan Canin (review)

37) Property by Valerie Martin (review)

38) Tara Revisited by Catherine Clinton (review)

39) Janeology by Karen Harrington (review)

40) Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray (review)

Wow, 40 books! Will I crack 80 by year's end? =)

You are on a roll !!! What happened to, "my number of books should go down because I plan on reading some "chunksters" ..." Are you reading chunksters more quickly than expected?

No matter what, it's impressive!

I have read more chunksters than last year, but I still shy away from them (more of an attention span issue!). =)

41) The Known World by Edward P. Jones (DID NOT FINISH) (review)

That is unusual, for you not to finish such a book. Didn't recognize the title as a Pulitzer winner, but I'm still in the 20s and 30s right now.

My son loved The Known World and he really wanted me to read it. I've tried reading it and listening to it. I haven't finished either version. I do want to finish it, but I certainly understand your not being able to.

I am hoping to pick it up again in a year or so. We'll see. Life's too short to spend on books that "don't fit" - you know what I mean? =)

I know exactly what you mean! I'd like to suggest Father and Son by Lamar Brown to you. It won the Southern Book Award several years ago. I couldn't put it down! The book shows how attitudes and opinions, whether true or not, can result in tragic events years and years later.

Thanks for the recommendation. It looks like an excellent, gritty read, which I usually love. Adding it to Mount TBR! =)

42) Moloka'i by Alan Brennert (review)

43) Resistance by Owen Sheers (review)

44) The Faith of a Writer by Joyce Carol Oates (review)

Way to go Jill ! Enjoy your *next* one :)

I'm impressed!

lindsacl - I was about to put an APB out for you. Haven't see you too much in the online reading world. I hope that means you've been on vacation or playing with your pooches! (and not having to work too hard). =)

I'm here, alive and well! I just returned from a week's vacation & have been catching up ... glad to be back among my friends!

Welcome back! I hope your vacation was wonderful! =)

Thanks Jill ... it was nice, but it's also nice to be back home!

45) Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (review)

Great review Jill ... soooo glad you liked this book!

Thanks - I am so glad that I finally read it. I learned about it almost a year ago, and it's a little pathetic that I finally got to it. It's all LT's fault for leading me to too many wonderful books for Mount TBR! =)

46) The Gathering by Anne Enright (review)

47) Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (review)

48) Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (review)

49) The Keep by Jennifer Egan (review)

50) The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (review)

51) The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler (review)

Congratulations on achieving your + :-))

spelling error: i before e except after c when the sound is ee.

Thank you. It sort of snuck up on me - probably because I was so involved in Orange July!

52) Resistance: A Woman's Struggle and Defiance in Occupied France by Agnes Humbert (review)

I just recieved Resistance: A Woman's Struggle and Defiance from Shelf Awareness. I'm looking forward to reading it.

I will be curious to read what others (including you!) think of it. Humbert's sense of humor was what impacted me the most. Talk about trying to make the best out of a bad situation...

53) Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (review)

Your review is probably the most balanced of those I've seen of Olive Kitteridge. and I LOVED Winesburg, Ohio! So, this one goes on my Wish List as well.

Thanks, Joyce. I think you would enjoy Olive Kitteridge, especially if you loved Winesburg, Ohio, which I also loved. It's one of the few books I actually read (as in finished!) in college. =)

#80 - Moloka'i . . . I've never heard of this book, but I'm always interested in good books about Hawai'i for when we travel there. This sounds great . . . until I read the objections in your review. Both those points would have really bothered me too. Oh well, I guess I'll keep looking for that great Hawaiian novel.

Nickelini, if you look on my blog, the author responded to my objections and now I feel more comfortable with these points. Here is the link (check out the comments section):

http://mrstreme.livejournal.com/49007.html

Oh, that was very cool of him to respond. (I still know what you mean about the Forest Gump aspect of the novel though.) I may have to tuck this one in my bag next time we go to Hawai'i after all!

Jill, there's a relatively new thread over on the Early Reviewers Group about the subject of authors responding to posted reviews. Let me get the link for you. They might be interested in your experience.

Here it is

54) The Colour by Rose Tremain (review)

55) Coal Black Horse by Robert Olmstead (review)

56) Exit Ghost by Philip Roth (review)

Outstanding review of Exit Ghost, Jill!

Why thank you! =) Have you read Roth before?

If I looked up some of his books, maybe I'd recognize a title, read long, long ago. But Exit Ghost is on my wish list as of today per your review.

Jill, don't you post your reviews on LT?

Yes, I post on LT and my blog. Mine are always the long-winded ones. =)

57) Simple Meditation and Relaxation by Joel Levey and Michelle Levey (review)

Good review, Jill--short but informative.

#56 Thanks for the Roth review. It sounds like a book I ought to read, but probably won't. I am so ambivalent about him. People whose opinions I respect find his work worthy of praise and recommendation, but my reaction to descriptions of his books is usually "meh". I am in the "I've always hated Goodbye, Columbus" camp, and yet I thought The Human Stain was superb. I read Everyman because someone gave it to me, but I couldn't tell you one thing about it now without leafing through it. His characters confront life's big questions, but not in ways that speak to me. I struggle to see the universality so often attributed to him. *sigh*

LW3 - Roth is definitely not for everyone. I have only read three of his books, and I liked Exit Ghost the best. The Human Stain was a superb book but the writing style was a little hard to get used to. Exit Ghost is more direct writing, like Everyman.

58) Possession by A.S. Byatt (review)

I am reading Possession at the moment and finding it very interesting; academia is a veritable battlefield. Enjoyed your review and like you find the detection side of it most agreeable. I also am enjoying the Victorian style prose and poetry. A.S.Byatt is one of my favourite authors.

I thought Byatt did a nice job of lightly satirizing academia ...

She's a very talented writer - one I hope to read more from in the future.

59) So Long At The Fair by Christina Schwartz (review)

Great progress mrstreme - I do enjoy reading your thread!

60) The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates (review)

Good review, Jill. I haven't read Joyce Carol Oates in decades, literally. Makes me want to get back to her again one of these days.

Thanks, Joyce! I've received a lot of comments about The Falls and Blonde - a lot of readers have enjoyed these books - and I hope to get to them soon.

I thought her writing would be more intimidating but quite the opposite!

61) The Road Home by Rose Tremain (review)

Another good review, Jill!

Thank you, Joyce! =)

62) A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein (review)

First, you're really popping the books out today!

Second, a great review of A Light In The Attic. As someone who is just instinctively opposed to censorship, I really applaud your stand on the responsibilities of parents and making case-by-case decisions. IMHO, the only way to go. I can imagine, easily, a case where such a book might not be so great for a particularly hyper older child but a younger child might take it in stride.

Nicely done, Jill.

I had the house to myself today, which is a slice of heaven once in a while! =)

Thanks for commenting about my review. Like I said, you have to know your kids and what you think is appropriate for them. All books aren't for everyone - that's why there are a lot of kids' books out there!

I agree with you 100% on parental responsibility, Jill! Nice review. I think we have that book around here somewhere ... might have to go dig it up just for BBW sake.

63) Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (review)

I absolutely loved Heart-Shaped Box! Joe Hill is going to be one of those few authors that I automatically go out and buy whatever new book they have out. (Bad sentence structure on my part! Oh well. :) )

64) No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (review)

Excellent review, Jill. i also loved your comeback to the Nobel judges! :-)

I'm happy to say that I already have this book sitting on one of my TBR shelves.

I liked your review. After having read one Cormac McCarthy (Child of God), I was a bit resistant to picking up another. While his style was brilliant, I thought his subject matter a bit too bleak for my taste. And that's saying a lot! :) However, your review makes No Country for Old Men sound like something I might enjoy.

The only Cormac McCarthy book I've read is The Road and I thought it was wonderful. It's sad, tragic, devastating, and brilliant. I really need to find a place in my never ending, ever growing TBR pile for another McCarthy book.

Great review, Jill!

Why thank you, joycepa, christiguc and GeorgiaDawn! It's not a happy ending kind of story, but very impactful and thought-provoking. If you liked The Road, then you'll probably like this book. Let me know if any of you get to it!

I did see the movie, but have not read the book. Based on your review, I think I should!

I'll get to it sooner or later. right now, I'm enthralled by another one of "your" books, Tara Revisited.

Enjoying your thread.

Enjoying your lurking, amandameale. =)

Enjoying the fact that you're enjoying my lurking.

Do you two need some privacy??

The more, the merrier!

Hello! :-))

Hello back, englishrose! =)

65) For One More Day by Mitch Albom (review)

66) The Secret River by Kate Grenville (review)

Sounds like a winner, Jill.

67) The Believers by Zoe Heller (review)

I always marvel, Jill, at the sheer eclecticism of the books you read. I am much more narrowly focused, and am amazed with your breadth of reading.

I found your review of The Believers extremely interesting from a personal point of view. On many of my trips to Brasil, I stayed with a poor Brasilian family, a younger couple (by the time I met them they were in their early 30s) who by choice had just one child. This is highly unusual in Brasilian families--the average is 3 or 4 (forget stories of a dozen kids--just like US farm families, that used to be the case but not any more).

They were very active politically; Lucia never wanted a child and never should have had one but she gave into family pressure. The daughter, Bea, was one of the worst brats I have ever had the misfortune to know. And it was due to the fact that while Lucia loved Bea in her own way, she also resented the girl because she couldn't devote herself to political work. Lucia had practically no patience to begin with, and had very little of what she had to spare for that child. who was the most manipulative little monster. I once remarked to someone there that Bea had been born the wrong nationality--she should have been an American child, she was so obnoxious.

Finally catching up with your thread, and finding your reviews very interesting, both of books I've read and books that sound intriguing.

Thanks, Joyce, for your comment on my eclectic tastes. I am always dabbling, trying to find new genres and authors that intrigue me. Your description of Lucia is an exact double of the mom in The Believers. That's amazing.

And hi rebeccanyc! It's so good to see you here! Do you have a thread here? (off to go hunting for rebecca's thread)

There you are, the adventurer, while I, on the other hand, am a flat-out coward! :-)

#158 Rebecca's thread is in the 75 Book Challenge Group

Thank you, laytonwoman3rd, for doing my directing work for me!

For those who have long been both in this group and the 75 book group, I've just joined the latter, at avaland's suggestion, and am VERY slowly making my way through the wonderful book ideas in everybody else's threads.

I think that next year I'll join that (75 book) thread.

I probably could qualify for the 75 book challenge too - we'll see how this year shapes up. I read 79 in 2007.

I may go to the 75 book challenge next year, too. Or I could just stay here and go over! :)

Guess I'll have to go for 75 book challenge next year too.

Me too ... I read 72 last year but am projecting 80 or more this year.

68) Atonement by Ian McEwan (review)

To all considering reading Roth's Exit Ghost, I highly recommend reading The Ghost Writer first. It is the first of the Zuckerman books, presenting Nathan Zuckerman as a young man just staring out on his writing career, but most importantly, it presents all of the characters and issues that Exit Ghost circles back around to as Zuckerman now nears the end of his life.

As a life-long Roth afficianando, I was not that thrilled with Exit Ghost in comparison with many another Roth novel, but nevertheless, to really get the most out of it, a reading of The Ghost Writer is a must.

69) Negotiating With The Dead by Margaret Atwood (review)

70!!!) An Exact Replica of a Figment of my Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken (review)

Congratulations on reaching 70!

Yay Jill!!! Congratulations! And excellent reviews to go with those books as well--quite admirable!

Thank you, thank you! I wonder if I will beat last year's record of 79 books.

Way to go Jill! I'm reading my #70 right now ... I'm pleased because I will surely surpass last year's 72.

71) Fire In The Blood by Irene Nemirovsky (review)

72) The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (review)

Remains of the Day is not my favorite Ishiguro book, but it certainly is a powerful one. Personally, I was struck by the Stevens' emotional numbness; he comes alive when it's actually too late.

The movie was great, but I thought it was no patch on the book. But Hopkins was the perfect butler, all right.

Remains of the Day is not my favorite Ishiguro book, but it certainly is a powerful one. Personally, I was struck by Stevens' emotional numbness; he comes alive when it's actually too late.

The movie was great, but I thought it was no patch on the book. But Hopkins was the perfect butler, all right.

73) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (review)

Another one for my wish list. Great review.

74) The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (review)

75!!!!) This One Is Mine by Maria Semple (review)

Yea Jill!

Excellent reading year Jill - you have done so well! I know it is not simply about numbers read but you have had a great year of reading - and it is not over yet!

Enjoyed seeing your list of books and your reviews. You are an inspiration.

Thanks everyone!!!! Though I think December will not allow me to read too much - so many holiday events and things to do. But those are fun too!

76) The Night Watch by Sarah Waters (review)

I now have every single one of her books, including Night Watch, which I ordered immediately after you told me you had it and were reading it. I haven't read the 2nd one yet--Affinity--I intend to be fairly miserly with these books, spreading them out so I don't find myself bereft too soon at the end of Night Watch.

After your review--I'm wondering is she's not going to wind up being truly major talent.

Hi Joyce! I plan on reading Fingersmith in January - I've heard so many good things about this book. I think we've stumbled upon true talent with this author! =)

Sounds like it to me! :-)

I have Fingersmith waiting very near the top of my pile, too. Don't know if I will start it in December...from what I've heard I fear it will grab at me when I should be doing so many other things.

77) Matrimony by Joshua Henkin (review)

78) Etta by Gerald Kolpan (review)

I have Etta, but I have not read it yet. Time!! I need more time!!

Oh forget it, GeorgiaDawn! Such an optimist!! :-)

I know, I know. I keep thinking that maybe drneutron will invent a time machine for all of us so that we can have more time. Wait...would we have more time to use for more things or more time where we're doing the same things over and over? Ack! I can't think about that now. I'll think about that tomorrow. (I just watched Gone With the Wind. I'm on a Scarlett kick.)

Say, how does the movie appear to you after so many years since its production? dated? I remember very little of it except the overhead pan of the Atlanta train station showing the Confederate wounded. After who knows how many decades, I still remember it as a remarkably powerful scene.

79) Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld (review)

#197 Joycepa - It definitely is dated, but it's still a classic.

80) The Tent by Margaret Atwood (review

This is my last book of 2008. I will post a 2008 summary tomorrow. Thanks to my loyal readers and commenters on this thread! It's been fun!

Congratulations, mrstreme! I look forward to following your books in 2009.

Without further adieu, here is a little summary of my 2008 Year of Reading:

What a year! 2008 was a great year for reading!

This year, I read 80 books, which is one more than I read last year. I am pleased with myself, especially because many of my books were chunksters (books over 350 pages).

So, in the spirit of my fellow book bloggers, here is a little post about my 2008 Year of Reading.

Books Read: 80 (see list)
Average Rating: 3.86
Average Pages: 299.5
Average Books per Month: 6.67
Biggest Book: Boom! Voices of the Sixties by Tom Brokaw

Favorite Fiction Books (in order):
1) The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway (review)
2) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (review)
3) Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (review)
4) The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (review)
5) The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (review)

Favorite Non-Fiction Books (in order):
1) An Exact Replica of a Figment of my Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken (review)
2) The Translator by Daoud Hari (review)
3) Tara Revisited by Catherine Clinton (review)
4) A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen (review)
5) Simple Meditation and Relaxation by Joel and Michelle Levy (review)

Other Five Star Books (in no order):
1) Atonement by Ian McEwan (review)
2) Property by Valerie Martin (review)
3) Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan (review)
4) The Colour by Rose Tremain (review)
5) The Night Watch by Sarah Waters (review)



I have decided to join the 75 Book Challenge. You can find my 2009 post here.

Happy New Year!