Milda-TX quits lurking and posts already, darn it

Hi everybody - I've been lurking here for awhile, never sure how on earth anybody could actually get to 75 books in a year - wow! But hey, I'm getting close, so I figured I might as well join in the fun. Here's the list so far.
1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Got this for my teenage girls; they didn’t pick it up. (Darn that Twilight series.) So wonderful I will have to try the girls again later, won’t I!
2. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
3. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid Cute but not as fun as the Appalachian Trail one. (sounds like something a certain governor might say. hee hee)
4. Unless This one started slowly for me, had a hard time getting into it, but it absolutely grabbed me later. A must for moms of daughters.
5. White Teeth by Zadie Smith
6. Book of Dahlia yuck
7. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
8. Interpreter of Maladies
9. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
10. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez So romantic and lush; glad I saved it for a time when I was able to savor it slowly.
11. A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel Was so looking forward to this upon my little sister’s recommendation that it reminded her of our hometown. Not sure if the only reason I didn’t like it was because I didn’t get that same feeling.
12. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs Yuck.
13. Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian Thought-provoking but too long. Really worth sticking with it though.
14. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink I don’t get what all the fuss is about.
15. Rocket Man by William Elliott Hazelgrove I should’ve quit, and not only because people who make fun of Scouting volunteers annoy me.
16. Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre Poor Vernon G. Little, stuff just keeps happening to the kid - like that little clay guy on SNL - “Oh No, Mr. Bill!”. I really enjoyed him. And no, not everybody in Texas talks like the characters in this book, I promise.
17. Family History by Dani Shapiro This was a horrible nightmare – not recommended for moms who don’t want to read very very sad family stories.
18. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka Loved this silliness, reminded me of family friends, relatives, and the gruff no-nonsense people in Lithuania. Not sure, though, who I’d recommend it to.
19. Here If You Need Me by Kate Braestrup Incredibly heartwarming; made me sigh contentedly at the end of each chapter, wish the author could be my friend, and promise to try to be a more caring human being. A little bit like my reaction to Three Cups of Tea but loved this story-telling much better.
20. The Accidental by Ali Smith
21. Arthur & George by Julian Barnes
22. I Was Amelia Earhart by Jane Mendlesohn I don’t know much about Amelia Earhart except she was always my big sister’s heroine so I figured I’d check this out. Dreamy little book.
23. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
24. Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian Grateful for this, as it’s close to my parents’ life stories. Heart-wrenching though.
25. Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland First few pages I was thinking oh no, I’m not ready for another wwii story, but thankfully we follow the painting back through history from that point. It was nice to read something I could pass on to my mom (unlike Skeletons).
26. Goblins! An UnderEarth Adventure by Royce Buckingham Read this on family vacation to see if my very sensitive 8-year-old nephew might be able to try it. It was fun. Hey, and my girls read it, yay, at least they put down those vampire love stories for a bit!
27. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley Also a vacation fun read, also read by my girls; score one for mom.
28. Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell Clever and fun history lessons, but I must admit I got tired and skipped a couple. Loved the Carlsbad Caverns cafeteria story and was wishing our vacation had included a stop at a national park.
29. White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
30. Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
31. Lottery by Patricia Wood
32. Little Bee by Chris Cleave Loved this book. Have read that others didn’t like the ending and I’m wondering at which point they started not liking it… which twist was one too many? I didn’t mind.
33. Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
34. Idiot Girls' Action - Adventure Club by Laurie Notaro I think this was recommended because I loved I Was Told There’d Be Cake, but… as the kids say: ‘Fail’.
35. God of Small Things –tried for many pages, couldn’t finish, still counts?
36. Lush Life by Richard Price
37. Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro So good, so melancholy; how I wish I could work with dedicated people like Stevens. Haven’t seen the movie but I really enjoyed imagining Mr. Hopkins in the part.
38. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers Wow. I’m putting every other Eggers novel on my wish list.
39. The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
40. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
41. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal (audio) by Christopher Moore. Such a heartwarming best-friend story! Such interesting thoughts about how Jesus learned to be Jesus! Highly recommended, especially the audio version, because Fisher Stevens was hilarious.

Welcome to the group! Nice list of books.

Hi there! and welcome to the group.. some nice books there...

Welcome and I love your comments.

Hi. Welcome to the group. I far as I am aware there are no rules for what counts (Book 35). I've included audio books in my list, but I drew the line at children's bedtime story books (the ones with about 10 words a page) or the copy of Mr Tickle I found on a colleague's desk this week and read through for old times' sake. However if it gets to December 31st and I'm still short of the magic 75 (as is quite likely) I might have to change my rules.

Thanks everybody for the welcome. Sorry about the sloppy touchstones.

Meanderer, you cracked me up - just re-read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs before we go to see the movie, and figured I won't count that either. :)

It's rainy this weekend, ruining my planned gardening days, so I finished a couple more.
42. Tamarind Woman
43. The Perks of Being a Wallflower ugh, that ending...

Welcome! Definitely a nice set of books this year...

I can't wait to see what you read next! I've read a number of the books on your list, and most of the rest are on my TBR list. I've got a feeling that I'll find lots of recommendations here!

Hi Milda!!

You're doing great! I see you read both of Stieg Larsson's books, and also "Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - what did you think? They're on my 75-book-list as well - I was pondering how I came to read 3 translated books so close together, but you did the same. I loved Larsson's books, as much for the day-to-day look at Sweden as I did for the characters, especially Lisbeth!! "Shadow of the Wind" I still haven't made my mind up about - I think I need to read it again. I tend to dislike books with such an overwhelmingly gloomy, overcast feel, but I think the richness of the characters and the plot deserve another look.

Good luck, and keep chipping away at your list. You'll get there!!!

JD

One suggestion for another recently translated book and one set in an interesting locale:

Let the Right One In by John Lindqvist is a really good vampire story, although somewhat gruesome as any good vampire story should be.

Child44 is a pretty good mystery story set in the Stalinist-era Soviet Union. It's got just the right atmosphere for the setting.

porch_reader, I've been watching your thread for awhile, so shoot, you might find a lot of familiar stuff in mine! :) thanks for the comments you post on your books - I enjoy them.

JD, I agree with you about Lisbeth, gotta love her!, and how fun it was to picture Sweden. 'Shadow' I liked, despite there being a few too many women locked away... mostly I thought Fermin was cool, I think. Maybe he could get Lisbeth to loosen up a little? heh.

drneutron - thank you, but it's those teenage daughters of mine who are loving vampires and I really don't want to encourage them. What they need are good suggestions about studying hard, using their talents to make a difference in the world, and supporting their parents in our old age. Any help for me here? ha!

Hi Milda,
Great list of books! I'm not going to get to 75 either but I'm having fun trying.
Cheers
Cushla

Sorry, I've got a 19 year old son that needs the same help! 8^}

#12 & #14--Hate to break the news, but they need reminders in their twenties. Of course, come to think of it, I probably did too.

Hi, Milda. Welcome. You don't get thrown out for not making it to 75, you know? Glad you decided to join us.

Thanks Linda, I'm blushing, have had your thread starred for awhile and can't remember which book recommendation to thank you for!

Welcome to our wonderful group.

44. Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande was interesting. I had to skip some of the stats-y stuff. Enjoyed the first section on diligence, and thinking about how that applies to my own work. Remind your health care providers to wash their hands!

Sometimes life just cracks me up. I have been working ridiculous hours lately, and haven't had the chance to get out and garden this fall. When I saw a big fat yellow sun in the forecast for today I asked for and got the day off. How exciting! Then I pulled into the driveway only to find that yesterday was the day that the yard guys decided to spread compost all over our lawn. Oh dear, have you ever lived through this stench? No gardening for me today unless I can figure out how to make a clothespin on my nose more comfortable.

Last weekend I started The Hard Way by Lee Child. Maybe I'll get to finish this morning, huh? The silver lining to the manure cloud.

What a bummer! I envy anyone who can actually keep plants alive.

Landscaping for our neighborhood just *loves* to throw grass seed in my garden. That's always fun.

Hi Luxx,
I learned in gardening class that I'm allowed to use a product like "roundup" since it's organic-ish, for the pesky bermuda that sneaks into flower beds. It works fine. Just be sure to keep it off the plants you want to keep alive.

Sadly not all my plants survive, but I do have fun trying anyway. We love to watch for wildlife - spotting butterflies and birds is great, but it's especially amazing when we find lizards and toads and snakes enjoying our little suburban yard too. Looks like your kids will soon be old enough to enjoy that kind of thing!

Thanks for the tip! Now if only I could keep the squirrels from digging up my bulbs, too. We currently live in a townhouse, so my garden is pretty small, but I love having the color. Brooks does love watching the birds that live in the evergreen in front of our kitchen window, and I can't wait until we have a decent yard for the boys to *really* enjoy. I fully believe that boys need dirt.

Hi Milda, just found your thread and wanted to welcome you. I'm only half way to the 75 mark but I've met some great people here who don't seem to mind that I read as slow as a snail on tar.

#23 It's not just boys that need dirt. Ask my mother what kind of laundry challenges I gave her when I was a dainty little girl!

#25 - Yes, girls need dirt, too. And worms and snakes and such. But I'm convinced that there are no longer girl babies in MD - the past 15+ babies born in my circle of family/friends have all been boys, so I have boys on the brain!

Hi Carmenere, I'll be your snail-slow buddy! I'll never make it to 75 at the rate I'm going.

LW3, I was the opposite - my mom could set me on a blanket in the backyard, wearing a white dress, same one for three days if she wanted, and I wouldn't get it dirty. Mommy's little dolly. I make up for it now, though!

Luxx, that is way weird about the rash of boys. Very cute mental picture of 15 little blue-jeaned boogers playing in the mud together... how adorable. OK, so, squirrels in the bulbs - I don't have any now, but growing up in IL, we planted bulbs under those plastic cage-like baskets that strawberries came in - maybe the squirrels couldn't dig through them, or bite through them, or dig down far enough to get under them, I'm not sure.

#27 - Brilliant!

Seems like ages ago, The Hard Way by Lee Child became #45 but I didn't post yet.
Just finished #46, The Giant's House: A Romance by Elizabeth McCracken. It was sooo sad and sweet. Really didn't like the ending.... anybody with me on this?

Started The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman. Didn't like it and took it back to the library. But, I'm saying that's #47 anyway.

#48 was The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Definitely a story for someone with a soft spot for doggies. I liked it a lot - started and finished in one day.

>31 Milda-TX: - My book club was talking about reading The Art of Racing in the Rain. Do you think it would be a good one for a book club? Will it generate discussion?

Part of the discussion generated might be aggravating to non-dog-lovers, because the dog is the narrator, and lots of us doggie-lovers like to go on and on about how special our mutts are. (Don't encourage us.)
But yes, there would be topics to talk about, like family relationships, and things you do for love, and health issues, and dream jobs.
I don't do book clubs, but I would guess that it's a plus to find a very quick easy read so that maybe everyone would finish the selection, right?!

#49 was The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips. Reminded me of To Kill a Mockingbird. Loved it. Was a little worried it might be depressing, judging from a short description and the title, but it was really the opposite.

#34: Since I love To Kill a Mockingbird, I will definitely be on the lookout for The Well and the Mine. Thanks for the recommendation!

Book #50 was a good one, yay! Read Cannery Row by John Steinbeck in the car on the way to vacation. My daughter was reading East of Eden for school, so I figured I'd be good and also read a classic. I didn't expect to enjoy it so much. I was laughing and snickering and reading portions to the driver...

Congratulations on hitting 50 books, Milda!

Thanks for the congrats! Didn't think I'd make it this far.

#51 was also very good, and read in the car on our road trip, yay vacation - it was Counting Coup by G. D. Gearino, which was recommended by SqueakyChu. (Thanks Madeline!) Let me know if you'd like to mooch it and I'll reserve for you...

On our road trip we listened to a couple of books. One was Hoot by Carl Hiaasen, which my husband and I enjoyed, and my daughters even listened to for awhile at the end. Chad Lowe did a good job with the narration. The other was The Teacher's Funeral by Richard Peck, which we didn't quite finish... it was an okay distraction through Louisiana and East Texas but I'm not going to bother finishing it before returning it to the library.
Yay, that's #52 and #53! Gotta love vacations for the book time alone, but beach time and visiting with friends was pretty great too!

I enjoyed Hoot when I read it last year. I had no idea it was available in audio form.

I have read several of Richard Peck's books this year and liked them all, but The Teacher's Funeral was not among them. Sounds like I need to give that one a pass.

Sounds like you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

I loved Olive Kitteridge so much that I was hoping to enjoy #54 Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout too. Halfway or more through, I gave up and skimmed the rest. Too bad.
But today I had a treat. My daughter's volleyball tournament lasted from 8am to 7pm with so many breaks in between matches that I was able to start and finish #55 Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway. What a wonderful book!

#41: The Cellist of Sarajevo is on my 'memorable reads' list for the year. I loved it!

#41 Sorry you didn't enjoy Abide with Me; I haven't read that one, but I loved Olive myself, and thought Amy and Isabelle,which I read shortly afterward, was very good too.

I enjoy your book comments, Milda, and have starred your thread. Olive Kitteridge was a special book for me as well. I was lucky enough to receive it as an Early Reviewer. I liked Abide With Me, but it preceded Olive. I think when one has an affinity for a book, then others can pale in comparison. I am DonnaReads on the 75 book challenge. Come see me as we say in the Ozarks!

I think I will try Amy and Isabelle someday. Maybe Abide with me just came at the wrong time or something. It was good in the beginning but I just didn't care enough to finish.

Milda - I liked Abide with Me, but read it before I read Olive. I definitely liked Olive better. I thought that the connected short story format worked very well.

Hi everybody, finally finished listening to Fluke: or, I know why the winged whale sings by Christopher Moore for #56. Moore's writing is fun, and too often has me laughing out loud in the car like a goofball, but this particular story was a bit ridiculous. There were sooo many times I wanted to quit. But, I liked the (human) characters, and decided to hang in there 'til the end.

Checked out The Hunger Games from the library and started reading, thinking maybe my daughter might like it... but ick, it's depressing in the beginning, so I doubt I'll pass it on to her. (But of course, I'm hooked and have to see what happens next!)

I love The Hunger Games! I hope you keep reading, Milda.

I am... the Games are just about to start, so I have to see what happens!

Hi! Just found your thread. I've added The Well and the Mine to my Wishlist.

Hi tymfos, ooo, that's pressure, I hope you like it! :)

So, #57 of the year is officially The Hunger Games. Darn, I was hoping I could stop with this book and not read the sequel, but nuh-uh, I'm hooked.

Picked up The Elegance of the Hedgehog - a little worried by all those dang big words - will soon have to dig up a dictionary...

#51: Glad to see you enjoyed The Hunger Games.

I will be reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog in the next few weeks as well. Care to share your dictionary?

Loved Elegance of the Hedgehog. Hope you two do also.

I too absolutely loved Hedgehog. It did take a little while though so I'd encourage you to be patient with the book.

I accidentally left Elegance in the car so picked up my other library book, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, and finished it last night. It was okay - the little bit of history was interesting and the story was sweet. It's #58.

>55 Milda-TX: - My mom loaned me Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet when I was home for Thanksgiving, so I'll be reading it soon. I also have Elegance of the Hedgehog home from the library - although I'll have to hurry up it I'm going to get to it before it's past due! I'll be interested to hear what you think of that one.

I bought Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet this year but have never managed to get it read. I will definitely be reading it in 2010 though.

Had a day off work today, and my girls won't let me open Christmas gifts yet, so I got to finish Elegance of the Hedgehog. It did take quite awhile for me to warm up to this book, and I skimmed some of the 'heavier' chapters regarding philosophers and such, but by halfway through, the characters were tugging at my little heart.

Hey Milda, have you set up your thread for the 2010 challenge thread? Happy Holidays!

Oops...just totally disregard me, Milda. I was looking for carmenere's page and she posted here. I am in a day-after Christmas eggnog induced fog. Hope you got some of that white stuff that landed in Texas, but I know it's a big state!

Ahh, I know what you mean, Donna - my head was fuzzy from too many candy canes!

Yesterday, between answering tech support questions for new ipods and video cameras, and while consoling the scaredy-cat doggie who was trembling under remote-control helicopters buzzing thru the living room, I finished Crocodile on the Sandbank. It was a nice story, loved the characters and the scenery, but most of all it was very easy to pick up after interruptions.

So, that's #60, yay!

Carmenere, thanks for the reminder - I will go set up my thread for 2010. Work is horrible in January so it will probably take me awhile to get into a book, darn it.

Oooh, I know what will be probably be my first book after the madness dies down in January - my hunny sought out a book for me for Christmas - it's been on my wishlist for over a year - it's called Secret Life of Compost. I hope to get wildly inspired by it in order to get myself back into the garden early in February!

I'm glad that you liked Crocodile on the Sandbank. I read it earlier this year and liked it too, but I haven't gotten back to the Amelia Peabody series. Maybe in 2010.

We have one of those buzzing helicopters too - it hit me in the head the other day when I was reading.

Hope that the Secret Life of Compost puts you in a gardening mood!!

I read Crocodile on the Sandbank years ago and quite enjoyed it, but never got around to reading the rest of the series... I really should do that! A cousin of mine has read them all, and she tells me it's worth the read :)

#65: They are, Faith!