novazembla's 100 books in 2010

I have the goal to read 100 books in 2010 even though I'm a little behind schedule. I've been tracking them on my own but I decided it would be great to share what I have been reading.

#1. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

#2. Maybe One: A Case for Smaller Families - Bill McKibben.

#3. Robot Dreams by Sara Varon.

#4. The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

#5. End the Fed by Ron Paul.

#6. Copenhagen by Michael Frayn.

#7. The Illustrated Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo.

#8. Ford County: Stories by John Grisham.

#9. What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell.

#10. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.

#11. Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan.

#12. {Too Big To Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System - and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin.

#13. The Significance of the Frontier in American History by Frederick Jackson Turner.

#14. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by Heilemann and Halperin.

#15. The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett.

#16. World Without End by Ken Follett.

#17. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

#18. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

#19. Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson.

#20. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.

#21. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien.

#22. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.

#23. Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt.

#24. Q&A: A Novel by Vikas Swarup.

#25. Solaris by Stanislaw Lem.

#26. Instructions by Neil Gaiman.

#27. 101 Things I Learned in Culinary School by Louis Eguaras.

#28. The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett.

#29. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.

#30. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier.

#31. Googled: The End of the World As We Know It by Ken Auletta.

This is it for now - more to come!

Welcome, novazembla! A nice selection of books too.

Welcome to the group. You've had some great reads so far this year!

I'm a huge fan of Copenhagen. Did you like it? I've never actually read it, but I've seen it on stage a couple times now.

I would love to have seen it on stage. I enjoyed it very much - especially how the intimate relationship between the three main characters shed light on the broader political struggles. The history of science and scientists is also a favorite subject of mine.

#32. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett.

#33. Rambles in the Mammoth Cave During the Year 1844 by a Visitor by Alexander Clark Bullitt.

I just came back from a long weekend camping in Mammoth Caves National Park and I picked this up while I was there. It was neat to read it after exploring some of the cave passages and reading about someone else's experience there almost 170 years ago.

#34. Orange County Noir by various authors.

I found this in the library and I picked it up because of my hometown connection. The stories varied in their strength but it was still fun to read stories set in places that I know.

#35. How To Read A Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer Adler & Charles Van Doren.

I've been reading this slowly throughout the year and I finally finished with the quizzes in the Appendix. The longest (and strongest) section of the book delt with analytical reading. I copied that outline of the steps of analytical reading so I could have it in my library. At times the book was a little dry and repetitive but still useful.

#36. Spider-Man: Blue by Joph Loeb and Tim Sale.

I don't really read comic books but this one was recommended to me by my husband. It is a story framed by Peter Parker reminiscing his past love for Gwen Stacy. I was disappointed that more of the relationship between Peter and Gwen was not included in the book however. There is more interaction with Mary Jane than anything else. I'm not into super-heroes battling super-villians so those parts were boring. The struggle that Parker had with his normal life and his secret life was probably the best part of the compilation.

#37. Mort by Terry Pratchett.

I started reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld series earlier this year because two of my housemates were reading them and I thought it would be fun to have a sort of group read. This has been my hands-down favorite so far. It has a couple great characters, namely Death and Mort, with an off-the-wall yet still engaging plot. Highly recommended.

I'll now have to track down the rest of the series because one of my housemates took them during his extended stay in Albany this summer.

Oh, Mort is an excellent Pratchett! Probably my favourite, if I was forced to choose.

#38. The Giver by Lois Lowry.

Wow. I had no idea how wonderful this book would be. I read my only other Lois Lowry book Number the Stars as my #20 read of the year but that still didn't prepare me for this complex children's novella. This was a book that everyone was reading while I was in grade school but for some reason I missed out on it. I don't want to spoil anything but it's a short read that I highly recommend.

This is also my fifth Newbery Award winner of the year.

#39. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich.

This book was best when describing the lives of those working some of the low wage jobs in America. While the author sounded a little whinny and preachy at times she does a good job describing the challenges of the working poor (most especially affordable housing). This was written in a time of relative prosperity in the U.S. and yet workers were struggling to make end's meet in even the tightest labor market.

#40. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.

A delightful children's puzzle-mystery. Having so many characters is confusing at first but they are all unique if a bit characterchured.

This is my sixth Newbery Award winner of the year. I didn't set out with the goal to read so many but I'll probably continue to do so throughout the year.

#41. Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

This slim book harkens back to the days when flying was dangerous and flying at night was near suicidal. One of the questions asked is if anything is more important than human life. Are the sacrifices made (in this case, for more efficient mail delivery) worth the lives of those who could perish in the process?

#42. A Passage To India by E.M. Forster.

Beautiful language. Forster used his personal experiences in India to color his descriptions of this novel taking place during the British colonial rule of India.

#43. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.

This was a book I read entirely on the elliptical this week. I didn't relate to the main character that much and it didn't seem to have as much depth that I usually seek out in fiction. However, it was an easy read and a compelling story to keep me turning the pages and make the time at the gym fly by.

#44. I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe.

This book was published in 2005 when I was just starting my junior year of college. It takes place at fictional, elite, basketball/sports crazy campus and feels so authentic. I could definitely sympathize and relate to Charlotte. She travels from her small and isolated community in the hopes that she will be a part of an institution where the life of the mind is cultivated.
While the students around her are definitely smart they care more about partying, sarcasm, and facades. She has to struggle with who she is and repeats the mantra "I Am Charlotte Simmons" throughout her experiences. In order to find out who she really is though she has to go through some horrifying but ultimately cathartic experiences.

#45. Abba Abba by Anthony Burgess.

Yay! I finally made it through my first Burgess novel. A long time ago I picked up Clockwork Orange from the library knowing nothing about it. I tried to read it and had no idea what language I was looking at. I returned it to the library later realizing that he wrote in a sort of futuristic Russian-English made up language.
Abba Abba is a short novel that I purchased from the Barnes and Noble Rediscovers series. I don't know if it's in print elsewhere. The main part is just over 100 pages (with about 25 pages of sonnets at the end) but Burgess is so clever with the language that I had to keep looking up words and alternate meanings throughout.
Abba Abba is about Keats' last weeks that he spent in Rome. Interestingly I had just watched Bright Eyes so I almost felt like I was reading the coda to the movie.

So, #45 was nothing to do with a certain Swedish pop group?

I've been keeping my eyes open for Night Flight after really enjoying his Wind, Sand and Stars.

#46. One - Kathryn Otoshi.

I have not read many books since the end of July since I took a long road trip, found out that I was pregnant, and completed one of the busiest times of the year at my office. I've been going to bed so early and having a lot of headaches - but I'm starting to feel better. I will be doing my best to read as many as I can by the end of '10!

#47. The Color Purple - Alice Walker.

#48. Prep: A Novel - Curtis Sittenfeld.

#49. Kira-Kira - Cynthia Kadohata.

#50. The Daily Coyote: A Story of Love, Survival, and Trust - Shreve Stockton.

#51. Our Babies Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent - Meredith Small.

#52. The Sunny Side: Short Stories and Poems for Proper Grown-ups - A.A. Milne.

#53. Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell.

Revisiting one of all-time favorites!

#54. Alistair Cooke's America - Alistair Cooke.

I watched the BBC documentary series through youtube and it was amazing. I would read a chapter and then watch the corresponding video. As far as I know the documentary isn't available any other way. I highly recommend it!

Congratulations on impending parenthood! Good to see you're planning on keeping your reading up, but don't get worried if you don't. During my first pregnancy, I read nothing but Harry Potter on a constant loop (with occasional digressions towards Narnia).

Congratulations on the new edition! I hope you're feeling good really soon. It looks like you've had some good reads.

55. Rebecca - Daphne du Mauier.

Loved the haunting atmosphere. Most read more du Maurier!

56. The Stepford Wives - Ira Levin.

Novella that is SO different in tone from the Nicole Kidman film remake. I haven't yet watched the original film though.

57. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - Benjamin Franklin (of course!).

This makes me want to be a better and more productive person! People like this inspire me so much.

58. Baby Bargains - Denise & Alan Fields.

Very helpful book. Helped me pick out my crib and mattress and gave me all sorts of ideas.

59. Murder in the Cathedral - T.S. Eliot.

60. Sourcery - Terry Pratchett.

It actually took me a while to get through this. I didn't enjoy it as much as I did Mort.

61. Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon.

I asked a friend of mind, who doesn't generally like to read, what some of her favorite books are. She recommended this one and I liked the puzzles and mystery. Written from the prospective of a child with Asbergers Syndrome.

62. The Virgin Suicides - Jeffery Eugenides.

I loved the Sofia Coppola movie and was surprised how closely it followed the book. I grew up in a house of girls in a slightly repressive environment (although nothing compared to the situation of the Lisbon girls).

63. World Lit Only By Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age - William Manchester.

One of my degrees was in medieval studies and this book is thoroughly bashed by medievalists. This author has no background in the subject and I think his perspective on the subject is severely limited (he admits he never read any primary resources). However, it is readable and I had no trouble getting through it.

64. Pagan's Crusade - Catherine Jinks.

This is a book aimed at the 10-13 year old crowd. I picked it up randomly because I was intrigued that this was young adult historical fiction. I enjoyed it and might look into some of the sequels.

65. Dear John - Nicholas Sparks.

This is the second Sparks novel I have read (after the Notebook several summers ago). I didn't think it was too bad - could have been worse.

66. Odd and the Frost Giants - Neil Gaimen.

I thought that this was a delightful read and cannot wait reading it to my little Caleb (due in early April) once he is old enough.

So I made it 2/3 of the way there to 100. I had good months and a couple months where I finished hardly any books (March and September). I definitely plan to up this number next year.