lindapanzo's 2011 reading--part 1

Here are my 11 categories, tentatively, for the 11 in 11 category challenge for 2011. I'm aiming for 11 books in each category (121 books), with an 11 book bonus (overflow from the other 11 categories) category.

1. Cozy mysteries--read 3 out of 11
2. Baseball books--read 3 out of 11
3. Mysteries set outside the U.S.--read 1 out of 11
4. General nonfiction--read 5 out of 11
5. Even more general nonfiction--read 0 out of 11
6. Historical fiction--read 4 out of 11
7. Seasonal books (books with winter, spring, summer, or fall (or autumn) in the title)--read 2 out of 11
8. Lincoln and the Civil War--read 0 out of 11
9. Next in the series--read 2 out of 11
10. Sports books--read 5 out of 11
11. Chicago books--read 1 out of 11

Bonus category: Overflow from Other Categories

Category 1: Cozy Mysteries--Read 3 of 11

1. Murder, By the Book by Stephen Budiansky--finished on 1/6/11
2. Bedeviled Eggs by Laura Childs--finished on 1/22/11
3. Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke--finished on 2/24/11
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POSSIBLES INCLUDE:
--Laughed Til He Died by Carolyn Hart
--Wicked Witch Murder by Leslie Meier
--Death at the Alma Mater by G.M. Malliett
--Manna from Hades by Carola Dunn
--Grace Under Pressure by Julie Hyzy

Category 2: Baseball Books--Finished 3 of 11

1. Going, Going, Gone! The Art of the Trade in Major League Baseball by Fran Zimniuc
2. Chasing Baseball: Our Obsession with Its History, Numbers, People and Places by Dorothy Seymour Mills
3. A Woman's Work: Writing Baseball History with Harold Seymour by Dorothy Jane Mills
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POSSIBLES INCLUDE:
--Wrigley Field's Last World Series
--Willie Mays: The Life, the Legend by James S. Hirsch
--The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood by Jane Leavy
--The Last Hero: A Life of Hank Aaron by Howard Bryant
--Echoing Green by Joshua Prager
--The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca
--Roger Maris
--Mint Condition
--The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn
--Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella
--The Greatest Ballpark Ever by Bob McGee
--Baseball: A Literary Anthology
by Nicholas Dawidoff
--Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee by Allan Barra
--Scoring from Second
--Center Field Shot:A History of Baseball on Television by James R. Walker
--My Turn at Bat by Ted Williams
--Pull Up a Chair by Vin Scully
--The Yankee Years by Joe Torre
--Your Brain on Cubs by Dan Gordon
--The Psychology of Baseball by Mike Stadler
--Crazy '08
--Northsiders

Category 3: Mysteries set outside the U.S.--read 1 out of 11

1. Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason (set in Iceland)--finished on 1/1/11
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POSSIBLES INCLUDE:

--Murder in the Marais by Cara Black (set in France)
--Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon (Italy)
--The Prophet Murders by Mehmet Murat Somer (Turkey)
--The Titian Committee by Iain Pears (Italy)
--The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin
--The Abyssinian Proof by Jenny White (Turkey)
--The Turkish Gambit by Boris Akunin
--Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog by Boris Akunin
--The Snow Empress by Laura Joh Rowland (Japan)
--The Widow Killer (Czech)

Category 4: General Nonfiction--read 5 out of 11

1. Final Flight: The Mystery of a WW II Plane Crash and the Frozen Airmen in the High Sierra by Peter Stekel--finished on 1/8/11
2. Orange Is the New Black: My Year in Women's Prison by Piper Kerman--finished on 1/20/11
3. On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery by Robert M. Poole--finished on 2/5/11
4. The Sound of Freedom by Raymond Arsenaut--finished on 2/7/11
5. Millard Fillmore by Robert J. Rayback--finished on 2/27/11
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POSSIBLES INCLUDE:
Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg
Hitler's Private Library: The Books That Shaped His Life by Timothy W. Ryback
--Made in America by Claude Fischer
--When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present by Gail Collins
--The Light Within: The Extraordinary Friendship of a Doctor and Patient Brought Together by Cancer by Lois M. Ramondetta
--The Great Good Place
--The Narcissism Epidemic
--Seven Pleasures
--Eiffel's Tower by Jill Jonnes
--The Courage of Their Convictions by Peter Irons
--Outliers by Malcoln Gladwell
--Country Driving: A Journey Through China From Farm to Factory by Peter Hessler
--The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
--The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in its First Age of Terror by Beverly Gage
--Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris
--The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose
--Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent
--Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre
--The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century by Alan Brinkley
--The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

Category 5: Even more general nonfiction--read 0 out of 11

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POSSIBLES INCLUDE:

--In Motion: The Experience of Travel by Tony Hiss
--Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit
--A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
--Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
--Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier
--Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum
--Blue Highways: A Journey Into America by William Least Heat-Moon
--A Sense of Place by Michael Shapiro
--Coast to Coast: A Journey Across 1950s America by Jan Morris
--Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory by Peter Hessler
--Great Plains by Ian Frazier
--Brit at the Ballpark: An Englishman's Baseball Tour of All 50 States by Peter Taylor

Category 6: Historical Fiction--Read 4 out of 11

1. Murder on St Mark's Place by Victoria Thompson--finished on 1/4/11
2. The Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch--finished on 1/27/11
3. A Marked Man by Barbara Hamilton--finished on 2/4/11
4. Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear--finished on 2/21/11
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POSSIBLES:
--In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff
--Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
--The Pearl Harbor Murders by Max Allan Collins
--Wings of Fire by Charles Todd
--The Gilded Cage by Troy Soos
--Death of Riley by Rhys Bowen
--A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen
--A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd
--A Stranger in Mayfair by Charles Todd
--Vices of My Blood by Maureen Jennings
--Rutland Place by Anne Perry
--No Graves as Yet by Anne Perry
--Room with a Clue by Kate Kingsbury
--The Jewel of the North by Peter King
--How to Marry a Murderer by Amanda Matetsky
--Dead March by Ann McMillan
--Murder at Manassas by Michael Killian
--Murder in Grub Street by Bruce Alexander
--Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? by Ed Gorman
--Death at Gallow's Green by Robin Paige
--Seneca Falls Inheritance by Miriam Grace Monfredo
--The Burning Bride by Margaret Lawrence
--The Dumb Shall Sing by Stephen Lewis
--A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly
--The Dutchman by Maan Meyers

Category 7: Seasonal Books (books with winter, spring, summer, or fall (or autumn) in the title)--finished 2 of 11

1. In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming--finished on 1/15/11
2. Off Season: Discovering America on Winter's Shore by Ken McAlpine--finished on 2/12/11
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POSSIBLES INCLUDE:
--Winter World by Bernd Heinrich
--The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam
--Winter Brothers: A Season at the Edge of America by Ivan Doig
--Winter: A Spiritual Biography of the Season by Gary D. Schmidt
--Spring: A Spiritual Biography of the Season by Gary D. Schmidt
--Summer: A Spiritual Biography of the Season by Gary D. Schmidt
--Autumn: A Spiritual Biography of the Season by Gary D. Schmidt
--Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
--Winter of the Wolf Moon by Steve Hamilton
--The War Against Miss Winter by Kathryn Miller Haines
--The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
--The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn
--Freedom Summer by Bruce Watson
--Chasing Spring: An American Journey Through a Changing Season by Bruce Stutz
--The Stones of Summer by Dow Mossman
--Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
--The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
--Diamond Gems in Autumn by Warren Goldfein
--Winter Prey by John Sandford
--Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
--Summer by Edith Wharton
--The Dead of Winter by Paula Gosling
--Europe's Last Summer by David Fromkin
--Last Lessons of Summer by Margaret Maron
--Winter Study by Nevada Barr
--The Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
--Summer World by Bernd Heinrich
--The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

Category 8: Lincoln and the Civil War

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POSSIBLES INCLUDE:
--Abraham Lincoln by George McGovern
--The Hoofs and Guns of the Storm by Arnie Bernstein
--Year of Meteors by Douglas R. Egerton
--Reluctant Rebels by Kenneth Noe
--General Sherman's Christmas by Stanley Weintraub
--A. Lincoln: A Biography by Ronald A. White
--We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends by David Herbert Donald
--Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin-own
--Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk
--Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer by Fred Kaplan
--The Civil War: A Narrative: Fort Sumter to Perryville (vol 1) by Shelby Foote
--The Civil War: A Narrative: Fredericksburg to Meridian (vol 2) by Shelby Foote
--The Civil War: A Narrative: Red River to Appomattox (vol 3) by Shelby Foote
--The Battle of Gettysburg by Frank Haskell
--All for the Union by Elisha Hunt Rhodes
--Lincoln President-Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter 1860-1861 Harold Holzer
--Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief
by James M. McPherson
--Confederate ordeal : the southern home front
--The Civil War at sea
--The South vs. the South : how anti-Confederate southerners shaped the course of the Civil War
--After the War: The Lives and Images of Major Civil War Figures After the Shooting Stopped by David E. Hardin.
--From Battlefields Rising: How The Civil War Transformed American Literature by Randall Fuller
--This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust-own
--Looking for Lincoln: The Making of an American Icon by Philip B. Kunhardt III
--Mr Lincoln's High Tech War by Thomas B Allen

Category 9: Next in the Series--finished 2 out of 11

1. Fiber & Brimstone by Laura Childs--finished on 1/8/11
2. The False Hearted Teddy by John J. Lamb--finished on 2/19/11
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Category 10: Sports Books--finished 5 out of 11

1. The President's Team: The 1963 Army-Navy Game and the Assassination of JFK by Michael Connelly--finished on 1/2/11
2. A Championship Team: The Packers and St Norbert College in the Lombardi Years by Cliff Christl--finished on 1/16/11
3. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami--finished on 1/18/11
4. The Art of a Beautiful Game by Chris Ballard--finished on 2/2/11
5. Playing Ball with the Boys: The Rise of Women in the World of Men's Sports by Betsy M. Ross--finished on 2/25/11
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POSSIBLES INCLUDE:

--Patrick Roy: Winning, Nothing Else Matters by Patrick Roy-own
--Golden Jet by Bobby Hull-own
--Brodeur: Beyond the Crease-own
--Jacques Plante: The Man Who Changed the Face of Hockey-own
--Tough Guy: My Life on the Edge
--The Final Call: Hockey Stories from a Legend in Stripes by Kerry Fraser
--A Passion to Win by Lou Nanne
--Searching for Bobby Orr
--Raising Stanley: What It Takes to Claim Hockey's Ultimate Prize by Ross Bernstein
--Eddie Shore and that Old-Time Hockey by C. Michael Hiam
--Barilko: Without a Trace by Kevin Shea
--The Greatest Game: The Montreal Canadiens, the Red Army, and the Night That Saved Hockey
--Future Greats and Heartbreaks: A Year Undercover in the Secret World of NHL Scouts Paperback
Gare Joyce
--The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association Paperback
Ed Willes
--The China Wall: The Timeless Legend of Johnny Bower
--'67: The Maple Leafs, Their Sensational Victory, and the End of an Empire
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Category 11: Chicago Books--finished 1 of 11

1. Chicago's Midway Airport by Christopher Lynch
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POSSIBLES INCLUDE:
--Oldest Chicago
--Chicago's Forgotten Tragedy by Bill Cosgrove
--Great Chicago Fires by David Cowan
--On the Job
--Rule 53
--The Chicago River
--A History of Chicago (volume 1) by Bessie Louise Pierce
--Challenging Chicago by Perry Duis
--Great Chicago fires : historic blazes that shaped a city by David Cowan
--Challenging Chicago by Perry Duis
--Division Street America by Studs Terkel
--The Sinking of the Eastland: America's Forgotten Tragedy
--One Thousand and One Afternoons by Ben Hecht
--Chicago Sports Reader
--Chi Town by Norbert Blei
--American Pharaoh by Adam Cohen and Elizabeth Taylor
--Forever open, clear, and free : the struggle for Chicago's lakefront by Lois Wille
--City of the Century by Donald L. Miller
--Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West By William Cronin
--The Gambler King of Clark Street: Michael C. McDonald and the Rise of Chicago's Democratic Machine by Richard Lindberg
--For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago
--The New Chicago: A Social and Cultural Analysis by Koval et al

Bonus Category: Overflow from Other Categories--finished 0 out of 11

(If I had to guess, it'll be filled with general nonfiction and/or mystery series.)

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I'm considering Full Dark House and In the Shadow of Gotham too! Also, I hope you enjoy The Eyre Affair -- I think it's an absolutely wonderful series!

Hi Linda: I was wondering how many mystery categories you would have!

I was thinking about three and then I had to stop kidding myself b/c I know I will try to fit as many as possible in each! My challenge always is how creative I can be fitting them all in.

What, only three mystery categories? Or are you planning on sneaking some into other categories too?

I really wanted to read the Shelby Foote series for the Civil War but there were too many others that I really wanted too. Figured I could eventually go back and get those in a few years.

Hmmmmm: baseball, Lincoln and the Civil War. Where have I seen that combination before?

I rarely read long, chunky books and have accumulated quite a few that I'd like to get to. Between that and the long Shelby Foote Civil War books, I figure I needed a break and so I've got fewer nonfiction categories next year.

Three mystery categories is more than usual. Plus, the sports category should have light, quick reads.

I expect that the overflow will be mostly mysteries as well.

Usually, I change my mind often as to one or two categories. Right now, the one that's most uncertain is "mystery authors new to me." I might switch that to some other mystery category. Same is true for vintage mysteries.

I'm sure I'll sneak quite a few mysteries into the "seasonal books" category, too.

Just curious: how many of your categories are overlaps from 1010?

While I've read books in most of these categories in the past, only 5 of 2011's categories are returning favorites. (Four of those--cozies, baseball books, disaster books, and general nonfiction--are returning for a third straight year.)

Of the 11, "chunky" books is the one most out of character for me.

I've been reading presidential biographies and hope to get right up to the Civil War by the end of 2010 and then focus on Lincoln and the war during 2011.

Linda, thanks for the heads up about the new group. I can't believe it's time again already.

To answer your question - how many categories will overlap from the 1010? Probably most of them. I will probably choose a couple of "special interest" topics, but the rest will be "standard". You know, those books I'd be reading no matter what, and nothing can stop me. Like mysteries and new (for me) authors.

Glad you're back, Sandy.

10/11 are ones I'd be reading anyway. Well, 9/11. The God and religion is one that I've just started reading in the past year or so.

The one I'm most looking forward to, I think, is the Civil War. I keep finding interesting books and keep holding back on them.

My returning categories will probably be LDS book, some fantasy category, some mystery category, and maybe new authors.

You have some interesting categories. Several of the titles on your list of possibilities for your mystery categories are either TBRs in my library or on my wishlist.

I'm carrying over 5 categories from my 1010 challenge, plus one of my bonus categories was one of my 1010 categories. For both this year's and next year's challenges, my categories reflect my typical reading tastes and interests. I've found that the categories keep me from getting in a rut or too narrowly focused in my reading.

It's amazing just how many civil war books are out there. Both fiction and nonfiction. And more are published all the time. The war was 150 years ago! But, you're right. There is always another one that looks interesting.

I liked the civil war category I had in the 999, so I might do it again. Or something that would include the civil war, like 19th century or American wars or something. I don't know. I don't have time to think about this today. I shouldn't even be on LT today. I have tax returns on extension that are due the 15th that I need to finish up. Guess I'd better get back to work.

Interesting to hear about new/returning categories.

I'm as pleased as punch about my new seasonal category. I included that one, in large part, because I wanted to (finally) get to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.

I've also got a book about spiritual musings about winter I've long been hoping to get to. Now, I've discovered that there's one of these for each of the four seasons, all subtitled "A Spiritual Biography of the Season." I'm very excited about this.

My MYSTERY! category is the new name for my Whodunit category from 2010. My Home Economics Class category is a combination of my Food Network and One More Stitch categories from 2010. Otherwise most of mine are new. I made the mistake last year of not having certain categories or a general category that picked up things that didn't quite fit in some. The one thing that I do know is that I can easily fill every category as defined for 2011 with at least 11 books in my TBR boxes without purchasing a single new book. Of course, I'm addicted to books so we all know how unlikely that would be!

Does this mean that you're not planning to read New York until next year? I'm still hoping to read it this year -- I think it comes out in paperback this fall. It's been years ago that I read it, but East of Eden is my favorite Steinbeck. You've got a whole lot of interesting books! Can't wait to see what you think of them...

I might still get to New York this year. For now, I'm trying to note every possibility, at least for the new categories.

For the returning favorites, of course, I'm waiting to see what I finish this year.

Rumor has it that someone (shhhh) might have a chunky book category in TIOLI later this year so I'm planning for either the Rutherfurd book or Bleak House then. Probably leaning towards the Dickens this year since my 1010 Law and Lawyers category might be my final category to finish.

My categories are structured so that they are Histories, Mysteries, and Romances. I have 2 new ones where I will specifically read ER/ARCs and Children/Youth books. My trick will be the specifics around the Histories, Mysteries and Romances. My histories are going to be from Post Civil War - the turn of the century with 9 presidents thrown in and the mysteries are will be trying to catchup on old series while starting a few new ones. I also have a few Romance series that I need to catch up on. So 2011 is my year of series ( Maybe should have gone with a baseball theme (Linda would love that) instead of romance, oh well, maybe 2012.)

Linda, how will you stand it? - waiting an entire year to see how my categories are setup with a baseball theme. (You might be able to bribe them out of me!)

FYI - if you are going to read your first Linda Fairstein book, LETHAL LEGACY is a good one if you aren't going to start with the first one - FINAL JEOPARDY.

I admire you for being clever. I just come right out and say what I like. No cleverness involved.

I've been threatening to read Lethal Legacy for so long that I figured I might as well finally do it.

Authors New to Me or Vintage Mysteries might well become Series Books. Not sure about that yet.

20 -- I'm keeping 3 of my categories from the 1010: mysteries, TBR shelf, and the catch-all category. I expect to keep the TBR one until I have finally read all the books I own (so maybe by 2030 or so, haha), and the catch-all category simply keeps me sane. :)

20 I'm keeping only three categories from my 1010 - Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Work-related reading (which means plays and theatre, and this year I'm not combining it with a recommendations category, that was just silly. Filled up in april, I think) and the Catch-all. At the moment I'm most excited about my short story category, I think.

Didn't take me long to change one. Vintage Mysteries has become "Next in the Series." I will leave this more open-ended because, even though most of my fiction reading involves series, not all of it does. This'll let me fit in the Lumby series, for instance.

Considering that my TBR-piles are still very full indeed, my 1111 categories are almost all the same as for 1010. But, they may change, of course... :)

Some great possibilities listed for next year already. I'm quite surprised by some of your New to Me options as I'd have thought a few of those would have definitely passed your way before now.

#36 I may get to some of these before the end of 2010 but, no doubt, there are plenty of others.

I get a lot of "new to me" mystery author ideas from the every-other-month Rue Morgue Press catalog.

Changed sports books to "mysteries set outside of the U.S." This will let in all those Canadian and British mysteries on my list and maybe remind me to get back to some others, such as a Turkish series I like.

Thanks to Cheli for helping me clarify my thoughts on this. This gives me four mystery categories and another one that could include mysteries (seasonal books).

Are you sure that's enough? That's less than half for mysteries and you know that you read more mysteries than anything else.

#39 Good point. Even allowing that my overflow bonus is probably going to be mostly mysteries, and counting it as a separate category, that still gives me only 5 of 12 as mystery categories and one more that could include mysteries.

Odd how this is working out. I had the same or similar (eg, presidents instead of Lincoln/Civil War) categories this year for my nonmysteries and thought it was ok. I think that 20 book bonus this year made a big difference.

At 132 books to meet the 11 in 11 challenge plus the overflow bonus, choosing good categories is essential. I'll almost certainly read more than 132 books but not much more than that.

Hmmmm. I must keep a general nonfiction category and a baseball category. I've been looking forward to Lincoln and the Civil War and am having fun coming up with seasonal books (which'll be half mystery probably).

That leaves (1) God and religion, (2) disasters, and (3) chunky books as the only possible cut backs.

Something to think about.

Couldn't you combine the Seasonal and disasters into one category...some of the disasters will be weather related , right? Or how about Chunks of Disaster? or Religious disasters? ;-))

I keep thinking about our Centuries & Sleuths bookstore. Maybe I will combine history and mystery into a category.

Or maybe food and mystery. Fictional food.

HOW ABOUT MYSTERIOUS DISASTERS?

Mysterious food disasters?

After I finish 1010, I have a whole lot more disaster books yet to read. More so than religion books so I'm thinking that my religion category will get changed.

UPDATED: Done. I changed #6 to historical fiction. I might fine tune that one, at some point.

Then, of course, there are always chunky mysteries...

I have 23 possible historical mysteries, just off the top of my head. I think I'll be ok with that category.

okaaaay. As long as you have enough slots for mysteries...I just want you to be happy.

lol at you two!

I can't help feeling that Cheli has an ulterior motive for wanting Linda to read more mysteries. More books read by Linda = more recommendations for Cheli, yes?

No, Ma....
It's her fault...she's always trying to get me in trouble by adding more books to my list by telling me about this mystery series or that mysteriy series, so I thought it only fair to reciprocate. I know she reads those mysteries like they're medicine to her mind and spirit and I just wanted to make sure that she had enough to stay mentally healthy. I was just being a good friend.

#51 LOL! Cheli, I'm glad I wasn't your "ma" for real! You must have given that poor woman fits!

Of course, it doesn't help that Linda is a tower of jello when it comes to withstanding the temptation of more books!

Just trying to spread the wealth!

Hahaha

Actually, I'm a puddle of jello. Hot and humid at the Dells. Cozies and other mysteries are food for the soul. The last two years, I haven't read as many. I'd like to get that number back up to about half.

Oh boy, I have one category I've changed 3 or 4 times (already!).

I rarely read sci fi but I do like to read an occasional time travel or alternate history book. Besides Time and Again, by Jack Finney, which is probably my all-time favorite book and one I re-read every so often, I've got only a few books in mind.

I will enjoy finding new time travel/alternate history books.

Hi, Linda! Fun conversation here. Looks like we're planning to possibly read a few of the same books.

@54 -- I'm doing a steampunk/time travel/alternate history category too, so I'll be interested to see what you find for it! I see you have Connie Willis as a possibility, and I'd definitely recommend Doomsday Book, but also To Say Nothing of the Dog which is much lighter. I also noticed that you have The Eyre Affair as a possibility in another category, but it would work in your "Time" category as well because it definitely takes place in an alternate history!

(edited to fix touchstone)

#16 Thanks for the tips. I'll move The Eyre Affair over as I have plenty of possibilities in that category but few, so far, in my time category. I'll check out yours as well.

I'm not interested in futuristic time travel but more of a travel back in history kind of book. I've read several Jack Finney books involving time travel and loved those.

I love baseball and really enjoyed Darryl Brock's first time travel baseball book If I Never Get Back and was pleased to learn of a sequel to that one.

Lots of great categories here. As a lover of mysteries, I'll be keeping a close eye on what you are reading. Historical Mysteries are definitely a category I didn't have room for this year and will try to fit into 2012 Challenge. (Eeek - look at me - already thinking about 2012!!!)

57 -- Worry not! My suggestions to you all involve jumps back in time. I agree with you that I'd rather read "travel back" books than "travel forward" ones.

After much talk about a time travel category, I dropped that one. For now at least.

Still not certain about that last category (category #4, as it happens) but I'm now leaning towards the ultra-broad "books first released in 2011."

>60 lindapanzo: Awww. I was looking forward to your time travel choices :(

Here are a couple for a future list:
The Infinite Moment and Consider Her Ways by John Wyndham. His The Seeds of Time includes some TT stories too.
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer (although some folks prefer the TV series)
Revise the World by Brenda Clough - this one is a favorite of mine because the main character was also a real Antarctic explorer, Titus Oates.

Great categories!
I will have to keep an eye on your Mysteries set outside the U.S. I love Boris Akunin and would highly recommend his books.

It's funny that, no matter how many categories I have, so far 9, 10, or 11, there is always ONE category that I keep changing my mind about, constantly re-doing it.

As I wind down on 1010, I realize that I still have a whole bunch of disaster books I'd like to read so I'm adding that one back in, again. For now. Maybe.

I'm having second thoughts on at least one of my categories for '11, too, Linda! And I'm worrying about fitting in certain categories of books. I may re-do the whole thing before January. . . or as I go.

Oh great. Now I'm having second thoughts about TWO of my categories. #4 and #10.

Oh well. That's half the fun of it, I guess.

Don't worry too much about it! I've already changed two of mine. :)

Another change. I've added Armchair Travel. I think this'll include travel essays and other travel books, though not guide books.

Yes, I see that Overflow is a bonus category... I still wonder, though, if I wouldn't be better off with an overflow category as 1 of my 11 categories.

I love your lists of possibles! Looks like you have enough lined up already for the next 2 or 3 years!

I think I have several years' worth of books in all 11 of my current categories, Ivy. I'm really looking forward to next year's reading.

Suggestions for foreign travel mysteries:

I checked your library and under mysteries you don't have Steve Berry or Chris Kuzneski. They both have series that travel the world - Europe Asia - and I really enjoy them. They might fit into your category.

Steve Berry's first in the series is The Templar Legacy and Kuzneski's first is The Plantation -set in USA- but I think the later ones are international.

Sandy (sjmccreay) had a series that I want to start by Will Adams - the first is The Alexander Cipher set in Egypt.

Tina and Sandy both have suggested The Shape of Water (Inspector Montalbano, Book 1) set in Italy but with Donna Leon, maybe that's to much Italian, personally for me, you can never have too much Italian!

Hope that helps!

Thanks, Cheli. I need to figure out if there are any Polish mysteries. Also add that Czech one that I planned to read for the Oct TIOLI but didn't get around to.

I think I'm pretty firm and well-settled with my 11 in 11 challenge categories now.

The only tweak I've made lately is that I reduced the number of pages to quality for a chunkster.

This happened after I suddenly realized that four of my Civil War books (the three Shelby Foote books and also Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin) are nearly 1,000 pages in length, give or take a few 100.

Did you hear that they are making Team of Rivals into movie due out in 2012?

#73 Yes, I heard that. Just read somewhere that Doris Kearns Goodwin and the movie's star (can't remember his name) are visiting Springfield, IL to look over the Lincoln sites.

Also heard that they're in early stages of a new movie based on The Devil in the White City, which should be good, too.

I think that Daniel Day Lewis is supposed to play Lincoln.

Grrr, I thought I was settled and then I started looking at the New York Times List of 100 Notable Books for 2010.

I see a change in 11 in 11 category coming...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/books/review/100-notable-books-2010.html?_r=1&...

On second thought, I think I will try to work these into other categories, then count them as my bonus.

This is why I can't have all my year's reading tied up in meeting a category challenge. I need lots of room for books that don't fit!

Or categories broad enough to allow for all the books you want to read.

I think I'll be good doing it this way. If I read, say, The Last Boy by Jane Leavy, a Mickey Mantle bio, for my baseball category, I can also count it towards my bonus since it's a NY Times Notable Book of 2010.

Unbelievably, there are 3 baseball biographies on the 2010 notable books list and, while I own all 3, I haven't read any of them.

I think your bonus category is an excellent idea. I checked out the NY Times Notable
Books of 2010 yesterday and I added quite a few to my wishlist. I hope you get a chance to read Matterhorn next year, it is truly a great book, probably my best read of this year.

Eager to get started on my 11 in 11 challenge.

I'll probably think about 5-book increments. Always subject to change, of course, depending on my mood, but I'm thinking my first five 11 in 11 books might be:

--Millard Fillmore by Robert Rayback
--Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason
--Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis
--Golden Jet by Bobby Hull
--Murder on St. Mark's Place by Victoria Thompson

I also like to get started on the first volume of Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative

#81 What a good idea to begin thinking about how to begin the new challenge. I've been so focused on finishing up 2010 that I haven't given any thought to what I'll be reading in January.

Definitely looks like your mysteries overflowed into your historicals! I love historical mysteries.

Linda, you may need a new thread before January is over!

I took a peek at your Historical Fiction, I love how our mystery minds work, I have the first Charles Todd, I think it's A Test of Wills that I am pretty sure I will be reading. I also want to get my hands on The Thousand Autumns soon.

Also, I will be closely watching your next in the series for ideas....

Got my first five planned:

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation new mystery series of historical fiction (Audio)
Gingerbread Cookie Murder LT ER book
1864 : Lincoln at the gates of history a leftover from what I wanted to read in 2010 for the Civil War and Lincoln (audio)
A Murderous Procession Reading thru time Challenge and a Group Read (Nook)
The Altar of Bones ARC

I'm trying to catch up on my needlework this year so I'm trying to do a bunch of audio books too.

Linda,
I've got Murder on Gramercy Park (the next Gaslight Mystery) scheduled for April. Maybe we can read it together?

#84 I'm eager to read a lot of historical mysteries. I've got books by at least half a dozen different authors waiting in the wings.

#85 Cheli, if I do read the next Victoria Thompson early in 2011, I'd be glad to join you in Murder on Gramercy Park.

>85 cyderry: Cheli, I will have to admit that one of the reasons I decided on a minimum of 7 per category (and up to 11) for the 11 in 11 category is so that I can get back to cross-stitching a bit more.

#87 Lori, that's where audio books are so wonderful - "read" and stitch at the same time!

Although, now that I think a moment, counted cross stitch may require too much concentration. I know I have to turn off the story whenever I need to examine the pattern or instructions closely. Fortunately for me, quilt-making is a lot of simple straight stitching. A LOT of stitching!

>88 sjmccreary: Sandy, I don't follow TV shows I'm watching while stitching very well, so I can't imagine trying to listen to an audio book at the same time!

#89 I can understand about the TV - the flickering screen distracts me from whatever I'm trying to do, which is why I generally avoid it. Some people have trouble listening to an audio while trying to do something else. Normally an audio book doesn't interfere with most things I try to do around the house, but sometimes I just need to turn it off for a while. Are you able to listen to music while stitching?

I'm going to have to switch in a different sports book for my first five of 2011. I got The Golden Jet from my sister and it's almost all photos.

Chomping at the bit to get started. I've already started the Millard Fillmore bio so I may finish that before 2011 starts. Not sure.

If I do, I think I'll get started on Jar City.

A lot of people have started already. You're showing self-control!

I've finished my 2010 reading and have now started my first 2011 book, the Icelandic mystery Jar City.

This one will fit nicely in my category #3, mysteries set outside of the U.S.

This afternoon, I was leafing through the new Rue Morgue Press catalog and, not surprisingly, I found at least a dozen books, I'd like to read..

I took a look and one of them, a Brazilian police procedural, is FREE on Kindle right now. Leighton Gage's first Chief Inspector Mario Silva's mystery Blood of the Wicked. In the review, they say "the author does for Brazil what Donna Leon does for Venice."

Thanks for mentioning that - downloading it to my kindle now! (Well, really the kindle reader on my iphone.)

Not free on amazon.co.uk :-(

It was showing up as $9.99 for me too in the U.S.

It must've been a limited time offer. I bought it on Thurs (Dec. 30th) and just doublechecked my Kindle books purchased list and yes, it cost $0.00.

I'll probably read the Brazilian mystery in the next few weeks but, after that, I can lend it to someone via Kindle (it's one of those lendable ones).

Oh no, another series? Good Lord I need to stay away! It would be too easy to read only series books (I think I'm somewhere in the middle of 50-odd series right now) so I'm going to ignore the last few posts.

Happy New Year to you! Are you surviving the 30-degree temp drop we had overnight? Brrrr it's cold out there!

#100 Happy New Year, Laura.

I had to run out to Target this morning and also get gas. The cold/wind came as a shock.

Over on my 75er thread which is at: http://www.librarything.com/topic/104700 I've noted the forthcoming books from my favorite cozy authors, in case you're interested.

One author, Jeanne Dams, hasn't released a mystery in a series I really enjoy since 2004 so it was a pleasant surprise to hear that she's got a new one.

Happy New Year to you too, Linda!

I know, I read your TBR list, and so many of them sound so tempting. Shortly afterwards, my Mom called (she almost exclusively reads mystery series) and I read her your list. She said "Laura, what are you doing to me? Stop telling me about good books, I have other things to do besides read!!!" :)

Instead of going to my aunt and uncle's house to play board games tonight I opted to stay at home where it's warm, reading and watching Doctor Who at the Proms.

Which Jeanne Dams series?

#103 The Dorothy Martin series.

She released one in the other series, with the maid in Indiana, a few years ago.

Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason
fits in category 3: Mysteries set outside the U.S.
4 stars

My first book of 2011 is the first book in the Icelandic series featuring Inspector Erlendur. The Reykjavik police procedural was darker and bleaker than I'm used to but I did like the fact that a present day murder had ties to a 1960s crime.

I liked it but didn't love it but I will continue with this series, I believe.

I have Jar City on the list to read this year. Now that I know it's dark and bleak I can find it an appropriate spot in my reading year. Maybe summer. Dark and bleak will bother me less at that time of year.

#106 Not that dark and bleak and gory but more so than my usual reading. I didn't care that much for the first half or so but it really picked up.

Book #2
The President's Team: The 1963 Army-Navy Game and the Assassination of JFK by Michael Connelly

I absolutely loved The President's Team. Despite the subtitle, the focus is really on the Navy football team, particularly the amazing 1963 team. (Tina's husband will probably be happy to know it talks about the Navy choir singing the two songs during the funeral procession, mentioning that several football players were also in the choir.)

It's mostly a sports book, with some history and politics thrown in.

Besides the Navy team itself, every contact the team had with JFK, such as his visit to their practice in Rhode Island in 1962, either personally or by mail, was discussed in depth. How JFK, as commander in chief, would try, unsuccessfully, to remain impartial but his time as a Navy officer during WW2 showed his true loyalties.

The author unearthed some amazing facts, such as the postponed Army/Navy game saw the introduction of TV instant replay (viewers were baffled because it came without much warning).

In the back of the book, the author does a "where are they now" for each member of the 1963 Navy football team (41 of the 44 players, I think), talking about their military and post-military careers. Three died while serving in the military and five eventually became admirals.

The writing isn't spectacular or anything but this is an extremely interesting, informative book about an angle of history I've heard little about. Highly recommended!!

2 down already, only 119 more to go! You're off to a good start.

I saw some of Tina's comments about your JFK book, and think it is very neat that she has such a personal connection to these events. What's up next for you?

Now that I'm home from my haircut and oil change, I'm curling up with a historical mystery set in turn of the 20th century New York City. Murder on St Mark's by Victoria Thompson.

Murder on St Mark's Place by Victoria Thompson
3.5 stars

This is a decent historical mystery, the second one in Victoria Thompson's gaslight series. It feaures a widowed midwife, Sarah Brandt, and a police sergeant, Sgt Frank Malloy, who grudgingly work together to solve the murders of several less than innocent "charity girls."

Though the mystery/plot is somewhat predictable, I enjoyed the glimpses into turn of the (20th) century life, particularly the barriers women faced at that time.

I liked it well enough to continue with the series. Cheli, when are we reading the third one?

Victoria Thompson's Gaslight series is one of my favorites because of the setting. The mysteries are never very complicated, but the characters and circumstances are always interesting. This is one of those series where it's important to read the books in order. The characters and their personal relationships develop in each book, and there are some story lines that develop slowly across several books.

I absolutely loved your categories. I really enjoy mysteries, especially cozy mysteries, and I've found a new love for historical fiction. I'll be interested to see what you think of some of your potential reads! I'm off to go check out your library, because I have a feeling I'll love it :)

@105

I think the series gets better and better with every book, but the mood does stay quite dark and bleak. :)

Murder, By the Book by Stephen Budiansky

Borrowed this one via the new lendable Kindle books program. Thanks, Angela!!

I haven't decided whether this "academic mystery" that is more satire will appear on my favorite books of the year list or on the worst books of the year list. My view of it changed often, almost page by page. At times, I thought it was (1) a masterpiece of "detective fiction," or (2) a stupid piece of drivel.

Ted Gilpin, professor of Cognitive and Deconstructivist Studies, at an Ohio college, notices similarities between the deaths of faculty members and and those in classic mysteries, such as Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers and The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley (an underappreciated classic, as far as I'm concerned).

Anyway, this book is more satire than mystery but it takes on the classic mystery, it skewers universities and professors, and it pokes fun at the corporate world/corporate doublespeak. At this Ohio college, for instance, a vice-president wants to sell naming rights to courses.

At times, it's ho hum but, at other times, it's brilliant and hilarious. It's clever, but it's also too aware that it's clever, which is part of what bothers me with this book.

I hope lots of others read it so I can gauge their reactions. Enjoyable, if you're willing to skim through the dull parts.

I've starred you again knowing that my wishlist and TBR pile will both take hits from your recommendations. The Michael Connelly book sounds good.

Fiber and Brimstone by Laura Childs

This is the most recent book in the Laura Childs' long-running scrapbooking cozy series. Though I consider her teashop series to be one of my favorites, I haven't liked her scrapbooking series nearly as much, particularly lately. This is the best one, by far, in this series.

The plot isn't that great--murder at Halloween in New Orleans, which of course needs to be solved by Carmela, the owner of the scrapbooking store, and her friend, Ava, the owner of the voodoo store. The descriptions of New Orleans events are lush. Makes me want to go there.

I agree that is the best of the scrapbooking series. Now we have Bedeviled Eggs to read this month.

117

New Orleans is one of my favorite cities and I am always interested in books that take place there - thanks for pointing out that Fiber and Brimstone fits the bill. :)

Final Flight: The Mystery of a WW II Plane Crash and the Frozen Airmen in the High Sierra by Peter Stekel

(read for Early Reviewers)

Finally, a truly outstanding Early Reviewers book. This gripping, absolutely fascinating book starts with the discovery, in 2005, of airplane wreckage in the High Sierras, the so-called Frozen Airman. Some months later, it's established that the dead man was a cadet whose WW2 aviation navigation training flight crashed on November 18, 1942.

Stekel looks at earlier attempts to find bodies and wreckage and embarks on his own hiking trip to the area, and amazingly, finds another body and more wreckage.

There's plenty of science, weather, history, and aviation in this book but it's interesting stuff. This book is a real page turner. I couldn't put it down.

Highly recommended!!

Good to know - will write that title down for the hubs.

Onto the wishlist it goes - and congrats on an excellent ER book! I'm hoping my next one is a good one, it should be here soon. *crosses fingers*

Went over to BM to add to my wishlist and ended up adding his debut novel also because it sounded good.

I've made some changes. My "bonus" is back to being a category overflow. Also, though I still intend to read some armchair travel books, I really need more nonfiction book space.

Going, Going, Gone! The Art of the Trade in Major League Baseball by Fran Zimniuc

There's some interesting information in this book about the business side of baseball but this book is misnamed. The subheading says it's about the art of the trade in baseball.

No it's not. Trades actually make up only a small part of the book. There's more general information about free agency and arbitration than there is about trades. I realize that these topics are important in explaining why trades are different now but even so. I would've preferred to see more about how/why trades are made.

There is a bit about lopsided trades in baseball history, but these are tales that are told often and better, elsewhere. Trades like Brock for Broglio or Ivan DeJesus for Larry Bowa and Ryne Sandberg. Or even Babe Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees though, in actual fact, not to finance the musical, No, No, Nanette, as is often believed.

One of the more interesting chapters is about oddball trades, such as players who were traded for odd things, such as catfish, a manager, a broadcaster or even himself. The book even touches on the instance where, in the early 1970s, two Yankee pitchers, Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich, traded their wives and kids (and dogs) to each other.

Okay but not the best.

Yikes!! I'm up to 23 books that I want to read on Lincoln and the Civil War.

Not coincidentally, 11+12 (as in 11 in 11 Challenge and 12 in 12 Challenge) adds up to 23. Therefore, this might be a TWO-year project.

My list on Lincoln has expanding quite a bit too! In fact, I'm just reading so much more non-fiction than I used to.

#127 At the rate I'm going, this year will be 50 percent mysteries and 50 percent nonfiction of all types.

I want to get going on Lincoln but need to finish up Fillmore, Pierce, and Buchanan first.

I remember you laughing at me at the beginning of last year when I originally had 34 books on my list for Lincoln and the Civil War. I finally ended up reading 18. But, of course, I extended Lincoln and the Civil War to this year with another 8 books. Does Uncle Tom's Cabin count as Civil War reading?

What books are on that list of 23?

cyderry> Uncle Tom's Cabin definitely counts.

#126 That's assuming, of course, that you don't find any more books in the next 23-1/2 months!

#129 I'd count UTC as civil war reading.

Linda,
I think once you get into Lincoln and the ACW you will find more books, so I would definitely plan on at least a two year project.

As I'm reading mine, I'm also figuring that when I get to WWI, that will probably be a 2 year project as well with WWII maybe taking 3 years. As we move forward in history, I've found that there are so many other subjects that are related to the Presidents and the era that I want to read at the time I'm in to better understand all the ramifications of the political scene.

In my current chunkster novel, Skippy Dies, one of the boarding school teachers is getting totally wrapped up in World War 1 and becomes totally engrossed in reading about it.

I can see me doing two years for the Civil War, another year for 1866 to pre-WW1. Two years on WW1 and at least 2 and possibly 3 or 4 on WW2.

I haven't read much, before this, on the Civil War or WW1, though WW2 has been a favorite reading topic for me for years.

I've always like history but in school we got as far as the ACW and then SPLAT! Nothing more - we had a general listing of the major events of the Spanish American War, WWI, Depression, WWII, Korea - (grew up during Vietnam) but why they happened or any of those specifics, nada. I think that's why I really am enjoying the USPC and the related reading because it's filling in all those blanks. So I'm not going to rush through, I'm going to read the books I want when I want them and if I'm a few years behind finishing the USPC, too bad.

@133

How is Skippy Dies going? I wanted to read it, but I've heard that it's quite a slog for the first half or so.

#135 Skippy dies in the first page or two. So far, at halfway, I'm still in the "what happened beforehand" stage. I imagine the "what happened afterwards" part will be better.

Some storylines are far more interesting than others.

You honestly think there will be an end to your Civil War reading? Once you've read all the books on your list... they'll publish new ones!

#137 Tht's what I always say about baseball books which, for me, are second only to mysteries.

Some people here (and you know who you are) remain amazed that I've read hundreds of them.

LOL - everyone has a specialty.

I'm laughing at this conversation; I've found that the worthwhile Civil War books are unending . . . and as for mysteries, I've got more series on my wishlist than I can possibly start, let alone finish, and I keep adding more. The baseball book pile is growing, too. And disaster books.

It never ends . . .

... or several specialties.

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

I rarely read chunkster fiction but this one, at 672 pages, was an exception. The book is set at a Dublin boarding school and the title obviously gives away the key point: in the first few pages, Skippy does indeed die, on the floor of the local doughnut shop hangout, during a doughnut-eating contest. Most of the book involves events that led up to his death.

The most interesting part, I thought, addressed the aftermath, the impact of his death on both the other boys at the school and on the faculty.

The author has created a bunch of memorable characters and, if the mark of a good book is one the reader thinks about, well after the book is finished, I think this one will qualify.

Beyond the story itself, the author gets at how things/people are remembered or not remembered. There's also an "It's a Wonderful Life"-type element, showing how the loss of a seemingly ordinary person can have a huge impact on a group.

One character, Howard, the history teacher, spends a lot of time reading about and teaching World War 1. I've added the Robert Graves book he talks about often, Good-Bye to All That: An Autobiography to my TBR list.

This book is not without its flaws. I think the author could've cut about 100 pages from the pre-death portion of the book so much so that, at times, many times, I felt like putting it down and not continuing. I'm glad I stuck with it because, in the end, this is one of the most memorable novels I've read in quite some time, one I won't soon forget.

Highly recommended!!

142

I'm glad it turned out well (the read, that is) - on the wishlist it goes!!

In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

I enjoyed this first in the series of a mystery that's a little more graphic, I guess you'd say, that my typical cozy. Set in upstate New York, a female priest and the small town police chief solve the case.

I liked the characters and thought the plot was nicely done. I did not like seeing Clare, the priest, being so judgmental about obesity. Also thought it was odd to see a priest take such an active role in the investigation--not sure how I feel about this. I've picked up the next one for my Kindle and will continue with it, at least for a bit.

I had hoped to read something in 9 of my 11 categories this month. (I won't do anything with "even more nonfiction til I finish my first nonfiction category. Also won't be getting to Lincoln and the Civil War til I finish my Millard Fillmore bio as well as the shorter Franklin Pierce and John Buchanan bios).

Anyway, I've now done so.

Wow! You're off to a great start, Linda -- and the month is only half over!

>144 lindapanzo: I think those same things might bother me, too. I think I'll wait for your report on the 2nd book before I add this series to my list.

A Championship Team: The Packers and St Norbert College in the Lombardi Years by Cliff Christl

I realize that this book isn't for everyone. Unless you're a rabid Packers fan and/or a St Norbert College alum (I am both), you probably won't be picking this one up.

My undergrad college, St Norbert College, which is right outside of Green Bay, and the Packers have the longest-running college/pro football team training camp relationship--the Packers have been using SNC as their training camp base going back to the late 1950s. This book is an oral history--featuring former players, coaches, and college personnel--covering roughly 1959 to 1968.

Even though it covers the years about 10 to 15 years before I started at SNC, it brought back a boatload of memories to me. The players and coaches lived in Sensenbrenner Hall, which became a women's dorm in 1974 and was my college dorm for 3 of my 4 years there.

Legendary Packers coach, Vince Lombardi, is the focus of many of the book's memories. Of course, there's plenty of football here, but also memories of how Lombardi went to daily mass in my dorm's chapel and was often the altar server (i.e., altar boy).

This book is a keeper for me. Certainly not the greatest book I'll ever read but one that will be unforgettable to me, at least.

#142 I went to add this to the wishlist, after reading your review, only to discover that it's already there! Glad to hear that you liked it well enough to "highly" recommend it.

#148 Some of the storylines were more appealing than others. The one involving the drug dealers was one I sort of glossed over a bit.

>144 lindapanzo:
Hey Linda, In the Bleak Midwinter, I've got the second book coming via the library. Like you mentioned, I'm curious how she sustains having a priest involved in police investigations. Have you read any of the Father Dowling books? I thought about them the other day and was curious if that series had the same challenge. I was thinking of reading Her Death of Cold to find out.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

I'm not a runner, far from it, but my 74-year old father is. Dad took up running in his 50s and, until he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2004, he ran 19 marathons. (Now he does 5K races, at the most.)

Anyway, I thought it'd be interesting to read this book by a Japanese novelist who is also a marathoner and a triathlete. I was hoping he could give some good insights into why people run.

This short memoir did have some interesting moments about how marathoners/triathletes train and what they think about when they run. I love reading insights into how authors operate but thought that there was too much on how he writes and not enough on how he runs.

Good book, certainly, but it could've been better. I liked his writing style, though, and at some point, may pick up one of his novels.

151> His novels are good. His short stories either hit you or they don't. Sounds like the memoir is that way too, you either connect with it or you don't.

Orange Is the New Black: My Year in Women's Prison by Piper Kerman

I thoroughly enjoyed this informative, eye-opening look at living in a women's prison, albeit a minimum security federal prison in Danbury, CT.

The author was involved, in a somewhat minor role, in drug smuggling for a friend, not long after college. Annoyingly, the drug lord who oversaw the drug ring was never prosecuted. One odd thing, something I never realized, was that there was more than 10 years between the crime and the time. She knew she was going to go to prison but they wanted her to testify against the drug lord, but not in an orange prison jumpsuit, so she was outside, working and living.

Blonde and cute and young, she entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to 15 months. Not surprisingly, once in prison, she found that many of her fellow inmates had been convicted for similar drug offenses but were serving far more time. It does pay to have high-priced legal help!!

I was expecting violence and lesbian attacks and who knows what else but, at least in this minimum security prison, there was none of that. Yes, there are humiliating strip searches but, for the most part, the inmates split up into tribes based on race, did their jobs (the author, a Smith College grad, did electrical work and then carpentry type work), and helped each other.

Surprisingly, the women were welcoming and shared what little they had, in terms of possessions and knowledge, with newcomers.

The author tended to rant about the drug policy of the U.S. and I thought the book occasionally got bogged down at those points but, for the most part, this was a lively, absolutely fascinating book. Loved it.

I have this one on my list for this year. Good review.

Bedeviled Eggs by Laura Childs

I enjoyed this ultra-cozy mystery, the third in the Cackleberry Club series. Friends Suzanne, Toni, and Petra run the restaurant/bookstore/knitting store combination and Suzanne helps Doogie, the local sheriff solve crimes.

In this one, a mayoral candidate is shot with a bow and arrow (actually a crossbow) behind the Cackleberry Club after leaving a read dating event. There's a pretty good mystery, along with some Halloween events.

Not bad at all. I still like her teashop mysteries the best but this series remains in second place for me, ahead of the scrapbooking series.

Chasing Baseball: Our Obsession with Its History, Numbers, People and Places by Dorothy Seymour Mills

A marvelous book, though probably one most appreciated by the baseball fanatic, this book is written by the wife of the first and foremost baseball historian, Harold Seymour.

It's really two books in one: the first half focuses on men's baseball, primarily major league baseball, while the second half focuses on women's baseball.

The men's baseball portion speaks of baseball tours, baseball fantasy camps, the estimated 70,000 books that have been written about the game, and basically anything that a baseball fanatic would get involved in. (Personally, I've read only about 250 baseball books so I've got a long way to go!!)

As for the women's portion, of course the focus is on the AAGPBL, the 1940s/1950s women's baseball league made famous by the movie, A League of Their Own. However, it goes far, far beyond that to talk about early women ballplayer pioneers all the way up to women and girls in baseball today. Very eye-opening.

One off-putting thing is that the author kept referring to Harold Seymour, her late husband the baseball historian in exactly that way. Never "Harold" or "my late husband." Aha, then I remembered: though Harold got all the credit for writing the famous baseball history trilogy, Dorothy actually co-wrote and co-reearched them but never got a bit of credit. That's a whole nother story, one I hope to look at sometime in her book, A Woman's Work: Writing Baseball History with Harold Seymour.

The Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch

I loved this third historical mystery by Charles Finch, which is set in 1860s England. I like how the characters change, including the sleuth, Charles Lenox. In fact, I don't think it's a stretch to say this is certainly my favorite mystery in 2011 so far and that this series is quickly becoming one of my favorites, among those currently being written. Still not up there with Louise Penny though.

I thought it'd be off-putting to have Lenox, the sleuth, attempt to solve the mystery from afar, as he campaigned, up in the north, for a seat in parliament. However, I was fascinated by all the electoral maneuvering and enjoyed reading about it at least as much as I enjoyed the mystery.

Besides the terrific plot, I also love both the main and secondary characters in this series.

I'm eager to read the fourth one. Ivy, anyone else?

I love the Lenox books! I'm definitely planning to read the fourth installment, A Stranger in Mayfair, but I'm waiting to buy the paperback when it comes out.

Linda - If you have enjoyed the first three books in the Lennox series, you will most likely enjoy the fourth one. I did!

#158/159 I am hoping to read A Stranger in Mayfair soon. I love this series. Hoping that he releases the fifth one later this year.

JANUARY RECAP

It's doubtful that I'll finish another book by the end of the month so I'll do my monthly recap now. This was a good start to the reading year as I finished 15 books this month.

One oddity: all 15 books counted for my 11 in 11 challenge and also all counted for the TIOLI challenge.

Favorite Book of the Month: The Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch
Least Favorite Book of the Month: Going, Going, Gone! The Art of the Trade in Major League Baseball by Fran Zimniuc

I didn't read any Lincoln/Civil War books and won't do so til I have finished the presidential bios of Fillmore, Pierce, and Buchanan. Yes, I do need to get cracking on those.

I won't have any "more general nonfiction" til I finish general nonfiction. No bonus books til I finish a category.

Here's where I stand so far:

Cozy mysteries--read 2 out of 11
--Murder, By the Book by Stephen Budiansky
--Bedeviled Eggs by Laura Childs

Baseball books--read 2 out of 11
--Going, Going, Gone! The Art of the Trade in Major League Baseball by Fran Zimniuc
--Chasing Baseball: Our Obsession with Its History, Numbers, People and Places by Dorothy Seymour Mills

Mysteries set outside the U.S.--read 1 out of 11
--Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason (set in Iceland)

General nonfiction--read 2 out of 11
--Final Flight: The Mystery of a WW II Plane Crash and the Frozen Airmen in the High Sierra by Peter Stekel
--Orange Is the New Black: My Year in Women's Prison by Piper Kerman

Even more general nonfiction--read 0 out of 11

Historical fiction--read 2 out of 11
--Murder on St Mark's Place by Victoria Thompson
--The Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch

Seasonal books (books with winter, spring, summer, or fall (or autumn) in the title)--read 1 out of 11
--In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Lincoln and the Civil War--read 0 out of 11

Next in the series--read 1 out of 11
--Fiber & Brimstone by Laura Childs

Sports books--read 3 out of 11
--The President's Team: The 1963 Army-Navy Game and the Assassination of JFK by Michael Connelly
--A Championship Team: The Packers and St Norbert College in the Lombardi Years by Cliff Christl
--What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

Chunky books (books longer than 400 pages)--read 1 out of 11
--Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (672 pages)

Hi Linda! I really liked your January Recap. Hmmm, maybe I should do something like that myself?!?

I was planning on going to the mystery author night at your library (?is it your local library?) on Thursday night, but with this blizzard we're supposed to be getting for the next three days I'm not so sure. I'm really looking forward to it, but if the roads are still bad (and really, it's more of a question of if I can get out of my neighborhood or not - typically it takes my city over 24 hours after the snow stops to make even one pass through and my little Corolla can't really get through more than a few inches) I'm not going to chance anything. Hope you get lots of reading done when/if you get snowed in!

You're making great progress, Linda!

And I'll have to check on that Finch series. . . . *groan* . . . yet another tempting mystery series . . .

#163 One of my favorites, Terri.

#162 Laura, as of now, I'm not planning on going on Thurs, unless this storm is an unexpected flop. One newscast has us getting 25-26 inches, which would be truly "epic." Our biggest-ever snowfall is 23 inches. Thursday is supposed to be bitterly cold. I'm planning to be downtown this weekend and so I'm hoping we get dug out by then.

You're off to a great start this year! I wish I were doing half so well, but I have high hopes for February. Glad to hear that you're bracing yourself for the predicted big storm. We aren't expecting anything quite as severe as you are, but bad enough to be making alternate plans - just in case.

Great reading month, Linda!

Stay warm and "cozy" during the storm!

Yes indeed! Stay in and warm. Saw this am's news - the wind looks awful. I feel somewhat bad whining about the weather here (RI). We got some snow then it changed to ice and sleet. I woke up with a massive headache, so a good excuse to stay home today. I hate driving in any kind of messy weather. Soup and grilled cheese and a book on the couch for this afternoon.

Good beginning to the year! Good summary - lots of interesting-looking books.

Officially, Chicago got 20.2 inches of snow, the third biggest snowfall ever. In my area, about 24 inches. My company closed for the first time ever today.

Linda:

You're off to a good start with your challenge, it's still early so I haven't gotten sidetracked yet... I have to get caught up with the Charles Finch series, is there a fourth book yet?

I saw the news today about the first snow day in the Chicago area in about 12 years, I couldn't believe it. Here in Philly sometimes they close the schools willy nilly for not too much snow and then today with the sheets of ice they should have closed but they didn't. All the nasty weather all over is just right for reading though!

#169 The suburban schools close all the time. My niece and nephew seem to get about 3 or 4 snow days per year. The city public schools never close. This is very unusual. They're closed tomorrow.

Starting to get back to normal after the snow. I finally finished a book.

The Art of a Beautiful Game by Chris Ballard

I'm a huge baseball fan and, among other things, love reading books showing the artistic/beautiful side of the game. I'd never read a book expressing the beautiful side of basketball, until now.

The author goes in depth to analyze facet of the game and NBA players who excel in those areas--rebounding, free throws, blocked shots--showing both the art and science of basketball.

Even for a non-fan of the NBA, such as me, this is an interesting look at the game.

A Marked Man by Barbara Hamilton

I absolutely love the Abigail Adams series set in Revoluntary War era Boston and this second book was just as good as the first. In this one, Harry Knox (patriot/bookseller) is accused of the murder of a British man and Abigail sets out to prove his innocence before he is hauled away to Halifax to face trial and, possibly, turn King's evidence against the Sons of Liberty before his hanging.

This had a clever plot (though, I ultimately did figure it out) and an interesting array of secondary characters both real (e.g., Sam Adams, Paul Revere) and fictional.

Very highly recommended!!

Harry Knox! One of my favorite patriots! I really must read this one.

#173 I need to read that Knox bio sometime soon. One of my favorites, too. In A Marked Man, he really doesn't do much besides sit in the British prison.

On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery by Robert M. Poole

Onto the top of the top ten list this one goes. Thanks to Tina, Terri, Stasia, and whoever else recommended it.

The author skillfully weaves military history, starting with the Civil War, into his history of Arlington National Cemetery. Also of interest are efforts, often extreme, that we take to recover the bodies of soldiers, sailors, airmen etc wherever they've been killed.

(Note: this part did hit home. My aunt's brother was killed during the Korean War and his body has never been recovered.)

The behind-the-scenes look at the honor guards, particularly those for JFK's funeral, were absolutely fascinating as well.

After reading all the Civil War history, I'm now chomping at the bit to get started on my Lincoln/Civil War category.

This is an absolutely fabulous, 5-star book. I could not recommend it enough.

Note, too, if you do read it, keep some kleenex nearby. My breakfast waiter came running over yesterday to make sure I was ok. Of course, I was--just teary from reading this book.

#175 I loved that book!

#175 - I bought it for my husband for Christmas. Glad to hear it's good. I was always planning to read it when he's done, and now I'm really looking forward to it.

#177 I hope you both enjoy it. So many people considered it a 5-star book that I had to get to it.

The Sound of Freedom by Raymond Arsenault

I've been on quite a reading roll. I think I've had at least 5 or 6 four-star books in a row. Hoping this continues. My latest one certainly kept that string going.

Before I read this book, I knew very little about African-American singer (contralto) Marian Anderson. About all I knew about her was that she tried to sing in a whites-only location in Washington DC, was refused, and sang at the Lincoln Monument instead. I wasn't even sure when these things occurred.

While these topics--Anderson's attempt to sing at Constitution Hall on Easter Sunday, 1939 and the DAR's refusal to let her do so--comprise the bulk of this book, there's more. Overall, the author does a masterful job of explaining how she developed her musical talent and the struggles she faced in seeking acceptance in the U.S. (she was a much bigger star overseas, particularly in Scandinavia).

My only gripe is that the author seemed to run out of steam in his narrative after the DAR allowed Anderson to sing at Constitution Hall, for example, summarizing the last 50 years of her life in one chapter. I would like to have learned more, for instance, about her role in performing with the Metropolitan Opera, the first black opera singer to do so, though well past her prime (and what a shame it was that this offer to her did not happen earlier in her career).

This book certainly is not without its flaws but oh so interesting, a book that left me wanting to know more. For example, when Anderson was performing at Princeton, I think it was, no hotel would let her stay so Albert Einstein offered her a place to stay and they became lifelong friends. I need to track down her autobiography and delve in more detail on her life. I would love to know more about this, as well.

179> Marian Anderson has been a personal hero of mine for a long time. She did so much, so quietly and with such humility. Her autobiography, My Lord, What a Morning is in transit to my library right now, as I type. I can't wait for it to arrive!

#179 Unlike cammykitty, I had never heard of Marian Anderson before reading this review. I've just looked her up on You tube and listened to Sometimes I feel like a motherless child - beautiful. Thanks for introducing me to someone new, and such an interesting sounding life as well as an amazing voice.

Off Season: Discovering America on Winter's Shore by Ken McAlpine

This travel narrative up the East Coast via off-season spots in winter wasn't bad. It just wasn't what I expected. I expected (1) winter and I expected (2) off-season from touristy.

I think he did far better with off-season from the touristy but, unfortunately, only half the book was wintry. The best of all, I thought, deal with Ocracoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. I also enjoyed his talk about winter surfing (off the coast of Rhode Island, I think it was) as well as his freezing cold adventures in Maine.

My biggest gripe with the book is that he spent far too little time in winter. Fall in the Keys at nearly 90 degrees doesn't fit into a winter-time book. This book did not get going, really, until about halfway in.

I admit that I probably would've enjoyed this book had I actually ever visited some of the places. East Coasters might have a greater appreciation for it.

I wanted to hear what the locals did during the winter, when all the tourists went home, which is what I thought this'd be about. It wasn't, not really so I consider it a disappointment, though it did have its moments.

I'd be interested in reading a book that was about what you thought this one was about! Too bad this one didn't meet your expectations.

I'm trying to catch up all these great threads and I enjoyed your January recap. You've got a few that's on my TBR list too.

A Woman's Work: Writing Baseball History with Harold Seymour by Dorothy Jane Mills

The Harold Seymour trilogy of baseball history is a classic in the field of baseball literature. In fact, Dr Seymour himself is called "the father of baseball history" after writing his PhD dissertation on baseball history, making the sport an acceptable subject for scholarly research. What wasn't known, until somewhat recently, is that much of the writing and research of the Seymour books was actually done by his wife, Dorothy. Only after his death in 1992 did her participation become known. She was his student in college and collaborated with him on all of his writing. In fact, she almost single-handedly wrote/researched the third book in the trilogy, Baseball: The People's Game.

It made for fascinating reading to see how she went about doing her research on baseball (she isn't even a fan, which astounded me).

Her husband, whom she called Seymour, was interviewed by Ken Burns in 1990 for his documentary on baseball but, unfortunately, by then, was in ill health and the foottage was unusable. Otherwise, Seymour would be far more widely known now.

An interesting book about an interesting woman who lived in the shadows of her husband's work, despite being an equal partner in that work.

I'd gone two whole months, I think, without changing a category for 11 in 11 but now I am changing one.

The chunkster category is now becoming Chicago books. I found I really missed reading books on Chicago this year.

The False Hearted Teddy by John J. Lamb

The is the second book in the teddy bear mystery series and is set at a teddy bear conference in Baltimore. Pretty entertaining. One thing I liked is how far the cops went when the lead character (a former cop) got too involved in the case. Ha!!

Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear

I loved this second book in the Maisie Dobbs series. Even though it's quite a bit after World War 1, people are still dealing with the effects of the Great War.

In this one, Dobbs is asked to look into the disappearance of a wealthy grocery store magnate. I can't say much about the plot for fear of giving too much away but I love how the characters change and adapt. The plotting is more intricate than with most mysteries of this kind.

I expect to read the third book very soon!! Very definitely recommended!!

Less than 100 books to go on the 11 in 11 Challenge now!!

Wow! You're cooking!

The chunkster category is now becoming Chicago books.

That sounds like a good move!

Less than 100 books to go on the 11 in 11 Challenge now!!

All right!!!! You go, girl!

I love the Maisie Dobbs series by Winspear. I am due for a reread of the earlier books soon.

Less than 100 books seems a whole lot more manageable than 121 books!!

Terri, with all those free Chicago books that one publisher sent me, I've got a ready-made library of Chicago books.

Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke

This is the 14th book in the Hannah Swensen cookie baker series set in Minnesota. Most likely, it will be my last.

Dull as dishwater, both in terms of character and of plot. Now I don't even care whether she picks Norman the dentist or Mike the cop (yet again, another teaser at the end of the book but I don't care).

Plus, as I've mentioned elsewhere, a sloppy factual error that really annoys me. The Minnesota Wild is not the local pro basketball team. The Wild plays pro hockey. Grrrr.

>194 lindapanzo: Oh, that's unfortunate! I know I was starting to burn out a bit (or maybe she's the one who's burning out), since I was disappointed in #13 and have made no particular effort to get ahold of the Christmas book and this new one. But I was hoping...

Mixing up sports is a fatal error! She could've googled that one.

Playing Ball with the Boys: The Rise of Women in the World of Men's Sports by Betsy M. Ross
(Early Reviewers book)

When I was a young girl, the current event that most impacted my life was the Billie Jean King/Bobby Riggs “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match in 1973. I enjoyed playing sports but there were few opportunities for me so the King/Riggs match was eye-opening for me. I loved reading about women’s sports then and I still love reading about it now.

This book offers an overview of the many roles women are now playing in men’s’ sports and, to me, the most interesting portions involved lesser-known women, such as the first woman team doctor for a men’s professional sports team (the Baltimore Orioles) or women who’ve worked to start sports programs or sports leagues.

The portions dealing with often-told stories, such as Billie Jean King, were less interesting to me as the book barely skimmed the surface of her story and the match.

The author has some interesting things to say but I think she would’ve been better off focusing on one woman in each category and going more in-depth, instead of trying to talk about 2 or 3 women at a cursory level. I also thought that the author placed too great an emphasis on women sportscasters/sports reporters. One or two representative samples would’ve been plenty.

Overall, though, I’d recommend this book but with the caveat that some parts are far more interesting than others.

Millard Fillmore by Robert J. Rayback

Millard Fillmore's a more interesting guy than I would've guessed. While this book has got a lot of good information, the writing style is quite stilted, which explains why it has taken me since just after Thanksgiving to finish it. This book could've used a good editor.

I would've loved to have seen more discussion on whether the Civil War might've been averted had Fillmore chosen to run in 1852.

Two facts I'll remember about Fillmore: One, he and his first wife were avid readers. Two, after his presidency ended, he struggled with what to do. The second point was most interesting because he didn't have the means to take care of himself forever but struggled with what post-presidency occupation might be fitting. He did quite a bit of charitable work and married his second wife, who was from a well-to-do family.

If you're interested in reading about Fillmore, this is probably the book to read, despite its flaws. I don't think there's a brief volume in the American Presidents series about him yet. I'd welcome that.

Chicago's Midway Airport by Christopher Lynch

This look at Chicago's lesser known airport, Midway, on the southwest side, had its interesting moments and some good photos.

I enjoyed hearing about the early days of aviation, as well as about the crash of the blimp, Wingfoot, into a bank building at Jackson and LaSalle in Chicago's Loop in 1919. I also enjoyed reading about the restaurants Marshall Field's opened at Midway and how, in those gentler times, people would go to the airport for a nice brunch.

I never realized that Chicagoland's first airport was in Maywood or that the blimp crash caused Grant Park not to be used as an airport afterwards.

Aviation buffs and Chicago history fans would probably enjoy this.

I would like to have seen more information about the December 1972 plane crash at Midway but it was just mentioned in passing.

My new thread is up and running at:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/111033

I hope you'll join me in my new digs.