It’s that time again
Time for book recommendations. I’ve worked my way through all of the recommendations I got from you all in September (and those I haven’t read yet are in my book queue at the library). Since January 1, I have read:
Title; Author; (Date Read)
- Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space; Sagan, Carl; (1/12/2009)
- Interpreter of Maladies; Lahiri, Jhumpa; (1/16/2009)
- Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist’s Quest to Discover if Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, or Why Pie is Not the Answer; Lancaster, Jen; (1/18/2009)
- The Fifth Elephant; Pratchett, Terry; (1/18/2009)
- Dead Watch; Sanford, John; (1/19/2009)
- The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl; Reid, Shauna; (2/6/2009)
- The Meaning of Liff; Adams, Douglas; (2/7/2009)
- Twilight; Meyer, Stephenie; (2/26/2009)
- Infinite Jest: A Novel; Wallace, David Foster; (3/4/2009)
- Breaking Dawn; Meyer, Stephenie; (3/5/2009)
- New Moon; Meyer, Stephenie; (3/5/2009)
- Eclipse; Meyer, Stephenie; (3/5/2009)
- Crazy Aunt Purl’s Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair: The True-Life Misadventures of a 30-Something Who Learned to Knit After He Split; Perry, Laurie; (3/8/2009)
- After Dark; Murakami, Haruki; (3/11/2009)
- Unaccustomed Earth; Lahiri, Jhumpa; (3/11/2009)
- Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl’s Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me?; Lancaster, Jen; (3/17/2009)
- The Namesake; Lahiri, Jhumpa; (3/21/2009)
- We Are Still Married; Keillor, Garrison; (3/22/2009)
- Atomised; Houellebecq, Michel; (4/8/2009)
- Jingo (Discworld, #21); Pratchett, Terry; (4/9/2009)
- Vampire Stories from the American South; Schimel, Lawrence; (4/14/2009)
- The Selfish Gene; Dawkins, Richard; (4/20/2009)
- Dreams from my Father; Obama, Barack; (4/22/2009)
- Special Topics in Calamity Physics; Pessl, Marisha; (4/29/2009)
- The Curious Gardener’s Almanac: Centuries of Practical Garden Wisdom; Edworthy, Niall; (7/8/2009)
- B is for Beer; Robbins, Tom; (7/19/2009)
- The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven; Alexie, Sherman; (7/28/2009)
- Cryptonomicon; Stephenson, Neal; (9/7/2009)
- Go Ask Alice; Anonymous; (9/20/2009)
- Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea; Handler, Chelsea; (10/2/2009)
- A Disobedient Girl: A Novel; Freeman, Ru; (10/3/2009)
- A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail; Bryson, Bill; (10/9/2009)
- Moon Called; Briggs, Patricia; (10/11/2009)
- The Stranger; Camus, Albert; (10/13/2009)
- Vampyres of Hollywood; Barbeau, Adrienne; (10/13/2009)
- Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life; Weir, Alison; (10/22/2009)
- Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin; Griffin, Kathy; (10/22/2009)
- Dead Until Dark; Harris, Charlaine; (10/24/2009)
- The Four Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace; Beck, Martha; (10/24/2009)
- Her Fearful Symmetry; Niffenegger, Audrey; (10/29/2009)
- The hunger games; Collins, Suzanne; (11/1/2009)
- Blood Bound; Briggs, Patricia; (11/13/2009)
- Iron Kissed; Briggs, Patricia; (11/14/2009)
- Anathem; Stephenson, Neal; (11/20/2009)
- Bone Crossed; Briggs, Patricia; (11/22/2009)
- Uglies (#1); Westerfeld, Scott; (11/27/2009)
- The Idiot Girls’ Action Adventure Club; Notaro, Laurie; (11/28/2009)
- Pride & Prejudice & Zombies; Grahame-Smith, Seth; (12/4/2009)
- Queen Isabella: treachery, adultery and murder in medieval England; Weir, Alison (in process)
- Swan Song; McCammon, Robert (in process)
- A Short History of Nearly Everything; Bryson, Bill (at home)
- Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close; Safran Foer, Jonathan (at home)
- The kind diet; Silverstone, Alicia (at home)
- Catching Fire; Collins, Suzanne (in library queue)
- The Big Sea; Hughes, Langston (in library queue)
- Boy’s Life; McCammon, Robert (in library queue)
My 10 Ten for this year (encompassing a variety of genres):
Title; Author; (Date Read)
- Special Topics in Calamity Physics; Pessl, Marisha; (4/29/2009) – I really enjoyed this; it was great literary fiction
- The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven; Alexie, Sherman; (7/28/2009) – I love Sherman Alexie, and this was an excellent collection of short stories that wove a common (if rather depressing) theme.
- Go Ask Alice; Anonymous; (9/20/2009) – I’m not sure if this would have the same effect on everyone, but this made me so sad for the main character (true story) and so happy that I’ve never done any drugs.
- The Stranger; Camus, Albert; (10/13/2009) – This was beautifully written. The protagonist is so perfectly cold, although I had a lot of sympathy for him.
- Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life; Weir, Alison; (10/22/2009) – I love historical biographies of powerful women, and this was excellent. Eleanor is my favorite queen of England (what, you don’t have one?) and I really enjoyed reading about her rise to power in an era where women (even queens) didn’t so much have any.
- The Four Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace; Beck, Martha; (10/24/2009) – This is a great book – and the only one on the list that I purchased after. I recommend it to everyone who is trying to lose those last pounds (or possibly even those first pounds).
- The hunger games; Collins, Suzanne; (11/1/2009) – I love post-apocalyptic society books, and this was right up my alley. It was well-written & a very engaging story (if a bit predictable).
- Anathem; Stephenson, Neal; (11/20/2009) – This was sooooo long, but so good. Although others disagree (*cough* Mr Pi *cough*) I think it could’ve been a couple of hundred pages shorter without losing any of the story, BUT I enjoyed the story so much that not only did it make the top 10 list, I also bought a copy for my father.
- Pride & Prejudice & Zombies; Grahame-Smith, Seth; (12/4/2009) – Seriously fantastic. Really. I love Jane Austen, and love Pride & Prejudice, but with the zombies added? Classic. Or should that be classic-er?
Read it. For real. - Swan Song; McCammon, Robert (in process) – I am almost done with this one, and although it took me a while to get into it (a hunderd and fifty pages or so), I am really enjoying it, and was almost pleased that flight delays gave me even more time to get through it. I am very nearly finished, but I think that I won’t finish until this weekend when my class is over & I go on a 3-week hiatus from school.
(That was really hard. In reality, it was closer to a top 25 or so.)
And, I will definitely make my goal of 52 new books this year (I didn’t list any re-reads). So – next year, same goal (I’m not going to get crazy, since I have grad school) – I just want to read an average of 1 book a week – not counting school books.
So – what have you read this year that you’d recommend?
No related posts.
December 8th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Have you read the Outlander series? I really like those, cheesy, guilty pleasure though they are.
This year I very much enjoyed My Life in France by Julia Child, but I did not enjoy Julie and Julia by Julie Powell as much. For foodblogger, I liked A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg much more.
Not that I’ve read this year, but I really recommend Pretty Birds by Scott Simon about Sarajevo. Also, I see you read some Murakami… the only one I’ve read by him is The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but I really liked it and could reread that one, too.
Also, I cannot believe how many Patricia Briggs novels you’ve read now!
gazelle reply on December 8th, 2009:
I couple of years ago, I started the first in the Outlander series (I believe on your recommendation), but never quite finished it. I do mean to pick it back up & give that a go in 2010. I’ve read (and enjoyed) My Life in France, but haven’t read Julie & Julia.
I will put A Homemade Life on the list, as well as Pretty Birds. I loved The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle – much more than the one I read this year, in fact.
As for Patricia Briggs, I actually bought the first one in that series. DAMN YOU!
December 8th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Impressive list! I envy your reading prowess.
gazelle reply on December 9th, 2009:
It’s my only real skill. Too bad it’s not really that marketable. If you ever hear of anyone needing to hire a speed reader, let me know!
December 8th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
I have no suggestions, but I will be stealing all these recommendations. Thanks!
gazelle reply on December 9th, 2009:
Anytime!
December 9th, 2009 at 4:21 am
wow, you are amazing!!!
im reading “the things the carried” by Tim O’Brien and I like it very much. I think you might like it too, if you haven’t already read it.
gazelle reply on December 9th, 2009:
I AM amazing! Thanks!
I haven’t read that, so I’ll add it to the list. I make it a practice to read anything that people tell me to read. I’m pretty obedient that way.
December 18th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Ok, so I finished The Things They Carried, and I would still recommend it.
But tonight, I just finished the most evocative, moving book i’ve read all year: Out Stealing Horses by Per Pettersson. i really loved it. please read it!
gazelle reply on December 21st, 2009:
I just added both books to my library list & will let you know when I’ve read them.
Thanks!