2. Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
Irving has created some of the best fictional characters…Owen Meany, Homer Wells, Garp…and now comes Ketchum.  He isn’t really the main character of Irving’s newest, but certainly one of his most memorable.  For me, Irving has missed the mark on some of his more recent titles, but I really enjoyed this one.  Bears, orphans, wrestling and wonderful New England settings show up and one wonders how autobiographical this book is.  Get through the first chapter (primarily about river logging) and if you’ve enjoyed past Irving novels, you will like this one too.

3. Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America’s Soul by Karen Abbot
Interesting non-fiction book that follows the Everleigh Club, a high-end house of prostitution in Chicago at the turn of the century and the two women who owned it.  As a parallel story, we learn of the reformers who are trying to put an end to the houses of vice in the Levee district in Chicago and the enormous amounts of graft and corruption.  Quick and interesting, I would recommend this to fans of historical non-fiction, especially anyone who enjoyed Devil and the White City.

4. Deafening by Frances Itani
Wonderful!  This book is about Grania, who becomes deaf at the age of 5 due to scarlet fever at the turn of the century in rural Canada.  Grania is curious and quick to learn language from her sister and grandmother as a girl.  These parts are interesting as she struggles with language and meaning.  Grania eventually gets sent to a school for the deaf and grows up to be a capable and intelligent young woman who marries a hearing man.  Unfortunately her husband is sent to Belgium during World War I, and his letters and descriptions back home to Grania are heartbreaking.  I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in contemporary lit and especially those interested in the combination of language, sounds and words.

5. Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
Exhausting.  Hopkins has written several books for teens, and Tricks is her latest.  All of her books deal with drug abuse, molestation, and/or suicide, and this newest continues to be about controversial topics – this time teen prostitution.  Her books are all written in prose, and are therefore quick reads.  I had a hard time getting through this one – pretty depressing as it follows 5 different teens as they eventually make it by turning tricks in Las Vegas.  Her books are all popular, but I would only recommend this with hesitation based on the hard subject matter.

6. The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris
I loved Ferris’ first book, And Then We Came to the End…it was super funny and original.  The Unnamed is his follow up attempt and it wasn’t anything like I was expecting.  His first book was laugh out loud funny (a coworker and I still reenact parts), and this one is anything but.  Not that I didn’t like it, I did.  Tim Farnsworth is a high powered attorney who lives the good life (other than his sulky teenage daughter) except for the walking.  And there is a lot of walking and it disrupts his life and eventually disrupts his whole being.  This book is disturbing, well written and interesting.  I didn’t love it, but glad I read it.  I just wish he would go back to the funny.

7. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
After the super seriousness of The Unnamed, I decided I needed something funny and light.  I’ve read a few other Hornby books and knew I was in for a sure bet…despite this book starting off with 4 people who are going to commit suicide on New Year’s Eve.  This book started off hilarious and then sort of dragged a little from there, but I am glad that I read it and needed some laugh-out-loud funny in the overcast of a southern Indiana winter.  Out of the four characters, I thought that it was the least likely to be likable at the end was the best character for me.  Some of the others felt a little flat, though I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to anyone looking for something fun and different.

8. Jane Bites Back by Michael Ford
So, Jane Austen is a vampire and working at a book store in upstate somewhere.  She publishes a book and runs into Byron and Charlotte Bronte (also vampires) and complications arise between her vampire world and her human world.  Jane is pissed off at the Austen craze that has taken over current publishing and she would be no less happy with this one.  I would recommend this to someone who also enjoyed other Austen-follow ups.  It was light and fluffy and not really my kind of reading.

9. Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose
Even though I am a history major (through and through), I have never read anything by Ambrose.  Picked up this title and found it well written and interesting, made all the better by the details picked up by survivors of this World War II company.  I would recommend this to anyone interested in military history or American history in general.

10. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
The last time I read this was probably college and I only had dim recollections of this classic.  I remembered very little about this book and despite the despair and horror, I am glad that I read it again.  I’ve been a wee bit fixated on WWI fiction lately, and a fellow librarian suggested this.  This book paints an anti-war picture and gives a really good idea of the generational gulf of veterans of this inhumane war.  The end is almost a relief because even as a reader we can’t imagine anything else.

11. Blankets by Craig Thompson
I loved Thompson’s travel graphic novel, Carnet de Voyage do decided to pick up what he was best known for.  This coming of age graphic novel is beautifully illustrated but left me feeling a little flat.  I enjoyed it generally and glad I read it, but not as enamoured with it as I was his newer work.

12. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
I do not understand the publishing delays of this third book in the Millennium Series.  Not wanting to wait until May, Tim and I purchased this from Amazon UK for not much more than we would have paid for the hardback here in the states.  I am glad that I read this book, though I think it is excessively long and needed a little editing in the middle.  I know that the government conspiracy is important to the story, but I’m not sure I needed to know exactly how the Swedish government runs.   Still waiting for the first movie to be released here!  Action/thriller/mysteries aren’t my genre, but the characters and setting are so intriguing, I can’t pass up this series.

13. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
As part of my job, I try to pick up and be familiar with YA authors.  I tend to be drawn to the books that are more for older teens, and lacking somewhat in my ability to pop off the top of my head some good titles for younger teens.  This series was really popular, so I thought I would give it a try.  And?  I really liked it.  I mean it isn’t rocket science, but it was sweet and interesting.  Mostly revolving around four best friends it isn’t just a romance book, which was nice.  There is romance, but the focus stays on the friendships and navigating the teen world.  I can see why this was so popular.  If I was 12 or 13, I would have LOVED this book, I’m sure.

14. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
Hell yeah, what happens next.  heh.  I probably didn’t like this as much as the first book, but still generally enjoyed the series and the characters.

15. Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
More teenage vampires…but this time they are uber-wealthy and live on the Upper East Side…and they are in danger!  This was a pretty easy read, light on sex, violence, and language so could easily be recommended to young teens who are interested in vampire books.  Some of the who/what/when of the vampire world got unnecessarily complicated, it was still pretty light and fun.  I am not so motivated to read the next book in the series, but not regretting reading this either.

16. Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival by Bernd Heinrich
I really enjoyed this book.  Heinrich is a biologist, but also a wonderful naturalist and observer.  Heinrich splits his time between Vermont (where he is a professor) and a cabin in Maine and has both observed and studied what animals who don’t migrate do during the winter.  Turns out the strategies employed by birds, insects, bears, beavers, squirrels, frogs and the like are all very different.  I am not sure after reading this that I could pass an essay exam on the differences between topor and hibernation, but it was both enlightening and interesting to read.  I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys nature readings or has a general curiosity about the world.

17. Sold by Patricia McCormick
This book reads like a diary and follows a poor Nepalese girl who is sold by her step-father (willingly or unwillingly) into prostitution in India.  The prose is short, quick and often filled with pain.  The glimmer of hope at the end might be enough for most, but I think I might have a hard time recommending this to most teens.

18. Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Hm.  Color me underwhelmed.  I picked up the first book in this series and it is about a really whiny high school girl named Mia.  Mia spends a lot of time bitching about things, and then once she finds out that she is an actual princess, she bitches about more things.  I sort of cared for her at the end, but overall found her a not very sympathetic female character.  I am glad I tried one, but won’t be heading back to the rest of the series.

19. The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
Currently reading…

20. I’d Tell You I Love You, but Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
This might appeal to young teens girls who also like some adventure, including fans of City of Ember.  On the face of it, the girls go to a posh prep school in Pennsylvania.  But the school is really a SPY SCHOOL and the girls are trained in Covert Operations among other things.  It all seems a little far fetched to me, but the characters are likable and the romance is sweet.

21. Dreaming in French by Megan McCarty
This adult coming of age novel follows Charlotte as she grows up in France in her mother’s shadow.  The first half of this book is strong, interesting, intense and painful in a teenage (although wealthy and in a posh international school in Paris) kind of way.  The novel loses steam as Charlotte and her mother move to New York (there are some Polish solidarity workers involved somehow – sort of a strange side story).  I would be interested in what else this author writes.

22. Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Jamie longs to fit in as a blond Australian girl at her school, but is really Lebanese.  She is torn between her desire to fit in and her faithfulness to her religion and her family.  Of course her admiration for a racist boy temporarily stands in the way as well.   The contrivances are a little clunky, but Jamie is a likable character and I enjoyed this book.  I would recommend this to most young teen readers.  Most should still get the overall concept of changing yourself to fit in.

23. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Rennick
It took me about 1/2 way through this YA book to finally feel sympathy toward the main character.  She seems wacky – but mostly in a forced way.  The diary format doesn’t give you any insight into any of the other characters who all seem sort of prop like.  Happy endings abound.  Saving grace?  This book is really funny in parts.

24. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
Currently reading…

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris, The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Merrill Block and City of Thieves by David Benioff.  My favorite book of the year was probably The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.

I also am really enjoying Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson.

Least favorite of the year?  Either Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan or Our Lady of the Forest by David Guterson.  Blech.

Here’s to another 52+ books in 2010….

The Best Book Sary Read in 2008:  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Foer.  Turns out though that I read a lot of good books in 2008 (and some bad too), so followed closely by Suite Française by Némirovsky, Devil’s Highway by Urrea, Run by Patchett, Geography of Bliss by Weiner, Cold Mountain by Frazier, Dairy Queen by Murdock, and The Book Thief by Zusak.

Happy reading in 2009!

2. Enemy at the Gates by William Craig
Ok, I know I listed this on my last year’s list, but I read equal parts in 08 and 09 so I am totally counting it here. This isn’t the first book I’ve read about the Battle of Stalingrad and it won’t be the last. This wasn’t the best book about the Battle of Stalingrad, and it wasn’t the worst. I probably learned a few new things and some of the personal stories, while slightly choppy, did add a perspective. I still get lost with some of the more military terms (how big is a battalion?), this is a decent read for anyone intersted in WWII, written by an American but not about any American theater of war.

3. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Unaccustomed Earth is Lahiri’s newest collection of longer short stories. Each of the eight stories are centered around the Bengali family, often first or second generations as we have seen from her in the past. The characters struggle with a sense of belonging and there are also generational and culture clashes, both specific and universal. These themes aren’t new for Lahiri, but these stories don’t feel like they’ve been done before. They are fresh, new and I think better than her previous work. The first story is about a daughter and father relationship I found personally touching. I also really like the last 3 stories that become interwoven and end in a way that is both tragic, beautiful and fitting. The middle stories also very good, a few better than others. I wish I could start over and read this fresh again. Brilliant characters and fantastic writing, I loved this book.

4. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
This book came highly recommended by both friends, coworkers and reviews. It is a mystery set in a rich private school starring a select group of friends called the Bluebloods and include the the introduction of a new member, protagonist Blue Van Meer. This book has been described as a postmodern version of A Secret History by Donna Tart. I enjoyed that the book takes an inventive turn and does look and feel different. It is indeed literary, complete with quotations and citations from a diverse range of Western thought and literature. However, while these citations sometimes seemed on the verge of genius, they ended up feeling gimmicky and got in the way of fleshed out, believable characters. I did quite a bit of scanning at the end to finish this book, but I did like the final exam at the end.

5. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
I meant to read this book ages ago when it came out, but only recently checked it out. This book isn’t an easy read, and there are some nighmare inducing parts, but I am glad that I read the book. The book is written by Beah, who at the age of 13 was recruited by the army in the Sierra Leone as a soldier. Beah’s family has been killed by rebels, and he is wandering the country alone, or with other orphan boys. He feels he has no choice. The young recruits are fed a steady supply of marajuana and cocaine to sustain their unbelieveable acts of mindless violence. Then the violence becomes a habit to maintain as well.

Beah writes about some of the violence with bloody descriptions, including slitting a man’s throat and ambushing the rebels. Glossed over is any mention of harm against villagers, including women and children which seem like a certainty. I wouldn’t want to remember it either. Beah ends up in a rehabilitation center, and with the help of extended family is able to come to the United States and attend college. The writing was plain and straightfoward.

6. The Viking by Alan Baker
Currently reading…

7. Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley
Spindle’s End is a retelling of the classic fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty. While I’m glad that I gave this a shot and finished reading, it wasn’t one of my favorites. The story and characters weren’t too bad and I am happy to see some strong female characters, but the endless narration and lack of dialog detracted from the overall story. I also felt that the magical world of the Gig to be so artificially constructed that I was having to constantly be reminded how the magic worked. The magical world becomes sloppy and overpowering. Compared to the magical world of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which seemed to enrich the story in a effortless way, the magic in Spindle’s End was lacking.

I have heard though from a few people who loved this book, so maybe it does just come down to what you like to read.

8. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
This memoir is in parts hysterical and boring. Written by Carrie Fisher, and based on her one act play of the same name. Fisher recounts her early years as the child of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher and continues up through the Star Wars years and how she copes with her alcohol and pill addiction. She is sarcastic and witty as she talks about recovering from her addictions and then her electro-shock therapy. Despite the heavy topics, this is a pretty lightweight memoir, without any deep introspection. My favorite part was her revelation about going to addiction meetings (which she slipped several times). She said that she didn’t realize that she didn’t have to like going to the meetings, she just had to go. Dealing with things you don’t like in your life without your crutches (in her case, drugs and alcohol) was a true moment for her. I would only recommend this to someone who was a Star Wars fan, or someone interested in what it was like to grow up as a child of Hollywood royalty. It wasn’t great, but it was a quick read!

9. Death With Interruptions by Jose Saramago
This is a strange and difficult little book. Set in a small Catholic land locked fictional country, death decides to stop killing at the first of the year. Locals celebrate at first, but after a few months weary of the growing number of sick, elderly and injured who can not die. Death is a possibility in other countries, so some take their forever-dying relatives across the border (often with the aid of the maphia). The first half of this book is about how the government, maphia, church and royal family all react to the interruption in dying.
Written without paragraphs (even the dialogue) the first half is both boring and difficult. We don’t meet death until the second half, and by then the no paragraphs gets easier and the subject matter suddenly more interesting with the focus on the one character. Death decides to start killing again, but gives people one week notice, until she meets a cellist who simply won’t die.
I would have a pretty hard time recommending this book to most people. I am glad I finished it, but it is work. Even though I don’t mind a challenge, I found this more work than necessary for a pleasure read.

10. Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
This book is about a fictional ad office in downtown Chicago. This book is Ferris’ first, and while not genius or life changing, it is worth the read. The book is written in first person plural, so statements begin with we. We went to Benny’s office (we are ALWAYS going to Benny’s office). We made fun of Marcia’s hair and love of rock ballads behind her back. While that took some getting used to, so did the time line of the narrative. You aren’t sure what events are happening in what order, and you don’t necessarily meet the characters in the way you do in most novels. This book assumes that you work in that office and therefore don’t need introductions. Almost all of what you know happens at the office and you know very little about what happens outside of the office, with one exception. But that exception, while odd seeming at first, comes back in a way that it all makes sense right at the end. I would recommend this book to readers interested in contemporary writers like Foer, Hornby, or Eggers. It is funny. I would also recommend this to anyone who has worked in a corporate office, or really any office.

11. Nowhere in Africa by Stefanie Zweig
This book was originally written in German and the basis for the film of the same name which won the 2002 Academy Award for best foreign language film. I saw the movie several years ago and just came across the book. There are some crucial plot point differences, but both the book and the movie are enjoyable.
In the book, a Jewish family with strong ties to their community are forced to flee under the Nazis and find refuge in the British colony of Kenya. Walter, the father, gives up a job as an attorney for that of a farm manager who is constantly worrying about his employment status as that of a refugee. His wife, Jettel, was pampered and has a hard time initially adjusting to life in the middle of nowhere. Regina, 5 years old at the time of the move is the one who fits right in and falls in love with rural life in Africa. Language plays a big role in the book. Walter and Jettel speak German and remain steadfastly German even picking up some Swahili, but Regina is the one who proves to be the most adaptable. After learning Swahili, Kikiku, and Jaluo on the farm, she also learns English at her boarding school. When the decision to go back to German is decided, Regina can barely read and write German. The pull of a homeland is too great for Walter, and his desire to fit in somewhere. I enjoyed reading this book. It wasn’t great, but I would recommend it to people interested in learning about emmigration stories or who enjoy coming of age stories (especially in a different country than birth).

12. They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky by Alephonsion Deng, Benson Deng, Benjamin Ajak
This is a memoir of three lost boy survivors, recently relocated to San Diego under the guidance of Judy A. Bernstein.
The three boys, two brothers and one cousin were ages 4-6 when they fled their village due to violence and destruction from the Murahiliin. For the next 12 or so years, they were on the run from one unstable village to the next, trying to survive with very little food and water. After making it to one refugee camp in Ethiopia they are gunned down at the Gilo River trying to leave. The boys paths merge and separate many times but finally, despite all the odds, make it to Kakuma, a refugee camp in Kenya.
This non-fiction account is interesting in that the paths these boys take is very similar to that of Valentino Achak Deng in the semi-fictional What is the What, including the Gilo River Massacre and the final destination of Kakuma. What is interesting however are some smaller details. These boys also paint a much harsher picture of Kakuma than Valentino’s experience. Scarce food, beatings and general intimidation are a part of daily life.
What I find interesting about this book is it describes a little of their lives after arriving in the United States. This book was interesting and a worthwhile read.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in world politics, current events, coming of age memoirs, or refugees (specifically refugee children). It is accessible and honest.

13. Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
14. Straight Man by Richard Russo
Both of these books fall in the academic satire genre, and both follow a relatively short time period of two male academics and their (often self imposed) follys in dealing with academic red tape, students, relationships (personal and professional) and their own successes (or failures).  In both books the protagonists are lovable assholes.   However, the main character in Wonder Boys falls more on the asshole side and wasn’t as sympathetic as the main character in Straight Man.   Maybe it was due to these characters and my feelings for them, but it seemed that Wonder Boys dragged on while Straight Man kept pace and was funny throughout.  Pick up the Russo, its really wonderful.

15. Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Goff
This book by Lauren Goff is part family history, part ode to a town and part self reflecting journey. Oh, and there is a monster named Glimmey who lived in Lake Glimmerglass.
Willie Upton returns to Templeton, NY after an affair (with her professor) goes bad to unwind at her mother’s home. Instead of finding peace in Templeton, Willie instead is faced with a tangled family history, finding her father, navigating old relationships and the death of Glimmey which casts a pall over the town for the whole summer.
The chapters alternate between Willie and her ancestors, the original founders of the town of Templeton.
The writing is rich, inventive and different from anything I’ve read lately. I was intrigued right from the beginning. In addition to the monster in the lake, there are also ghosts who show up in different parts. These elements are treated with the same respect as the rest of the characters, and are integrated nicely into the story.
Willie is a young woman who is trying to find her place in the world and is torn between the academic Willie and the small town girl who is safe at home. This appeal would be a good fit for many X/Y readers. I would recommend this to readers of contemporary fiction, but also interested in family saga type readings.

16. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Mark Dunn’s subtitle for this book is: A progressively lipogrammatic epistolary fable.  Thankfully he goes on to define these terms in the introduction where it sets the stage.
This book is a collection of letters between two adult sisters, their 18 year old daughters and a few husbands, admirers and townspeople.  The book is set on the fictional island called Nollop, a rural life, partially guided by Nevin Nollop the creator of the sentence the quick red fox jumps over the lazy brown dog.
One day a title falls off the statue that commemorates this sentence inscribed with the letter Z.  The island council determines that Nollop is speaking through the grave and the letter Z is to be eliminated from all writing and speech.  The edict is literal and punishment for slips is severe.  Tiles continue to fall, and letters continue to be banned (finally only LMNOP are allowed).  The only solution  to getting all the letters back is to create a new sentence that covers all the letters using fewer of them than Nollop’s creation.
This book is for word lovers, and through the characters shows a dedication to language, both written and spoken.  A delightful little book is well worth a read and can even be read in an afternoon!

17. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
Finished….I don’t know what really to say about this book.  I was surprised at the violence, both historical and contemporary.

18. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
John Berendt follows Capote and Mailer in writing a hugely popular true crime non-fiction novel.
In 1981, Jim Williams shot Danny Hansford in his Savannah mansion.  Danny worked part time for Jim, but their relationship was fuzzier than simply professional.   The murder, local reactions, and the resulting 4 trials make up a main part of the book but the colorful supporting characters round out this non-fiction novel perfectly.
The term ‘non-fiction novel’ refers to the fact that the book reads like a novel but is based on true facts.  However the author’s note at the end, and a close inspection of when Berendt actually arrived in Savannah, acknowledges some liberties with characters, motivations and dialogue.
In addition to the true crime interest, this book also covers the history of Savannah, a very unique city.  Fans of Southern Gothic books may appreciate both the historical facts, and a glimpse into some of the unique local workings, including voodoo, which was the inspiration for the title.

19. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Some books can change your life. Thinking about how those life changing books come into our possession, is it fate or serendipity? The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society didn’t change my life, but is about books that do.
Juliet is a British author who shortly after World War II, finds herself without a new book subject. She receives a letter from a resident of Guernsey Island, who found her name and address in a book about Charles Lamb. Guernsey is isolated and after years of Nazi occupation is slowly recovering with the help of each other and their literary society. At her request, Juliet begins to receive letters from the islanders detailing how the literary society helped them during the occupation. Juliet is drawn into their lives, their love for books and their war time tragedies. A single book will forever change the lives of both Juliet, and the residents of the island after Juliet travels to Guernsey to further investigate.
This book is sweet, fun and a quick read, as the book is made up entirely of letters. I was instantly drawn into the characters and story. My only minor quibble is the neatness (quickness?) of the ending, but would still recommend to a wide range of readers including those who favor light romance, Brit Lit, historical fiction and books about books.

20. School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
This book is short, sweet and an easy read if a little light.  The story starts with Lillian, the owner of a restaurant who teaches cooking classes on the side, and eventually covers the back stories of all the students in the class.  The students arrive broken and lost and through the magic of food, end up healed.  I wasn’t completely sold, but really enjoyed the food parts of this book as someone who enjoys cooking and was considering that as a career.  The characters were a little flat for me, especially Lillian who was flawless, perfect, and almost magical (mystical?).  Anyway,  I would recommend this book to grandmas everywhere!

21. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
Most book lovers would agree that most of the time movie adaptions aren’t as good as the original book.  And with a few exceptions, I would agree with that.  On the positive side, movie adaptions can revive otherwise neglected books.  Revolutionary Road, published in 1961, is enjoying a revival of its own, thanks to the Sam Mendes’ adaption starring his wife, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.
While some of the novel does seem dated, the major premise of Finding Greater Meaning, still rings true today.  Suburban disillusionment, typified by Frank and April Wheeler in this book, has evolved in the passing generations, but is still around in one form or another.  While told from the perspective of Frank, it is April who is lost, and ultimately for me the more interesting of the two characters.  While the writing is really good, this isn’t a happy book.  It starts out rocky, has a slight pick up (though you know even reading that it is doomed), and continues its spiral into despair far beyond where you thought it would go.  I would recommend this to any lover of literature, or those interested in mid-Century American history.  Just be sure to pick up something light and fun to read next.

22. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
What makes uber-successful people so successful?  Why do some people rise to the top of their professions while others flounder?  Gladwell’s suggestion in his newest, Outliers, is that natural talent only takes someone so far while the rest is up to a combination of luck and really really hard work.  Gladwell argues that luck can include factors such as where and when you were born.  In some cases, this includes the year you were born and in other cases even what month, as in the case of the Canadian Hockey players.   Often the luck is a combination of factors, including children of Jewish emmigrant garment workers at the turn of the century who became successful thanks to a combination of both where they were born and when.  Hard work is also a major factor in success, and Gladwell argues that studies have even pinpointed how long one must practice before mastery.  The magic number?  10,000 hours.  If you could practice something that much, you’d have to be lucky enough for both access and availability.
I have heard of both of Malcolm Gladwell’s other books, Tipping Point and Blink, but never picked either of them up before.  This reminds me a little of Freakonomics, as an interesting and fun read.  It would be interesting to know if there were exceptions to his theory, but still enjoyable.

23. Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar
I have never read a self help book before.  But I trust my mom, and she passed along this title.  This book promises to be a new and different kind of self help, positive psychology (as taught by the author, a popular professor at Harvard)  and outlines how everyone can be happier.  There are exercises in this book I was somewhat too lazy to do, but the main theme is to do things that make you happy.  But not just anything, there should be a balance of things that make you  happier immediately, and things that make you happier in the future.  If those are the same things, do those things.  This makes sense.  The quickie tips from his webpage are pulled from his book.  Number one is making me happier already! 

24. City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
A self supporting, totally enclosed city where there isn’t any crime and everyone gets along sounds like it might be an easy life.
But 12 year olds, Lina and Doon, start recognizing that not only are food and supplies in short order, but the mayor appears to be in on a small group of people who are hoarding supplies. In addition to this injustice, they realize that the city’s generator is closer to total and complete failure than the city authorities make it out to be.
Lina discovers a note that appears to be instructions for escaping the city, and with security hot on their heels, Lina and Doon make a run for the boats down in the Pipeworks.
There is lots of action in this book, if that is your thing.  However, I felt that the characters were a little flat and where the book could have gone the environmental route, but seemed to cop out in the end.  It would still be  a nice easy recommend to a very young teen or even pre-teen, either gender.

25. Run by Ann Patchett
Ann Patchett says in an interview that Run is about politics. It isn’t. It’s really about family.  This is my second reading of Run, and I liked it just as much the second time.
This book is the first novel to follow the uber-hit Bel Canto, and follows a wide array of Doyle family members during a 24 hour period leading up to and following a snow storm in present day Boston. Bernard Doyle is the ex-mayor of Boston, whose beloved wife, Bernadette has died many years ago. He has raised both his biological son, Sullivan, but also two adopted African-American boys, Tip and Teddy. Sullivan has secrets (everyone in Run has secrets) and has returned under suspect conditions from Africa. Doyle is making a last ditch effort to entice Tip and Teddy into politics by inviting them to a Jesse Jackson lecture at Harvard. They go, but would rather be elsewhere. After the lecture, Tip’s life is saved by Tennessee, who pushes him out of the way of a car in the snow. Why was Tennessee so close? And what should the Doyle family do with her daughter, Kenya?
This book starts off telling the story of a statue of the Virgin Mary. The story of how the family comes into possession of the beautiful statue is one of secrets, lies and ultimately how deceit can ruin a family. Race, family, Catholicism, lies, loyalty provide the twists and turns in this novel. Underneath it all is a good family, and interesting story and solid characters. Patchett bites off a lot, sometimes too much, bu this would be a good recommendation for anyone who enjoys contemporary literature.

26. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
It takes a graveyard to raise a child…so is the premise of Neil Gaiman’s new book, The Graveyard Book. Nobody Owens is a baby when his family is murdered in their home. Nobody has slipped out right before The Man Jack with his knife enters and wanders up to the graveyard. Nobody is taken in by the residents of the graveyard who promise to raise him.
The graveyard is old, and the residents don’t really know how to raise a modern boy whose life may still be in danger. Nobody is curious about both the graveyard world and the outside world, even attempting to go to school.
There are adventures and as Nobody becomes an adolescent, there is a final confrontation with The Man Jack (and other Jacks) at the end. The setting was perfect, but I sort of felt that the combination of the setting and story end up outshining the characters.
This is really a coming of age story, and I can see the appeal for young teens. A Coraline for boys of sorts, I didn’t love it, but I wouldn’t hesitate recommending it to fans of Gaiman and other adventure or fantasy readers.

27. Tippng Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Hm.  I finished this a few weeks ago, and thought it sort of eh.  Maybe I shouldn’t have read it so close to The Outliers, because it is sort of more of the same.  Tipping Point is about trends that take off…sort of.  There are some fascinating points to this book, but it seems like each chapter would make a better stand alone article than the sum of a whole book.  I will probably read Blink at some point, but not anytime soon.

28. 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith
Fiction serials a la Dickens have pretty much become a thing of the past. But what if the modernization of the genre happened not because a story grips the whole nation, but instead one specific city? Published in city newspapers, wouldn’t it make sense to create a story that centered on the city itself? In 1978, Armistead Maupin wrote one such serial, Tales of the City, in the San Francisco Chronicle, creating characters and relationships that all center around San Francisco.
So inspired to create such a story for Edinburgh, Alexander McCall Smith, in 2004 started writing a daily serial in The Scotsman that ran for 6 months.
This novel is the collection of those 100+ short chapters.
Most of the action centers around 44 Scotland Street, the residence of many of the characters. We learn of their lives, loves and pasts and also meet their acquaintances, co-workers and therapists. But the main character of this story is really Edinburgh itself.
That isn’t to say that those of us living outside of Edinburgh can’t enjoy the story. The characters are many and interesting and the stories move along at a decent pace. I enjoyed this book, but didn’t love it. I do wonder though what it would have been like to read as intended, one short chapter each day?

29. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
A thrilling and dark mystery set in modern-day Sweden, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is the first in a series of three from Stieg Larsson. This book starts a little slow, introducing journalist Mikael Blomqvist who has been found guilty of libel against uber-capitalist Hans Wennerstrom. Needing a break, Blomqvist takes a leave from his magazine, Millenium, and heads north to take on an unusual assignment. He is hired by Harald Vagner, CEO of Wennerstrom rival, Vagner Corporation, to find the killer of his favorite niece, who was killed 40 years ago. Along for the ride is the girl with the tattoos, Lisbeth Salander, who is Sweden’s best hacker and is serious about her research despite appearances. What Salander and Blomqvist uncover is far more disturbing and shocking than ever imagined.
This book has much more story than I usually prefer, but the characters are great, and the details are absorbing. The setting, both in Stockholm, and in smaller Swedish towns was interesting. I will certainly pick up the other two books in this series, and was saddened to read that the author died shortly after finishing the third manuscript.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller or mystery. There are some disturbing details in this book, so not exactly for the faint of heart!

30. Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World by Dan Koeppel
Dan Koeppel was driven to write this book after reading an article in a journal describing diseases that the banana is facing, such as Panama Disease, Bunchy Top and Black Sigatoka. Upon his world wide research quest, Koeppel discovers not only the banana empire’s ugly past but also a possibly more despairing future.
Did you know that Americans consume more bananas than apples and oranges combined? And that bananas are the world’s 4th leading crop behind wheat, corn and rice? And we pretty much eat only one type of banana, the Cavendish, and it is threatened by diseases that can wipe out entire plantations.
But to understand where the banana is going, we must understand where its been. And that history of United Fruit and Standard Fruit in Central America is ugly, violent and embarrassing. Backed by the US government, these companies were not only allowed to violate labor agreements, but take down unfriendly governments. It would be nice to say that this doesn’t happen today , but these companies are driven to continue to offer cheap bananas at your local supermarket, damn the labor, political and environmental impacts.
On the other hand, the health of bananas isn’t always about whether or not we in middle America can eat a banana with our breakfast. Bananas are a crucial factor in the diet of many areas in Africa. If a solution isn’t found for the diseases the Cavendish banana faces, we could be looking a humanitarian disaster.
Fans of micro-histories like Salt, Cod and Curry, will enjoy Banana too. I would also recommend this to anyone interested in the history of food or thinking about where food comes from may enjoy this book too, as well as anyone interested in the history of Banana Republics or Latin American history.

31. The Food of a Younger Land by Mark Kurlansky
During the depression, the WPA had a project in mind to employ writers, called America Eats.  The plan was to have different regions pull together different essays written by WPA writers about food, families and communities, much like the guidebook projects that had been done in the past.  Many essays were written and gathered, but with the start of WWII, the project lost steam and edited compliations never materalized.  70 years later, food micro-history expert, Kurlansky, was given access to these essays.  He pulls out the most interesting and gives background when necessary, but primarliy leaves the essays intact.  The result is a mixture of boring and interesting.  The more interesting essays to me were the ones that talked about community get togethers, the paid chitlin dinners, and the oyster roasts, either designed to be social or as fund raisers or both.  My advice is to pick this up, read the essays (or regions) you might be interested in and skim the rest.

32. Quentins by Maeve Binchy
Set in contemporary Dublin, Quentins tells the story of Ella Brady, a young woman who has fallen for The Wrong Man. The tale is both universal and timeless, but this time around there is the added elements of tax fraud, hiding out in Spain and The Mystery of the Laptop Computer. While great parts of this book are highly improbable, unrealistic and unnecessary, this book was a really great read. It isn’t the main characters that make it work, but the side characters (there are many, and some from Binchy’s previous work) and the setting are so much fun that you don’t care about the goofy tax fraud business.
I’ve never really gotten into the idea that summer reading should always be light and fun, but this book seems to sort of fit that bill. I would recommend this book to readers who are looking for a good story without a lot of heavy elements or objectionable material.
While this book is set in contemporary Dublin, it is a little on the quaint side. Dublin today is multi-ethnic melting pot, warts and all. To read about both Dubliners and immigrants both, I would recommend The Deportees and Other Stories by Roddy Doyle.

33. Honky by Dalton Conley
This is one of those books I don’t really know how to feel about.  This is a memoir of Irish-Jewish Conley who grew up in the  projects in NYC in the late 70s/early 80s.  His parents were artists and the book follows Conley as he figures out his way around racial boundaries and public schools.

34. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
I’m glad I read it, I liked it, but didn’t love it.  This first book by Wroblewski follows a few years of Edgar Sawtelle while he grows up in rural Wisconson in the early 60s.  Edgar’s parents raise dogs, and the breeding and training are major factors in the book.  While the dogs are interesting, this is sort of a modern(ish) day Hamlet.  Things on the farm are peachy until Edgar’s uncle Claude shows up, and tragedy befalls tragedy.  I felt unsatisfied with the ending, and thought that the book could have stood a little more editing, but it was interesting overall.

35. Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun
This is a classic book by Norwegian author Hamsun, part ode to settler, part valley epic and part historical novel chock full of both pagan and biblical metaphor and imagery.  Despite all that academic babble, I really enjoyed this book.  The characters were interesting and human emotions and relationships were layered and nuanced.  One another level, this book is an interesting look at rural settlers and how they lived and worked.  Somehow interesting, and beautifully written all at once.

36. Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer
This YA book is the first in a long series and follows Mary as she is orphaned in long ago London.  Mary joins a gang of other orphans, but after the death of their leader, she takes on the guise of Jack and joins the crew of a ship.  Once aboard, she struggles to cover up her identity, stay low and not fall in love with another ship boy.  Surprise!  She fails at all three.  Lots of action, and relatively interesting.  I would recommend this to a teen looking for a historical fiction with lots of action.

37. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
80 percent original text and 20 percent ultra violent zombie mayhem.  Eh.  This book takes many relationship twists and human will that is so wonderfully articulated in the original and uses zombie wars as the reason for why people do the things they do.  All human motivation is defined, and that is Austen’s talent.  This has promise, but sort of let me down.

38. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Wonderful story told from three different view points, one white college educated woman and two black maids in Jackson Mississippi in the early 60s.  The frame of telling their stories seemed a little stiff, but the characters are interesting and while it all seems a world away, the ebb and flow of relationships is timeless.  I especially loved Aibileen, one of the black maids.  This is a first novel, and sort of reads like one, but I would be interested in what else this author puts out.

39. The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Merrill Block
This book is another first novel, though it is a little more sophisticated than The Help.  This book tells three stories, one is of a geeky, pimply teenager whose mother is plunging drastically and violently into early onset Alzheimer’s.  There is a parallel story of an old man who lives ramshackly alone and recounts his younger adult years and the disaster of the disease on his family as well.  The third story interwoven is that of a fantasy world, and at first didn’t really make much sense.  How all of this comes together at the end is highly emotional and powerful.  This is truly a wonder of a book.  Generally recommended.

40. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Larsson
More complicated and deep than the first one.  He was certainly becoming a better novelist.

41. Our Lady of the Forest by David Guterson
Ug.  This book was terrible.  I can’t believe that this is from the same author who wrote Snow Falling on Cedars, a fantastic book filled with imagination, full characters and complexity to challenge and enthrall.  This book could have made an interesting short story, but as a novel just doesn’t work.  There isn’t enough there, and the end trivializes all that has come before.  Not worth recommending or reading.  I am sort of glad I finished it, because I would always wonder if the ending would have been worth it.

42. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
Eggers is a trained journalist and does work on journalism projects, most of his recent books have been fiction.  I loved What is the What (loved it loved it loved it) and heard about this new one from Mitch who saw Eggers speak about the book and family in New Orleans.  Zeitoun is a non-fiction books that is written straightforward and recounts the story of Abdulrahaman Zeitoun, a successful businessman and Syrian American, who stayed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  What happens is both beautiful (the canoe in the water, feeding dogs, saving people) and horrific (being arrested and held as a possible terrorist by FEMA and not getting a phone call or charged for 3 weeks).  My esteem for Eggers as a writer (or here really as a reporter – his “voice” is muted) and as a social agent for change increases with every work he does.  This book is both interesting and an important  chronicle the historical failings of America.

43. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Eh.  This has been pretty popular here with teen girls, and I was hoping for something with a little substance.  Instead, this book felt flat and filled with stereotypes.  This book wants to be cutting edge and cool, but felt like it was trying just a little too hard.  The main character can see faeries, and is chosen by the Summer King fairy to be his queen, which will break a spell his mother put on him.  Or something.  The main character is also in love with a super cool dude and doesn’t want to be the Fairy Queen.  It all works out in the end.  I don’t think I will be reading any follow ups.

44. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
This is a lovely little book that made me want to read more from this (before unknown to me) author.  Recommended by a coworker, this book tells the story of an Irish young woman, who goes to America in the late 40s.  Her experiences in Brooklyn are interesting and as a character, she is fascinating.  The relationships between the Italian man who falls for her and those with her housemates are wonderful and the historic aspects make this something that would be easy to recommend to a broad range of fiction readers.

45. Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Wow.  This book is amazing.  I loved it.  I was hesitant and skeptical at first, and it did actually take a little bit before I was completely into it, but man it was worth it.  I think part of my skepticism was based two things: I have read another of Chabon’s books, Wonder Boys and didn’t care too much for it.  And I think the second was the topic.  I am not interested in comic books.  Period.  So reading the description of the book, I was automatically turned off.  Comic books aside, this is a great book filled with interesting characters, universal themes, love, loss, and an ending so perfect it made me want more.  Even after almost 700 pages.  I would recommend this to most contemporary lit readers, especially men based on the topic, but think that anyone interested in American history would appreciate as well.

46. Netherland by Joseph O’Neill
I grabbed this at an airport when I had 3 minutes to pick out a book. And while I like this book, I didn’t love it.  The main character is a Dutch man who has been left by his wife and child in NYC after their marriage goes stale after 9/11.  He lacks in emotion but finds somewhat of a solace in playing cricket with South Asian immigrants, especially Chuck.  The friendship that develops is strange, funny and sometimes disturbing.  There is also LOTS about cricket.  I would recommend this to fiction readers that are also intersted in sports.

47. Cirque du Freak: Living Nightmare by Darren Shan
This is the first book of a series that has been very popular and has been turned into a movie.  This book follows Darren as he becomes a Vampire Assistant and the events leading up to his apprenticeship.  This wasn’t my favorite book, but I can see how it is a nice alternative to Twilight.  Lacking a romance, and told from a young man’s perspective, this is a vampire book that can be recommended to young teens and will appeal to those not looking for a love story.  There is a lot of action, and the descriptions are pretty interesting.  I can’t say that I will be picking up any of the other books, but I am glad that I read this one.

48. French Milk by Lucy Knisley
This graphic novel is by a young woman who in the few weeks leading up to her 22nd birthday, spends 5 weeks in Paris with her mother.  Knisley is a cartoonist and they roam the city in search of good art, good food and stay in an apartment.  Graphic novels aren’t my favorite, but the drawings were fun, and the book was light yet interesting.  This would be a good graphic novel for adults (especially women) who are hesitant to get into graphic novels.

49. The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
A YA series that revolves around loves, friendships, class and social pressures in New York City in 1899.  Slightly soap opera-y, this first book starts off with the death of a “perfect” 18 year old socialite from a good family, Elizabeth Holland.  Flash back about a week as we follow Elizabeth, her maids, her wild sister and her social climbing best friend.  Not to mention her sham fiance and her coachman lover, Will.  The relationships were somewhat interesting, and the historical details interesting.  This wasn’t near the best YA book I’ve read, but for basically a romance, it wasn’t too bad.  Easy to recommend to any teen looking for a romance.

50. Chibi Vampire by Yuna Kagesaki
Adorable.  My first foray into manga was with Death Note, a very serious book about a boy who can kill anyone by writing their names into his notebook.  Chibi Vampire on the other hand is about vampires, but the main character, Karin is super cute and doesn’t actually suck blood, but instead gives it to humans who are in need (or something).  The plot isn’t super important, but the characters are fun and it was easy to read.  There is the possibility of a romance, but at least in the first book there isn’t anything objectionable. I also read the second volume, but nothing happens, so nothing to report!

51. City of Thieves by David Benioff
Wonderful!  This by no means was the best book I ever read, and could have possibly benefited from a little more character development (what is Kolya’s story?  What happened to Vika? Tell me more about Lev’s father…) but the book stays pretty focused on one week and two characters in search of a dozen eggs during the siege of Leningrad.  Funny, sad, depressing and with an ironic twist at the end, this book was both entertaining to read and interesting.  I saw this book on some list somewhere, and I am sure it was the Leningrad connection that triggered for me, but I would also recommend this book to anyone who likes war novels.  Especially war novels that focus on one particular aspect, or even focuses on the homefront (they aren’t exactly on the front lines).

52. Carnet de Voyage by Craig Thompson
Craig Thompson is a famous cartoonist and graphic novelist known for Blankets.  He was basically unknown to me when I picked up this book.  It is a travel journal covering his European (mostly French) publishing tour for Blankets and a side trip to Morroco.  While I will still maintain that graphic novels aren’t my favorite medium, I LOVED this book!  His drawings are amazing, and the story was somehow richer than French Milk.  The page where he describes getting traveler’s diarrhea is so fantastic and funny that it is worth reading the rest of the book as well.  I would recommend this to anyone interesting in trying a graphic novel or anyone interested in travel and cultures.  It is very accessible, funny and sad all at once.

53. The Alternative Hero by Tim Thompson
Clive Beresford is a little like Rob Fleming from High Fidelity.  Both protagonists love music and are having a hard time transitioning into adulthood.  Clive is thrown for a loop after seeing his fictitious rock idol, Lance Webster of the Thieving Magpies, walk out of a dry cleaners.  I first read about this book in Details magazine of all places, but turns out it was actually a pretty good read.  The rock references, both real and imagined are both nostalgic and fun.  In the end I did care about the characters.  I would recommend this to anyone who likes 90s rock music and fiction.

54. The Parting by Beverly Lewis
Part of reader’s advisory is to read things that are outside of your comfort zone to better help all different kinds of readers.  Beverly Lewis is a HUGELY popular Christian author, specifically known for her Amish series.  Honestly, these are often the kind of books I look down my librarian nose at, but people often ask about them, so I thought I would pick one up.  A few days of being sick, and this was almost just what I needed.  This book tells of a schism that took place in the 60s in Pennsylvania between the Old Order and a new group.  Caught in this parting, fictitious characters have their love tested by family differences and the rigid structure of the church.  This book wasn’t as terrible as I might have first thought.  I don’t think I will pick up any others anytime soon either.

55. Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
Interesting memoir by poet Karr who grew up in rural east Texas in the early 60s.  Her life is rough and tumble, parents alcoholics, older sister is deadly serious.  Karr has a new memoir out and has made the rounds of best of nonfiction lists of 09, so I thought I would go back and start at the beginning.  I liked this book, but am not immediately drawn to really reading any of the others.  For fans of dysfunctional family memoirs.

56. The Book of Other People edited by Zadie Smith
The premise of this book was for different authors to contribute a short story with the sole instruction to “make somebody up”.  The character based stories that follow are not very cohesive and are completely hit or miss.  There were stories that I loved and stories that I thought were more than a bit flat.  Slightly disappointing overall, but an interesting read nonetheless.

57. Nana by Ai Yazawa
Shojo manga designed for teen girls that focuses on romance.  This is a huge genre of manga, and can range from pretty bubbly and sweet to titles for a little older audience.  Nana falls somewhere in the middle.  This follows two girls named Nana as they are navigating the world of love and romance and decide to move to Tokyo.  Some nudity, but overall pretty clean and had a better story line than….

58. Peach Girl by Miwa Ueda
This is a much sweeter manga and is basically a high school romance.  I couldn’t help but think of Sweet Valley High.  The main character is likeable, but the conflicts felt forced and the plot was meandering.

2. Cracking India by Bapsi Sidhwa
This book was recommended to me from an India studies major, and generally wacky coworker who had never heard of The Clash. I liked the characters, but felt that I missed out on a lot of the cultural, linguistic and historical details. There are parts though that even without historical context are unbearably sad and difficult. While I don’t enjoy gory-difficult, I do enjoy challenges, and a story that pushes my boundaries. This book isn’t groundbreaking. But I love novels that open new worlds to me, either through construct or content. I would have never picked this book up on my own, so I’m glad for the recommendation and opening of new horizons.

3. Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
I read this as the February choice for my teen book club. I’ve never read any Pratchett before, but he is beloved by Tim. I enjoyed this book, but didn’t love it. Tiffany accidently dances with winter, and he falls in love with her, acting the jealous boyfriend by making icebergs and snow flakes in her likeness. Tiffany is boring and sort of unrealistic 13 year old character, I found it sort of hard to root for her in any reasonable way. But I did enjoy some side characters, especially the Feegles. Fantastic creatures. And I liked Annagramma, Horace the cheese, poor Miss Treason, and of course the librarians who are freezing in the storm and won’t feed their books to the slowly dying fire! Might be a good recommendation for young teens.

4. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
I’m glad I’m not leading this book discussion this weekend, but I will be there for work. I read this several years ago, and reread it just to be prepared as I will be at the discussion. I don’t know if it is that I feel like I am often creating discussion guides, or what. But I’m glad I’m not. I am glad however, that I reread this book. This book is sexy. And has some of the most independent, strong and intelligent female characters who are also aware of their own sensuality. The nature of this book only enhances this sensuality, and really acts as another character in the book. What isn’t integral is the story, not in the way that it is in Poisonwood Bible, or even in the other Kingsolver books. One of the characters wishes for a female friend that thinks in the same way that she does about nature, not knowing how close that will be. This book is about women. This book is about me.

5. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Short and sweet. Well actually not very sweet at all. The end of this book reminds me of one of my favorite books from last year, Yes Man by Dan Wallace. On the surface, they could not be more different, but really they are both about chances left undone. Wallace argues that we most regret things we wish we had done, but just didn’t do. Including the possibility of grabbing someone who is about to walk away from you by the arm and stopping them. Saying what you mean to say. But standing there, doing nothing, can be the undoing of someone. It is hard to put yourself out there sometimes, to make that first move. I think we are often inclined to choose the option that suits us best for the moment, but not think about how that will effect us long term. I hear ya, Ian. I liked this book.

6. Run by Ann Patchett
I read Bel Canto several years ago in about a day and a half and ate it up. Somewhere in there I read the memoir about Patchett’s friendship with Lucy Grealy, Truth & Beauty. But I haven’t gone back and read any older Patchett like I always have meant to. I would be timid now to go back and read because I love Bel Canto and now this book, and they might not live up to my expectations. I also read this book in about a day and a half. Family, service, and duty are bundled up with wonderful (but not perfect) characters who are loyal to each other and the family without being unreasonable, unthinkable, or unnecessary. The story isn’t unusual, but rich with details and feeling. Recommended.

7. Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky
I don’t know anyone who read this that didn’t love it. Sad, insightful, and beautifully written it is a story about the complications of humanity during the invasion of France in 1940 and the occupation of a small town. It is amazing to think that this book was written as these events were happening, it has such a keen eye to the intricate relationships that one would think require distance. The stories are sad, but made all the sadder reading the appendix and the letters her husband wrote on the author’s behalf after her arrest and even death at Auschwitz. The family story of the girls waiting for their parents to come back is almost too sad for real life, and one wishes it part of the story, but again frames the story in a way that is unforgattable.

8. Forgive Me by Amanda Eyre Ward
A few years ago, I read Sleep Toward Heaven by the same author after receiving a free trade copy at a conference. I loved the book, and thought it to be a wonderfully written complex story with three flawed but still amazing female main characters. I even bought the book for Gina, someone without a lot of time to read, so you know I really liked it. So I thought I’d try another and was really disappointed. This book sucked. This book reads like the book I would have written as a 16 year old, filled with all the I’m-so-cool-cliches of a hard living female journalist who even survives a beating in Mexico (totally unrealistic scene) and then goes on to prove herself in South Africa (cuz she’s still down with the people of the earth and all that)! I finished it in part to see if it redeemed itself in the end. It didn’t.

9. The Deportees and Other Stories by Roddy Doyle
Roddy Doyle is one of my favorites, he has a great way with dialogue and characters, sort of like Nick Hornby. This is a book of short stories, I think his first. All the stories revolve around the theme of Irishness, and include characters that have recently moved to Ireland from places like Poland and Nigeria. Some of the stories revisit familiar characters from other books like Jimmy Rabbitte. Doyle can weave dialogue from three different time periods into one sort of coherent rhythm. It is a cool trick once or twice, but it reoccurs so often in these stories that I finally felt like it was a little over done, but overall an enjoyable read.

10. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer
I had the flu the first time I read Great Gatsby and I remember sitting up all night to finish The Power of One with pneumonia in high school. I don’t often sit for long periods of time to read, there just isn’t time. But when sickness strikes, I would rather a book than tv, and a little stomach bug earlier this week gave me the perfect opportunity to dive into this book. Not that I am happy to be stricken, but this book might have benefited in reading because I sat for hours, getting totally immersed in the feeling of this book. It is hard to say that a book like this is good, because it is so difficult to read on a content level. You are reading about people dying, but also about struggle and perseverance. This book makes it more clear as to why people climb Mt. Everest (other than because it is there), and what it feels like to be there (other than cold). There were a lot of characters to keep straight, but for an adventure book, this one read well and was interesting. Like a car wreck is interesting.

11. Bitten: True Medical Stories of Bites and Stings by Pamela Nagami
Sometimes strange and gripping, sometimes boring, this book is about the things that can bite you and what god awful things that can happen from those bites. Things I learned? Bacteria is bad and teems in the mouths of cats, humans, komodo dragons, dogs, etc. Can give you nasty infections. I guess I was under the assumption that antibiotics were general, but the author says here that some antibiotics aren’t effective at all against some strains of bacteria. Also? Rabies is uncurable. If you are bitten by a rabid something, get shots immediately. Once you start showing symptoms, you are dead. And while spiders and snakes are scary, the mosquito is what we should all be most afraid of.

12. One for the Money: A Stephanie Plum Mystery by Janet Evanovich
Some co-workers have told me that this super popular series doesn’t get good until about the 6th book, but I’ll never know because I hope I never have to read another one. The main character did grow on me a little bit (as promised), but not that much. The writing style was juvenile, cliched, tacky and unimaginative. I found the book sexually crass, and for me that might be a first. I can’t imagine recommending this to someone’s grandma. Or to anyone with a brain.

13. Winter Birds by Jamie Langston Turner
A coworker and I talked about reading the same genre books to be able to discuss them and further enrich our Reader’s Advisory knowledge. This book won a Christy Award, and therefore counts as inspirational or Christian fiction. I didn’t have high hopes, but it was actually worse than I expected. The writing was horrible. It was written from a first person perspective, and every other sentence started with “I think…” and then usually followed by some snotty remark. The book is about a grouchy old woman who goes to live with her very Christian nephew and niece. They nephew and niece are nice people, but the main character is so ugly to them for the whole book, that the Christian transformation at the end wasn’t that inspiring. I hated her by then. This book also has both Shakespeare and bird themes running througout, both used in a very heavy handed way. I am happy to be done with this one.

14. The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea
Urrea came to our Friends of the Library event this fall and I met him and saw him speak. He is incredible likeable, funny, smart, interesting and interested. He writes poetry, fiction, non-fiction and essays and may be close to a real break through. His fiction work, The Hummingbird’s Daughter is going to be a movie and this non-fiction work was nominated for a Pulitzer. This book is about the Yuma 14, a group of men who died in the desert of Arizona attempting to cross the border to work in the United States for a year, a season, forever. Some of the group did survive, and from them and the border enforcement team, we learn about their stories. Not to judge, but to understand all sides. This book was really sad, but also important. The economics of body movement, immigration and death of poor men from Veracruz is astonishing, and the tender side of the green pants is heartbreaking. Recommended to anyone interested in international politics, current events, the southwest, and humanity.

15. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon
I’m not sure that any rereading of this book will compare with the magic of reading it for the first time. I am always looking out for unusual, but readable fiction and this fits the bill perfectly. Sweet, interesting, thought provoking, at times difficult, frustrating and inspiring all at the same time, Haddon gives us a character that we love even though he couldn’t ever love us. While the math in the book puts me over the edge, the universal appeal of conquering the proverbial mountain is approachable and universal. Put yourself out there, you’ll never know what you can do, even if it means you have to wee yourself a little bit to accomplish your goal. I love love love this book. I’ll be interested to see what my teen book discussion group thinks of it.

16. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Quick read, fairly funny and Hornby again scores with fun snappy dialogue. The main character in this book is a bit of a loser and I didn’t find him totally sympathetic. But I didn’t completely dislike him either. The lists are great and I loved all the references to mix tapes (remember those?), bands and songs. I hate to say it, but this may be a better read for a man, as two great readers (my brother and Jer) both really liked this book. This is my second Hornby, and I am willing to try again. I liked About a Boy a little bit better than this one. Maybe Long Way Down next?

17. Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 by Antony Beevor
This book was more from the 6th Army/German perspective, which wasn’t what I was expecting. But seeing as my background on this event comes more from the Russian perspective, so it was an interesting read. This book covers a lot of ground, starting with Operation Barbarossa (well, really even a little bit before that) and follows through some prison camps that extended into the 1950s! There is a part in this book that describes a German officer who gets flown out of the 6th Army encirclement (late in the battle) describing the desperate situation to Hitler. This officer realizes as he is describing events how out of touch Hitler is, he thinks that Hitler can only think of flags and maps and not people and reality. Which looking back is pretty obvious, but I wonder why other people didn’t just stop the maddness. How crazy do you have to be to send your fellow countrymen to their certain deaths. But how much crazier do you have to be really to just stand by while that happens? The Russian losses are incredible, but to their tiny bit of credit, they were invaded and spent all they could defending. What they did after was indefensible, but here in the early parts of the war I can cut them a little slack. This is a pretty dense and often hard to read book (not technically, but on an emotional level) and would only recommend to history buffs.

18. Dragon’s Keep by Janet Lee Carey
So cheesy! I read this because it was unanimously chosen by the teens in my book group. It is about dragons and far far away places where they say things like “whilst” and “abide my time drinking mead”. The princess is cursed with a dragon claw b/c her mom is possibly crazy and a heroin addict (poppy potion!) and she has to reunite the kingdom. The main character is the dimmest girl on the planet and while sort of perky, pales in comparison to say, Coraline. I will be interested in what the group thinks of this, it would not be something I would recommend, maybe only to the most dire dragon fans.

19. Tsotsi by Athol Fugard
I finally got around to reading this. I did a project in my honors history/english class in high school on South African literature, which still holds a near and dear place in my heart. I haven’t kept up that much either in fiction or non-fiction lately but reading this was familiar and different all at the same time. I have seen the movie, but this gave so much more introspection into the character it was worth reading just for the crippled beggar scene and Tsotsi’s change of heart. Interesting look at the origin of a souless character and how it should concern us all.

20. Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner
Eee.ee….I loved this. Must remain clam and gather thoughts….

21. In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan
One of the subtitles of this book is: ‘Eat Food. Not a lot. Mostly Plants.” Which seems sane, but in reality is broken at almost every meal, even by sort of conscientiousness eaters (including myself!). Two things stick out about this book, and one is that nutritional science is inherently flawed. We can isolate some major nutrients that our bodies require, but isolating them and supplementing them with artificial means doesn’t work the way we think it should. Micronutrients found in fruits, vegetables (plants), but also in animals help us process those major nutrients and we haven’t even named or figured them out. So when you eat fruit, there may be thousands of micronutrients that help you process that C or A. Also, dietary sugar (often in the form of high fructose corn syrup) can possibly lead to more heart disease than we previously thought. Oh, and thirdly, that fruits and vegetables today contain about 1/3 of the nutrients that they did 50 years ago. Major corporations have breed species to ship and ship and ship. These companies don’t breed to protect for certain pests, because they also make the spray that you have to use for those certain pests. His solution is to eat local when possible. Making and eating food should be important and even I forget that. Highly recommended.

22. Animal Vegetable Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
I enjoyed this on the whole, though I can see how some people might get bogged down in some annoying, preachy or elitist points. The idea of small scale farming is actually quite interesting to me, and I am so not a gardener. But just as I love making food for people, I can see also loving growing food. You know that people will actually eat. I am not sure that I really learned anything from this book that I didn’t know, but it was an interesting account of one family who tries to do what they think is right from a self producing food sustainable perspective. Do we all have quaint little farms in Virginia? And almost everything seemed to go right, and I thought that part of this was written during a drought that isn’t mentioned in the book (though in fairness, that could have been the next year). I found Lily, the youngest daughter and her egg/chicken operation to be the sweetest parts of the book. It is also easy to see exactly where Prodigal Summer came from. If you like Kingsolver, or food, give it a try.

23. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
This is my second Krakauer book this spring, but probably only picked this up because my teen book discussion group picked this unanimously, and that almost never happens. A short account of a young man who picks up and heads to Alaska where, months later he is dead. What would cause somebody to just walk away into the west, abandoning their family and previous life? I can’t say that I am any more informed as to how somebody could make that decision, but it was informative on some of these wandering lifestyles that do happen often in the west. And reading simultaneously with the above title, I can certainly see how someone would want to live off the land, or even to test their intelluctal, spiritual and physical strength. But McCandless seemed to want to take it to such an extreme. That is what I still have a hard time getting. It makes me a bit sad to think about someone so smart wasting it on this experiment and not having much to show for it. I will be curious as to what the group thinks.

24. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Hmmmm…I don’t get it.  This is the first of a series of YA books that have been HUGELY popular all over the country.  Basically a Mary Sue/Plain Jane moves to a new town and everyone not only really likes her, but she falls for the most beautiful boy.  He is a vampire…a glittery vampire!  But he, like his family, have sworn off human blood and so therefore are you know, nice glittery vampires.   And really I don’t have a problem with vampires, even glittery ones,  but I found this book poorly written and lacking any real character or plot development.  It is a gushy love story where Belle Swan, who is sorta boring, gives herself over 100% to Edward, who is also sort of boring even though he has been around for about a hundred years.  He doesn’t really seem to use her, but his acceptance of her devotion is pretty creepy.  Also?  Why don’t the vampire kids graduate and actually go to college?  Or do anything useful?  Their “dad” is a doctor, so why don’t any of them seem concerned with that?  They even fake going to college.  What’s the point of that?  They could just go.  I have the second book on hold, and will give that a try too.  I am discussing this with two teen book groups in July, and I know other YA librarians who’ve read and enjoyed this, so I am anxious to hear a case for the book!  Maybe I would have liked it more if I read it when I was 16.

25. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Wow wow wow.  I loved loved loved this book.  Its been awhile since I’ve read a fiction book that pulled me in and took me along with every word in some time.  Reading the book jacket alone, I’m not sure that I would have picked this up, but it came at the recommendation of my mom, also a librarian and someone who has similar tastes in books as me.  The main character is 9, but not a cutesy book/movie/fiction 9.  But a hard 9, as he’s lost his father in the World Trade attacks.  He invents things, to soothe himself, but also in a panicky way.  Most of his inventions involve safety nets, improvements to ambulances and protective bubbles, which is so sweetly sad.  There is also Oskar’s mother and grandparents, who survived the bombing of Dresden.  We learn the grandparent’s story as a parallel to Oskar’s, and also meet some people with the last name Black.  The story is a mystery, a riddle, a love story, a family saga, and a contemporary post modern drama.  It made me laugh out loud and also gave me some heavy boots.   I don’t know what to say.  Contemporary literature at its best.

26. Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert
Fun and quick.  There wasn’t much that surprised me by reading this book, and it really reminded me of working in library branches in San Antonio, Memorial Library especially as that was also across the street from a pretty tough and quite large middle school.  I can’t imagine recommending this to someone who isn’t a librarian, because they would be the ones to most identify with it, but then it might be interesting for someone to read who hadn’t a clue what goes on.  But then, that person probably wouldn’t be coming into the library anyway so I wouldn’t have a chance to recommend this book to them.  Sigh.  Anyway, fairly good read, but not really that memorable.

27. Into Thick Air: Biking to the Bellybutton of Six Continents by Jim Malusa
Blah.  This has so much promise.  The author cycled to the lowest point on 6 continents.  It was a recipe for success…cycling, travel…wackiness.  But it left me feeling a little bit flat.  There was no time references (was this 6 months ago, or 16 years ago?) and the dialogue, which I know would be impossible to actually recreate was done in a style that left me feeling cold.  I didn’t feel like I could picture what was going on, or had any real sense of the trip, the author, the places he went, or the people he met.  And without those things, there isn’t any point of reading a travel book.

28. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
I don’t know what to say about this series.  The books are terrible.  I’m not seeing much improvement in the author’s writing or character development but I can’t stop reading them.  I’m not usually one for trash reading, but apparently cheezy vampire romances are right up my summer reading alley.  I can’t wait for the third one to come in from the holds list at the library.  I am still disbelieving of the romance, mostly because I think Edward is such a tool, but I am enjoying Jacob and hope that Bella can realize soon.

29. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
This is one of those books that when you talk about it, it can never match up with the actual book itself.  Like it should exist on a higher plane and the only way to really get it is to read it all the way through.  But a warning!  Nothing very much happens.  Inman walks.  Ada grows.  Ruby softens.  That is about it.  But the combination of those three characters is enough to fill more than the written 400 pages because they will live on with you.  None are perfect, but are all just right, flawed, injured, lacking, too much, not enough.  I knew how this book would end more or less having seen the movie (it is very close), but it still caught me, finishing it up in the lunch room at work, I was over taken.  The language which was so beautiful combined with the characters built up perfectly.  I’m not sure this is something I would want to read again soon because it touched me so deeply, but I highly recommend it, as it came highly recommended by my mom.

30. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Dear Lord, only one more to go.  I am still enjoying this series, but it continues to be flat, repetative and poorly written.  Even though Jacob does some stupid things, I am still in the Jacob camp and think Edward is somewhat manipulative, scary and downright mean.  He can just fake it better.  The end could have been spiced up with a little gratuitous sex, but noooooo….everyone has to be so good.  I am anxious to read the next book (on pre-order from Amazon), but will be happy to be done with it too.

31. King Dork by Frank Portman
Funny, interesting, shocking and sad.  This YA book has received a lot of good press, and even my mom really liked it.  Catcher in the Rye for the new generation?  Not quite, but there were brillant elements to this book, but over all it wasn’t one of my favorites.  The end pretty much screwed it up for me, and I am not sure how to recommed this book to teens.  This is a YA book that is more for adults, who would be the ones to get the music and literary references.

32. Atonement by Ian McEwan
I have read this book before, but not really until this second reading did I realize how brilliant this book is.  The settings, the descriptions, the characters, motivations, the story within the story, are all wonderful.  There is so much there that I do think that a second reading was worthwhile.  The movie is decent, but the set up in the early part of the book didn’t transfer well in the movie and is genius in the book.  I know I sound like a broken record sometimes, but the construction of a story, of a novel is truly interesting to me.  Atonement takes an unusual twist and does so without leaving the reader feeling manipulated, but only adds to the story.  Highly recommended.

33. Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Ok, so this book didn’t have the initial emotional impact that Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close had on me, but it was still moving, funny, sad, interesting and different.  Harder to get into and with the two narrators and three story lines it was diffiult sometimes to get stories and characters straight.  I found Sasha’s letters to be my favorite part of the story, as he was my favorite character too.  The pulling together of all the story lines worked well for the most part.  There were parts of this book that I loved, but also parts that I felt could have been skipped too.  This is JSF’s first book, with EL&IC as his second.  I’ll be interested in what else he writes in the future for sure.

34.  Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Ug.  I read this very popular YA book for my teen book discussion group next week.  I’ll be interested in seeing what they think.  On the positive side, the main character is a young woman who is trying to find her own way, think for herself, support her friends and likes to have some fun too.  On the negative side, they hoverboard.  Over and over and explained in minute detail to the point of extreme tediousness.  Well, for me.  This is a sci fi book (in that it is set in the future) and also a little bit of romance thrown in.  But mostly it was an action book.  Personal preference is that I like dialogue and characters.  I don’t care if anything happens.  But similar to my reaction to reading Twilight, I wonder what I would have thought if I were 16 and reading this book.  It wasn’t terrible, but it really didn’t blow me away either.

35. A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot
Phew.  I am very glad that I read this, but I am also glad that it is over.  On one hand there are fantastic characters, an interesting setting, a mystery, history, and beautiful writing.  On the other hand there are A LOT of characters and the mystery sometimes purposely moves you in false directions.  This would probably be a great book to really delve into on vacation or something.  I read it in pieces and often got distracted, which I think hurt my reading experience of it.  I would recommend it to readers who don’t mind layers, complexity and are willing to work for a beautifully written story in the end.

36. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Dear Lord, I am glad that I am done with this series.  This may have been my least favorite of the series, which Tim says is due to the fact that I didn’t read it right away, but I think because I was just done.  Done before I had to pick up a 750 page book to finish the series.  Major editing may have helped.  Steph spiced it up a little bit with some sex (MARRIED sex though), but the end was pretty anti-climatic.  I can’t believe I am going to say this, but a little gore might have helped.  I am still a fan of Jacob and though Edward grew on me, seems pretty boring.

37. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
Short YA book, I read in about a day.  Cute, funny and creative, I liked this book a lot.  I think that a lot of teens (or even those of us who remember those years) would relate to the break ups/heartbreak and the excitement and trepidation of meeting someone new.  However, the setting of an all night punk club setting of NYC might not really appeal to a lot of smallish town midwestern teens.  I don’t know.  Like King Dork, I liked this book, think teens would like it, but not really sure who to recommend it to.  It was on a lot of lists, and is now coming out as a movie, so it may move on its own.

38. Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
I read this book for the Teen Book Group for October. The main character is a werewolf and after the Twilight series, I was prepared for the worst. Quite surpisingly, I really enjoyed this book. It was well written with interesting characters and didn’t drag on for 700 pages. I love a good female character, and the main charcater, Vivian, is strong, sexy, confident and brave. There aren’t a lot of suprises in this book, but it was a fun read. The author is a Children’s Librarian in Maryland!  There was some discussion of awakening sexuality in the reviews I read, but found it to all be very tasteful and done in an empowering way, rather than negatively.  Recommended to all teen girls (and those of us a little older too!)

39. Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Holy cow, I loved this book.  A YA book narrated by D.J. who is having a tough summer on the dairy farm as the primary worker.  She is also training the rival high school’s quarterback when she decides herself to go out for football.  D.J. is one of my favorite characters in awhile.  She is funny, interesting and insightful, if not really smart and realible in a conventional sense.  There are some parts of this book that are so well written and so funny that I was making coworkers read paragraphs.  But at the same time, the voice rang true for a teenager as well.  The sports scenes are dramatic, but the story doesn’t always take the easy route and was totally refreshing in the end.  There is a sequel, but I’m not sure I want to read it, I don’t want to ruin this one.  This book would be perfect for girls intersted in sports that might be feeling like they are having trouble with all the other things like family, relationships and even friendships.

40. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
I liked this book, but didn’t love it.  There were parts and characters that were funny, scary and interesting but at times it almost seemed like Gaiman was over doing it.  Why do there have to be the dead brothers of Stronghold?  And the witches?  Really?  I guess you just don’t go out to Faerie and not encounter danger, but at the same time it seemed a little like following every fairy tale plot device all in one book.  It is possible that my viewing of the movie right before reading this book colored some of my reading experience.  I should have read first, then watched the movie.  I know many people who love this book, and again while I liked it, it wasn’t love at first sight.

41. Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett
I enjoyed this book, not as much as either Bel Canto or Run, but still a good read.  I want to be sympathetic with main characters of a book.  Now, that doesn’t mean that I have to love the character or that they even have to be likeable.  The main character of this book was on that border line.  She is difficult, makes hard choices that aren’t really popular.  But I almost don’t want to be sympathetic to her.  And once she grows on you, bam!  The end happens.  Crazy.  This is Patchett’s first book and I think its clear that she has grown as an author.  Skip this for her more recent two.  This did however make me want to re-read The Cider House Rules.

42. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
This has sort of been on my radar, but when it was short listed for the One Book, One Bloomington title, I decided that now is the time.  This book is sort of a YA book, narrated by Death, that follows some tough years of a young woman, Liesel as she moves into her foster home in Germany during World War II.  Liesel isn’t perfect, she is rough around the edges and sometimes is difficult to love.  Her stepmother likes to curse at people and beat about with a wooden spoon.  Liesel’s best friend is Rudy who only wants to kiss Liesel (some of the sadest parts of the book revolve around this theme) but also paints himself black like his hero Jesse Owens.  Liesel wants to read, and so steals books from an emotionally damaged wife of the small town’s mayor.  The Jewish man hiding in their basement feels like a burden.  Even her sweet stepfather has holes in his heart, but these characters, despite their flaws, shortcomings and smells are truly lovely.  While major world events play out around them and determine their lives, this books is really about Liesel growing up, discovering herself and her place in the world.

43. The Cider House Rules by John Irving
I read this years ago, but it had been quite a long time.  What a great book.  In typical fashion, the story takes awhile to get where it is going, but the characters are so fun that you don’t care.  And every part of the story takes you somewhere, not story line is introduced without a purpose.  And an purpose is something very central to this story.  A week or so after I read this book I was thinking about whether or not Homer was manipulated by Larch.  Usefulness aside, I wonder if Homer will ever resent Larch’s actions.  While Owen Meany might still be my favorite Irving, this one is pretty close.

44. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
Freaky.  A coworker promised that this book wouldn’t be scary or horror-filled, and while it isn’t in the traditional sense it still gave me a night of fitful sleep.  An agent goes to an island in the middle of a hurricane to investigate the disappearance of an inmate at a hospital for the criminally insane.  The agent however starts to sort of lose it too until…there is a big twist at the end.  The ideas of who is crazy and being locked away against your will and such at really the stuff of nightmares.  This isn’t the type of book I usually read, and while I like breaking out of my routine every now and then I can’t say I will be picking up something similar in the future.

45. Road from Coorain by Jill Ker Conway
This book written several years ago has always been one of my mom’s favorites.  This memoir follows Jill Ker as she grows up on an isolated sheep farm in NSW Australia in the 30s and 40s.  Her childhood is so unusual, filled with a large amount of responsibility, lonliness, hard work and despair over a lenghty drought.  When Jill ends up at an elementary school in Sydney after they move, she doesn’t know how to play and is totally confused about the idea of physical education.  She has never had any friends her age.  Jill ends up as the first female President of Smith College, and the second half of the book are about her academic, and ultimately (as they are so closely intertwined) self realization at university and through travel.  Parts of this book are tragically sad (starving sheep during the drought, her father’s death, the untimely death of another family member) but an interesting snapshot of growing up as a intellectual female during a hard time in an unforgiving country.  Very interesting.

46. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
Woah.  This super popular YA book reads like a problem of the week after school special.  Anger management?  Check.  Eating disorders?  Check.  Overcoming a sexual assult?  Check.  Only thing missing was someone cutting themselves.  I read this book in about a day and a half, and after I finished I felt like I had just skimmed the surface of all of these issues.  This book deals with some serious issues in a glossy Seventeen Magazine sort of way.  I mean, how can you write a book about an attempted rape and not even use the R-word?  I had to read the attack scene a few times to figure out exactly what happened and what didn’t.  Good thing it all comes to an easy and neat conclusion at the end.  The title of the book is even crap, the reader is ready to listen, but we don’t get to hear her talk about her experiences at all…cutting her explaining what happens to her parents, boyfriend and even in court.  Skip this one and move on to Speak.

47. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Written before Just Listen, this book deals with the rape of a young woman in a real and tender manner.  The main character goes into a pretty severe depression following the rape and subsequential ostrization from her friends for a misunderstanding and all but quits talking (and going to school).  I felt that this book seemed to do a better job at really handling the issues rather than just glossing over them to get the picture perfect ending.  The road is uglier in this book, but much more real.

48. Wish You Were Here by Barbara Schoup
This YA book was written by someone from Indianapolis, and the book is set there.  The locality of the book would be fun for teens I think here because they talk about going to IU and some of the parents involved are IU fans and such.  This book started out as a book about a regular guy who is struggling after his parents divorce and his best friend leaves.  These parts are good…really good.  Unfortunately the book winds up dealing with too many issues including suicide, drugs, drinking and driving, following the Dead, going to Graceland (the worst part of the book), casual sex, etc.  It was almost as if the author was afraid that the book was going to be boring so she stuck all this unnecessary issues in at the end.  Skip it.

49. Enemy at the Gates by William Craig
Currently reading…

50. The Absolutely True History of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
This YA book has made all the best of lists, and was very well reviewed.  I wanted to love it, but didn’t.  Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, but didn’t love it.  The story is about a Spokane Indian who leaves the reservation school to go to the white school.  There are deaths, big games, drinking, and some really cute cartoons, but it just didn’t all add up for me in the end.

What with moving across country and a few 700-850 pagers, I didn’t make it to my 52 books per year goal, but shall we say that quality is more important than quantity? I read some great books in the past year, but a few stick out above and beyond. Remember, these aren’t the best books of 2007, but the best books I read in 2007.

Most favorite book read:
What is the What by Dave Eggers – read it today.

Honorable mentions (in no particular order):
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, Inheritance of Loss by Keran Desai, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, Sula by Toni Morrison, and Yes Man by Danny Wallace. What an odd bunch that is.

Here is to reading in 2008! 52, I’m ready!

2. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
Especially juxtaposed with the above novel, this one just falls flat. This book tracks a “regular girl” who enrolls in a fancy East coast boarding school. Should be great? Or at least made-for-tv? But instead it is tedious and boring. It certainly could use some lighter moments and a good editor. This book got a lot of good press, but I was ready for it to be over 1/2 way through.

3. A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
I read this for a book group at my local branch this week that was canceled due to the ice storm, but glad that I reread this book. The same book group read Remains of the Day last time and we discussed the whether or not people found it funny or not. I found parts of RotD very funny indeed. The back cover of this book also mentions that this book is funny at times. I would have been interested to see what the book group ladies thought of that, because I didn’t find this very funny at all. It is sad. Very sad and yet not all that far away. I’m sure I read this in high school and found the whole premise completely alien, something that would never happen and now rereading it as an adult, I am not so sure that this is something that couldn’t happen in my lifetime. I have read some other more recent Atwood, but find this character one of my favorites of hers.

4. A Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg
This is my second Berg book, and probably my last. I know that many people don’t give her credit for being very literary but I have also heard a lot of good things about her and now I’ve tried two (last year I disliked Open House). The characters are all so loveable-quirky in a not very real way. Everything ends up. So. Perfect. Perfect in a 1.5 hour movie kind of way, or a paper doll way. Her writing reminds me of Anne Tyler (some of which I love), but she seems to do quirky characters just one notch better. This is a quick mindless read, if that is what you are looking for, but it left me feeling flat.

5. Sula by Toni Morrison
Confusing, challenging, funny and sad. I love this book. Sula doesn’t have much of a plot (my favorite books usually don’t) but follows the relationship between Sula and Nel. It is also about relationships, self, community, loss, love and pain. Some very shocking things happen and people suffer and survive. And maybe are the better for it. Maybe they aren’t. The story is simple, but elegantly told; not a word is wasted and though it isn’t very long, feels deep in its meaning and emotions. These are quirky characters that don’t feel like caricatures. If you’ve never read any Toni Morrison, this is a great one to start with.

6. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
Larson took the same premise that made Devil in the White City such a hit and applied it to another situation. This time he recounts a murder in London at the same time following Marconi’s struggles to successfully transmit messages via wireless over the Atlantic. The Marconi story was interesting, if possibly too detailed. Many parts seemed repetitave, a few times I was actually wondering if I was reading the same part. And while the wireless invention was pretty impressive (especially since they didn’t seem to know what they were doing), it isn’t anything compared to the unknown amazingness of creating the White City in the previous book. I am still interested in reading Isaac’s Storm (one of Larson’s earlier books) but was disappointed in this one.

7. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
I try to stay pretty up on the press about up and coming general contemporary literature, and this book seemed to be getting tons of press. I didn’t know anybody personally who ready it, but it fit the bill of something that I would love. I feel let down. I enjoyed this book, but didn’t love it like I expected. Maybe that is the problem, it could never live up to the hype, but I felt the characters fall flat and the author’s over description blanch the story. The author insisted (beyond all reason) to bring the story full circle and is completely unnecessary and even tedious. I would have been happier with a hanging ending much earlier. I would recommend this book to some big readers, but is by no means a must read. I think that if you like Jodi Picoult, you would like this book.

8. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Recommended to me by some women in my reading group, I plowed though this book. It wasn’t all that special, but it was a quick and fun read. Not entirely stimulating, it was a book I didn’t want to put down at night. This is the second book I’ve read recently about a secret Chinese language for women, and the book centers around women friends which is something I am intersted in and think is often a subject ignored over romantic love. The book would make a good book discussion book as it brings up a lot of women’s issues concerning loyalty, friendship, status, worth and love.

9. When Madeline Was Young by Jane Hamilton
I am still moved and intrigued by Hamilton’s Book of Ruth, but several of her other books have been pretty forgettable to me (and I think I’ve read them all). This book tracks the story of a family who takes care of the dad’s first wife who becomes brain damaged after a bicycle fall. The family relations are interesting, but I didn’t really ever get completely engaged. I enjoyed this read, but it will gloss over in the coming months and eventually become forgettable.

10. Night Watch by Sarah Waters
This story told by Waters tracks several interlocking characters after and during World War II in London. The story starts at the end, and moves backward to unravel how each character came to be in the place he or she ended up at the beginning. Confusing? A little. The story was well done and the characters were excellent, that I couldn’t help feeling like the backward telling was a little too much, more of a gimmick. I found that some parts that were supposed to be highly meaningful (like the ring) got lost in the time continum. The historical aspects of this novel were well done and interesting, despite my dislike for historical fiction. While I enjoyed this book, and it was well written I’m not sure that I would jump into another Waters book again in the near future.

11. The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain
On the whole I love me some Tony Bourdain. This book is a collections of previously published pieces he has written about restaurants, travel and food. Some of the pieces were fantastic, some others, not so much. I totally skipped the fiction part at the end after a few boring pages. I also thought it was interesting that at the end he has disclaimers for each essay, saying where it was published and under what circumstances. Often in these disclaimers, he sort of takes back the snark. He all of a sudden becomes very self depreciating and almost apologizes for the venom of some of the essays which I found disconcerting. I love Tony for being a little shit sometimes and here he was feeling bad for it? I wonder if he is feeling some of the pressure to clean up his act for tv, as he makes fun of some other celebrity chefs for doing.

12. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
I am trying to pick books for my book group that might appeal to a large group of people and that are fairly easy reads. This probably isn’t a book that I would have read on my own, but thought the group might like it. I was wrong. Wrong. Wrong. The book was flat, dull and uninspired. I thought the best part was the weaving in of the food…the recipes and food metaphors were fun and different. But the love story was lame and the mystical realism seemed distracting. More background on the Mexican Revolution couldn’t have hurt either. The movie follows the book pretty much to the letter, so I would just watch that instead as I think the movie is even a little bit better!

13. The Gates of the Alamo Stephen Harrigan
I would have never read this book if it weren’t for the One Book One San Antonio initiative. Am I glad I read it? Not really. Did I hate it? Not really. There were many parts of this book that I enjoyed much more than I thought I would. Clocking in at over 700 pages, it did slow down my reading time table and it will never make a best of list, but I maybe learned a little bit. I could have done without the parts where people’s faces were blown straight out the back of their heads, and I wouldn’t recommend to anyone who isn’t a historical fiction buff or someone exceptionally interested in Texas history, but really it wasn’t as horrible as I though. Well written and interesting details kept me going, but I am glad I am done!

14. What is the What by Dave Eggers
Wow. I loved this book. It has been a long time since I’ve read a novel that grabbed me, held me and made me wanting more. This book is written as an autobiography in the voice of a Sudanese Lost Boy, a young man now living in Atlanta. His story goes back and forth between the present day and his journey across southern Sudan to his years at living in refugee camps for almost 15 years. While fictionalized, it is based on a real person and the narration is clear and true. I was really touched by this book without feeling manipulated or beaten over the head. I am amazed at the human spirit, kindness and evil. This book was a gutsy move by Eggers, and it pays off in spades. While there are some very difficult parts of this book, it is not without hope. Highly recommended.

15. Whole World Over by Julia Glass
Phew. I picked up this book because I read The Three Junes last year and loved it. While Fenno makes an apperance in this book, we are introduced to many new characters, none of whom are as interesting as Fenno and his family. Greenie is married to a jerk, takes a job for the governer of NM, and developes a friendship with Walter. The jerk husband meets a partially amnesiatic woman named Saga, who is also friends with Fenno. The story is too long, and really not that interesting. I am interested to see what else Julia Glass puts out, but this wasn’t one of my favorite. Also? The reader (I listened to it on CD) was ridiculous. She read the whole book with her voice almost breaking into? an upward? tilting? laugh? at all? times?.

16. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
A truly fascinating non-fiction book about the Dust Bowl during the mid 1930s in the American Plains. This book won several awards, but what really motivated me to read it was hearing Egan on NPR, he was so personable and interesting. This book is a pretty quick read, and truly amazing. What concerns me is that it seems like most everyone has concluded that the Dust Bowl was created by man. But there seems to be a lot of though in Washington that man doesn’t have much impact on the environment and ecology. We seem headed for a greater disaster than this, directly influenced by our activities and no one seems to be able to draw any parallels. The plains are still being planted with crops that need an endless supply of irrigation. I wish Egan had clearly stated a little more at the end that there needs to be a long range environmental and ecological plan for this country or else we may also be eating dirt at some point in the future.

17. How To Make an American Quilt by Whitney Otto
I look at a lot of book lists to prepare for my book discussion at my library and this one often comes up as a good book to discuss. Which sort of makes me wonder. This is a strange little book with many short sentences. Maybe. To think. There were endless interchangeable characters and I never felt connected. Some of the book is written in second person which instead of making me feel drawn into the story, left me feeling a little bit more disconnected. Watch the movie instead.

18. The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan
I read this for a book club that in the end I couldn’t make. I’m sure that I’ve read this book before, but kept getting it confused with another Tan book. Maybe Joy Luck Club. I kept waiting for the part where she leaves the twin girls at the side of the road, but then realized much later into the book that wasn’t going to happen. Really though I think that these stories are pretty interchangeable. I enjoyed reading it, but one Tan read would be enough.

19. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
When you come across a phrase like ‘the muscle of the river’, and you think that is exactly what it feels like you know you are on to something. Desai has written a beautiful book with unlikely phrasing that works beautifully. This is like eating up words and letting them dribble down your chin for the sheer pleasure they give you. The setting is equally amazing, but the characters are a tad flat and the ending not quite up to the first 7/8 of the book. I still heartily recommend and will be intrigued with what she puts out next.

20. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
I chose this for the Carver book club that I ended up cancelling, but finished the book anyway. This is a well written memoir, and an interesting look at certain parts of America at a certain point. Angelou spends considerable time in her early childhood, and then not as much when she was a teenager which I found more interesting. Her time in San Francisco was filled with small insights to her characer, the time, the setting that I found very interesting and could have read more of. I guess I am glad that I read this, but didn’t find it impressive.

21. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Fascinating! I read the revised and expanded version and found it very interesting and thought provoking while being a good fun read at the same time. Having the facts and figures presented by not the economist, but by a journalist is a stroke of genius as this reads like you are sitting around with them over happy hour. I must claim that I am one of those people who has never really been interested in economics, but the idea of the hidden cost of everything is interesting to me from a historical or sociological standpoint. And as a librarian the idea of being able to look at information in different ways to answer questions is really cool, as shown in the cheating teacher/cheating sumo wrestler chapter. Not very long, and highly recommended.

22. If I Die in a Combat Zone by Tim O’Brien
This book is considered O’Brien’s true account of his time spent as a foot soldier in Vietnam. I have read two of his novels of his also dealing with Vietnam and found them much better. Not just that the stories were richer, but I thought the writing better. I am glad that I read this, as I really enjoyed The Things They Carried, and Going After Cacciato and knowing that O’Brien is obsessed with a true war story. With that in mind, it is a little hard to take this true account, well, truthfully. I do think that the lead up to his departure is very interesting as he tries (sometimes not very successfully) to explain why he went and how he felt about it. Read one of the above mentioned novels instead to really see the wonderful writing and obsess, at least for a little bit, about a true war story.

23. Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler
I feel like I read this forever. I liked it, but it did seem a little all over the place at times. I enjoyed the parts about the follow up of his students from River Town (which I loved), and I enjoyed the parts about the ancient writing and Chinese Linguistics in general but while connected may have been a little more powerful in separate books. I will continue to be interested in what Hessler puts out as I feel that he is one of the most self-aware writers out there who happens to also be really good. Recommended for people who are interested in recent Chinese history.

24. The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga
I am not working with a teen reading group at work and felt that I should pick up a YA book…so went against my librarian grain to actually do any research on this topic and just went to the shelf and grabbed one. Not bad, but not great either. I kept wondering if I would love this when I was 14, but I’m not sure. Should it matter? It seemed a little far fetched and overly dramatic. But maybe that is the point. The side characters (including Goth Girl really) are a little one dimensional, but I really enjoyed the main character. I would probably recommend this to teens.

25. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
I read this in about two days at my sublet. While often darkly depressing, I can see why this book was so popular. I didn’t however love it, but liked it. The characters are a little bit black and white (so good! so bad! so cowardly!) that it often rings a little untrue. But the setting was very interesting and it covers some interesting moral ground. At what point can we let go of childhood mistakes? How can we rectify some of those misdeeds? And what if we try to rectify and that doesn’t work out? Or at least not the way we planned. I don’t know. Enjoyable airplane read, but not a life changer for me.

26. Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug by Diarmuid Jeffreys
I sometimes wonder why I read books like this. I slogged through the first part of this book very slowly, and often forgot names and dates. The book did get more interesting while talking about Bayer’s connections with IG Farben and the Nazis. Without the lucrative asprin sales that spiked after WWI, IG Farben wouldn’t have had the huge sums of money to donate to the Nazi party and things may have turned out differently. An IG Farben lead “scientist” was also convicted of war crimes for some pretty despicable things during the holocaust, and upon his release from jail went on to become the head of Bayer. It is an interesting look at the pharmaticutical world, branding, generics, and marketing. You may not look at the rows and rows of OTC drugs in the same way again. I know I won’t.

27. You Suck: A Love Story by Christopher Moore
This may be the first vampire book I’ve ever read. Really. I picked this up because I know that Christopher Moore is very popular and considered pretty funny. There were parts of this book that I liked, but mostly was ready to be done with it. I couldn’t keep all the characters straight (like The Animals) and really in the end didn’t care what happened to whom. I did sort of like Abby and wouldn’t mind reading a spin off on her character. Really this just isn’t the type of book that I enjoy.

28. The Book of Salt by Monique Truong
Confusing and sometimes heavy handed, I highly enjoyed this beautifully written book. It is meant to pull you along a winding path, not always sure of where it is going or how it is going to there there. This book isn’t about the Vietnamese cook for Tolklas and Stein in Paris, it is about memory, longing, and home. There isn’t really a plot, but an interesting character whose befuddling memory, lapses, and beliefs are confusing but seem more realistic than straighforward recollections you find in most novels. I would be interested in what else this author puts out. Beautiful and well written? I really recommend this book.

29. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
I absolutely loved this book. I asked each of my teen book group members to assign me a book to read that they had liked. The only boy in the group recommended this YA novel and it was wonderful. The characters were interesting, fun, flawed, strange and loveable. The story was paced just right and brought me along for the ride. I knew what was going to be revealed at the end, but how it was revealed was genius. This is a book about loss, but also about family, friendship and how to heal. A very beautiful book that I would recommend to anyone.

30. Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentlemen Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail by Stephen Bown
Short and interesting for those of you interested in medical and or sailing history. Unfortunately not very much to do with pirates, but an interesting (and often gross) account of what happens to your body upon developing scurvy and why it was so slippery to figure out. Many sailors and physicians had written about lemons helping, but the information got vague over the years, and then often lost. Without any real understanding of nutrition, it is easy to see that it is more convienent to blame scurvy on just about anything else other than a bad diet. Also disturbing is that the first full push for curing the disease came when armys were losing ships, not sailors. Dead sailors don’t cost the British Navy any money. However scurvy may have saved Britian twice, once from the Spanish Armada and then again as Napoleon set his sights on the little island.

31. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
I did it! After a major 2 day final push, I finished this book and you know what? I really enjoyed it. John Irving (whom we all know I adore) always mentions Charles Dickens as one of his favorite authors, so I have tried to read Great Expectations before but could never get into it. But now I get it. One of the reasons I love Irving so much is for his great characters, and great characters abound in David Copperfield. The main character is wonderful, funny, thoughtful and shows his development in a very real way. But I think my favorite character (though hard to pick over Mr. Dick and Miss Trotwood) is Traddles. Partly because you don’t expect him to do much when you first meet him, but he proves himself over and over again to be a true friend, loyally, but not unreasonably so. I hated Dora, but maybe done so you just like Agnes all the much more. I discussed this book with my teen book group (all girls) and we all found that there were some strong female characters which pleased me all the more. This book probably deserves two readings, but clocking in at over 850 pages, I’m not sure that will hapeen anytime soon. Recommended!

32. Redemption Song: The Definitive Biography of Joe Strummer by Chris Salewicz
Reading this book, especially at the end, sad. I missed my chance to ever see Joe. He toured quite a bit near the end with the Mescaleros and often played a heavy rotation of Clash songs and I never saw him. It was particularly interesting to read about the later parts of his life, as I have read other Clash bios before. But to get an idea of the man he became was quite interesting. I am of the opinion that Joe was much more articulate, funny and interesting in his lyrics than he often was in real life. This book did drag a little bit though and slowed me down!

33. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Tim read this a year or so ago and loved it. I have picked it up a few times, but probably wouldn’t have read it if it weren’t picked by my teen book group at work. The book is about magic, or specifically the return of magic to early 19th century England. As I was finishing this book, I thought to myself that while there are a lot of characters and they are interesting, this isn’t a character driven book that I usually enjoy. It is much more story based, and even with the magic element, I enjoyed it. Despite the fun and unusual twists and turns, the best part of this book was the writing. Clarke took a chance with a really different style in which to write and completely committed to that style for almost 800 pages. In the end, it didn’t get old or feel contrived. The writing style was fresh, challenging and in the end really worked. While I can’t say that I loved this book, I love reading novels that push the boundaries of the idea of a novel in different directions like Time Traveler’s Wife or Cloud Atlas. This book might also appeal to more sci-fi fans and mature young adults (even though all the characters are older).

34. Sound Bites by Alex Kapranos
This book is a compilation of articles that Kapranos wrote while on tour as the lead singer for Franz Ferdinand. The articles were published in real time in the Guardian, and I heard about the book on NPR, where Kapranos was interviewed and it peaked my interest. As someone who has cooked in a real kitchen, I feel a kinship with others who have gone through the highs and lows. And that experience will forever color how I think about food, and how I eat out, as it has also done for Kapranos. Some of his articles here are really short, and might be more interesting if they were longer, more indepth. The writing is unusual and often inspired and often reads zen like (almost like a good hiku), but a few times was a little too cutsey as well. Nice quick read for anyone interested in eating around the world.

35. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
Hmm. This has been well reviewed from some pretty reliable sources, and I loved Cloud Atlas, so I had high hopes. Maybe too high. Maybe if I had never heard of this book or David Mitchell, I would have loved it. But probably not. Don’t get me wrong, there are parts of this book that are genius. There are lines in this book that describe a feeling, thought, motion that is completely off the wall, completely unique, strange and unusual. But dead on. And those parts are wonderful. I also loved the Crommelynk character reappearing from Cloud Atlas, the parts with her was my favorite of the book. But despite the sometimes amazing prose, this book left me feeling flat.

36. Yes Man by Danny Wallace
What is it like to say yes to every question pointed in your general direction? This was recommended to me from a coworker, who promised funny. Sometimes when people recommend funny, you never know (unless that someone is Andrew, who gets funny). But this book had me laughing out loud many times. Though I think this dragged a little long about 3/4 of the way through, this was a great read. At times it reminded me of Round Ireland With a Fridge, and was surprisingly touching at the end. Near the end, the author is ruminating on whether or not people regret saying no or yes. “Take the stupidest thing you’ve ever done. At least it’s done. It’s over. It’s gone. We can all learn from our mistakes and heal and move on. But it’s harder to learn or heal or move on from something that hasn’t happened; something we don’t know and is therefore indefinable; something which could very easily have been the best thing in our lives, if only we’d taken the plunge, if only we’d held our breath and stood up and done it, if only we’d said yes.”

37. Redwall by Brian Jacques
Ok, so there is this abbey full of peace loving mice. Well, except for Mattias who is sure that he is destined for greatness, warrior style. Good for him that the evil rat, Cluny prepares to attack the abbey and ruin the idyll lifestyle of the mice, and assorted woodland creatures that live within or nearby. I read this for my teen book group, and they loved it. I am glad that I read it from a reader’s advisory perspective, but am not really interested in picking up any of the other books in this series (and there are like, thousands). I think this would be a good recommendation for a young boy. Oh, and I also recommended it to Tim after his finals.

38. Articles of War by Nick Arvin
This short novel is selected as the One Denver, One Book title, and was given to me earlier this year from my mom. This book tells the story of a single man during World War II. We don’t get much more insight into other soldiers, the war, or any grande scheme. But after reading it, you may have more insight as to what one soldier may have gone through, and not knowing the big picture helps that. And learning one solider’s story may give you more insight into many. I’m not sure that this would be the recommendation for everyone, but it is short and an interesting read for anyone who has read and enjoyed other war fiction.

39. The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf by Mohja Kahf
This book is about growing up Muslim in Indiana in the 1970s.  I think that there was a lot that I didn’t get from the first reading, lacking the cultural references, but overall I found this book enjoyable.  Really the main character as she develops into a woman is searching her spiritual, cultural, feminist, intellectual and religious identity.  And while all her cues were different than  mine, I felt that it was still identifiable.  Her parents are fundamentalist Islam, but I liked them.  And Kahdja self awareness moments were soft and seemed real.  I will have to read this book again, but look forward to taking my time with it the second time around, as I think there is a lot to uncover.  Or cover.  Depending.

The best book I read in 2006:
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Flawed and critiqued as it is, this book pushed the traditional novel boundries, and really made me think about the characters, relationships and self. I have found myself at times doing things like brushing my teeth and thinking about parts in this book. Yes, its messy, but everyone who likes reading should read this book.

There are also many honorable mentions including: On Beauty by Zadie Smith, Three Junes by Julia Glass, Never Let Me Go by Kauzo Ishiguro, Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien, Sleep Toward Heaven : A Novel by Amanda Eyre Ward and Regeneration by Pat Barker.

Here’s to reading in 2007!

2. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
I highly enjoyed this book. Similar to Middlesex and totally unlike The Corrections (for me), this book was filled with interesting, flawed, unique three dimensional characters that I truly cared about. I read White Teeth awhile ago, and thought it was ok. I skipped Smith’s second book, but would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good novel. It is long and there are many characters. Sometimes I felt I knew what the twists were going to be, but getting there was so much fun, I didn’t care that I had already figured it out. Another note, I listened to this book on CD and the reader was fabulous.

3. Stalin’s Folly: The Tragic First Ten Days of World War II on the Eastern Front by Constantine Pleshakov
Did I like this book? Yes. Was I confused half the time I was reading it? Yes. Would I recommend it? Only if you are a history dork like me. Really, not a bad reading of a very specific subject. I remembered a few details from some classes at IU, but it was interesting to see some of the reasoning (and I use that term loosely) behind the decisions and policies that determined what happened in the first 10 days. The author also has an interesting note at the end of the book regarding his sources which I think anyone who is interested in writing or reading non fiction would find fascinating.

4. About a Boy by Nick Hornby
This was exactly what I needed after slowly going throug two pretty dense non fiction books. I read this in about a day and a half and enjoyed it. I have always meant to read a Nick Hornby book, and came across this one at half price books recently, so decided to give it a go. The dialog was great, probably the best I’ve read in a long time and that itself is what made this an easy, interesting and fun read.

5. Three Junes by Julia Glass
This is one of those books I was desperate to get through and was sad once I finished it. I couldn’t put it down. I lived the world of Fenno, wanted him to laugh more, to have more fun and to come to terms with all the things he needed to term. I don’t usually mind books (or movies, really) that just drop off and don’t give you a complete lock on what happens after it is over. I don’t need a run down of what happens to everyone in the next 20 years, but I found myself wanting that so much with this book. I guess because I was so wrapped up in Fenno, Fern, the twins, all of it. All of them. I really loved how many things did come together though, what was revealed and what hidden really was wonderful. Highly recommended.

6. Vinegar Hill by A. Manette Ansay
Quick read, but as I’ve been thinking about this in the past day, I can’t decide if I would recommend this book or not. I wrote it on my list as it was mentioned in Patchett’s Truth and Beauty and realize that it has been an Oprah book. The writing was at time stunning, interesting and beautiful. The subject was hard at times to read and I was afraid it was going to pull a House of Sand and Fog on me (aka the most depressing book…ever). So I liked it, but didn’t like it and can’t decide on a recommendation or not. It is an interesting look at a certain time, place and mentality. But then again, it isn’t as narrow as that. See? I can’t make up my mind.

7. A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 by Simon Winchester
I love me some Simon Winchester. Completely a man after my own heart…history and geology. Just as good as history and art to me. This book is about the 1906 earthquake and subsequent fire in the San Fransisco region. Winchester spend a lot of time describing the science behind faults, plates and the earth before the quake even hits. How could I not enjoy this book? He also mentions at the end of the book that the NSGS (a pretty conservative group) has predicted a likelyhood of at least 60% that an earthquake of 6.2 or greater will hit SF before 2032. Earthquake prediction isn’t perfect, and is fairly complicated, but Winchester does a great job at taking the complicated and scientific and describing it for everyone.

8. Five Quarters Of The Orange by Joanne Harris
I read this for a book club, so maybe I was more critical for that reason than I normall would have been. I had several problems with this book, but it wasn’t terrible. Mostly I was trouble with the fact that a lot of people in this book do pretty risky and outlandish acts and it was a stretch for me that so many people in a small town would do those things with very little provoking. A lot of things happen in this book and I don’t think that we have a good character study to make their actions believeable, just have them do the things to get the story going. I also had a problem with the ages of the main character and the idea of memory. However, with all that said, it wasn’t horrible and I was excited last night to read the last couple of pages.

9. Never Let Me Go by Kauzo Ishiguro
I listened to this book, and was ready for it to be over, but really really enjoyed it. The reader was excellent and the writing was so wonderful. The topic was difficult, interesting and maddening all at the same time. I kept waiting for something really awful to happen, some horrible violent or rage filled incident. And when there wasn’t, I felt like what did actually happen was just as horrific. The nothingness. Nothing happened, because nothing was supposed to happen. And I kept wondering why they didn’t just run away. Everything was just accepted, and the mention of running away never even came up. This book isn’t for everybody, but it is so well written and just pretty different than most things you will pick up that I would recommend it to most. I might have to check out Remains of the Day.

10. Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books by Maureen Corrigan
This book is written by the book reviewer for Fresh Air on NPR, which sounded great on the flap. Little did I know, I should have stopped at the introduction. The intro was great, talking about developing and retaining a love of books throughtout a lifetime. The author discusses reading as a way of searching for authenticity among books as the basis for her passion for fiction. Being out of school and understanding this is important to her ongoing development and learning, something to which I can completely relate. The author may her gotten her love of literature from her dad, but relishes describing, talking, and reviewing of books to the audience of people like her mother, who is a non reader. I like that idea and always believed that people who don’t like reading are just reading the wrong thing, or have been described great books in a way that sounds unappealing. Intro? Great. The remaining chapters deal with three types of books that the Corrigan loves, the female action-adventure (giving away all the secrets of Jayne Eyre, which I have not read yet), the mystery (which I dislike, but understand why they are appealing to many) and the Catholic fiction (no comment). These chapters are mingled with the author’s autobiography which seemed unnecessairly long and detailed. These remaining chapters, edited properly, would have make a great literary article, but are too drawn out for a whole book. Read the intro, and her book lists at the back and call it a day.

11. Teacher Man: A Memoir by Frank McCourt
I liked listening to this, but felt that there should have been more. First of all, McCourt reads this edition and while I love the sound of his voice, most of it came off as pretty stilted or stiff. I have heard him interviewed and is a great storyteller and talker, but reading this is not the same. Secondly, I enjoyed many of the stories about life in the classroom, and the theme of finding your voice was interesting. But I felt that something was missing. I am no closer to understanding what it is really like to stand in front of so many teens every day in a classroom, and nothing is mentioned about education in general. Why are we constantly ranking lowest in academic scores? Why are generations becoming non-readers (shudder)? This book tells what it is like to be Frank McCourt in a classroom, but gives no greater perspective or insight. Even just a stab here and there might have sufficed.

12. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
I read this for my April book club. Honestly, I don’t think I would have ever picked this book up on my own based on the back cover description, but it wasn’t horrible. I do have some major problems with the characters and events and admit that I got tricked (as I guess you are supposed to) regarding who exactly is refered to in the first chapter. This book deals with different kinds of loves, jealous love, possessive love, childish love, and love for a house that I just can’t quite connect with. I loved the social details, the relationships between the main character and some of the other smaller characters, but in the end just don’t really enjoy the whole murder/mystery aspect of the story. One of the books that was on the “possibility list” for next month was my very favorite A Prayer for Owen Meany, and I realize that has a mystery as one of its main threads, but that isn’t what I love about the book. It is all the other details. I guess that is sort of how I felt about Rebecca.

13. The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology by Simon Winchester
There is nothing better for me to get my mind off traffic, work, life, etc than listening to Simon Winchester read. I could listed to him read the phone book and would still find it relaxing (though if I listened to him read the phone book, then I would miss out on his pronounciation of controversial…). The problem that I had with this book, and the last one to a smaller degree, is that while I am not thinking of those other things, I am not really listening very closely to the story. And maybe this book didn’t grab me like Krakatoa did (which, by the way I also listened to, read by Winchester). This story was interesting, but for the first time sort of felt, unlike his other books, that this would have made a great National Geographic (or Economist or similar) article…but a book? Maybe just went on a little too long. I think there is one more Winchester book out there…something about China. Hmm….

14. Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien
Tim O’Brien writes often about the Vietnam War, in fact I think that most of his books deal with it to some degree. But Tim O’Brien isn’t obsessed with Vietnam, he is obsessed with telling a war story. A True War Story. And what does that mean? Even he doesn’t know, but through thousands of words is trying to work it out. I read and liked The Things They Carried, but I loved this book. I have picked it up several times, and put it back down based on the description, but then saw it at Half Price Books and who could resist? This book is about a war story within a war story. And the beauty of this book is in its language and construction. After I finished this book, I flipped back through to go back, to keep going, to remember and revisit. If you want to learn about The True War Story, this is a great book. If you want to learn how to write a novel, this is a great book. If you want to read a book that is beautifully constructed and takes you along at just the right speed, this is a great book. This is a perfectly constructed story…but is it the True War Story? Yes. And no.

15. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
Very interesting. I finished this book a few days ago and have been stewing about what to think…what to write. I liked it based on its originality, cleverness, characters, and readability. Yet, I don’t know if I will pick up any of the others that he has written in the same vein and I can’t put my finger exactly on why not. Admittedly it has been a really long time since I’ve seen the Wizard of Oz, and maybe I would have enjoyed it more upon a re-viewing of the movie. I have been thinking a lot lately about the construction of a novel (Going After Cacciato, Never Let Me Go, Saturday…) and how I like it when authors push the bounds. Try new things, and this book does that, and yet? Something was missing. I keep going back to the genre…I am not a fan of fantasy, of “other” worlds, so maybe that is it. Things I do know: it was at least 100 pages too long, and I would love to see the play now that I’ve read the book. Just how would they do it?

16. Saturday by Ian McEwan
This book covers exactly one very long day in the life of a 40 something neurosurgeon in London. I love the concept, and was mostly drawn into the details of every minute. There where however, parts that had excessive detail that I felt unnecessary (the squash strategies, the surgery details…). I also thought that there was way too much reflection at the end. He is tired after a long day filled with very troublesome events, I don’t think he would go into extended dialogues. I like the format of the book, and mostly enjoyed it, but do think that it could have benefited from a tiny bit of editing.

17. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Told from the perspective of a young teen who was recently murdered. There is a flash back to the events that lead up to the murder and the killing itself (though not tooo graphic) and how she watches her family deal (or not deal) with her disappearance (her body isn’t found). There were parts at the end that I just couldn’t really go along with, too much of a stretch for me. This book was an easy read, even with the sometimes difficult subject matter, and was interesting but not great. This would make good airport reading but not something that will challenge you. It could have been taken to a next level, but doesn’t, but now that I think about it, it is probably why it was so popular.

18. Open House by Elizabeth Berg
I read this Elizabeth Berg book because a)I know they’ve been popular and b) because Augusten Burroughs always mentions her as one of his favorite authors. Writers that other writers suggest sounded like a great idea! However this book was only ok. I liked the quick style and the interior dialogues, but the story was unbelieveable (the two! most! perfect! roommates! ever!), the characters pretty flat, and the ending sort of ridiculously cliched. Would make a good beach read, whatever that means.

19. Julie and Romeo: A Novel by Jeanne Ray
So cheesy. I read this for my May book club, and gave it a chance b/c I know its been popular (though almost never a surefire indicator), and the author is Ann Patchet’s mother. The book is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet with 60-somethings playing the leads. It wasn’t the age of the characters that bothered me so much, as the cliches, tired descriptions and over the top romance. I love a good love story, but “romance” isn’t really my genre and this proved to be no exception.

20. March: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks
I really liked this book. Written from the perspective of the dad in Little Women. The March Father recounts his time spent as a chaplin in the Union army, and then as a tutor for freed slaves before he becomes ill and is sent to the hospital in DC where Marmee has to leave her Little Women to go and tend him. His relationships between a former slave, Marmee (mainly via letters and recollections) are interesting, and become even more so during the two chapters where the book switches to Marmee’s perspective. To see the same incident as told by their two perspectives gives so much more meaning than if it had been directly spelled out, and spoke volumes of their relationship and personalities. I recommended this to our book club to read, but there is some violence and other unsavory parts that are unsettling. A good story, interesting characters make for a good recommendation.

21. Missing Mom: A Novel by Joyce Carol Oates
This book follows the year after the death of the main character’s mother. How does such an event effect someone in their thirties? How can the missing relationship effect others still surviving? Why do things change after such an event? Oates tries to answer some of these questions, but I still felt something was missing from the picture. I don’t understand turning into your mom helps with the missing part. This wasn’t a bad novel, it just didn’t push it for me. The hard questions, the why part isn’t addressed, and I think if they had, it might have been a fuller story.

22. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
I don’t know where to start. I liked this book a lot, and yet had some major problems. I read a lot of novels, and am generally having a hard time becoming bored with just a simple A to Z type story (see #21 above). It takes more than just a good story lately to really get me. This book pushes the limits on different, and I liked that. I am not sure the logic always worked and I had a hard time sometimes trying to figure out the pattern, but I like active reading. In some ways I liked the characters, but in some ways I had a hard time with them. Clare is an artist, but only because the book says and the author has an interst in paper making. The book make a big deal out of how events of Clare’s childhood shaped her as an adult, so I would have liked to see some of that artistic development come out of her friendship with the time traveling Henry as a girl. And Henry is a nerdy librarian. Huh? Why isn’t he a medical librarian? Most librarians I know (80% of the people I know are librarians), spend a considerable amount of time researching personal things…why does Henry spend no time really doing any of his own research? His work as a librarian feels as tacked on as Clare’s art. Clare also never actively comes to terms with Henry’s violence. I realize that he is often forced into violent acts, but at least once is only provoked with words. Clare never mentions this as an issue. This book also took a gruesome turn at the end (which I don’t have a problem with), but then it just kind of dropped it. I hate to give anything away to someone who hasn’t read this, but it involves some frostbite. I can see how this affected the one time in the Meadow, but is that it? I guess overall, I like books that raise moral, logigal and psychological questions and make me think. It was a good story with decent characters and I often didn’t want to put it down which is a good sign. I am looking forward to another book by this author.

23. Polio : An American Story by David M. Oshinsky
This year I have read both the fiction and non-fiction winner of the Pulitzer award and really enjoyed them both. This book discusses the history of polio, and the vaccine race and debate that continues to this day. As someone who grew up in the 80s, I knew very little about polio before I read this book and found some of it incredible. While the 1950s weren’t really that long ago, there is some startling information about live human testing and you can see how the government and media can shape our fears and hopes by either what they say or don’t say. Only a few pages are devoted at the end to what is happening in the world of polio today, some of which I would have like more information. But overall, this was a good historical account.

24. Sleep Toward Heaven : A Novel by Amanda Eyre Ward
A pretty decent, interesting first novel intertwining the lives of three women, a young doctor, a death row prisoner and the widow of the man she killed. It sounds like it could be sappy and chick lit-y. But it isn’t, and the characters stay pretty grounded and even at the big finish doesn’t get carried away. Looks like she has a newer book out…might be worth a shot.

25. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Well written? Yes. Interesting? Not really. I was drawn in early with beautiful descriptions, and intriguing self exploration, but quickly bored with the repetitiveness and boorishness of the story and main character. Lolita is the standard teenager, moody, irritable, and certainly not worth the complete devotion of HH. I guess in the end, I am glad that I read this book, as it is considered a classic, but wouldn’t read it again or even really recommend it to most readers.

26. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Finally read my sci-fi book! Recommended by Tim, this book was for the most part interesting and kept me turning the pages to see what was going to happen, but there was something missing. The story was pretty good, and the twist near the end was fantastic, but the descriptions and most of the characters were pretty bland for me (and quite unrealistic as they are children). I know there are other books in this series, and I don’t think that I will pick any of them up, but glad that I read this for a different perspective from the regularly scheduled reading program.

27. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Blah. Note to self: Do not read any more “historical” fiction. It will drive you insane, thanks. Really? This “novel” is nothing more than a 700 page bodice ripper. I know people say that historical fiction (and also movies) are just that, fiction. So there is no reason to get all worked up over it, but really there is. Because many people don’t just take it as fiction…just spend 5 minutes reading reviews on Amazon of this book (or not, because people rave about this book, and you’ll never get those 5 minutes back). “People” say things like: Wow! I learned so much about Anne Boleyn. Or: Cool! The facts were great! Um, no. The “facts” presented in this book were taken with HUGE liberties, and not just little tweaks. It presents a one sided view of “history” and many people take that for fact, and won’t read anything else about the era and are now going to have a pretty twisted view of the actual story of Anne Boleyn. The faux feminism also irritated me, and often I felt like I was being beaten over the head about certain points the author wanted to make regarding status of women, the Howard family, etc. And where was the editor? Seriously 200-300 pages of Anne chasing Henry in the middle could be cut and we would still get it. She wants him, he wants her, he is still married to Katherine, she is married, repeat for 300 pages. We would have gotten it after 50. Really.

28. The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John M. Barry
In second grade, I had strep throat once a month for a year. At that time the main drug for treatment was penicillin, to which I am allergic. So instead I was given one of the few alternatives, anti-cillin. Anti-cillin upset my stomach, so I had to take these huge horse pills of chalk and dust and rat droppings to help the original medicine go down. I can picture both these pills, and almost remember the taste of the anti-queasy medication, and this was 20 something years ago! These days there are loads of antibiotics on the market, and if you react to one, they just perscribe another one. Anyway, it made me really think while I read this book, about the advancement of medical science. When I was getting sick, it was the late 70s, early 80s. Really the history of modern medicine is quite short, and you would be amazed at how much things have changed, in a short amount of time. At least I wasn’t treated with leeches! The beginning of this book covers the overhaul of American medical education and science in the early 20th century, which was pretty fascination. There are also long passages about the life cycle of viruses and how they interact in the body. While I think I understand influenza a little more after reading this, it hasn’t made me feel any better about the reality of another world wide endemic. This wasn’t an easy read, took me longer than I thought it would, but I am glad I read it.

29. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
It was the last book he ever wrote. He needed them to die after 5 years on death row to finish the book. He developed a relationship with Smith. He was in Holcomb for much of the investigation, trial and sentencing. All these facts that I know about the writing of this book made reading it much richer. Well written? Yes. It is hard to understand and always appreciate the perfection of Capote’s sentences and word choice throughout. Enjoyable? Hard to say. I think that maybe it was different when the book was published in 1965, but true crime is now its own genre. And not really one of my interests. Like Lolita, I am glad that I read this book, but probably won’t ever pick it up again and would only recommend with reservations to select people.

30. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
I was worried about reading this again, since I read it for my book group. I’ve read this book many many times, but haven’t for a few years. I was worried that I wouldn’t like it reading with a critical eye that I tend to do when I read for the group. I was also worried that I wouldn’t be able to stand people in the book group saying that they didn’t like it. Turns out, I enjoyed reading it just as much as ever (even though I skip the parts when John is in Canada as an adult), and felt that some people bringing up negatives about the book almost had valid points and helped me think about why I like this book so much. Irving is great at details, but never feels bogged down in them, and they often all add up to something, and the payoff is usually pretty great. I love the characters and even the pacing of the book. I also love the Irving humor, but as a woman pointed out to me last night, that isn’t for everyone. I find it hilarious, and while being blackly funny, stays true to the human condition. I would recommend the middle books of Irving, this one, Cider House Rules, Garp and even Hotel New Hampshire (if you don’t get grossed out easily).

31. The Secrets of Jin-shei by Alma Alexander
I liked this book, but also didn’t. There were A LOT of characters…something like 10 main characters is a wee bit too many. Certainly a few could be cut. The remaining 7 or so characters were great and I enjoyed their growth and relationships between each other. What I didn’t like was the hocus-pocus ghost crap. It wasn’t necessary! It was a great story of friendship and being bound to tradition and a culture. I could have also done without the last chapter. I read the book, I don’t need a refresher as to what happened earlier. I was actually paying attention. Also? I don’t need to know what happened to every single character to the very end. Cut the last chapter and the ghostie mystical stuff, and it would be the appropriate length, as it is too long with them in. Even with these faults, it was pretty much an enjoyable book that did suck me in and kept me turning the pages.

32. Juno & Juliet by Julian Gough
Interesting first book. Recommended by a fellow librarian, this book is set in Galway during the main characters’ first year at college. I love smart characters. Characters who aren’t afraid to think aloud and work out problems in an intellectual as well as emotional way. I love the discussions of books, reading, authors and such. I was however a little disturbed by the climax of the book and the characters’ reaction, which seemed a little empty and callous. I would be interested in other books this author writes.

33. Regeneration by Pat Barker
I bought this book ages ago at Tattered Cover in Denver and it has sat on my shelf untouched for years. And I have no idea why. I think I bought it because it is the first in a trilogy, the last of which won the Booker, and y’all know how I feel about Booker books. Anyway, this book was also selected by the NYTimes as one of the 4 best novels of 1994. And? It was excellent! It is about British officers during WWI who are ordered a stay in a hosptial, where they can address their emotional problems and go back to the front. Doesn’t sound exactly like a page turner, and the content was difficult at times, but I love the characters and felt that some of the issues were still timely today. While I might read something else next, I will certainly read the other two books in this series.

34. The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
This book won the Booker Prize two years ago, and I do have a tendency to read Booker books and enjoy them. However a book like this (see also: Gilead) reminds me that just because it won an award, I don’t always enjoy it. Like with movies, I am sort of a book snot. I admit that. There are just too many good ones out there and not that many hours in a day. So I don’t like wasting my time. I also usually finish movies that I am not enjoying, and finish books I don’t really like. There were some parts of this book that were exceptionally well written and interesting. But on the whole, the characters were so shallow and empty that I didn’t really care about all the drama at the climax of the book. I did finish listening to this book, but it never made me feel fulfilled like a good (or even a mediocre) book can make me feel.

35. The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden
I read this book after seeing a preview of the movie coming out soon. Hey…I like Scotland, and I like African history, should have been a great mix. This was a novel about Idi Amin’s Scottish doctor and while it wasn’t great, it reminds me that I shouldn’t completely write off historical fiction. I just put this down and can’t exactly put my finger on what I didn’t like about this book, but it didn’t completely hold me through the end. I loved the beginning, but my interest seemed to fade and I don’t know why. Certainly well written, and I am glad I read it. Interesting note, I read that the main character was loosely based on a real Scot but is it the European digested view of what happened more accessible to a western audience? I have read quite a bit of African history, but I am curious (and again, don’t have the answers) as to the fact that I picked it up based on some identification with the narrator (of which I actually had little) that I might not have done so with an African narrator?

36. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
Fairly quick read, and somewhat more interesting than the other book I read by her this year. In this book she tackles the question of what is it like to live on a wage you would earn at Denny’s or Wal-Mart? The interview process and day to day life at these jobs is some times funny, but also pretty depressing. Her conclusion is that while wages haven’t risen very much, affordable safe housing has. And when someone is paying more than 3/4 of their salary to rent, child care, health issues and general quality of life decline. Ehrenreich has now looked at the lower tiers of workers, and the underemployed managers, but I would like to invite her to come and work at the library for a month.

37. Digging to America by Anne Tyler
While I think her books are sort of fluffy, I tend to enjoy most of her stuff. I can’t say how much I liked Saint Maybe, and think that the look into middle America is both fascinating and can produce some introspection on your own part. What that said, I really enjoyed this book, and was a quick fun read. While I think that she gets bogged down in some events to the most minute and unnecessary detail, she mostly creates characters that I enjoy and find interesting. Her themes almost always revolve around family, but in this case fitting in too. How do we perceive ourselves and others (often incorrectly) colors every relationship, both good and bad and the character of Maryam may have more in common with all of us than we think. I loved the end when the realization of this perception finally shatters.

38. Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard
While exceptionally beautifully written, this book didn’t grab me until about 2/3 of the way though. I had a hard time keeping some of the characters straight, and was often confused about who was at what event or what we were supposed to remember about their past but I think that might be part of her style. Then the tenderness of the love story surprises you, and doesn’t seem to fit with the other part of the book, but it all works and is worthwhile in the end. I would be interested to read the book Hazzard is most famous for, The Transit of Venus. The woman can use a semi colon like no other author I’ve read.

39. 1984 by George Orwell
I suppose I should have something deep and profound to say about this book. I only read this as a selection for my book club at my local library, and while I am glad I read it, I don’t think I’ll read it again and found it a hard to read. It also took me a long time to get through it. It did make me think about the evolution and change in history (including written records) and how that is sometimes a good thing and sometimes a bad thing. We don’t realize how much our current frame of mind shapes our view of history. It also reminds me not just as a librarian, how important archiving and maintenance of past sources. I was also disappointed in the Julia character, she was so shallow and empty. Even her sexuality, which at first seemed like it might take a different turn was equally empty. I suppose dystopian literature shouldn’t be where I look for strong female characters, but why not?

40. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
I thought I would like this. I thought that I may have missed a YA gem and didn’t want to regret it. I disliked this book. or maybe it just wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. I was shocked at the violence and how the violence was an acceptable solution to all problems. I wanted the main character to be bigger than that, more like most people I knew in highschool. It all seemed overly macho.

41. Heat: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford
I worked at the Lion for two years as a prep and line cook after college. I could write a book about the experience, some good, some bad, some bloody, some hilarious. But reading this book makes me remember some of the little things…the moments where you feel perfectly in sync and what you were doing was making food. For people to eat and enjoy. And doing that can be amazing. Early in the mornings, I often made breakfast for the prep crew. In the afternoons, I made dinner for the night crew. While it wasn’t the family meals, I got to make things off the menu…to use the ingredients to create something that was, well, yummy. I made early winter morning grilled cheeses for the keg guys off the records. Seeing these people eat something that I made while sitting on the back table with pots hanging over their heads was a great feeling and you forget that over time. That was the lesson that Buford learns in this book. He goes to work at Babbo, Mario Batali’s restaurant. And through the blood, sweat and tears, there are bright spots. And while working the line is pretty insane, it is a rush to push your body and mind. I wouldn’t want to go back and do it today, but I am glad I got the experience, and I think Buford is too. He takes it a step further and goes to work as an apprentice butcher in Italy, which I could have sort of skipped. But most of this book is fun and interesting if you are interested in food and eating.

42. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Stevens takes a mini-break from his duties as head butler from a large English house and motors to meet the one time house keeper. During his trip, he thinks back to his previous employer and what it means to be the best at your profession. I liked this book, but also found it hard to digest. Stevens mulls over loyalty and dignity, and when he finally feels he has come to a conclusion about it (that his previous employer was not a great man), Stevens is able to work it out that he has still made a difference in the world. The romance lost, the years lost, the inability to focus on family doesn’t seem to shake him in a way that you would want him to feel, but I guess that is the point. Despite the not so happy ending, there are many funny parts in this book, and that humor saves it. The bantering argument (completely within Stevens’ head) and the talk about the birds and the bees with young Mr. Cardinal are wonderful.

43. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
I picked this as the first book for my book group at my new library that probably no one will come to. This was an amazingly popular book, and while it was decent, it doesn’t make me want to read any more of the series. Maybe I just don’t like mysteries, but I liked the parts where the main character is learning how to be a detective. But some of her methods seemed pretty unrealistic and harsh. I never got a feel for the characters and didn’t get the love story. I will have to talk to somebody who loved this book to see what they thought. Me? Eh.

44. Slow Man by J.M. Coetzee
I realize now that there is a previous book called Elizabeth Costello that maybe I should have read before I read this one…may have explained some parts there in the middle that weren’t always totally clear. I enjoyed this book, though maybe not as much as Disgrace, which won Coetzee the Booker. While I didn’t love love this book, it was (much like Remains of the Day for me) beautifully written and makes me want to read other things by him.

45. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
I am leading a discussion on this book next week, which will be interesting to hear what other people thought. I know this has been a hugely popular book, but I didn’t feel I could quite connect. Maybe my age has something to do with it, but it all seemed a step removed. While the five people you meet seem sort of random, I did like what the different people considered their “heavens”.

46. A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
I suppose I was set up to be let down by this book considering how much I loved A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by the same author. Like the book previous, the main character in this book belongs to my parent’s generation, and while I liked the older characters, it was the couple of younger ones that I really got into. The book is told from several viewpoints of a family leading up to the daughter’s wedding. Each character was difficult, but also interesting and sympathetic, even when they were making silly decisions. I will continue to be interested in what Haddon writes, and would recommend this book to most people.

I read 41 books in 2005 and looking at my list, a few stand out and just thinking about them, they make me smile, even though its been months since I’ve read them. A truly good book is priceless and I am always amazed by what I can learn, or how I can be drawn into a carefully woven story.

The Best Book I read in 2005:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Honorable Mentions for 2005:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser
Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen
Julie and Julia : 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell

It would be easy to pick either the western or mystery I read for the Summer Reading program at the library for the worst book of 2005 honors. But pretty much I don’t like genre novels like that, so the books should hardly suffer for my snottiness.

Therefore, the Worst Book I read in 2005:
The Master Quilter: An Elm Creek Quilters Novel by Jennifer Chiaverini
for its repetitiveness, ridiculous mystery and silly one dimensional characters (and so many of them!)

One of my New Year’s resolutions? Read more.
Here is to another year of good books!