2011 BOOKS: In which I talk about books
Confession: I have started several books this week and have been purposely not finishing them for the last few days so that I can count them towards 2012. Oh well, I'm the one who's in charge here!
BOOKS FOR 2011:
1. The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll: The Search for Dare Wright, Jean Nathan
2. Size 12 Is Not Fat, Meg Cabot
3. The Possession of Mr. Cave, Matt Haig
4. I Am Not A Serial Killer, Dan Wells
5. Mutant Message Down Under, Marlo Morgan
6. Shattering Glass, Gail Giles
7. Dead Girls Don't Write Letters, Gail Giles
8. The Dollhouse Murders, Betty Ren Wright
9. The Woman in the Dunes, Kobo Abe
10. The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson
11. Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball, Stefan Kanfer
12. Mr. Monster, Dan Wells
13. Prom, Laurie Halse Anderson
14. The Tin Box, Holly Kennedy
15. Cut, Cathy Glass
16. To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
17. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell
18. Gifts, Ursula K. Le Guin
19. Swords of Haven, Simon R. Green
20. Homer and Langley, E. L. Doctorow
21. Night, Elie Wiesel
22. Sabriel, Garth Nix
23. The Girl With the Crooked Nose, Ted Botha
24. Driving With Dead People, Monica Holloway
25. Pirate Latitudes, Michael Crichton
26. Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness, Donald L. Bartlett & James B. Steele
27. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Avi
28. The Necromancer, Michael Scott
29. Storm Front, Jim Butcher
30. A Hostage for Hinterland, Arsen Darnay
31. Size 14 Is Not Fat Either, Meg Cabot
32. Machine of Death, Various
33. The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, Carlos Castaneda
34. Breathless, Dean Koontz
35. The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya, Nagaru Tanigawa
36. The Nature of the Universe, Fred Hoyle
37. The Law of Nines, Terry Goodkind
38. The Second Opinion, Michael Palmer
39. The Pearl, John Steinbeck
40. The Perks of Being A Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
41. Seven Tears for Apollo, Phyllis A. Whitney
42. I Hate It When Exercise is the Answer, Emily Watts
43. Marathon: You Can Do It!, Jeff Galloway
44. Right Behind You, Gail Giles
45. The Lost City of Z, David Grann
46. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
47. Breakaway (Space: 1999), E. C. Tubb
48. The Testament, John Grisham
49. Hurry Down Sunshine, Michael Greenberg
50. The Apothecary's Daughter, Julie Klassen
51. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
52. Pretend You Don't See Her, Mary Higgins Clark
53. We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson
54. The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle
55. Flaming Tree, Phyllis A. Whitney
56. Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
57. Anatomy of a Fraud Investigation, Stephen Pedneault
58. The Descent of Anansi, Larry Niven & Steven Barnes
59. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
60. You Belong to Me, Mary Higgins Clark
61. Marathon: How One Battle Changed Western Civilization, Richard A. Billows
62. City, Clifford D. Simak
63. After You'd Gone, Maggie O'Farrell
64. Dragon Wing, Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
65. The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya, Nagaru Tanigawa
66. Where the Heart Is, Billie Letts
67. It Looked Different on the Model, Laurie Notaro
68. Big Boned, Meg Cabot
69. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: The Kingdom on the Waves, M. T. Anderson
70. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Nagaru Tanigawa
71. Elsewhere, William Peter Blatty
72. Lirael, Garth Nix
73. Fever 1793, Laurie Halse Anderson
74. Christmas Jars, Jason F. Wright
75. Congo, Michael Crichton
76. A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
77. The Mourning Dove: A Story of Love, Larry Barkdull
Total page count: 23,135 pages
Science fiction books:
Only 11! And it was only 18 the year before! I don't need to hold myself back next year, that's for sure.
Fantasy books:
8. That's pretty good, I only got 3 last year.
Reference, biography, memoir, or other non-fiction books:
19 - I am on a roll with the nonfiction, folks! I'm really getting into it here!
Most read author for the year?
It's a three-way tie between Nagaru Tanigawa, Gail Giles, and Meg Cabot, with 3 each.
What books did you reread?
I've read The Dollhouse Murders, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, and both Mary Higgins Clark books before, but it's been so many years that it was almost like the first time with each of them. :P
Any books from this list you plan on rereading for your 50 next year?
Hm, probably not. Unless I decide to read Haruhi Suzumiya from the beginning again; they are short and fun.
What was the worst book (or books) of the year?
Looking over the list I don't see any that I just hated. Several of them were boring, but any books I truly disliked didn't get finished this year, it looks like. I would probably pick Dead Girls Don't Write Letters here, because it had some promise but then the ending was so thrown together and non-sensical that the whole thing just went up in flames.
The best?
Nothing's jumping out at me as the most amazing book of the year...I really liked the two Garth Nix ones (even though they were fantasy!), and, well, of course To Kill A Mockingbird is a great book. I also really liked The Apothecary's Daughter; that's the only one I remember reading like crazy to finish.
If you could put any one book you read this year on all your friends' to-read lists, which would you choose?
Hmm...well, To Kill A Mockingbird, naturally, if you haven't read it yet! That was easier than this question usually is :D
What books made you cry?
I think Homer and Langley was the only one. That book...I still don't know why I loved it as much as I did. Maybe I should read that one again next year. I have one or two of that author's other books too, definitely need to get on those.
What books made you laugh out loud?
Oh my gosh so many. All 3 Meg Cabot books I'm sure, both Garth Nix books, all the Haruhi ones, and definitely Laurie Notaro and The Apothecary's Daughter, because of the sheer amount of sass.
What are your first five to-read books for next year?
Two of the five I listed last year....I still haven't read. Argh! Well I am already reading Little Women, The Hunger Games, and Homecoming, so those will be the first three. Then probably the next Hunger Games one...Catching Fire, right? And Dancing in the Dark, because it's already sitting on my dresser beckoning to me. And The Help, because I've had my sister-in-law's copy for like A YEAR and I need to give it back someday.
BOOKS FOR 2011:
1. The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll: The Search for Dare Wright, Jean Nathan
2. Size 12 Is Not Fat, Meg Cabot
3. The Possession of Mr. Cave, Matt Haig
4. I Am Not A Serial Killer, Dan Wells
5. Mutant Message Down Under, Marlo Morgan
6. Shattering Glass, Gail Giles
7. Dead Girls Don't Write Letters, Gail Giles
8. The Dollhouse Murders, Betty Ren Wright
9. The Woman in the Dunes, Kobo Abe
10. The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson
11. Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball, Stefan Kanfer
12. Mr. Monster, Dan Wells
13. Prom, Laurie Halse Anderson
14. The Tin Box, Holly Kennedy
15. Cut, Cathy Glass
16. To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
17. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell
18. Gifts, Ursula K. Le Guin
19. Swords of Haven, Simon R. Green
20. Homer and Langley, E. L. Doctorow
21. Night, Elie Wiesel
22. Sabriel, Garth Nix
23. The Girl With the Crooked Nose, Ted Botha
24. Driving With Dead People, Monica Holloway
25. Pirate Latitudes, Michael Crichton
26. Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness, Donald L. Bartlett & James B. Steele
27. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Avi
28. The Necromancer, Michael Scott
29. Storm Front, Jim Butcher
30. A Hostage for Hinterland, Arsen Darnay
31. Size 14 Is Not Fat Either, Meg Cabot
32. Machine of Death, Various
33. The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, Carlos Castaneda
34. Breathless, Dean Koontz
35. The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya, Nagaru Tanigawa
36. The Nature of the Universe, Fred Hoyle
37. The Law of Nines, Terry Goodkind
38. The Second Opinion, Michael Palmer
39. The Pearl, John Steinbeck
40. The Perks of Being A Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
41. Seven Tears for Apollo, Phyllis A. Whitney
42. I Hate It When Exercise is the Answer, Emily Watts
43. Marathon: You Can Do It!, Jeff Galloway
44. Right Behind You, Gail Giles
45. The Lost City of Z, David Grann
46. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
47. Breakaway (Space: 1999), E. C. Tubb
48. The Testament, John Grisham
49. Hurry Down Sunshine, Michael Greenberg
50. The Apothecary's Daughter, Julie Klassen
51. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
52. Pretend You Don't See Her, Mary Higgins Clark
53. We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson
54. The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle
55. Flaming Tree, Phyllis A. Whitney
56. Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
57. Anatomy of a Fraud Investigation, Stephen Pedneault
58. The Descent of Anansi, Larry Niven & Steven Barnes
59. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
60. You Belong to Me, Mary Higgins Clark
61. Marathon: How One Battle Changed Western Civilization, Richard A. Billows
62. City, Clifford D. Simak
63. After You'd Gone, Maggie O'Farrell
64. Dragon Wing, Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
65. The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya, Nagaru Tanigawa
66. Where the Heart Is, Billie Letts
67. It Looked Different on the Model, Laurie Notaro
68. Big Boned, Meg Cabot
69. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: The Kingdom on the Waves, M. T. Anderson
70. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Nagaru Tanigawa
71. Elsewhere, William Peter Blatty
72. Lirael, Garth Nix
73. Fever 1793, Laurie Halse Anderson
74. Christmas Jars, Jason F. Wright
75. Congo, Michael Crichton
76. A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
77. The Mourning Dove: A Story of Love, Larry Barkdull
Total page count: 23,135 pages
Science fiction books:
Only 11! And it was only 18 the year before! I don't need to hold myself back next year, that's for sure.
Fantasy books:
8. That's pretty good, I only got 3 last year.
Reference, biography, memoir, or other non-fiction books:
19 - I am on a roll with the nonfiction, folks! I'm really getting into it here!
Most read author for the year?
It's a three-way tie between Nagaru Tanigawa, Gail Giles, and Meg Cabot, with 3 each.
What books did you reread?
I've read The Dollhouse Murders, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, and both Mary Higgins Clark books before, but it's been so many years that it was almost like the first time with each of them. :P
Any books from this list you plan on rereading for your 50 next year?
Hm, probably not. Unless I decide to read Haruhi Suzumiya from the beginning again; they are short and fun.
What was the worst book (or books) of the year?
Looking over the list I don't see any that I just hated. Several of them were boring, but any books I truly disliked didn't get finished this year, it looks like. I would probably pick Dead Girls Don't Write Letters here, because it had some promise but then the ending was so thrown together and non-sensical that the whole thing just went up in flames.
The best?
Nothing's jumping out at me as the most amazing book of the year...I really liked the two Garth Nix ones (even though they were fantasy!), and, well, of course To Kill A Mockingbird is a great book. I also really liked The Apothecary's Daughter; that's the only one I remember reading like crazy to finish.
If you could put any one book you read this year on all your friends' to-read lists, which would you choose?
Hmm...well, To Kill A Mockingbird, naturally, if you haven't read it yet! That was easier than this question usually is :D
What books made you cry?
I think Homer and Langley was the only one. That book...I still don't know why I loved it as much as I did. Maybe I should read that one again next year. I have one or two of that author's other books too, definitely need to get on those.
What books made you laugh out loud?
Oh my gosh so many. All 3 Meg Cabot books I'm sure, both Garth Nix books, all the Haruhi ones, and definitely Laurie Notaro and The Apothecary's Daughter, because of the sheer amount of sass.
What are your first five to-read books for next year?
Two of the five I listed last year....I still haven't read. Argh! Well I am already reading Little Women, The Hunger Games, and Homecoming, so those will be the first three. Then probably the next Hunger Games one...Catching Fire, right? And Dancing in the Dark, because it's already sitting on my dresser beckoning to me. And The Help, because I've had my sister-in-law's copy for like A YEAR and I need to give it back someday.