Books 2011
1. My life as a furry red monster - Kevin Clash (I like Elmo a little more now. A little)
2. Son of a Witch - Gregory Maguire (didn't have the impact for me that Wicked did)
3. The Beginners Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize - Peter Doherty (I agree with some, not with other parts. Interesting read)
4. Babies, Bellies and Blundstones - Catherine Deveny (well, it's meant to be offensive...)
5. After America - John Birmingham (I like)
6. Your Best birth - Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein
7. 1901 - Robert Conroy (alternate history, what if Germany invaded the USA in 1901)
8. The Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant (what happens if historians start writing fiction. Actually pretty good; young intellectual woman in early 16C Tuscany)
9. The virgin's Lover - Philippa Gregory (lightweight historical fiction. Don't judge :)
10. Paydirt - Kathleen Mary Fallon (my cultural guilt is overwhelming after this. Hits you like Rabbit Proof Fence)
11. The Making of Julia Gillard - Jacqueline Kent (written before the PM takeover)
12. The Death of Bunny Munro - Nick Cave (just like what you would expect of a novel by Nick Cave. :)
13. The Cotton Queen - Pamela Morsi (Women growing up, dealing with crap, growing more, dealing with more crap, accepting selves)
14. Scrumpy Delight for Polly Pinch - Alicia Bessette (I admit I picked this for the title alone. It wasn't bad, but had a lot of heartwarming in it, which seems obvious in retrospect)
15. Birth Your Way - Sheila Kitzinger
16. The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte (another life story; nothing new here)
17. Bed Rest - Sarah Bilston (Chick lit, oh how I hate you. Women being horrible to everyone for no fathomable reason, then... baby!)
18. Fat, Forty and Fired (gratuitous excuse to publish cute anecdotes about his children and long-suffering wife after he went back to the corporate world)
19. Quicksilver - Neal Stephenson (lots of fun, but took ages and I needed breaks for fluff. I do love science and history, though)
20. Tis - Frank McCourt (I'm on a biography binge at the moment)
21. When Hungry, Eat - Joanne Fedley
22. The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff (plural marriages, sort of a thriller, sort of not)
I think I missed some.
23. Jetty Road - Cath Keneally (set in Adelaide, lots of references to home :)
24. The Mould on Dr Florey's Coat - Eric Lax (discovery of penicillin, perfect for reading when you have a viral disease...)
25. How not to F*** Them Up - Oliver James (more or less attachment parenting with appropriate letting go at the appropriate time. Nothing novel here)
26. The Jane Austen Book Club - Karen Joy Fowler (I have this vague feeling I've read this before)
27. Her Mother's Thighs - Dara Chadwick (raising girls without fucking up their body image. Hard)
28. By A Lady - Amanda Elyot (Time travel and Jane Austen. It was bad, but not bad enough to make me want to poke my eyes out like, say, Heinlein would)
29. The Quilter's Apprentice - Jennifer Chiaverini (It's an American Novel, capitals intentional. Hardly a Great one though)
30. Island of Bones - Imogen Robertson (apparently a series of murder mystery novels set in 18C Britain)
31. boobs, babies and breastfeeding (anthology of first-person stories about breastfeeding, some successful and some not. Great reference, I need to find the proper title and editors, I think lululily would like it very much)
32. Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood (re-read, interesting in light of similar bullying going on at W's school)
33. The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth - Henci Goer
And then I had a baby.
34. Baby Love - Robin Barker
35. The Yummy Mummy's Survival Guide - Liz Fraser (OK, so it was mostly fun for reminiscing about pregnancy/birth/etc., and for the advice to look after one's own self-image as a mum)
36. The Darcy's and Bingley's - Marsha Altman (I'm a sucker for Pride and Prejudice follow-ons; this one is the first in a series, and is not too bad)
37. Surviving Step-families - Michael Carr-Gregg (Self help meets parenting advice meets educational reading. Useful in a general sense and also from the "it's ok, you're doing fine" perspective)
38. The Household Guide to Dying - Debra Adelaide
39. Dead as a Doornail - Charlaine Harris
40. A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity - Kathleen Gilles Seidel (what if your kid were popular and you hadn't been? What if she were the mean girl? The bully? Of course, she still dodges the topic as little by making her mean girl the product of a broken home and psycho mother)
41. The Red Queen - Philippa Greggory (I'm a sucker for historical fiction)
42. 22 Nov, 1963 - (forgot to note author)
43. Angels of Vengeance - John Birmingham (I'm counting this because I only had 40 pages left out of 500 on Jan 1; had NYE gone differently I might actually have finished it that day. :)
2. Son of a Witch - Gregory Maguire (didn't have the impact for me that Wicked did)
3. The Beginners Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize - Peter Doherty (I agree with some, not with other parts. Interesting read)
4. Babies, Bellies and Blundstones - Catherine Deveny (well, it's meant to be offensive...)
5. After America - John Birmingham (I like)
6. Your Best birth - Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein
7. 1901 - Robert Conroy (alternate history, what if Germany invaded the USA in 1901)
8. The Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant (what happens if historians start writing fiction. Actually pretty good; young intellectual woman in early 16C Tuscany)
9. The virgin's Lover - Philippa Gregory (lightweight historical fiction. Don't judge :)
10. Paydirt - Kathleen Mary Fallon (my cultural guilt is overwhelming after this. Hits you like Rabbit Proof Fence)
11. The Making of Julia Gillard - Jacqueline Kent (written before the PM takeover)
12. The Death of Bunny Munro - Nick Cave (just like what you would expect of a novel by Nick Cave. :)
13. The Cotton Queen - Pamela Morsi (Women growing up, dealing with crap, growing more, dealing with more crap, accepting selves)
14. Scrumpy Delight for Polly Pinch - Alicia Bessette (I admit I picked this for the title alone. It wasn't bad, but had a lot of heartwarming in it, which seems obvious in retrospect)
15. Birth Your Way - Sheila Kitzinger
16. The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte (another life story; nothing new here)
17. Bed Rest - Sarah Bilston (Chick lit, oh how I hate you. Women being horrible to everyone for no fathomable reason, then... baby!)
18. Fat, Forty and Fired (gratuitous excuse to publish cute anecdotes about his children and long-suffering wife after he went back to the corporate world)
19. Quicksilver - Neal Stephenson (lots of fun, but took ages and I needed breaks for fluff. I do love science and history, though)
20. Tis - Frank McCourt (I'm on a biography binge at the moment)
21. When Hungry, Eat - Joanne Fedley
22. The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff (plural marriages, sort of a thriller, sort of not)
I think I missed some.
23. Jetty Road - Cath Keneally (set in Adelaide, lots of references to home :)
24. The Mould on Dr Florey's Coat - Eric Lax (discovery of penicillin, perfect for reading when you have a viral disease...)
25. How not to F*** Them Up - Oliver James (more or less attachment parenting with appropriate letting go at the appropriate time. Nothing novel here)
26. The Jane Austen Book Club - Karen Joy Fowler (I have this vague feeling I've read this before)
27. Her Mother's Thighs - Dara Chadwick (raising girls without fucking up their body image. Hard)
28. By A Lady - Amanda Elyot (Time travel and Jane Austen. It was bad, but not bad enough to make me want to poke my eyes out like, say, Heinlein would)
29. The Quilter's Apprentice - Jennifer Chiaverini (It's an American Novel, capitals intentional. Hardly a Great one though)
30. Island of Bones - Imogen Robertson (apparently a series of murder mystery novels set in 18C Britain)
31. boobs, babies and breastfeeding (anthology of first-person stories about breastfeeding, some successful and some not. Great reference, I need to find the proper title and editors, I think lululily would like it very much)
32. Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood (re-read, interesting in light of similar bullying going on at W's school)
33. The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth - Henci Goer
And then I had a baby.
34. Baby Love - Robin Barker
35. The Yummy Mummy's Survival Guide - Liz Fraser (OK, so it was mostly fun for reminiscing about pregnancy/birth/etc., and for the advice to look after one's own self-image as a mum)
36. The Darcy's and Bingley's - Marsha Altman (I'm a sucker for Pride and Prejudice follow-ons; this one is the first in a series, and is not too bad)
37. Surviving Step-families - Michael Carr-Gregg (Self help meets parenting advice meets educational reading. Useful in a general sense and also from the "it's ok, you're doing fine" perspective)
38. The Household Guide to Dying - Debra Adelaide
39. Dead as a Doornail - Charlaine Harris
40. A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity - Kathleen Gilles Seidel (what if your kid were popular and you hadn't been? What if she were the mean girl? The bully? Of course, she still dodges the topic as little by making her mean girl the product of a broken home and psycho mother)
41. The Red Queen - Philippa Greggory (I'm a sucker for historical fiction)
42. 22 Nov, 1963 - (forgot to note author)
43. Angels of Vengeance - John Birmingham (I'm counting this because I only had 40 pages left out of 500 on Jan 1; had NYE gone differently I might actually have finished it that day. :)