2011 Reads

It is satisfying to me to look at the books I read last year...

The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
Incendiary by Chris Cleave
The Absent Traveler by Randall DeVallance
Bloodroot by Amy Greene
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury (yes, THAT Cadbury!)
Annabel by Kathleen Winter
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
Delirious by Daniel Palmer
Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward
P.S. I Love You by Cecilia Ahern
Shadow Tag by Louise Erddrich
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simpson
Among the Missing by Dan Chaon
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum
Needful Things by Stephen King
Bossypants by Tina Fey
A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman
Contented Dementia by Oliver James
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Big Girl Small by Rachel DeWoskin
Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf
Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Alone Together by Sherry Turkle
Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Moonlight on Linoleum by Terry Helwig
Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen Degeneres
Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks
Gun, with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
The Prank by Adam Black
Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
In the Woods by Tana French
Toast by Nigel Slater
Laura Rider's Masterpiece by Jane Hamilton
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Aftertaste by Meredith Mileti

...and to remember ones I really enjoyed....

IN THE WOODS
by Tana French

     

It took me several tries to get into this book, but once I did, it was worth it. A mystery, set in Ireland, where the main character - and narrator - is a detective...and a victim.

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THE PRANK
by Adam Black

     

I loved this. Written as a breaking news story online through facebook "likes" and posts, blogs, news releases, interviews, etc. This book has much to say about how we ingest and interpret the information we glean online. brilliant.

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THE NIGHT CIRCUS
by Erin Morgenstern

     

Morgenstern has created a magical world which may just sweep you away.

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THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE
by Heather Gudenkauf

     

Callie, a young girl comes running from the forest after being missing. She doesn't speak. Why doesn't she speak? What happened in the forest? This book stayed with me long after I finished reading it.

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THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy by Suzanne Collins

               

Even though this is categorized as a "teen" selection, this is a great story, set in a future world with characters to root for...this is excellent.

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BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP
by S.J. Watson

     

A taut psychological thriller...the main character had and accident that caused a mental condition where she doesn't remember who she is or what her life is when she wakes up in the morning. Every morning she wakes up next to a man who is a stranger to her. She has to rediscover her life every day. really well done.

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MAJOR PETTIGREW'S LAST STAND
by Helen Simpson

     

Set in an English village, Major Pettigrew, a proper, retired, widowed military man, discovers love, which others in the village find improper. delightful!

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WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT
by Sarah Winman

     

Starting as a little girl, Elly tells her story of her family, including her brother Joe and her best friend Jenny Penny. This is endearing, quirky, poignant and very engaging. A very good read!

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ANNABEL
by Kathleen WINTER


     

This novel enveloped me from the beginning. Though compared to Jeffrey Eugenides's MIDDLESEX because they both deal with hermaphrodites, ANNABEL is more intimate in scope. I loved this.

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THE LOVER'S DICTIONARY
by David Levithan

     

Such a brilliant idea - a love story told through dictionary entries. REALLY well done. This would be a wonderful Valentine's Day, engagement, anniversary or wedding gift.

Clicking on the picture of the book cover will take you to Amazon.com. Clicking on the underlined book title will take you to Barnes and Noble's website. You can read more about each book and purchase it there. Doing so helps support the blog. Thanks for reading!

Reading on Vacation

                          
            

What a good vacation for reading!

I started with P.S. I LOVE YOU, warnings about excessive crying notwithstanding. Set in Ireland, Holly's husband dies. She is grief stricken, but with the help of her family and friends, and letters her husband wrote to her which she found after he died, she is able to work through her grief. Touching and sweet. I didn't cry too much!

Louise Erdrich's SHADOW TAG was next. Irene keeps two diaries. One, the Red Diary, is the one her abusive, artistic husband Gil reads. The Blue Diary she keeps in a safety deposit box, in which she writes how she really feels. She uses the Red Diary to manipulate Gil. A train wreck of a relationship, well done.

Dan Chaon, one of Therapist's favorite authors, wrote AMONG THE MISSING, a book of short stories. This lesser known book came out before his novels, AWAIT YOUR REPLY, and YOU REMIND ME OF ME: A NOVEL. I haven't finished all of the stories (yet). Dark with characters that are a little...off. The story that is sticking with me is "I Demand to Know Where You're Taking Me", told from Cheryl's point of view about her husband's brothers, one of whom is in prison for rape and murder. A parrot features prominently.

MAJOR PETTIGREW'S LAST STAND was the book I enjoyed the most. Retired and oh-so-proper Major Ernest Pettigrew lives in a village in England. His brother dies and he has a few things to sort out. He covets a gun his brother had and which his son, sister-in-law and niece desperately want to sell. He finds himself attracted to Mrs. Ali, an Englishwoman by birth if not by ancestry. His village may be changing due to development by an American firm. How does one remain true to who one is, and who one wants to be when (mostly) well-meaning villagers and family members don't like what one is doing?

THE POISONER'S HANDBOOK was fascinating. Each chapter covers a particular poison. Blum uses actual medical and criminal cases from the 1920's in New York City to show the hard won beginnings and development of forensic science. Intriguing.

Alas, I could not get into CHARLES JESSOLD, CONSIDERED A MURDERER. I tried. Even when I tried and had not had a margarita or two, I couldn't get into it. That was disappointing. Because of this, I needed another book for the flight home. MENNONITE IN A LITTLE BLACK DRESS by Rhoda Janzen has been one I'd been eying for a while at the bookstore. Janzen's husband leaves her and in the very same week she is in a fairly serious car accident. She decides to spend some time with her parents, back in the Mennonite household of her childhood. She is an academic, and comes back to her strict religious upbringing with new, and often humorous eyes.

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