Overall, 2011 was terrible year for me reading-wise. There were long periods where I read nothing beyond skimming the newspapers and blogs. There was far more frivolous than serious reading.There were other periods were I was up to only reading a page or two a night. There is also a fairly long list (for me anyway) of books I feel I must read again, books I feel that I fell got short shrift because I was too distracted to focus on them and give them the attention they deserved.
Still, I feel the need to make some kind of accounting. If I reviewed a book on the blog there is a link, although you will notice that my ability to take time for reviews stopped for the most part as I got busy preparing to sell our old house and move.
Books I feel I need to read again are marked in red. In the case of Hustvedt and Wallace, I just felt that I wasn't paying enough attention. I loved both of the Atwood novels, and they still hover on the fringes of my thoughts, making me think they deserve further consideration.
1. Freedman, David H. Wrong: Why Experts Keep Failing Us and How to Know When Not to Trust Them.
2. Lebenthal, Alexandra. The Recessionistas.
3. Niffenegger, Audrey. The Time Traveler's Wife.
4. McMurtry, Larry. Books.
5. Ripley, Amanda. The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes — And Why.
6. Akroyd, Peter. The Trial of Elizabeth Cree.
7. Kingsolver, Barbara. The Bean Trees.
8. Kozol, Maggie. The Color of Atmosphere.
9. Patterson, James. The Postcard Killers.
10. Woods, Stuart. Lucid Intervals.
11. Chabon, Michael. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.
12. Cahill, Thomas. How the Irish Saved Civilization.
13. Dineson, Isaak. Out of Africa.
14. Hirigoyen, Gerard. Pintxos.
15. Hoeg, Peter. The Woman and the Ape.
16. Lewis, Michael. The Big Short.
17. Martin, Charles. Chasing Fireflies.
18. Doland, Erin. Unclutterer: Unclutter Your Life In One Week
19. Chabris, Christopher. The Invisible Gorilla.
20. Chabon, Michael. Summerland.
21. Child, Lee. Worth Dying For.
22. Child, Lee. 61 Hours.
23. Winter, Kathleen. Annabel.
24. McLain, Paula. The Paris Wife.
25. Franzen, Jonathan. The Discomfort Zone.
26. Woods, Stuart. Fresh Disasters.
27. Wallace, David Foster. The Pale King.
28. Hamill, Pete. Tabloid City.
29. Woods, Stuart. Hot Mahogany.
30. Taubes, Gary. Why We Get Fat
31. Watts, Duncan. Everything is Obvious: Once You Know the Answer.
32. Brooks, Geraldine. Caleb's Crossing.
33. Howe, Ben Ryder. My Korean Deli.
34. Lovell, Mary S. The Churchills: In Love and War.
35. Child, Julia. My Life in France.
36. Reich, Christopher. Rules of Betrayal.
37. Gordon, Mary. The Love of My Youth.
38. Staniszewski, Mary Ann. Believing is Seeing: Creating the Culture of Art.
39. Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games.
40. Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire.
41. Collins, Suzanne. Mockingjay.
42. Jansson, Tove. Fair Play.
43. Neville, Stuart. Collusion.
44. Atwood, Margaret. The Year of the Flood.
45. Stockett, Kathryn. The Help.
46. Hustvedt, Siri. The Summer Without Men.
47. Atwood, Margaret. Oryx and Crake.
48. McPhee, Stephanie Pearl. Knitting Rules!
49. McPhee, Stephanie Pearl. All Wound Up: The Yarn Harlot Writes for a Spin.
50. McPhee, Stephanie Pearl. Free Range Knitter.
51. Child, Lee. The Affair.
52. Peacock, Nancy. A Broom of One's Own.
There was very little reading after September aside from the Stephanie Pearl McPhee books which were very light and could be read a few pages at a time. The last two books were read my first few days in Knoxville.
Current Reading:
Azar Nafisi — Things I've Been Silent About
Andrea Eames — The Cry of the Go Away Bird.
Comments
13 responses to “Books Read 2011”
It’s interesting, isn’t it, looking over the list of one’s reading for a year. I find it satisfying in some ways, frustrating in others . . . and always a challenge to my memory. Mostly, though, my list is always shadowed by the parallel lists of books I still want to read, titles prompted by other lists . . . such as yours. I’ve so enjoyed reading alongside you these past two years or so. Happy New Year!
Mater, It is interesting looking over the list and you have captured that simultaneous feeling of both satisfaction and frustration. Given that I felt like I read so little this year, and I hardly read at all from September through December, I was surprised that there were so many books. I was also gratified that there were more than a couple of good books in the mix, not all mysteries and thrillers. But yes, I tend to look at the list and then at the even longer list of books I want to read and sign. This year that sense of regret is a little more poignant because of the books I felt I did not give the attention they deserved. They are not books I hated and allowed myself to put down, they were books I felt I did not have the energy to address on their own terms, and that feels like a failing even though there were perfectly good reasons.
Ahh, there is a resolution for me. I think I shall have to work on giving up my regrets over not always living up to the standards I set for myself.
I’m sitting reading Madame Bovary just now.
My red velvet cake was gluten free, I made it with almond four which I do quite a lot but oh boy that was the most lethal cake ever, I could have wolfed down the whole thing.
I’m impressed you got through anything by David Foster Wallace. I made an attempt at “The Broom of the System” but it didn’t succeed at hooking me.
I find that in my middle-aged I’m much less likely to stick with a book that doesn’t grab me within the first pages or chapters.
I must say – I am impressed by the amount of books you have read.
Where do you find the time?
I think that I am procrastinating in reading books. There always is something that needs to be done first..
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An impressive list, Mardel–I’m printing it out so I can enrich my 2012 reading.
What an impressive list! Thank you for compiling it one post, I’ll likely revisit it for suggestions the next time I’m looking for something interesting to read. For now though I have a stack of about 30 books to read.
Oh Susan, I wish I only had 30 books waiting to be read! I have 35 here in the hotel with me with probably the same amount in a box for the new house. I am sure neither one of us is counting the books on the lists in our heads, where I have a few recommendations i have gleaned from you.
Thanks Patti!
Mette, I think one needs to be able to ignore the other things that must be done.
Oh Rose, this book grabbed me at the very beginning, but then it was a struggle, and the rest of my life reflected too much of the books subject. I will be back to it though.
OH my, Red Velvet cake made from Almond flour sounds delicious, and yes, lethal. I shall have to try it, but Im still a few weeks from having a kitchen.