Revealing of the list
It is with much happiness that I hereby announce the official Jen's Reading List for 2011. This makes me happy on so many levels. I love books. I love lists. I love having a plan and being intentional about what I read. And yet I'm too scatterbrained to stick to a precise schedule. So while this list does include what I hope to read this year, it is not an *ordered* list--that is, I am not (necessarily) going to proceed directly from No. 1 to No. 2, and so on.
I've got some recent novels, some old classics, some fiction, some nonfiction, some that I think will be easy reads and some more challenging. And, if you'll notice, I've left off at 20 titles--that's because I know my book group that nominates titles month-to-month will be reading another 10 books or so this year, so I've left myself room for those. If I make it through everything on the list, I'll beat my number of 29* for last year and end up with 30 reads this year. And I secretly love beating people, even if it is just myself.
Thanks to those who left me suggestions--I've included several of them in my list. I think this is going to be a great reading year, folks.
Without further ado, here it is:
1. Zeitoun, Dave Eggers. A true story of one family experience in Hurricane Katrina. A startling story--I'm almost done with it already.
2. Manhunt, James L. Swanson.
3. A Reliable Wife, Goolrick.
4. Bringing up Geeks, Marybeth Hicks.
5. Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier.
6. The Shadow of the Wind, Zafon.
7. The Indifferent Stars Above, Brown.
8. Mapp and Lucia, E.F. Benson
9. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
10. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Chua
11. The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner
12. Snow Falling on Cedars, Guterson. I got this one at a Christmas party and have started reading it as well. It's a courtroom drama, a murder mystery, and the story of the treatment of Japanese-Americans during and after WWII. Very good so far.
13. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Larsson
14. Dating Jesus, Campbell
15. Take This Bread, Miles
16. Gentlemen of the Road, Chabon
17. The Opposite of Fate, Amy Tan
18. One of the Jeeves books, Wodehouse
19. Fragile Things, Gaiman. A collection of short stories by Gaiman that I bought for my husband, but have read a bit of myself as well. So far, it fits well with Gaiman's other works: creepy, inventive, intriguing.
20. Night, Elie Wiesel
Plus: 10 yet-to-be-determined picks from my book group.
Check back with me in a year, and I'll let you know how it goes. (Or, you know, sooner than that if you want, since I do like getting blog readers more than once a year).
* OK, so I just went back and looked at my last post and realized last year's number was 28, not 29. So I only have to add 9 more to my 20 titles to beat my 2010 self.
I've got some recent novels, some old classics, some fiction, some nonfiction, some that I think will be easy reads and some more challenging. And, if you'll notice, I've left off at 20 titles--that's because I know my book group that nominates titles month-to-month will be reading another 10 books or so this year, so I've left myself room for those. If I make it through everything on the list, I'll beat my number of 29* for last year and end up with 30 reads this year. And I secretly love beating people, even if it is just myself.
Thanks to those who left me suggestions--I've included several of them in my list. I think this is going to be a great reading year, folks.
Without further ado, here it is:
1. Zeitoun, Dave Eggers. A true story of one family experience in Hurricane Katrina. A startling story--I'm almost done with it already.
2. Manhunt, James L. Swanson.
3. A Reliable Wife, Goolrick.
4. Bringing up Geeks, Marybeth Hicks.
5. Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier.
6. The Shadow of the Wind, Zafon.
7. The Indifferent Stars Above, Brown.
8. Mapp and Lucia, E.F. Benson
9. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
10. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Chua
11. The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner
12. Snow Falling on Cedars, Guterson. I got this one at a Christmas party and have started reading it as well. It's a courtroom drama, a murder mystery, and the story of the treatment of Japanese-Americans during and after WWII. Very good so far.
13. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Larsson
14. Dating Jesus, Campbell
15. Take This Bread, Miles
16. Gentlemen of the Road, Chabon
17. The Opposite of Fate, Amy Tan
18. One of the Jeeves books, Wodehouse
19. Fragile Things, Gaiman. A collection of short stories by Gaiman that I bought for my husband, but have read a bit of myself as well. So far, it fits well with Gaiman's other works: creepy, inventive, intriguing.
20. Night, Elie Wiesel
Plus: 10 yet-to-be-determined picks from my book group.
Check back with me in a year, and I'll let you know how it goes. (Or, you know, sooner than that if you want, since I do like getting blog readers more than once a year).
* OK, so I just went back and looked at my last post and realized last year's number was 28, not 29. So I only have to add 9 more to my 20 titles to beat my 2010 self.
4 comments:
Yay, my suggestions made the cut! Woohoo.
Other comments: I just finished Shadow of the Wind. It was good--dragged on a little long, perhaps, but satisfying, I thought. And I'm so glad you're reading one of the Wodehouse books. I suspect you'll end up wanting to read more of them. :) I suggest checking out the Librivox version of those books, actually--I know there's one reader on there who is really really good, and there's something about the British accent that highlights the humor.
Book Club may use your list for ideas. :)
I may need to find a copy of bringing up geeks since mine seems to be following in the footsteps of his parents.
Like all people who read the Dark Tower series and become fangirls/fanboys... I just have to give it a plug... for me, the first book was terrible and meandering and the book version of a Sergio Leone Western (which I don't like) but Book 2 sealed the deal, and stands as my second favorite, having read them all. They're worth it solely for the best ending in modern literature (IMHO) and for Stephen King's national treasure of an imagination. :) DT4EVA, ha.
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