Bucketyell vows to READ WHAT SHE OWNS!!!!!

I am moving back over to this thread for 2013. The other one was fun but I think this is more my speed. I am doing the 13/13/13 challenge as well and the overall goal is to actually focus on what I own instead of all the pretty things in bookstores, libraries and Amazon (seriously... who places 41 Amazon orders in a year???). I hope to at least hit 100 but would love to go higher if time permits.

First up is Purple Hibiscus by Adichie to start 2013 and to honour Orange January.

Good luck, a 100 is a challenging goal, sounds like your tbr is a similar state to mine. Purple Hibiscus is a great read.

>seriously... who places 41 Amazon orders in a year???

Our neighbourhood's DHL guy waves at me when he sees me somewhere out on the street. I think he sees me and thinks "job security".

1) Purple Hibiscus by Adichie. Loved it! The father really reminded me of my grandfather and so I felt somewhat connected to the book because of that. It was rather difficult to read at times (partly because the resemblence was a little too close sometimes) but overall, I was totally drawn in. This one was more story driven than Half of a Yellow Sun and I did like it better. It's one that I will be thinking about for a bit.

Next up is A Gate at the Stairs by Moore. I am not a big fan of multi-paged paragraphs or stream-of-consciousness writing so I am not sure how much I will like this one but the premise sounds good so who knows!

Next time my husband raises an eyebrow over yet another amazon order, I will just wink and say 'I am improving the employment rate'. :)

I see I read her Anagrams in 2002 but can't say that I remember much about it...

2) A Gate at the Stairs by Moore. I liked it more than I thought. The story meandered a bit and I was confused at times about what the main plot was (there were a few threads throughout) but at the end, it came together nicely. I loved the last few sentences! And the sarcastic wit.

I am halfway through Little Friend by Tartt but it's so loooooong so I started Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xialou for something a little different before I tackle the end.

3) Forgot to mention that I also finally finished Smilla's Sense of Snow by Hoeg. I am rather mixed on this one. On the one hand, it is rich in description (I would love to visit Greenland and Denmark) and the plot is interesting but on the other, it is needlessly long. I am wondering if a lot got lost in translation because it seemed rather distorted to me.

4) A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xialou. Beautiful writing and a really neat premise but man, what a dysfunctional relationship. I loved watching Zhuang discover the english language with all its weird and wonderful idiosyncrasies. But her sexual journey made me cringe.

5) A Little Friend by Tartt. Can't say I was all that impressed (weird because I loved Secret History). It started off strong but dragged on forever. And the ending kind of ticked me off ("oops? was I wrong? oh well, no harm done right?").

6) Fixer-Upper by Elliott - short and cute. It made me laugh out loud on a few occasions.

7) Small Island by Levy. This one surprised me a little. The premise sounded good and it got great reviews so I was expecting to be wowed from the start. But I found that it is a story that you need to slowly immerse yourself in. It's told from the point-of-view of four characters who are connected in some way and it alternates between past and present. I really liked how you would meet a character, form an opinion of them and only then get to see who they really are and how they got to that point. I loved how my views changed as I progressed.

Good to know about the slow-build aspect of Small Island: that one's next in line for me!

8) Fasting, Feasting by Desai. I love Desai's writing. Her novels are so subtle but yet they leave you thinking afterwards. This is one takes place in Indian and Boston and it chronicles the paths that the children in an Indian family take. Arun, the son, is allowed to go to America to attend school while the daughters are groomed for marriage (despite most being just as smart). There is no central story here but instead a few different stories weaven together.

9) Fingersmith by Waters. What a romp! Mystery, suspense, twists and turns and a little romance thrown in for good measure. I spoiled myself as I saw the movie beforehand and it followed the book to the letter (although the book explained a lot more of the backstory) so I knew what was coming. But it still sucked me in. Loved it!

10) On Beauty by Smith. I liked this one more than White Teeth but I must admit, I really didn't see the point of it. It's the Montagues and Capulets modernised but without any characters to cheer for. Dad is in idiot who can't keep it in his pants. Daughter is one of those annoying people who always thinks they are right and never lets anything go. One son is a moron who jumps on the flavour-of-the-month bandwagon depending on who he is friends with at that time. The other son flits around life never knowing who he is or what he wants. Even mom, who I guess I am supposed to feel sorry for, seems more doormat than anything else. And that is just the Montagues! Smith writes very well but I just can't engage with any of her characters.

I can't wait to get to Fingersmith. Love Sarah Waters, her storylines and the way she writes. I certainly wish that she had more out there.

11) Lacuna by Kingsolver. Loved it and hated it. The beginning sucked me in. I loved reading about Harrison's childhood in Mexico and about his friendship with Frida Kahlo. Once he came back to the US, the book meandered and got bogged down with too many details. I found it a bit of a chore to get through that part but then FBI showed up and I found myself sucked back in again (mostly just because of the absurdity of the whole thing). Overall I enjoyed it. Kingsolver is a brilliantly prolific writer.

12) Hundred Secret Senses by Tan. Wonderful book! It starts off slow but once it gets going, it is a great read. Libby-ah (Olivia) and Kwan are sisters born worlds apart but raised together in the US. The novel chronicles their childhood and adulthood as they slowly grow to understand each other. I love Kwan - she is so full of passion and fire and definitely someone who marches to their own drummer. She sees Yin people (ghosts) and thinks she can communicate with the spirit world although her sister is often sceptical.

Must read this one. It is calling out to me and Tan is really wonderful.

13) Hobbit by Tolkien - saw the movie so I had an urge to re-read this one.

I think I'm going to have to reread The Hobbit for the same reason, even though I reread it *before* seeing the movie.

Heh... now that I know the movie is in three parts (I pay attention, really I do), I will re-read it twice more! I have never read the Lord of the Rings trilogy so I figured this is the year for that.

14) Case Histories by Atkinson. I just couldn't get into Inheritance of Loss (good book but just the wrong time to try) so I did a last minute sub. I enjoyed this one although I think there is just a little too much going on and I was hoping that all the threads would tie together nicely in the end. They were interesting on their own but it was a lot to remember - I had to keep going back and reviewing who was who.

Just finding your thread, but I read Smilla's Sense Of Snow years ago and I had much the same reaction. Overall I enjoyed the book, but it took me some time to get into it. It's odd because while reading much of the first half at least, I was really on the fence. It wasn't until I was done that I realized I liked it much better than I thought.

I wondered also if it didn't lose much in translation as the transitions between scenes were lacking and I've noticed this in translated works before - most recently in the Victor Legris novels (Claude Izner).

24 - At first I wasn't sure I even wanted to finish but I am glad I did. It was a good story but yes, I think a different translator may have made a difference. It's amazing how important that is! I am currently reading Faceless Killers by Mankell and either he writes in odd, choppy, simplistic sentences or the translator on this one isn't great either.

Looks like you are doing well, good luck.

15) Faceless Killers by Mankell. This is the first of the series (and my first time reading him as well). Good story but I must say, I really didn't like Wallander (the main character) and I found that it really coloured the story for me. I will continue on (as my hubby has now bought all the books in this series) but I really hope this git learns to control his temper and stop being a whiny ass.

16) About a Boy by Hornby. Loved it. I seriously laughed myself silly. I would never, ever date someone like Will (completely self-absorbed and oblivious) but at the same time, I could totally relate to him. He said things out loud that I have often thought in my head. Hugh Grant was cast perfectly in this role. In fact, I come hear his voice throughout the story and it fit beautifully. The ending was a little weak and perhaps a little too perfect but overall, I enjoyed this one tremendously.

#28 - I read an interview with Hugh Grant years ago and he said that his character in About a Boy was as close to the real him as he's ever acted. In real life he's friends with Nick Hornby, so who knows--maybe it really is Hugh Grant. Did you know that the young actor in the film--Nicholas Hoult--has turned into a bit of a hottie? My teenage daughter has a crush on him. I still need to read some Hornby . . .

17) The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonasson. Frickin' hilarious. That is two days in a row where I have laughed myself silly.

29 - Awww.... that would explain things then. It was a lot like reading Grant's autobiography and Hornby would have the inside track. Now to Google Hoult... thanks!

Ha! I just saw Hoult in Warm Bodies. Most adorable zombie movie I've seen yet.

Good grief! That was him!!!

You are reading some interesting *hit here woman! Glad you are getting your giggles. I may have to try those last few. ;-)

I have laughed quite a bit this weekend! Now I am working on The Beach by Garland so not so much laughing but good nonetheless. I liked the premise of the movie (although DiCaprio couldn't act back then) so I was pleased to discover that it was based on a book.

18) The Beach by Garland. Yup, much better than the movie. I see that most people likened it to Lord of the Flies and while I can understand why, I don't really see them as being all that similar. Golding was trying to prove that without rules, society would soon break down and people would given in to their basic urges (become savage). But this book starts with a group of people who want to be secluded from the world. Even though there are no formal rules, they still organise themselves into groups to cover the basic tasks and personality conflicts aside (wouldn't it be lovely to choose with we live near?), they succeeded. Garland looks at how realistic and sustainable this kind of thing is. If humans are social creatures, can we mentally survive being shut off from the world? And what happens when new people enter and the dynamic changes? I was a psych major so this kind of thing fascinates me :)

19) Still Life with Chickens by Goldhammer - this is a cute little book I picked up for $2. It's all about starting over after divorce.

20) Talented Mr Ripley by Highsmith. I totally got sucked into this one. Highsmith created an awesome tale with lots of twists and turns. It reminded me a lot of Rebecca by duMaurier and I quite enjoyed that one too. I was a little apprehensive about it because I loathed the movie but the book is a million times better. I think I will check out Strangers on a Train next (liked that movie!)

21) Like Water for Chocolate by Esquivel - odd but really neat as well. I like magical realism so I enjoyed that part of this novel. The storyline was more than a little strange (just tell your mother where to go already) but yet it was rather compelling as well. It's just such a hard novel to define! I saw the movie years ago and liked it so I always wondered about the book.

I loved Like Water for Chocolate, but yes, I spent most of the novel screaming in my head about the mother. It's hard for me to understand that traditional mindset.

22) Sweet Hereafter by Banks - good book but I think I like the movie better. It's rare that I can say that but the movie really captured the mood of a small town experiencing the tragic loss. Of course, I watched the movie first so who knows how I would feel if I read the book first.

My only critique is that the author really needs to find a map and study it because Saskatchewan is not directly above you in rural New York state. If I can take the time to find out where all 50 states are, you can learn where our 10 provinces are (I won't tax you and ask you to learn about the 3 territories).

23) All Quiet on the Western Front by Remarque. What an amazingly powerful novel. I am still reeling a little.

24) Cold Mountain by Frazier. I have two aims this year: one is to read primarily stuff that I own and the other is to re-visit books that others have raved about and that I just couldn't get into. Last month I finally finished Bel Canto and liked it. And now this one. I had a manager who raved and raved about this book when it first came out. I tried on numerous occasions to get past the first few chapters but it bored me to no end. So you can imagine my surprise when, in the wee hours of the night yesterday, I was riveted and didn't want to put it down. I think part of my issue before is that the first few chapters don't seem to match the rest of the book. It's like the author wrote words down and then used a thesaurus to doll them up. But once he got writing, he realised that he had real talent and let his mind take over.

The book is a love story between two unlikely characters. First you have Inman, a soldier who one day while convalescing, decides that war isn't all it's cracked up to be so he leaves and sets out on foot to return to the love of his life. Then there is pampered Ada who loses her father and finds herself penniless. To survive, she goes looking for a servant but instead finds a close friend in Ruby and together they build up the farm. I really loved the strong female characters in this novel. Ada, Ruby and a few others who Inman meets along the way are all more than compable of taking care of themselves. Very well done.

I'm happy to read your comments on Cold Mountain. I got a copy about a zillion years ago because I found it at a charity shop for forty cents, but I've never had the least interest in actually reading it. Nothing about it attracts me other than all the rave reviews. This year it went on the "finally read it or get rid of it" pile. I hope I like it too.

> 42: I always remind myself that it's worth giving books a second or even a third time. I think it took me about four attempts to get into Midnight's Children. I don't think I would have tried that often except that I was abroad and this was one of the few books available in a language I could read. Once I did get into it, it became one of my favourite books ever (at least until I made the mistake of writing a term paper about it, haven't cracked it open since).

D'oh! Glad to know that I am not the only one with one of 'those' piles.

25) Jamaica Inn by du Maurier. Lots of murder and intrigue - a good way to spend a lazy afternoon (day two of my 4-day weekend - yippee!). I saw the end coming a mile away but other than that, a fast enjoyable read. Now I am curious about the movie.

26) Seabiscuit by Hillenbrand - I bought this one to give to my mom (she loves horses and racing) but somehow I started reading it which is weird because I have little interest in horse racing. But I found myself cheering for Seabiscuit and Smith and Pollard and Iceman. It's an interesting look at racing in the 30's. I would never want to be a jockey back then!

27) The Book of Colour by Blackburn (really? Pride and Prejudice comes up for this touchstone?). I have no idea how to even describe this one. It's a rather surreal book about zombies, curses, pigs and racism. Intrigued yet? I liked it. Blackburn is a gifted writer and I quite enjoyed her descriptions of dreams and nightmares. But I can't say I truly understood it all. I think there is a great deal of symbolism in this one and some of it went right over my head.

28) Mammoth Cheese by Holman. I started this one back in January and found it rather tedious so it sat on my nightstand for weeks. But this weekend, I decided to plug away and finish it but to my surprise, I enjoyed the second half much more than the first. The ending confused me a bit and felt more than a little rushed (after 450+ pages, why sum things up in a page?) but it was an interesting look at small town life and the things that bring people together.

Re: Cold Mountain. I highly recommend Frazier's second novel, Thirteen Moons, which didn't get anywhere near the hype but which I personally liked better than Cold Mountain (which I did like, too).

Thanks! I will try that one. I never thought I would be a fan but I quite enjoy his writing.

You are going great guns Danielle!~! I find myself quite agreeing with what you have to say about most of the books you are reading that I have read. All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read and to think that it took me into my 64th year of life to read it.
Keep on trucking girl. Doing great!

29) French Lieutenant's Woman by Fowles. Finished this one just under the wire (it was my February read for the 13/13/13 challenge). It was good but I must say, I enjoyed the author's asides and footnotes more than I enjoyed the actual story. I loved how he managed to step outside the story to chat about whatever (sexuality in the late 1800's for one thing) and then rejoin the story later on. Sometimes this technique can be jarring but he managed to make it rather seamless. Now to watch the movie this weekend and see if it compares.

30) Under the Table by Darling. The author decided to give up her career and pursue her dream to be a chef and this memoir chronicles her year-long course at culinary school. It was quite an interesting read but at times, she had some rather harsh words to say about her fellow students and instructors. I'd be curious to see what their reactions were when this was published. She included recipes at the end of most chapters and it was cool to see how they went from fairly simple to more complex as her knowledge grew.

31) Invisible by Auster. I think I am an Auster fan. This was my first but now I want to read more. It reminded me of Talented Mr Ripley but it wasn't really the story that was similar, it was more that the character Born reminded me of Ripley; charismatic and charming but with a very dark side. It's a story told in different voices but it's not told by the usual suspects. Adam is the main character and it is his life (or at least, his life as he sees or wants it to be) but the missing parts are filled in by bit characters who he encounters along the way. I really liked that detail because they were somewhat detached from him so their version of events seemed more honest.

Sigh... the horror of finding a new fave author and realising that your TBR pile is never going down... :)

the horror of finding a new fave author and realising that your TBR pile is never going down... :)

I so hear you! It's been happening to me a lot lately.

Horror? To me that's kind of like saying, "Damn! And tomorrow there's going to be another beautiful sunset I'll have to watch."

The ever-expanding TBR pile is one of the true joys of life!

Ha! Until you realize that one day you'll die, hundreds of books still waiting for you on the shelves.

Well, I'm probably never going to see every interesting place on Earth, either, but I don't consider it a horror that they're there! Similarly, I'm not horrified by the books I won't read. Instead I'm delighted to be absolutely positive that I'll never run out of cool places to visit and good books to read as long as I'm on the big blue marble.

And the books I leave still waiting for me on the shelves will be a testament to my biographers about the things I thought interesting and the authors and subject matter I was concerned about. :)

Kind of a double edged sword isn't it? I would love to live long enough to read, see and do everything I want but then again, reading everything I want within my lifetime means that there is an 'end of the line' so to speak. And to run out of stuff to read is a horror beyond all other horrors :)

Good thing I know that neither will ever happen!

>46 Yells:: I'm not interested in horse racing either (at all), but I positively loved Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley. Might be interesting for both your mom and you.

Thanks! I will check that one out. My list doesn't show it but I think I read Smiley before (Thousand Acres maybe?) and liked it.

I've read most of her books, I think, but Horse Heaven is the hands-down favourite.

32) The Sea by Banville. I loved his writing style, especially his descriptions of everything, but I was really confused by the story. He jumps back and forth a lot and I found it rather challenging to keep up. I was reading the Wikipedia blurb afterwards and only then realised that that part with the Graces was in the past (I lost a close family member this week so I will admit that my brain wasn't working at full capacity). I might need to give this one another whirl later on because I think knowing what I know now, I would approach the book differently (and not think the main character was a creepy old man lusting after a young teenager).

I am so sorry for your loss bucket. Will be thinking of you and yours.
hugs,

My condolences.

33) Elizabeth and After by Cohen. I can't say I was impressed with this one. It was an interesting story but it was one of those books that you put down afterwards and wonder what it was even really about. There were two streams going; before Elizabeth died and then after. It basically chronicles life in a smalltown and highlights how much fun it is to live in a fish bowl so maybe that is why I didn't connect (city mouse that I am).

34) Farming of the Bones by Danticat. Now this one was great. Disturbing and horrific but great. It looks at a massacre that occurred in the Dominican in the 30's. Haitians were brought over to work the fields but they were never accepted and eventually tensions escalated into violence. It never ceases to amaze me how horrible we can treat each other.

35) Virgin Suicides by Eugenides. I was rather surprised at how different this one was from Middlesex. I love finding authors who can write about many different things and do justice to them all. This one looks at the decline of a rather ordinary family. At first, they were that mysterious family on the street who kept to themselves but did enough odd things to make them a constant topic of gossip. Then, as the family began to interact with society more, the family dynamic began to decline and slowly the daughters committed suicide. It is a rather complex novel that asks more questions than it answers.

36) Ringmaster's Daughter by Gaarder. I just love the fantastical stories that this man writes. Sophie's World has got to be one of my favourite books (just because it is such an inventive, magical story). This one was not the same calibre but enjoyable nonetheless. The main character was a rather narcissistic individual but he could spin a good yarn so I could forgive him for his arrogance. He reminded me of Big Bang Theory's Sheldon except his gift was stories (and I loves me some Sheldon). He starts a black market of story ideas and makes a rather successful living at it. But people soon realise that having this fount of ideas readily available means that you don't have to do much in the way of thinking yourself and soon his little project turns into a dangerous game. Gaarder also leaves a lot unanswered but I think that adds to the story.

37) To Live By Hua. Thank you Secret Santa for bringing me this gem! Fugui starts off as a rich, spoiled brat who feels the world is his playground and all the people in it his puppets (this is a guy who is married with a kid on the way who would make a prostitute piggyback him home after sex). One day, he shames his family by gambling away the family fortune and he spends the rest of the novel trying to repent for his sins. He slowly learns what life is really about and how fragile it all is. I laughed and cried and then laughed and cried some more.

38) The Wars by Findley - really liked it. It's been a rather hard month as I now have a second funeral to go to this week (a friend of the family) so I am in a rather odd mood. I was going to read Fforde for my F title but just don't think that I am in the right frame of mind to really enjoy it so my tastes are running more towards the darker side of things. And there isn't much darker than war. This one is a war story told from a Canadian soldier's point-of-view (interesting contrast to All Quiet on the Western Front which I read earlier this year). It is my first Findley (which is a horrifying thing for a Canadian to admit!) but not my last.

Goodness girl, you are simply flying through them. Way to go!
What Fforde's do you have?

I have Fourth Bear yet to read but am just not in the mood for it. They are great books and funny enough but I don't have the brain power these days to really get all the little jabs and innuendos. And that is the best part!

I read the Wars a few years ago and it was my only Findley too, but like you, won't be my last.

39) Red Book by Kogan. Dumb. A slightly more literary Real Housewives of Boston.

40) The Ha-Ha by King. Somehow this one sat unread on my shelf since 2005 and now I am regretting that decision because it was great! Howard is a vet who suffered a blow to the head in Vietnam and now cannot talk or write (but has cards that state he is of normal intelligence!). As he bumbles through life in a house with some rather odd-ball characters, his old girlfriend drops off her young son to stay for the summer while she is in rehab. After years of calling it in, Howie now gets a new lease on life and re-discovers what it is like to really live.

41) February by Moore. Another awesome book. This is a fictionalised account of an oil rig that went down in Newfoundland in the 80's. It looks at a young mother who lost her husband and it flips back and forth from life before the accident and life afterwards as she tries to rebuild. Very well done.

42) When We Were Orphans by Ishiguro - started off slowly but picked up as it went along. I swear, this man could write a phone book and I'd read it and enjoy. He is anyone author who can write about so many different topics and do them justice.

43) Scent of Sake by Lebra. I needed a light read today and this one fit the bill. This one takes place in the early 1800's and is about a sake brewery in Japan. Rie is a head-strong female who is married off to someone the family sees fit to take over the business. Turns out she has more business acumen than her rather useless husband so she spends her time running the business while he runs around getting geisha pregnant. It was rather fluffy at times and it lacked some of the historical information that would have made it a great book but for a lazy Friday morning, it was enjoyable.

44) The Real Toy Story by Clark - if I had kids, I'd be feeling rather duped right about now. This is a rather high-level look at the toy industry, what it takes to discover the next big thing and the lengths companies will go to market their wares. Fascinating and scary at the same time.

45) Suburban Nation by Duany - and then if the first book didn't make me want to check out of the human race, I read this one and learn all about how city design, in large part, isolates people from each other. Things are a little different here in Canada because we all tend to congregate around the border so you don't find a lot of gated communities and sprawling lots (no space unless you are rich). Personally, I can't think of a worse place to live then a gated community an hour away from work but I can see the appeal for some. The book does a really good job at deconstructing the arguments for living in the 'burbs and showing how they just don't work. Very well done.

Damn bucket!~! I can't write the titles down on my TBR wish list as fast as you can read them. ;-)

That is what I am here for :)

46) Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Lee - this reads like a series of vignettes about Chinese food, fortune cookies and all things in between. Some of the chapters were a little odd and didn't seem to fit the flow but overall, it was an interesting look at where fortune cookies actually came from (not China) and which country has the best Chinese food (again, not China).

47) Paths of Desire by Browning - I am so not a gardener but long to have a green thumb so sometimes I live vicariously through others. This is a memoir about a woman who loses her garden (thanks to her unthinking neighbours and a weak retaining wall) and decides to re-build not only the garden but her life as well. An enjoyable way to spend a rainy afternoon.

48) The Smart Woman's Guide to Eating Right with Diabetes. I am not diabetic yet but have other issues that could lead to it (and a history of it in my family) so I was curious about this one. It's a nice mix of helpful tips and personal experiences.

49) Wordstruck by MacNeil. This is a wonderful memoir of a boy and his books. I loved the way he talked about how words affected him.

50) How To Tell If Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You by The Oatmeal - cute but not as funny as I thought it would be

51) Yokohama Yankee by Helm - part history and part memoir but written with the excitement of a good fictional family saga. This is a look at five generations of a mixed race family and all their ups and downs as they try to fit in in Japan and the US. Very well done.

52) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Dick. I don't normally read sci-fi so I am thinking that something passed right over my head with this one. I liked it but I feel like there is something profound that alluded me; something that connects all the weird randomness. I will have to google and see what I missed.

53) Howards End is on the Landing by Hill - I really don't need to read another book full of interesting suggestions for new books to read. :)

54) Do Americans Shop too Much? by Schor - this is an odd collection of essays about consumerism. The first part is Juliet Schnor's brief essay about the dangers of spending, part two is rebuttal essays from others (although they do sometimes agree) and then part three is her response to the criticism.

55) Witches, Midwives & Nurses by Ehrenreich & English. One of the first things published by Ehrenereich - it's a brief history of women healers. She continues it in another book I am in the middle of called For Her Own Good. Interesting stuff.

56) Lead Us Into Temptation by Twitchell. A little dated (written in 1999) but fascinating nonetheless. This is a look at consumerism/materialism. It's interesting to compare what is happening with what he thought would happen.

57) The Painter of Battles by Perez-Reverte. First of all, I loved PR's writing. He is so descriptive with his prose (and the translator is wonderful if there is one). I was going to start the Captain Alatriste series now that I have the first one but something made me choose this stand-alone one instead. It started slowly but once it got going, it was quite good. The painter of battles is a man who spent his life travelling to war-torn countries photographing all kinds of horrors. He tells himself that he is documenting these things for good reason but later on, after he retires and takes up painting, someone who once photographed comes into his life and they both start to question everything they have done.

58) High Fidelity by Hornby. This is a story about a bumbling moron who slides through life and never really appreciates what he has. He feels like a failure because instead of a 'real' job, he owns a fledgling record shop (one that has been around for many years and seems to be doing okay but he doesn't see this). His girlfriend gets tired of all his whinging and leaves him for someone else. This then becomes a tipping point in his life. He starts to question, in his own hilariously bumbling way, why he does the things that he does and he starts to change a little. This one reminded me of The Ha-Ha by King.

59) Wasp Factory by Banks. Where to start? Frank is a 17-year-old boy growing up in rural Scotland. He loves to behead animals (and blow up rabbits), kill his relatives (but that was when he was younger and going through a phase) and when he needs advice, he turns to his wasp factory, a device he created to tortures wasps in various ways and apparently divine the future by the method of their death. His brother has escaped from a mental hospital (he is considered the crazy one) and is slowly making his way home much to the dismay of the town folk who are finally able to have pets again. The whole thing culminates with one of the strangest endings I have ever read in a book. But yet, despite its weirdness, I actually liked it. And found myself mildly amused by Frank and his antics. I think Banks is a lot like Nabokov in that way. Both have an amazing ability to write about vile people and then make you almost like them.

Interesting, I've got that one on my shelf too. Sounds like a promising read.

60) The Camel Bookmobile by Hamilton. Had this not been a Harper Perennial book, I wouldn't have purchased it because it's not my type of novel. It is a fictionalised account of an actual service called the Camel Bookmobile. This is a roaming library that brings books to rural areas. It's an okay book but to be honest, I found the characters flat and one-dimensional. The story was rather predictable yet somewhat interesting.

My beef: I get rather irritated with books about people who travel around to so-called third world countries 'educating' others. Don't get me wrong, some people do important work and definitely strive to make a difference so I am not against help in general. But in this case, the aim is to bring westernised books to rural parts of Kenya and I fail to see how reading The Cat in the Hat is going to help people with growing crops and obtaining clean water. Yes, it will help them learn English but what does that do? It encourages people to have dreams beyond the community they live in and I am not sure that enticing young kids away is the best way to deal with the issues they have. It gives people a choice I suppose but it is a choice with a high cost attached.

61) Then We Came to the End by Ferris. I was expecting Office Space but instead I got a story that made me laugh and cry and cringe. It was good but it felt like the author was trying to be too many things at the same time. It's basically a story about office life and all the different personalities that must find a way to mesh together. It started off funny but then moved into deeper subjects. It's enjoyable to anyone who has found themselves a cubicle-dweller at one point in their life - when you start assigning real life names to characters, you know you are in trouble!

62) The Paris Enigma by de Santis. Similar to The Alienist in flavour. It's a murder-mystery set around the 1889 Paris World Fair and the building of the Eiffel Tower. A group of world-class detectives gather together and soon find themselves investigating a murder of one of their own. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon in bed with a cold.

63) Miss Garnet's Angel by Vickers. I must say, I loved all the descriptions about Venice but the main character rather annoyed me. I get that this was supposed to be somewhat of a rebirth for her, but she really didn't seem to learn much along the way. And she didn't treat her new friends well either. Enjoyable but I am glad to move on to the next one.

64) The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Chabon. Finally finished and quite enjoyed it. I had no idea what it was about before starting so really didn't know what to expect. But who can find fault with a book that combines history, comics and magic?

65) The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Durrow. I really liked this one. It is about a young girl who loses her family and comes to live with her grandma. She is biracial and struggling to figure out where she belongs in a world that is still not quite ready to accept her. The story flips back to her mothers diary and highlights the struggles that her mom felt with prejudice as well.

66) A Marriage Made in Heaven or Too Tired for an Affair by Bombeck. Even though I am in the middle of a few books, I needed a light-hearted tub read and this one seemed to call out for me. I read all her stuff years ago and it made me giggle then. And now that I have been married for a number of years, I related a little more to this one.

> 58: I think this one is a bit of a boys' book -- my husband loved it when it first came out (years before we met).

It took me a long time to convince him that the movie could possibly be anywhere near as good but then agreed with me that John Cusack really is Rob.:)

67) Story of O by Reage. I was rather mixed with my reaction so I went on-line to see what others thought. I do understand how risqué this was coming out in 1950. It really was miles ahead of its time because really, who wrote about BDSM then? Fifty Shades (as horrible as it is) is just bringing that subject out of the closet now! The writing style was great and the language used was actually rather subdued comparatively speaking so it really is less porn and more erotic literature.

Just a warning... while the overall nature of the book is well known, my comments to follow are spoilers....

My problem with it, and I guess my problem with BDSM in general, is about consent. I get that the premise is that submissive actually has the power in the relationship because they ultimately choose if and when they wish to stop. I suppose for the garden-variety part-time BDSM participant, this works. But in this case, this was an overall, all-consuming lifestyle choice. O, while being told she could say no at any time, was completely infatuated with Rene and went along with everything because she felt that that was the only way to keep him. Sure she has a choice but really, what kind of choice is it? My boss gives me projects all the time and I have the choice of whether to do them or not. But if I don't, I won't have a job much longer. Rene asks her if she is okay with things but since he has tremendous power over her to begin with, she goes along with it all for fear of losing him.

I also had a big problem with Rene. He continually says that he loves her but the whole time he seems to view her as a psychological experiment. He sells her to the highest bidder (Sir Stephen) because he claims that he isn't strong enough to handle her conversion but I think it was more that he wanted to be a passive observer. He was prominent in the beginning but by the end, he almost becomes part of the furniture as he watches from the sidelines.

O starts off the novel with no name and by the end, she doesn't even have a personality. It is presented as if she is okay with everything that occurs but really, does someone being brainwashed know that they are being brainwashed? How does one really know what she wanted until after she is removed from the situation and can verify things for herself? Apparently the author wrote this as a love story for her boyfriend and that makes me really sad.

I don't think The Story of O is at all representative of healthy BDSM (if I remember their rule of thumb is "safe, sane and consensual"). As I understand it Shades of Grey isn't either. Certainly there will be those that undulge in such fetishes without respect for their partners but I'd hate for the sort of craziness that goes down in O to be taken as a model of BDSM.

I have a hard time seeing O as erotica, to me it was a grotesque psychological horror with just about the most unreliable narrator I've encountered. For me I think that's what made it worth reading. I was kept in active reading mode the entire time because I couldn't trust anything that was being presented to me. For me the story wasn't in O's narration, but drove it. How was it that a person could come to believe such things, to accept and ultimately embrace complete psychological dehumanization and physical destruction?

I really don't know what Reage's intent was when she wrote the book but that's what I got out of it. Personally, as far as twisted eroticism goes, I found Story of the Eye infinitely easier to read.

Apparently this novel was written on a dare. Her boyfriend claimed that women couldn't write this kind of thing and she set out to prove him wrong. She presented it as a love letter of sorts.

You make a good point. I was rather mixed after finishing. I mean, the feminist in me saw red. How does one let that happen to themselves just to please a man? But below the surface is a whole other level - one that I still don't completely comprehend but yet find intriguing. That was the part that kept drawing me back in because I just had to figure it all out. 'Grotesque psychological horror' pretty much sums it up!

68) All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Fulghum. Light and fun and just the right thing to read at 2am when you are wide awake for the second night in a row and desperately craving sleep. I read this one years ago and liked it. And found that it still holds true.

69) Uh-Oh by Fulghum. Another little, quick read.

LOL. Chuckle!

70) Wolf Hall by Mantel. I am sure 50% of this one went right over my head but it was fascinating nonetheless. I made full use of the handy-dandy tutored read from last year (75 books thread) to give myself a crash course in Tudor history (thanks for that!). I will now start the next one...

71) Strait is the Gate by Gide. A short yet powerful read to finish the day. This is a sad little tale of unfulfilled love.

72) Confederacy of Dunces by Toole. I have finally finished this one. Interesting but exhausting! I gotta admit, as horrible as Ignatius was, I actually felt bad for him at times. Mr Levy reminded me of that boss that George had on Seinfeld. I totally pictured him the whole time I was reading. And now that I think about it, Mrs Reilly could be Estelle...

73) Interpreter of Maladies by Lahiri. I am not generally one for short stories, as I like a more fleshed out story, but these ones were really good. After each one, I felt satisfied with the story and didn't feel like there were any loose ends.

74) Moon Palace by Auster. I am fast becoming an Auster fan. It was weird at times and over-the-top but I couldn't stop reading.

75) The Namesake by Lahiri. Proof that she can write a good full-length story as well! I think overall, I liked her short stories a bit better - they seemed more complex with greater depth. But this story made me angry, happy and sad. Will have to get her other one out of the library now...

I liked The Namesake as well -- so much so that I actually bought The Overcoat. Haven't read it yet, though...

I immediately read The Nose!

#111> Yes! The Overcoat and The Nose by Gogol. Two of my favorites.

I wonder if Lahiri created a Gogol boom all by herself.:)

76) A Kestrel for a Knave by Hines. A 1001 book and quite enjoyable. It's about a young boy growing in a Yorkshire mining town who finds and trains a hawk.

77) Here is New York by White. Short but strong enough to make me want to visit NY real soon.

78) Imperfect Harmony by Horn. Loved it! It's about a young woman and her experiences in a choir. Its the perfect mix of musical history and memoir.

79) Summer Daydreams by Matthews. I can usually count on Matthews to deliver a light, fluffy summer read but this one was definitely not her best. Annoyingly stupid characters, unlikely situations and tons of loose ends flying all over the place.

80) Life and Times of Michael K by Coetzee. I just love this author! He has the ability to so completely immerse the reader in the novel. I only came up for air when I turned the last page and realised the ride was over. I will move Disgrace up the list.

81) Boys in the Trees by Swan. Meh. Can't say I was impressed. It jumped around way too much.

82) Disgrace by Coetzee. Very well done. It's a very disturbing book overall but well written. I didn't get the ending I was hoping for but it was a satisfying one.

83) Just Gone by Kowalski. An ER rapid reads book - interesting. The last one I read was like a full length story condensed down to basic words and I didn't like it much. But this one had an interesting story and the plot worked in the 100 or so pages alloted. I read Eddie's Bastard years ago and quite liked it so I am glad to see that he is still writing.

84) Little Stranger by Waters. What spooky fun! Who doesn't like a book about haunted houses and ghosts? My only criticism is that it was quite long.

85) Zombie by Oates. Okay then... that was a strange and disturbing trip.

That was my reaction to my only foray into Oates to date (A Fair Maiden) - she makes interesting choices and executes brilliantly, but they're not comfortable reading, are they?

86) The Book Thief by Zusak. This was another Secret Santa gift and I am ashamed of how long it took for me to read this gem! It's a rather unique look at World War II and very well done.

>86 Yells: I didn't exactly get swept away by The Book Thief, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it really unusual. I was taught history in German (by a German) from the age of about 13-18, so this was an interesting parallel to what we learned about Germany during the War (needless to say, studying WWII from a German perspective is a rather interesting experience in its own right!)

87) Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Sloan. Another odd and unique book. The ending was a little disappointing (I thought it was building up to something a little more... well, uhm, bigger) but overall, it was enjoyable. It rather reminded me of Ready Player One by Cline.

126 - I think the format was what drew me in. The storyline on this one was average but the way it was written wasn't quite so average. The story-within-a-story thing was cool and I loved how death narrated the whole thing.

Yah, I would think learning Germany WWII history from a German perspective would be rather interesting!

88) Small Ceremonies by Shields. This was her first book about a new author trying to find herself. Well done.

89) The Box Garden by Shields. This is a sorta sequel (or parallel novel) to Small Ceremonies. They are each written from the point-of-view of a McNinn sister but cover different events. This one was about a divorced woman who is trying to find the strength to love again while she attends her mother's second wedding. Very well done. I have read a lot of Shields' latter stuff but these first two novels are just as good.

90) A High and Hidden Place by Lucas. Fascinating story but awful execution. It's about a woman living in 1963, who after witnessing the shooting of Oswald on TV, starts to remember a French massacre that took her family in 1944. She comes back to France to find out what happened and try to make peace with it. The story was really interesting and based on real events but the writing/editing was horrible. It is a first novel so I would hope if she decides to write more, a better publisher could be found.

I am on vacation for a week so will try to hit the 100 mark by week end!

Good luck and happy reading :D

>128 Yells:/9: I love Carol Shields. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the fact that I discovered her when I had just moved to Canada myself (for a while, there were no other books in the shops than The Stone Diaries, or so it seemed), so to me her writing is forever connected to the memory of these years and of myself as a young woman.

I'm currently reading her Collected Stories, slowly, one story at a time with breaks inbetween, to make them last. But then I think I'll be rereading the novels as well.

91) The Bull is Not Killed by Dearing. Part history and part love story (with a little fraud thrown in for good measure).

92) Into the Beautiful North by Urrea. A rather odd story about a young woman from a small Mexican town who decides to head north to the US so she can wrangle up some Mexican men (seven to be exact) and bring them back so they can defend her town. The actual male citizens of the town headed north for work and never came back and the womenfolk are tired of being hassled by banditos. She also decides to find her own father who left years ago and aside from a postcard, has never been heard from since. Per the blurb on the back, this was supposed to be a hilarious story but I didn't find much humour in it. The writing was good but the story was a little too weird.

Thanks! I have so many half-finished books kicking around so I am making time this week to finally finish them. Plus my mom is rounding up books for charity so I promised her whatever I finish.

Shields and I had a love/hate relationship for a while. I discovered her in university when we read Stone Diaries and I loved it. Then, a few months later, while working in a bookstore, she came in. She realised that we were sold out of that book and basically threw a fit. She stormed off and the next day, two boxes arrived first thing in the morning. I wasn't impressed with her attitude but man, she got things done! It took me years to finally reach for another one of her books but I am glad I did. Unless and Happenstance are both great books. I am now trying to read them all in order just to see how her writing progressed. It's too bad she didn't have time to write more.

93) The Condition by Haigh. I like this one but I will admit, I am confused about the title. If you went by the blurb on the back, you would think that this is a story about how a family deals with the newly diagnosed illness of a child (and therefore the title makes sense). But the actual story jumps all over the place from character to character and chronicles the life of one highly dysfunctional family and all the 'conditions' they each have. Good story overall (reminds me a lot of Beach Music) but I feel rather mislead on the purpose it.

94) A Spot of Bother by Haddon. Sorry, no... THIS is a dysfunctional family. Dad is slowly going nuts and thinks he has cancer, mom is lonely and finds comfort in the arms of dads old co-worker, daughter is marrying someone who may or may not be right for her (not even she knows) and one son is gay and even he can't admit it. Everyone else is varying degrees of normal/crazy. Overall, it rather makes you laugh and cringe.

95) Enchanted April by Von Arnim. This book rather annoyed me. I hated just about everyone - these women were all either doormats or snobs. The description of Italy was nice but no one on this trip really seemed to truly appreciate where they were.

96) Hijacked: How Your Brain Is Fooled by Food by Kessler. An ER book aimed at teens about food and weight gain. Interesting premise but really repetitive.

97) Three Men in a Boat by Jerome. Abso-frickin'-hilarious! Well, except the part with the woman in the water. But everything else made me giggle like a little kid.

98) Turtle Valley by Anderson-Dargatz. I got this book six years ago as an ARC and I know over the years I have tried a few times to read it but with no success. I love this author but for whatever reason, this one never grabbed me. This year I am trying to read the stuff that has been on my shelves the longest so I pressed on and finished this one finally. And loved it! Part of my earlier reluctance could be that this is a much darker story than her others.

The story takes place in BC and there a forest fire bearing down on Turtle Valley where Katrine has returned home to help her parents pack and evacuate. In the middle of the preparations, she realises that her past was not exactly what she thought and she starts to uncover family secrets that her family thought had been buried forever. The story has just about everything in it - mystery, drama, romance....

99) Orange is the New Black by Kerman. I quite enjoyed this one although I did feel like she sanitised it quite a bit. And I never really got the sense that she was all that unhappy there - she described the relationships she had with other inmates well but wasn't all that great at expressing her own feelings.

I might need to check out the TV show.

100) Falling Angels by Gowdy. And continuing my run of dysfunctional family novels.... this one tops the list so far. Just when you think you have everyone figured out, they turn out to be more horrible than you thought.

And with that... I hit the magic 100 mark. My shelves groan less these days (okay, who am I kidding... I add more than I read) and I have discovered some really interesting stuff. Maybe I will hit 150 by year end.

101) Bring Up the Bodies by Mantel. Finally finished... not sure why it took so long as it was a great book but I could only handle so much history in a single seating I suppose. I didn't particularly like Anne Boleyn but she got royally screwed (snerk).

102) We So Seldom Look On Love by Gowdy. I am becoming more and more a fan of short stories and these were especially good. They were a little odd at times though - not one but two stories about Siamese twins.

>140 Yells:: Interesting. I loved A Cure for Death by Lightning and A Recipe for Bees but A Rhinestone Button left me rather cold (wrong book at the wrong time perhaps?). Maybe I should reread that one and then seek out Turtle Valley...

103) The Hunger: A Story of Food, Desire and Ambition by DeLucie. Part interesting look at how to climb the restaurant ladder as a chef and part self-important chef bragging about his climb up the corporate ladder. I think all the parts about cheating, drinking and drugs kept my attention away from the story and didn't really do much to endear me to this guy.

104) iDisorder by Rosen. The psych major in me loved this book while the '40-something throwback to the 80s' was horrified by these tech-obsessed people. Social media is fun but I certainly don't need to update my Facebook status every 15 minutes or sleep with my cell phone (already I do quite like my book-related sites). This is a great book for people who have friends/loved ones who are more than a little obsessed with the internet and electronic gadgets as it offers suggestions on how to deal with them and on what underlying factors could be influencing this behaviour.

"throwback to the 80s": that was a good decade. I think back on it fondly (my husband not so much, at least not when I'm singing 80s' pop songs -- just possibly due to the fact that I can neither hold a tune nor really remember the lyrics).

105) This Book is Overdue! by Johnson - Interesting look at libraries and the people who make or break them.

106) Enough: Breaking Free From the World of Excess by Nash. This is a neat look at stuff, why we want to collect it and how we can free ourselves.

107) Slam by Hornby. Gotta be my least favourite Hornby novel. Rather disappointing to be honest.

>151 Yells:: Have you read Juliet, naked? I abandoned this a bit in because I couldn't get over my dislike of the female protagonist (how spiteful towards your partner do you get to be?) and am wondering if it's worth bothering. I wasn't too crazy about Slam, either. I guess he can't score a High Fidelity every time.:)

152 - nope.. but doesn't sound like I am missing much! I did read High Fidelity, About a Boy and the one about the suicide pact (name escapes me) and liked those ones.