Michelle's list

OK, here goes. I've finished my first book (a novel, of course). Only 74 more to go!

1. The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells -

Welcome. Have a great Reading Year! You'll find us talkative and friendly, I hope.

Welcome!

Welcome to the group!

If you care to, head over to the 'Introductions' thread to meet the members. You can find the thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/79114

Boy, I am not off to a good start. I only just finished my second book--another twentieth century novel, although at least this one was written by an Irish author rather than a British, US, or Canadian author! I need to get a move on and get some variety. I'm going to use up my "electives" quickly.

2. Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy.

She is a new author for me. And the book was wonderful.

#5: The year is long, so do not sweat a slow start. Most of those in the group are less about the numbers than we are about the books.

I have not read any Binchy either, so I will look for Light a Penny Candle. Thanks for the recommendation.

Thank you so much for the encouragement.

I have been working a lot and so have not had much time or brain power to read. I am only able to add three more books today, and all of them are recent novels.

I'm off to the library this afternoon, and perhaps will get some nonfiction.

3. Star Witness - D. W. Buffa
4. Courting Trouble - Lisa Scottoline
5. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Díaz

I hope work lets up for you soon so that you can get some reading time in!

I can't believe I've only read four books in the last month! Only nine all year so far!

6. the year of secret assignments by jaclyn moriarty
7. nothing is quite forgotten in brooklyn - Alice Mattison
8. one L - Scott Turow
9. Tara Road - Maeve Binchy

The group is more about the books than the numbers, so do not sweat the small stuff. Just enjoy the journey!

Thanks for the encouragement! I have a couple of days off from work, so I'm hoping I'll have time to read.

I've read two more since last posting:

10. Girl to the Core - Stacey Goldblatt
11. Brooklyn Follies -
Paul Auster

Here's hoping you get some good reading done with your days off!

I have read a lot of Maeve Binchy's over the years and my favourite, which I recommend, is The Glass Lake. There's an element of mystery to it as well, which I liked. If I ever reread any of Binchy's, it will be that one!

Thanks for the recommendation. She is someone I definitely want to read more of.

So now I've finished 12 and 13:

12. Along for the Ride - Sarah Dessen
13. Testimony - Anita Shreve

These are both authors I've read before.

I'm finally getting serious about the nonfiction part of my goal. I got out several nonfiction books from the library and today started reading Busted: Life Inside the Great Mortgage Meltdown by Edmund L. Andrews. Although the jumping off point is memoirish--Andrews' purchase of a house he couldn't afford and his subsequent financial ruin--it's more about the system that let that happen (Andrews is an economics reporter for the New York Times), so I'm going to let it count towards my non-memoir nonfiction goal.

Thanks for the recommendation. She is someone I definitely want to read more of.

So now I've finished 12 and 13:

12. Along for the Ride - Sarah Dessen
13. Testimony - Anita Shreve

These are both authors I've read before.

I'm finally getting serious about the nonfiction part of my goal. I got out several nonfiction books from the library and today started reading Busted: Life Inside the Great Mortgage Meltdown by Edmund L. Andrews. Although the jumping off point is memoirish--Andrews' purchase of a house he couldn't afford and his subsequent financial ruin--it's more about the system that let that happen (Andrews is an economics reporter for the New York Times), so I'm going to let it count towards my non-memoir nonfiction goal.

14. Shooter - Walter Dean Myers
15. Busted - Edmund L. Andrews
16. I am Charlotte Simmons - Tom Wolfe
17. Princess in Training - Meg Cabot

18. The Quants - Scott Patterson

19. Gang leader for a day: a rogue sociologist takes to the streets -
Sudhir Venkatesh
20. Party Princess - Meg Cabot

#18: What did you think of Gang Leader for a Day? It looks interesting.

I liked it. I had heard the author interviewed on "Fresh Air" when the book was first published and the topic sounded interesting. The thing that struck me most about that interview was that the gang leader had gone to college, had a "legitimate" job, and then gotten discouraged at his chances for advancement, as a young black male, in the "legitimate" economy. I know that there are many young black men who don't make this decision, but I was intrigued by someone who would.

The author himself was more self-aware than I expected. He came to realize that he was, to some extent, exploiting these people for his own academic career and that he would eventually get to leave the projects and they wouldn't. When I've read other books in which the author tells the story of a different class of people, there has not been this self-awareness of the personal gain that the author is getting--it is more like the other people are there to be studied and the author is the great academic or journalist who is there to help them or is on a higher moral plane. (Think Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend it. If you do read it, please let me know what you think.

21. Monkey Business - Sarah Mlynowski
22. A Girl from the South - Joanna Trollope

#20: If I ever get my hands on a copy, I will let you know. Thanks for the additional input on the book!

23. The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine - Michael Lewis

24. Wife in the Fast Lane - Karen Quinn
25. Unbelievable - Sara Shepard

26. Fool's Gold - Gillian Tett

Congratulations on making it 1/3 of the way through the challenge, Michelle!

26. seem to have gotten the wrong Fool's Gold--this is the one I meant

Thanks!

27. Liar's Poker - Michael Lewis

28. The Elite - Jennifer Banash
29. Princess on the Brink - Meg Cabot
30 Whitethorn Woods - Maeve Binchy
31. Wishin' and Hopin' - Wally Lamb

32. Compromised - Heidi Ayarbe

You have been busy, Michelle!

No, just haven't posted in some time. I actually had to go back and look at my overdue notice from the library to remember one of the books I'd read since last posting. And three of the books are young adult, although one had over 400 pages--I've seen this a couple of times, but not frequently.

#33: Nothing wrong with young adult books :) We have several people in the group, myself included, who read them. As long as it is between covers, it counts!

33. Better than Yesterday - Robyn Schneider
34. So Not the Drama - Paula Chase

you really nee to "get out more"! I never saw your thread.. come and visit 'round the 75 group :)

Some good reads here :)

Thanks for the message. I checked out your page and I love your animals.

35. Breach of trust - D.W. Buffa

Thank you for the kind words about my furkids..
they are a wild bunch :)

Dip your toes into a thread or two out there...
I suspect that others will be interested in your reading when they find you :)
As for stasia's comment about YA books.. yes, there are several folks who read a lot of them ...I don't usually, but I have no serious reason for not...

36. The Informant - Kurt Eichenwald

#40: What did you think of that one, Michelle?

It was amazing! Highly recommended.

37. How perfect is that? - Sarah Bird

#42: Thanks for the input! I will look for the book.

38. The Book Club - Mary Alice Monroe

39. Insatiable - Meg Cabot

#46: Did you like that one? My daughter Catey is a big Meg Cabot fan and I am thinking of getting it for her.

I liked it, but it took me a bit to get into it. I have loved everything else I've read by her (14 other works), so perhaps my expectations were a bit too high. If it had been written by another author, I might have had a better reaction.

I would recommend you bring it home from the library for your daughter (that's where I got it). Hardbacks are so ridiculously expensive and I don't think it's out yet in paperback.

Yea! I'm up to 40. Maybe 75 isn't hopeless. However, I think some of the genre goals I set are not going to happen.

40. Innocent - Scott Turow

#48: I will probably just wait until it is out in paperback and buy it for her then. Thanks for the input!

#49: Just enjoy the reads and the group, Michelle, and do not worry so much about the numbers.

Thanks for your kind words.

One of the reasons I set those goals is because, unless I have some goal/deadline, I will only read novels that were originially written in English. This is fine, but I am often glad I've read stuff I wouldn't have normally picked up. I no longer have a book club to force me to do this, especiallly with nonfiction, so I do want to set goals. I also used to read Victorian British fiction, have kind of gotten away from that, and wanted to get back to it.

I'm also one of those people who just love counting and organizing stuff--I used to be a cataloger.

41. Nights of rain and stars - Maeve Binchy

42. Wonderland a year in the life of an american high school - Michael Bamberger

43. Dirty Blond - Lisa Scottoline

44. The It Girl - Cecily von Ziegesar
45. The Pact - Jodi Picoult
46. Juliet Naked - Nick Hornby
47. Paradise Park - Allegra Goodman
48. The Grift - Debra Ginsberg

Glad to see you back, Michelle. It has been a while.

I hope you have a great book picked out to be number 50!

The reason I'm so far behind is that I spent a bunch of time on books that I just didn't like enough to finish (if I'm not interested by page 150, I generally don't continue).

I hadn't thought about what I would read for book 50 or 75 (I'm still hoping to get to it--we're going on a ten day cruise during which I plan to read about eight hours a day).

#57: I give up way before page 150. If the book has not caught me by page 50, I almost always put it aside.

Congrats on the cruise! I hope you have a wonderful time and get lots of reading done.

49. Twilight Sleep - Edith Wharton
50. The Matzo Ball Heiress - Laurie Gwen Shapiro

Congratulations on hitting 50 books for the year!

Thanks!

51. Second Generation - Howard Fast

Definitely not making 75 this year, but maybe 60? Probably not.

52. Sylvan Street - Deborah Schupack
53. You Just Can't Get Enough - Cecily von Ziegesar
54. Reckless (The It Girl) - Cecily von Ziegesar
55. Getting to Happy - Terry McMillan

56. The Ghost - Robert Harris

57. Paradise Alley - Kevin Baker

Michelle, I hope you are having a great Christmas!

You too!

Thanks, I did!

58. Un-Nappily in Love - Trisha Thomas

Are you going to join us in the 2011 group? It is up and running here: http://www.librarything.com/groups/75booksin20111#forums

I'm trying to decide if I should do the 50 book challenge instead of the 75. I'm not sure how realistice it is for me to read more than a book a week if I'm not reading a lot of young adult stuff.

I'm keeping track of what I've read since the beginning of the year, and, depending on how I'm doing at the end of the month, I'll sign up for one or the other.