teelgee Tries Ten Ten

This seems like just the right sort of challenge for me. I got a bit bogged down this year with all my different challenges, so this one will keep me occupied but not overwhelmed. I think.

I'm going to aim for 5 in each category. That will leave lots of freedom for spontaneous reads and group reads, which I'm missing out on too much this year.

Notice: Management reserves the right to change categories and/or books at any time.

My categories (drum roll........)

1. A day without Orange is like a day without sunshine - Orange prize winners and nominees Done! Completed 07/14/10
2. We Like Short Shorts! - short story collections
3. She's a Classic - classics written by women
4. Booker, Dano! - Booker prize winners and nominees Done! Completed 09/28/10
5. Dust Collectors - books that have been on my shelves more than two years
6. Border crossings - books from countries other than the US or UK Done! Completed 10/30/10
7. The Bigger they are, the harder they fall - chunksters, 500 pages and over Done! Completed 11/25/10
8. News to me - authors new to me Done! Completed 10/06/10
9. Pulitzer Prize winners
10. The whole truth and nothing but the truth - nonfiction
Bonus:
11. Play it again, Sam, re-reads, or books I started and didn't finish and want to try again or books I think I've read before but I'm not sure!

I'm starting to fill in some titles now -- but these are only suggestions to myself, certainly not set in stone!




I'm going for 75 total books in 2010.

A day without Orange is like a day without sunshine Orange prize winners and nominees - completed!

A.The Mammoth Cheese by Sheri Holman
B. The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer
C. The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett
D. The Boy Next Door by sabatiniirene::Irene Sabatini
E.The Outcast by Sadie Jones

We Like Short Shorts! - short story collections:

A. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
B. The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro
C. Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood
D. Homeland and Other Stories by kingsolveerbarbara::Barbara Kingsolver
E. The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich
F. The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat
G. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin

She’s a Classic - classics written by women

A. Persuasion by Jane Austen
B. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
C. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
D. All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
E. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
F. 187 07::Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer
G. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Booker, Dano! - Booker prize winners and nominees - completed:

A. Possession: A Romance by A.S. Byatt
B. The Bone People by Keri Hulme
C. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
D. The Long Song by Andrea Levy
E. Dirt Music by Tim Winton

Dust Collectors - books that have been on my shelves more than two years

A. Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
B. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
C. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (unless I read it in 2009)
D. Atonement by Ian McEwan
E. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
F. White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Border crossings - books from/about countries other than the US or UK -completed:

A. The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi - Afghanistan
B. Potiki by Patricia Grace - New Zealand
C. Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende - Haiti, Cuba
D. The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam by Lauren Liebenberg (South Africa)
E. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

The Bigger they are, the harder they fall - chunksters, 500 pages and over Completed

A. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (532 pages)
B. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (658 pages)
C. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (507 pages)
D. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (933 pages)
E. The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (520 pages)

News to me - authors new to me. Completed

A. Leif Enger
B.Louise Penny
D. Colum McCann
E.Jayne Anne Phillips
F.Laurie R. King

Pulitzer Prize winners

A. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
B. Empire Falls by Richard Russo
C. The Known World by Edward P. Jones
D. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
E. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

The whole truth and nothing but the truth - nonfiction

A. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
B. The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
C. An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage
D. A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
E. Finding Beauty in a Broken World by Terry Tempest Williams
F. The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
G. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
H. Burmese Lessons by Karen Connelly (Did Not Finish)
I. Packing for Mars by Mary Roach

I have almost the same title for my Booker category! Great minds etc etc

As for the cross-category thing, it's entirely up to you. If you want the Good Earth to fit into 2 categories, then it can. That's the beauty of such a flexible challenge!

Starring you for 2010! I'm going stepped, but I like the '5 per category' idea - I wish I'd thought of that earlier! I may have to rearrange my challenge already. I thought if I finished my stepped thing I could go wild-card by backtracking and adding more to some of the categories...

Thanks cheese and ellie! I just went back and filled in some books. So far these are all books I have on my shelves already! That's a good way to tackle my TBR stacks. Some great reading ahead of me for 2010.

So far I've not overlapped, except the author category. I'm going to try to make each one an original list. Otherwise, I could overlap just about every one of them and then I'd just be cheating myself out of some good books.

ETA: suggestions welcome for any of the categories!

Great categories! I will definitely be checking in on you - are you starting in January?

Great category names! Yes, you can overlap if you want. Personally, I look at it as a sign of superior planning abilities and a well-organized mind. :-) I've done both the 888 and 999 challenges, and have found for me it doesn't add any extra pressure on my reading but only acts as a tool to help me manage my reading and my TBR. I also never plan the actual books in advance because I find it too restricting. But the beauty of these challenges is that you can make them fit what you want to do. You're the only rule maker.

DQ = yes, January 1.

Nickelini -- the books are definitely guidelines for me, they're not promises and certainly not set in stone. Most of these are books I really want to read anyway.

Not set in stone is a great way to describe it. I usually have an idea of what I might read at the beginning of the year and it's always fun to see which ones I actually do read, and which ones get ignored, yet again.

I've done something similar and given myself a list of candidates from my TBR pile. As soon as I set a book in stone, I immediately don't want to read it (one of my major problems with high school English!), but I find a bit of direction helpful when I'm trying to work out what to read next!

Looks like we have some overlap in our Booker Prize category. I'll be interested to see what you think of The True History of the Kelly Gang and The Bone People. They've been sitting in my TBR pile so long it's shaming!

I see some of you adding a bonus category; I'm going to do the same:

11. Play it again, Sam: re-reads, or books I started and didn't finish and want to try again or books I think I've read before but I'm not sure!

A. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
B. Ishmael by danielquinn::Daniel Quinn
C. The River Why by David James Duncan
D. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
E. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
F. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

I'm loving your categories and lists!

Good luck with The Bone People. I feel like a rather unpatriotic New Zealander when I a) admit to not having got past the first paragraph and b) groaning whenever anyone mentions it. But there you go!

I'm going to come back when I've run out of book ideas (ha ha) because a lot of your lists are ones I'd like to read!

I have starred your thread as well: great categories and books I either want to read or have read and would love to see your response to. Two of my favorites that you are suggesting to yourself are Song of Solomon and Possession: A Romance.

cmt -- The Bone People is one of the books my book group chose for 2010, so I'd be reading it anyway. I've heard such differing opinions about it, so will see what mine is!

Thanks, cmt and NeverStop -- I'll look for your threads as well!

I usually have an idea of what I might read at the beginning of the year and it's always fun to see which ones I actually do read, and which ones get ignored, yet again.

My thoughts exactly! I actually do type up a complete list of the books I plan to read, and then see how closely I follow it... of my 53 books read so far for the 999, only 17 are from the list. Ha.

Oh, so I'm not the only one then! I'll have to check my list and get back to you, but I think I'm doing about the same.

Lots of good books on here! I read Persuasion for the 999 challenge and really enjoyed it and I'm reading Wives and Daughters for the 1010. We have a lot of overlap! Are you stalking me! ;)

I'll have to keep checking in to see what you think about the shared reads. Welcome to the challenge!

>26 cmbohn:: Curses, foiled again! ;o) Thanks for stopping by with a welcome. I probably shouldn't have compiled my list so early, I'm anxious to get to some of these, but still have some to finish for my 2009 challenges. See you on the pages!

The 'compiling the list' bit is so tempting, though, once you've started up a thread! I've started pulling books down from Mount TBR too, even though I know that I'll have bought loads more by January...

I'm considering a moratorium on book buying for awhile. Seriously. I have every one but two of the books on my list for 2010. That made my list compiling easy.

#23 if you like the Bone People I might give it a go. Sounds like a keen book group...

I loved A View from Castle Rock, the OMnivore's Dilemma, Travels with charley and Wolf Hall. You have some great reading for next year!!

Hilarious categories! And the books! You have so many books there that I just loved! Many of them I would read again if it wasn't for all these other darn LT-ers who have to entice me with more and more delectable titles. I'm definitely going to enjoy following your thread and I may even join you on a few of GREAT choices!

P.S. I really liked Bone People but lots of people do think it's depressing. And if I were an aboriginal (proper term, ct?) I might not like it.

I am also going to read My Antonia by, Wila Cather..I was also looking at possibly try Dr.Zhivago .Will keep checking to see when your reading those!

We have several categories in common; I will also be trying to clear my conscience by reading books that have been on my shelves for years. Mine includes Gone With The Wind (I've had Vanity Fair on the shelf for maybe 15 years but have never touched it).

I love your category titles!! You might even inspire me to give the 1010 a go...

Hi Terri, I read My Antonia this year and really liked it. Death comes for the Archbishop is good too. My favourite Richard Russo is Straight Man, but I liked Empire Falls too. Are you planning to read Byatt's The Children's Book?

Hi Berly! Throwing the gauntlet down...go for it! I bet you could come up with some great categories.

Pam: My Antonia is a re-read for me -- I loved it when I read it years ago and suspect I will again. I haven't read Archbishop yet, but I'll get to it one of these days/years.

I will see how I like Possession before I commit to The Children's Book. Have you read it?

I read Possession back in 1992 or 1993 and really loved it. I keep thinking it would be a nice re-read after so long but I loaned out my copy and it never came back. (Both I and the recipient have since moved away.)

I bought The Children's Book last month and it's on my 101010 list.

I also just picked up Straight Man on remainder. I've never read Russo but have always heard good things.

Terri, Possession is a great read. Winter would be a good time for it, to curl up and immerse yourself.

I'm definitely going to read The Children's Book this year, but am trying to clean up some of the tbr pile before I buy it.

Hope you like Straight Man, kristenn.

Starting off with Category #4 - Booker prize winners (I unintentionally chose books that were all prize winners, not short or long listed). The Bone People by Keri Hulme.

1. The Bone People by Keri Hulme -- Booker, Dano! (cat. 4)

The Bone People has been on my shelf for years and I've never had enough curiosity to pick it up. I read it for a book group this month, though, and I'm really glad I waited until now to read it. I'm a better reader these days, more willing to suspend my need for rigid writing styles, more eager to explore stories of other cultures and better able to appreciate the poetry of language, which Hulme does so stunningly well in this book.

I feel like I've experienced this book rather than just reading it. Hulme is a brilliant writer. (4/5) Link to my review.

Great review Terri. Must have been an agonising book to read.

#8

really enjoyed Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel !

Tell me afterwards how you liked it :)

2. The Mammoth Cheese by Sheri Holman. The Mammoth Cheese is full of surprises. I expected a light funny read, but this book is chock full of people with common problems and a few not so common. There are many stories taking place in the novel and they all twine together nicely.

Full review is here. (4/5)

This is for category #1 - Orange prize shortlist.

Another great review Terri.

3. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. Loved this book. My review is here.

Category #8 - Authors new to me.

(4/5)

I have Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell on my shelf too. A friend of mine lent it to me, so I feel like I should read it soonish. Maybe we can do a tandem?

4. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. My review is here. (4.5/5)

Category: News to Me - authors new to me.

You are so much more organized! You have titles preselected in each of your categories and everything. I just have my categories and fill in as I go. LOL. You have some very nice selections and I may poach a few. ;)

Yah, but I've already changed some of them, as in erased some and filled them in as I go! Help yourself to any of my reads, Kim! If January is any indication, it's going to be a stellar reading year.

Peace Like a River is on my WL and with your review, I'm looking forward to reading it more than ever. I also added Let the Great Wold Spin based on your review, so you are really inspiring my reading list. And yes, since joining LT and the 1010 challenge, I know it's going to be one of the best reading years ever!

5. The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat. Review to follow soon. (4/5)

Category 2: We Like Short Shorts - short stories

My review of The Dew Breaker is up.

Read your review Terri and this looks like another book for me to get. ;)

Congratulations on your review writing Terri - it is there on the profile alongside Laura's!

Thank you Julie! I have two hotties this morning! I'm amazed.

Such a hottie!

What - I missed the other one! .... rushes off to find it...

Terri - you have bought such a smile to my face! I loved your Hardy review. How came I missed it I wonder....

I have 12 Hardy books which 'live' in the bottom shelf of one of the famous 'Minty' book cases of my parents! Looking more closely I have a copy myself which I have never read. The books are all beautiful blue hardbacks .... maybe I should begin to catalogue them!

Oh, Julie, you should. They sound wonderful. Mine are just run of the mill paperbacks :-(

6. The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer. A stunning book. I will need to sit with this for a day or so before reviewing. (4.5/5)

Category 1 - Orange Prize (Long List, 2008)

Bouncing through to check your progress - which is moving along nicely!! - to say hi and to report that The Septembers of Shiraz is going on my TBR pile ;-) I look forward to seeing your review!

Thanks Lori! The Septembers review is posted.

Love the review. Thumb! I have now added The Lizard Cage to my ever growing pile.

Great review Teelgee!! Someday I will read this.

7. The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett.

4.5/5. Review coming soon!

Category #1 - Orange prize (1999 Long List)

You are on a roll of good books!

OK Terri you won't get me with this one. I read it in 2008 and loved it just like you obviously did.

Kim, I sure am! Not a one below a 4 yet.
I did love it Bonnie. Not sure if my congested head can put together a review tonight though.

We've got to talk about the part where Erasmus leads them across the miles and miles of snow and ice. OMG riveting!

I've got to hurry up and read Voyage of the Narwhal. It will fit into my Oldies category, since it's been on my shelf forever.

Loved the Septembers of Shiraz review and gave you a thumbs up. :-)

8. Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips. Review to follow soon! I knocked off a star for a very overwritten character, otherwise a stellar book. (4/5).

Category #8: News to Me - new author.

Yea! I got some reviews are posted today:

Voyage of the Narwhal

Lark and Termite

9. Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt. I should probably wait a little while to write this review, as it may not be a kind one. I just put this book down after slogging through the last 1/4 of it. I think I'm supposed to love this book, but I didn't. More of my review. (3/5)

For Category 4, Booker Prize winners.

10. The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson. (Finished just before midnight, so I squeeze in another February book.) Nonfiction account of cholera epidemic in Victorian London and the discovery of how it's transmitted. Review to follow. (3.5/5)

Category #10: The whole truth...nonfiction.

11. The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi. Must gather my thoughts after reading this short and powerful novel. Disturbing and poetic. (4/5) Review later.

Category #6: Border crossing (Afghanistan).

12. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Wow. 4.5 Review coming (hopefully) soon.

Category 7: The bigger they are - Chunksters

Terri - I too have just completed The Patience Stone - what a read. I am wondering if it is just me but were you absolutely clear about what happened at the end?

No, not sure at all Julie. I think I'll re-read the ending before I write my review. Ack! I'm so behind on reviews already!

Mmmm .... well, I am honoured to be in such good company. I re-read it a couple of times but was not clear. Maybe we are not meant to be clear.

**COULD BE A SPOILER**

Actually, just re read it again! 'The man -with the khanjar deep in his heart (ie dead) lies down on his mattress at the foot of the wall, facing his photo' We heard at the beginning how his body faced his photo. Mmmm ... in that case he may have been 'with it' all through the book .... or is it speaking about a spiritual awakening and revelation?

And the 'someone' who comes into the house .... was that the young boy I wonder?

13. Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer. Will post a review by Friday, when this book is scheduled for the Classics Circuit tour on my blog. Suffice to say, it was just too darn long for what it was! (3/5)

Category 3: She's a classic (is it a stretch to call this book a classic??)

Not a stretch at all. Heyer's works are a classic for the genre - I loved all of them when I devoured her books years ago. That is my opinion anyways ;-)

The review marathon begins. Here's the Heyer review.

I love Georgette Heyer, but have not read Friday's Child, which is good because now I have another one by her to look forward to!

14. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Wow. Just wow. Amazing book. Will review soon. (4.5/5)

Category 10 - Nonfiction.

15. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. This is a re-read for me. I first read this book ~15 years ago and was struck by the lyricism. I didn't remember much about the story. On this re-read, I'm still struck by the lyricism - I feel as though I've read an extended poem. The story is almost incidental to the language. But the story, largely character driven, is wonderful, too.

Full review is here. (4.5/5)

Category 11: Play it again, Sam (re-reads).

16. Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood. I don't have much to say about this book, it was just meh for me. Eleven short stories, loosely connected; not engaging. It took me ten days to read a little less than 300 pages; I kept finding other things to do. I didn't find this one up to Ms. Atwood's standards atall. (3/5)

Category #2: Short stories.

17. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. I love this book. Probably my fourth read and it still gives me pause. I was especially moved by it in light of the gushing oil in the Gulf of Mexico. A little bit fantasy, a lot philosophy and a cultural message we should have taken in decades ago. (4.5/5)

Category: Play it Again Sam - re-read.

18. Potiki by Patricia Grace. Excellent. (4/5)

Category: Border Crossings - books from countries other than the US or UK
(New Zealand).

Fourth read, huh? Guess I gotta add that one!

19. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. Good, fun mystery, well written. Atkinson is master at weaving a bunch of stories together. (4/5)

Category: Dust Collectors - books on my shelf more than two years.

20. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.

Astonishing book - the characters, narrative, dialog, story, setting, all practically flawless. And that's saying a lot for 850+ pages. McMurtry is a master storyteller. I never thought I'd be interested in this Western, but Lonesome Dove will make it onto my top 20, if not top 10 books of all time.

I was hoping to finish this before July 1 - and it was 11:30 pm when I closed the cover. I'm a bit behind my reading goals at the 2010 half way mark and have a few more chunksters to read yet this year. But after this stellar reading month, I don't care!!!

================
Category: Pulitzer Prize winners.

Lonesome Dove is now on the wishlist, along with The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Lonesome Dove would definitely make my top five of all time. It had the added bonus of introducing me to Larry McMurtry, who I have enjoyed immensely over the years.

DQ - can you recommend more of his books?

I absolutely loved the Berrybender Narratives, it's about an English Lord, who brings his family over to America and travels the west during the 1830's. The first book is called Sin Killer, then in order, The Wandering Hill, By Sorrow's River and Folly and Glory. He has also written sequels and prequels to Lonesome Dove which are all good, but I don't think he ever quite reaches the excellence of Lonesome Dove.

For a more modern read, his Last Picture Show series is also very good: The Last Picture Show and Texasville are the two that come to mind. Terms of Endearment is pretty good too. As you can tell, I am a fan!

21. The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini. Interesting novel about Zimbabwe after independence. Beginning in the 1980s, we follow the narrator Lindiwe from adolescence through adulthood. The boy next door is Ian, a white boy, who is charged with murdering his stepmother by setting her on fire. In the first part of the book, Lindiwe is filled with teenage angst as she explores her attraction to Ian, who is released and returns to the neighborhood after just a few years.

The story is full of tensions -- racial, sexual, political, familial -- and secrets. The chaotic inner worlds of Lindiwe and Ian are mirrored by the chaos in the outer world, as Zimbabweans try to find their way after independence, which involves a great deal of fighting and inner turmoil.

I found the first part of the book choppy and difficult to follow -- but the narrator was a 14 year old girl; as Lindiwe matured, so did the story and the narration. There were a number of Shona words and no glossary, so I had to guess at the meaning sometimes.

That said, this was an excellent read and I recommend this debut novel - the 2010 winner of the Orange Prize for New Writers. (4/5)

Category: Orange Prize winners and nominees.

I'll second Donna's list of McMurty recommendations.

22. The Outcast by Sadie Jones. Compelling, difficult subject matter, intense, very well written novel of a young man in 1950s England who is not permitted grieving over a very traumatic event in his life and the effects this has on his coming of age. Recommended. (4/5)

Category: Orange Prize winners and nominees.

23. The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam by Lauren Liebenberg. Fabulous book. Orange Prize shortlist for new writers, 2008. (4.5/5). I'll try to write more re it later -- my mind is reeling just now. Highly recommended.

Category: Borders

24. White Teeth by Zadie Smith. What a wild ride. This was a dense, intense read with a lot of very unique and unforgettable characters. I like Smith's writing a lot - she was not at all what I expected! (4/5)

Category: Dust Collectors.

25. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. What a phenomenal book. Stories within stories, different genres, time periods, voices, story vehicles - yet all woven together seamlessly. Highly recommended. (4.5/5)

Category: The Bigger They Are.... (chunkster - 509 pages)

#102 I love that cover design! I've got Cloud Atlas planned for this month (once I've finished The Lacuna) and based on all the recent comments I'm really looking forward to it - but my copy isn't as pretty as that.

Good to hear that Cloud Atlas is good--I bought it a few years ago, but have never felt like taking it out of Mnt. TBR. You've inspired me.

26. Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende. From Haiti to Cuba to New Orleans, this historical novel follows slaves and masters through the last part of the 18th century. It entails slave rebellions, political upheaval, personal relationships, loss, love and the cruelty of slavery. As with most Allende novels, there are some very memorable and well drawn characters, some despicable and some I don't want to leave behind. I loved this book. (5/5/)

Category: Border crossing.

Great to hear that you loved this one, Terri. Island Beneath the Sea just looks so ...intriguing.

Catching up on your thread! Keep seeing rave reviews for Cloud atlas everywhere. I really need to try and find room for it in 2011!

27. The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King. I really enjoyed this romp through the countryside, Oxford and London with Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. I've not been drawn to books that presume to take on classic characters and update them or sequelize them - it has felt too much like trying to improve on a Van Gogh or a Mozart. But I was able to overlook that here, probably because I just needed a fun read. I'm also not a huge fan of mysteries, but it was so much fun trying to guess the villain that I got totally absorbed in it.

King is a good writer. I don't think I'll be reading any more in this series, but would like to read some of her other works.

For what this was, 4/5.

Category: Authors new to me.

28. All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West. Perhaps best known for her passionate affair with Virginia Woolf and for her creation of the gardens at Sissinghurst Castle, Sackville-West's writing is often overlooked. But if All Passion Spent is any indication of her talent as a writer, she deserves to be considered as one of the finest female British authors of the 20th century.

Read why I think so in my review. (4.5/5)

Category: Classics written by women.

29. The Long Song by Andrea Levy. First of all, I really dislike stories that refer to me as "Reader." And in a long novel it's especially obnoxious. It's as though the author is trying to draw me into the story with a manipulative device that, for me, disconnects me from it.

Read full review here.

Category: Booker prize (Long list 2010)

30. Dirt Music by Tim Winton. I liked this book a lot. Hope to write some comments, if not a review, a bit later. (4/5)

Category: Booker prize (Short list 2002).

31. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. This novel was absolutely stunning and riveting for the first ~700 pages. The writing is glorious, profound; the descriptions of Bombay are exquisite - even the portrait of the slums.

Roberts lost me for the last 1/4 of the novel through the descriptions of guerrilla warfare in Afghanistan and repeated detailed violent beatings and hand to hand/knife combat. I'm sure it would appeal to some, but not to this reader.

Still, I give it 4 stars. It really is an amazing book.

Category: Chunkster (933 pages).

Terri, remember that questionnaire that asked if you ever threw down a book? Well, I threw/dropped/slammed Long Song to the floor when I read the sentence in which she gave birth out in the fields without noticing it until she looked back. Right! *she said, dripping with sarcasm* I wish I had the book here to quote from it. I just wasn't in the mood for a 'Tall Tale' that started out like that.

32. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Excellent classic suspense novel. Compelling read. (4/5)

33. Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. I love Mary Roach. I want to have her children. Or, if I can't, I want to channel her and write like her. She has that rare combination of serious science writer and knee-slapping humorist that makes a scientific book eminently readable. Read my review here. Most highly recommended. (4.5/5)

Category: Nonfiction

LT's own Sonya interviewed Mary Roach (wherein she asks her about those pesky footnotes). Find a podcast of the interview here.

Darn it, Terri! I thought I was going to escape this one! Love the quote, love how her brain works.

34. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. Excellent read. 4/5.

35. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. Another great collection of short stories about the immigrant experience by Indian-American writer Lahiri. I still like Interpreter of Maladies better, but this was pretty darn good! Everyone in my book group liked it too. Recommended. (4/5)

Category: short story collections

36. Still Life by Louise Penny. I so rarely read mysteries so I don't have a rating system that would compare this book favorably or un-. It was engaging, fairly well written, had not a few moments of good humor in it. I must say, it didn't keep me guessing about the who-dunnit but it did keep me reading.

This was my first Kindle read. Many many typos - I don't know if it's typical of Kindle editions or just this one, but it was fairly obnoxious.

(3.5/5)

37. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. A most excellent read. (5/5) I hope to write a short review soon - not sure how I can do this one justice though.

Category: chunkster

38. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Morrison's first novel - powerful, heart wrenching. This was a re-read for me; first read many years ago and I didn't remember many details, so it was like reading for the first time (one advantage of a poor memory!) Morrison doesn't always hit the mark for me, but she did with this one. (4/5)

Category: Re-read.

39. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie. Lovely little story that takes place during China's cultural revolution. Two young men, lifelong friends, are in a re-education program together in a rural village. When they come to possess a box of contraband books from the West, their lives change immeasurably. An ode to the power of literature and of friendship; funny, sad and heartwarming. (4/5)

Category: borders, books from other countries.

40. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. A very simply told story of Wang Lung, a farmer in pre-Revolution China, who struggles through drought, flood and famine to keep his land and his family together. A theme that kept coming up for me was that poor people do desperate things to survive -- and rich people do desperate things to survive. It's just a matter of scale. I loved Wang Lung, I hated him, I had good insight into how good and bad fortune can change a person.

Buck's prose is almost biblical at times. Many paragraphs begin with "And so..." or "Now..." : "And so he bade the laborers build a little room and an earthen stove in it and he bought a good cauldron. And Cuckoo was pleased...."

Of course, I detested the way women were treated in this novel. It is cringe-worthy reading throughout. This is not a favorite of mine, but I'm glad I finally read it. (4/5)

Category: Pulitzer Prize winners

41. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. This is a sort of prequel to Jane Eyre - the story of the madwoman in the attic and how she comes to be there. This book felt uneven to me and I can't say I enjoyed it much. Rhys did a fine job of atmospheric writing but I didn't feel drawn into the story. (3/5)

Category: Re-read.

@124 What made you want to re-read it? Did you like it much better the first time around?

It was a long time ago and I don't remember much about it. It was listed in a challenge and I thought I'd see what my current take on it was. I'm not sorry I re-read it -- and I've been quite distracted this week by a family illness and death, so I may not have given my full attention to it. Always a risk to rate a book when life is happening around us.

42. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin. Pakistani short stories, interrelated. I found my interest waxing and waning all throughout this book. Nothing really captivated me. (3.5/5)

Category: Short stories.

43. The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood. Another gem by Atwood. Her characters are spot on throughout the novel. Zenia is one of the most despicable characters I've ever encountered in literature. I kept telling the characters, "No, don't believe it!!! She's lying!" Good read. (4/5)

Category: Chunkster

>43 teelgee: Sounds interesting. If I've read a Margaret Atwood book, it's been a long time. Maybe I can fit one into the 11 in 11 challenge.

44. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. Though this was published as a novel, it reads more like a series of connected short stories or vignettes. Cather's descriptions of the Southwest landscape are exquisite; if Georgia O'Keefe wrote instead of painted, she'd be Willa Cather. I enjoyed this more for the history than for the story/stories - I just never felt completely drawn in. Still - recommended. (4/5)

Category: Classics by women

Hi! You've done some wonderful reading this year!