katiebobus's list

[Kate]

1) The Gospel According to Jesus Christ - Jose Saramago (1/6)

2) Making Artisan Chocolates - Andrew Garrison Shotts (1/10)

3) The Stolen Child - Keith Donohue (1/12)

4) The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation - M.T. Anderson (1/13)

5) The Diaries of Adam and Eve - Mark Twain (1/16)

6) Master Georgie - Beryl Bainbridge (1/27)

7) The Keep - Jennifer Egan (2/2)

8) What I Was - Meg Rosoff (2/9)

9) Into the Wild - John Krakauer (2/15)

10) The Double - Jose Saramago (2/28)

11) Code Blue: A Katrina Physician's Memoir - Richard E. Deichmann (3/6)

12) Harriet Said... - Beryl Bainbridge (3/11)

13) A Death in Belmont - Sebastian Junger (3/16)

14) The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - Anne Fadiman (3/26)

15) Letters From the Inside - John Marsden (3/27)

16) The Upstairs Room - Johanna Reiss (3/29)

17) The Journey Back - Johanna Reiss (4/2)

18) Sister of the Bride - Beverly Cleary (4/15) (reread, and I don't want any flack for it! I was laid up)

19) A Judgement in Stone - Ruth Rendell (4/16)

20) The Effect of Living Backwards - Heidi Julavits (5/1)

21) So Much to Tell You - John Marsden (5/2)

22) The Amulet of Samarkand - Jonathan Stroud (5/10)

23) Tomorrow, When the War Began - John Marsden (5/12)

24) I am the Cheese - Robert Cormier (5/14)

25) The Book Thief - Markus Zusak (6/6)

26) Elephant Man - Bernard Pomerance (6/12)

27) The Fasting Girl:A True Victorian Medical Mystery - Michelle Stacey (6/27)

28) Winter - John Marsden (6/29)

29) Tunes for Bears to Dance To - Robert Cormier (6/30)

30) Jim the Boy - Tony Earley (7/14)

31) The Blue Star - Tony Earley (7/17)

32) Watson's Apology - Beryl Bainbridge (8/23)

33) Dear Miffy - John Marsden (8/24)

[Kate]

I should also track the books I'm buying this year, because I made a resolution that I could only buy one book for every 5 I read. (There are a lot of exceptions to this rule. I can buy reference books and books written by people I know, and I can still aquire FREE books, e.g. via Bookmooch. I don't want to explode!)

BOUGHT books:

1) Chasm - Dorothea Tanning (1/12) Whoops! I owed 3 books when I bought this, so I'm already fucking up. But it was $1, at a library book sale, and I have never seen this book for sale anywhere. I was obsessed with Tanning's paintings for years and had to have this book when I saw it, even if it turns out to suck.

2) Burger Wuss - M.T. Anderson (2/1) It was only $2.98 at Half Price and I had just seen Anderson speak at the library. I really should have bought it there, where he might actually make some money off the purchase, but I did buy 2 copies of Octavian Nothing (for my mom and sister) so I felt I had fulfilled that obligation. Burger Wuss looks funny and like a really quick +1 for my 50books2008 list when I need it. Lately I haven't had much reading time between work, climbing and acquiring a wonderful boyfriend (I read The Keep in one sitting because he's out of town). I am dying to buy books (particularly "The Double" by Jose Saramago and the Dame Darcy-illustrated Jane Eyre) but am not letting myself get more than 1 book in the red, esp while I'm not reading much. Arg!

3) The Bottle Factory Outing - Beryl Bainbridge (2/9) My sister sniped the Half Price copy so when I saw this at Prospero's there was no going back.

4) The Secret Family - David Bodanis (3/25) No one EVER has this book and I loved The Secret House.

5) A book of Louisa May Alcott's more fantastical short fiction, A Whisper in the Dark. Total impulse buy, 3/27.

6) Sister of the Bride, because I was missing in it both senses. I read it in two delectable sittings while ill with some GI bug. Yay!

7) Just ordered the latest in the Me Bigfoot series by Graham Roumieu. 32% off on Amazon preorders!

[Danine]

What the hell kind of rule is that? Don't be so hard on yourself. lol

[Kate]

I think I need to make a spreadsheet of all the books I've bought and why they "don't count". Because it turns out there have been, say, a couple of those.

Most recent purchase that counted: Into Thin Air. I may have missed a few, but who's counting? Apparently not I.

[Kate]

34) Gates of Fire - Steven Pressfield (9/27)

35) The World I Made for Her - Thomas Moran (10/14)

36) The Rules of Survival - Nancy Werlin (10/18)

37) The Chocolate Connoisseur - Chloe Doutre-Roussel (10/19)

38) The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby (10/20)

39) The Poe Shadow (on audiobook) - Matthew Pearl (11/5)

40) Twilight - Stephanie Meyer (11/9)

41) Never Change - Elizabeth Berg (11/28)

42) It's Hard Out Here for a Shrimp - I am counting this as half a book and as the other half, my sister's novel, which, though as yet unpublished, is still a full-length novel and should count for something. In the meantime, this first, important work by Pepe the Prawn will fill in.

43) The Best School Year Ever - Barbara Robinson (12/9)

44) Understanding Comics - Scott McCloud (12/21)

[Kate]

Ok, here starts my 2009 list. Hopefully I'll make it to 50 this time!

1) The History of Love - Nicole Krauss (1/7)

2) The Handmaid and the Carpenter - Elizabeth Berg (1/8)

3) Mountains Beyond Mountains - Tracy Kidder (reread) (1/21)

4) Getting the Girl - Markus Zuzak (1/23)

5) The Burma Chronicles - Guy Delisle (1/25)

6) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See (2/16)

7) Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher (3/7)

8) The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield (3/9)

9) Christine Falls - Benjamin Black (3/25)

10) Wintergirls - Laurie Halse Anderson (3/29)

11) Wonderland:A Year in the Life of an American High School - Michael Bamberger (4/2)

12) I'm counting half of Song Man and half of A Year at the Movies as one whole. (4/13)

13) The Invisible Circus - Jennifer Egan (4/18)

14) Everything Bad is Good for You - Steven Johnson (4/24)

15) And Then We Came to the End - Joshua Ferris (5/5)

16) The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman (5/9)

17) The Lightning Thief Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book 1 - Rick Riordan (5/19)

18) The Sea of Monsters Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book 2 - Rick Riordan (5/21)

19) The Lives of Christopher Chant - Diana Wynne Jones (reread 5/24)

20) The Titan's Curse Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book 3 - Rick Riordan (5/27)

21) The Battle of the Labyrinth Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book 4 - Rick Riordan (6/5)

22) Home Safe - Elizabeth Berg (6/13)

23) Durable Goods - Elizabeth Berg (6/28)

24) The Last Olympian Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book 4 - Rick Riordan (7/2)

25) The Killer's Cousin - Nancy Werlin (7/6)

[Jamie]

What did you think of this book? It is one of my all time favorite books. I handed it to my husband as soon as I finished it and then as he was reading it, I would look over his shoulder. So brutally touching. I'm interested in your reaction.

jlynn

[Kate]

I really liked it! I was confused most of the way through, yet compelled to read on. Krauss is a talented writer, and I grew attached to a few of the characters. Did your husband like it? I'm mixed on whether to recommend it to friends.

[Jamie]

He loved it as well (he was a Lit major so he tends to be open to different things). I also gave the book to a few friends who have also loved it. I too, was confused through most of the book though. I just loved the book.

[Kate]

2009 continued:

26) Dark Places - Gillian FLynn (7/20)

27) Finders Keepers - Mark Bowden (8/4)

28) Lucky Girl - Mei-Ling Hopgood (8/9)

29) Look Me in the Eye - John Robison (8/9)

30) The Freddie Stories and Big Ideas - Lynda Barry (8/11)

31) Plainsong - Kent Haruf (8/20)

32) Long Past Stopping - Oran Canfield (8/28)

33) Just In Case - Meg Rosoff (9/3)

34) Joy School - Elizabeth Berg (9/7)

35) I am the Messenger - Markus Zuzak (9/14)

36) A Girl Named Zippy - Haven Kimmel (9/21) (audiobook)

37) Dear Shrink - Helen Cresswell (9/24)

38) Bonk - Mary Roach (9/26)

39) What I Saw and How I Lied - Judy Blundell (10/2)

40) Black Swan Green - David Mitchell (10/12)

41) Marcelo in the Real World - Francisco X. Stork (10/20)

42)Pictures of Hollis Woods - Patricia Reilly Giff (10/25)

43) Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger (11/4)

44) My Horizontal Life - Chelsea Handler (11/7)

45) Hate List - Jennifer Brown (11/16)

46) The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly (12/5)

47) Freak the Mighty - Rodman Philbrick (12/6)

48) Shutter Island - Dennis Lehane (12/17)

[Melanie]

Hi Kate,
How was Dark Places? I have that on my TBR list.

[Kate]

Melanie wrote: "Hi Kate,
How was Dark Places? I have that on my TBR list."

Hi Melanie,

I quite liked it. It was very cohesive, better than her first, and very dark, sometimes queasy-making! I had a few questions at the end but overall it was worth reading.

[Melanie]

Yeah, I read her first too and thought it was just okay. I'll have to give this one a try.

[Kate]

All right, here goes for 2010:

1) Absolute Sandman Vol. 1 - Neil Gaiman (1/3)

2) Absolute Sandman Vol. 2 - Neil Gaiman (1/14)

3) Organizing Outside the Box Conquer Clutter Using Your Natural Learning Style - Hellen Buttigieg (1/12)

4) Better - Atul Gawande (1/18)

5) Surviving - Elizabeth Faucher (1/22)

6) Paper Towns - John Green (2/1)

7) Figgs and Phantoms - Ellen Raskin (2/14) (reread!)

8) True to Form - Elizabeth Berg (2/19)

9) Absolute Sandman Vol. 3 - Neil Gaiman (2/28)

10) Sport - Louise Fitzhugh (3/5)

11) Absolute Sandman Vol. 4 - Neil Gaiman (3/15)

12) Are You There Vodka It's Me Chelsea - Chelsea Handler (3/15)

13) Leave Well Enough Alone - Rosemary Wells (3/18)

14) Replay - Ken Grimwood (3/21)

15) The Good Thief - Hanna Tinti (4/4)

16) Black Mirror - Nancy Werlin (4/13)

17) Home Game An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood - Michael Lewis (4/22)

(stopped: The Casebook of Dr. Frankenstein)

18) A Drink Before the War - Dennis Lehane

19) Darkness Take My Hand - Dennis Lehane

20) Stitches a Memoir - David Small

21) The Dancing Plague - John Waller

22) Love You Hate You Miss You - Elizabeth Scott

23) Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang - Chelsea Handler

24) Superfreakonomics - Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner

25) Sacred - Dennis Lehane (7/14)

26) Hateship Friendship Courtship Loveship Marriage - Alice Munro (7/16) (audio)

27) Hiding - Norma Klein (7/16)

[Kate]

28) The Devil and Sherlock Holmes - David Gramm (audiobook)

29) The Last Time I Saw You - Elizabeth Berg

30) Living Dead Girl - Elizabeth Scott

31-32) Lucifer books 1-11 (counting as 2 novels) - Mike Carey

33) The Passage - Justin Cronin (stopped)

34) If I Stay - Gayle Forman

35) The Red Pyramid - Rick Riordan

36) Room - Emma Donaghue

37) Among the Dolls - William Sleator

38) The World in Six Songs - David Levitin

39) She Got Up Off the Couch - Haven Kimmel (audiobook)

40) Out of My Mind - Sharon Draper

41) What Happened to Cass McBride - Gail Giles

42) The Prestige - Christopher Priest

43) My Detachment - Tracey Kidder (audiobook)

44) The Checklist Manifesto - Atul Gawande

45) Into Thin Air - John Krakauer (audiobook)

46) The Wee Free Men - Terry Pratchett (audiobook) (9/10)

47) Black Rabbit Summer - Kevin Brooks(11/2010)

48) Good Eggs: A Memoir - Phoebe Potts (12/18)

49) Shattering Glass - Gail Giles

50) Picture This - Lynda Barry

[Kate]

Yay I finally did it!

And so begins 2011:

1) Capacity - Theo Ellsworth (1/2)

2) Simple Times - Amy Sedaris (1/2)

3)Logicomix: An Epic Search For Truth - Apostolos Doxiadis (1/10)

4)Tell Me Where It Hurts - Nick Trout (1/15) (audiobook)

5) Grace - Elizabeth Scott (1/15)

6) The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

7) Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

8) Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

9) Cross Bones - Kathy Reichs (audiobook)

10) Bringing Down the House - Ben Mezrich (audiobook)

11) Gone Baby Gone - Dennis Lehane

12) The Man in the Woods - Rosemary Wells

13) Strange Piece of Paradise - Terri Jentz (audiobook)

14) I Know I Am But What Are You - Samantha Bee

15) The Fog Comes In On Little Pig Feet - Rosemary Wells

16)The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan

17)Forever - Judy Blume

18)None of the Above - Rosemary Wells

[Kate]

Yay I finally did it!

And so begins 2011:

1) Capacity - Theo Ellsworth (1/2)

2) Simple Times - Amy Sedaris (1/2)

3)Logicomix: An Epic Search For Truth - Apostolos Doxiadis (1/10)

4)Tell Me Where It Hurts - Nick Trout (1/15) (audiobook)

5) Grace - Elizabeth Scott (1/15)

6) The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

7) Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

8) Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

9) Cross Bones - Kathy Reichs (audiobook)

10) Bringing Down the House - Ben Mezrich (audiobook)

11) Gone Baby Gone - Dennis Lehane

12) The Man in the Woods - Rosemary Wells

13) Strange Piece of Paradise - Terri Jentz (audiobook)

14) I Know I Am But What Are You - Samantha Bee

15) The Fog Comes In On Little Pig Feet - Rosemary Wells

16)The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan

17)Forever - Judy Blume

18)None of the Above - Rosemary Wells

19)Panic in Level 4 - Richard Preston

20) An Object of Beauty - Steve Martin

21)The Zookeeper's Wife - Diane Ackerman

22) Bad Mother - Ayelet Waldman