Challenge: 50 Books discussion
Finish Line 2011
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Susan & Raven's 2011 Reading List
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No. 60 Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier (audiobook)**** Oh, why do books where a genteel lady retires to a cottage on the sea so appeal to me? In this novel, three unmarried sisters go to live inexpensively in Lyme Regis. There one of the sisters befriends a local girl who is a fossil hunter. The girl goes on to make the first discoveries of dinosaur fossils. Informative and interesting. And, it involves a cottage by the sea.TOTAL PAGES: 8,506 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 261 hrs., 43 mins. + 10 hrs. & 1 min. = 271 hrs., 44 mins.
No. 61 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson (reread) ***** I LOVE this book. It certainly withstood a second reading which I had to do for my contemporary literature class. The class, most of which had read it before, was unanimous in its enjoyment of the book. TOTAL PAGES: 8,506 pages & 256 pages - 8,762 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 261 hrs., 43 mins.
I so agree. This was my favorite book last year. I even went and bought a copy AFTER I returned the library's. I think it's going to become a comfort read.
Donna, it certainly is a great book. And there is a lot of meaningful stuff going on, too: racial, generational, cultural, and well-developed characters.
No. 62 The Englishman's Boy: A Novel by Guy Vanderhaeghe **** This was an excellently written book juxtaposing two stories. Back in the Old West, a young boy finds himself among a group of white men trying to get their stolen horses back from an Indian tribe. In the second story, a young man in the 1920's is assigned the task by an eccentric movie studio boss to find the "real" story of the Indian fighters in order to make the Great American Movie. But, is the truth really what is wanted?TOTAL PAGES: 8,762 pages + 352 = 9,114 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 261 hrs., 43 mins.
No. 63 The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells (audiobook)*** It was okay.TOTAL PAGES: 9,114 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 261 hrs., 43 mins. + 7 hrs. = 268 hrs., 43 mins.
No.64 Replay by Ken Grimwood. ***** What if you could relive your again? Would you make the same mistakes? Would you try to change the world? What if you relived it again, and again, and again? This book really captured my attention and gave me much to think about. I am fascinated by the idea of moving through time in unorthodox manners and wondering what changes I would or could make. I could not put this book down.TOTAL PAGES: 9,114 pages + 333 pages = 9,447
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 268 hrs., 43 mins.
Looks like you've read some great books so far this year. I'm looking forward to reading Major Pettigrew, which is one of my book club's selections for this month. Congrats on reaching #64 (and counting)!
No. 65 The Tragedy of Arthur by William Shakespeare: The First Modern Edition of His Lost Play, with an Introduction and Notes by Arthur Phillips by Arthur Phillips (audiobook) * First of all, it annoys me when the character in a work of FICTION has the same name as the author. It just does. This was a difficult book to get through. I didn't care for or empathize with any of the characters. Didn't really "get" the whole book.TOTAL PAGES: 9,447 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 268 hrs., 43 mins. + 14 hrs., 15 mins = 282 hrs., 58 mins.
No. 66 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern ***** It took me a while to get into the spirit of this book, perhaps a good third of the way, but once the actual circus started, I was hooked. A lot of beautiful imagery.TOTAL PAGES: 9,447 pages + 400 pages = 9,847 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 282 hrs., 58 mins.
No. 67 Vaclav and Lena by Haley Tanner (audiobook) ** Thump, thump, thump! That is the sound of me hitting my head against the wall. Oh, my God! This story of two young Russian immigrants is told in painfully detailed language with many forced and forced analogies that go on and on and on and make you want to hit your head against the wall. I gave it two starts because I was sort of interested in the story itself, but was frustrated and tortured by the words I had to beat my way through to get to the end. I mean, how long can a girl meditate on a spot on the bathroom floor, and, if I am not that girl, how long can I continue to care? TOTAL Pages: 9,847 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 282 hrs., 58 mins. + 10 hrs. (it seemed MUCH longer) = 292 hrs., 58 mins.
Good to know! This is one that I've been eyeing since it came out. Susan wrote: "No. 66 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern ***** It took me a while to get into the spirit of this book, perhaps a good third of the way, but once the actual circus started, I was h..."
No. 68 Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland (audiobook)** It is hard to know what to say about this book. I listened to it on audiobook, and since I can soldier through boring bits much easier with an audiobook, I got past the beginning. Clara, the protagonist, and a real person who fashioned, or helped to fashion, the famous Tiffany lamps, walks back into Tiffany's studio after having not been employed by the studio for awhile, is hired back, and immediately there are long, long, long, detailed descriptions of making stained glass items. It was not until disc 3 that anything of a personal, human aspect comes into the story. It picks up at this time, which periodic return to stained glass descriptions. Now, if you are a devotee of stained glass, and, ironically, I am, you would think that these bits would be interesting. But, they are not. I kept wanting to see what she was making, and how she was making it. I wanted pictures or a video. I found it hard to picture what she was doing and how she was doing it. Since her art is a main ingredient of the book, it makes the book rough going. There is a lot of social commentary in the book: the rights of women, the right to work, the rights of homosexuals, the place of marriage in society, mental illness, labor unions, etc. A lot of it would be shocking to someone who was not aware of what women and minorities have gone through, and, for someone like myself who is aware, it is a good reminder. I was pleased with the author's treatment of these causes. The main character refers to them, but is not always outraged by them. She accepts prejudice and barriers as a natural part of her life and society. There is much good in this book, but it is hard to get to. And, I want PICTURES.TOTAL Pages: 9,847 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 292 hrs., 58 mins. + 15 hours and 57 mins. = 308 hrs. and 55 mins.
No. 69 Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt (audiobook) *** Clever idea, excellent narration. Execution, meh. I was looking for something a bit lighthearted. It partly filled the bill. I seem to be less than enthused by a lot of what I am reading now, especially the audiobooks. Why am I reading more now and enjoying it less? I want something to knock my socks off, please! TOTAL Pages: 9,847 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 308 hrs. and 55 mins. + 7 hrs. and 5 mins. = 316 hrs.
Maybe we need to read less. I was pondering this the other day when I realized I couldn't remember the details of a book I knew I had read. Maybe what I'm reading isn't knocking my socks off, and I'd appreciate some books more, if I wasn't reading two or more a week. Or could just be early signs senility settling in...
I am going to change my reading habits next year. I think I got carried away with trying to read as many books as possible this year. I am going to start being more selective. However, I really thought I was going to love all the books I've been reading lately. So, I don't know how to be selective BEFORE I read them. I see so many books that look great and my eyes are bigger than my brain.
Maybe we should start a JUST 50 books a year club. Sort of an intermediate step to control the addiction before Reader's Anonymous becomes necessary.
Yeah, we should have an intervention now when we only need an eleven-and-a-half step program to rehabilitate us.
No. 70 The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures by Caroline Preston ***** Great fun. This "scrapbook" of Frankie Pratt's life has beautiful vintage pictures on every page, with typed comments by Frankie. Tells a touching and humorous story of her life and experiences. Obviously, a quick read.TOTAL Pages: 9,847 pages + 233 = 10,080 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 316 hrs.
No. 71 Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler **** Reread. I reread this for an online book club. I enjoyed it tremendously, and a book like this helps me to envision the lives of women of that era -- claustrophobic and stifled.TOTAL Pages: 10,080 pages + 234 pages = 10,314
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 316 hrs.
No. 72 11/22/63 by Stephen King (audiobook) ***** I absolutely loved this book. I listened to the audio book and now that I have finished it, I miss it. The ironic think is that I have never read a Stephen King book before. I am not at all a fan of horror. I am, however, spellbound by the concept of time travel. Stephen King is a great storyteller and even when the plot was diverging from the main character's purpose for time travel, I found the the plot interesting and involving. Jake (alias George) goes back in time to try to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Although I don't agree with his reasoning as to why this would improve the world, and I don't necessarily agree with the consequences as they are delineated in the book, the time period he goes back to is MY time period. The assassination of JFK was the major event of my childhood (I seem to have passed with obliviousness through the Cuban Missile Crisis, remembering only one comment on the subject made by my father), and the events surrounding that particular day are burned into my brain.TOTAL Pages: 10,314 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 316 hrs. + 32 hr., 26 mins. = 348 hrs.,26 mins.
No. 73 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs *** A teenage boy finds a box of odd photographs of children after his grandfather is mysteriously killed, and he tries to find the origin of the pictures. Unfortunately, when Jake (is EVERYBODY named Jake now?) finds the peculiar home, my interest in the novel waned considerably. The novel's combination with the photographs is supposed to be a unique element of the book. Perhaps it is unique, but it struck me as a game -- while telling a story, pick up a photograph at random, and work it into the story. I think it would be more interesting to the participants than to a reader.TOTAL Pages: 10,314 pages + 352 pages = 10,666 pages
TOTAL LISTENING TIME: 348 hrs.,26 mins.
Summation: I read two fewer books this year than I did in 2010, and 3,436 fewer pages than I did in 2010. And this while I was trying to read more. I think I sabotaged myself by reading shorter books and feeling scattered and rushed. I found myself putting off longer books. I also found myself not finishing a lot of books and rushing on to the next one. Also 2011 was the first year that I became really active on Goodreads, and I was overwhelmed by suggestions that all seemed wonderful. In the past I had sometimes found myself searching for my next read; but in 2011 I accumulated over 100 books on my TBR list. I have to calm myself down in 2012!
Challenge: 50 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (other topics)11/22/63 (other topics)
Becoming Jane Eyre (other topics)
The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt (other topics)
Mr. Chartwell (other topics)
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