Jaime's 50 for 2009

[Jaime]

I did this challenge last year and I did not quite hit 50...so I am trying again this year...Here goes:

1)Stardust-Neil Gaimen

Saw the movie awhile back not realizing that it was a book...then it was selected as a group read in a book club...I enjoyed it.

[Michael]

If you enjoyed Stardust, you might also like the Gaiman's "Coraline." The movie opens in February and will be stop motion animation similar to "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

And I must put in a recommendation of all Gaiman's novels. I've read and enjoyed them all.

[Jaime]

2)The Bush Survival Bible-Gene Stone

My friends gave me this book as a joke a few years back...I never read it and figured that if I didn't read it before the inauguration that I wouldn't ever...and then it becomes a waste of their money...so I read it...

3)The Thirteenth Tale-Diane Setterfield

I did like this book but maybe not as much as a lot of others...there were some things about it that I was not too thrilled w/ but all and all it was good...and I would recommend it to others.

[Jaime]

4)The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society-Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

This book was pretty good...I liked the letter format.

5)Love in the Time of Cholera-Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Not particularly thrilled w/ this one...took me a while to get through and I thought it was just ok...

[Lisa]

Jaime wrote: "4)The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society-Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

This book was pretty good...I liked the letter format.

5)Love in the Time of Cholera-Gabriel Garcia Marquez
..."


I was disappointed in "Love in the Time of Cholera" as well. It is beautifully written but I guess I just never felt anything for the main characters.

[Jaime]

6)Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time-Rob Sheffield

I did enjoy this one. It was a quick read and I liked all the music references.

[Jaime]

7)Watchmen-Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

This was my first real graphic novel...I enjoyed it and would recommend it to others.

[Jaime]

8)In the Woods-Tana French

My best friend wanted me to read this book because she really enjoyed it...I also really liked it

9)The Road-Cormac McCarthy

This was my first McCarthy. I liked it but not as much as I thought I would...or as much as everyone else seemed to...

10)Water for Elephants-Sara Gruen

I thought this book was pretty good. I would recommend it to others.

[Jaime]

11)Living Dead in Dallas-Charlaine Harris

Continuing on through the Sookie series...slowly but surely...I do enjoy these books...they are quite entertaining and quick reads.

[Jaime]

Ok...Havent posted here in awhile. I have done some reading but realize that it is not likely that I will reach 50 this year. I'll be ok if I hit 25 though.

12)The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America-Erik Larson

I enjoyed this book but it was not as good as I expected it to be. I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if it talked more about the murders and a little less about the architecture.

13)Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim-David Sedaris

I audio-ed this book (and it is the first audiobook that I have ever read) and thought it was pretty good. Some of the stories were really funny but I just dont think I find him as humorous as others do. I am listening to Me Talk Pretty One Day now so we shall see...I do feel that these books are great for audio-ing though because you can stop them @ the end of a story and its ok if you dont get back to it for a while.

14)My Sister's Keeper-Jodi Picoult

I read this book so I could go see the movie. After finishing I decided that I didnt like the ending. Then I saw the movie...and hated the ending and realized that I guess I did think the book ended better. Took watching the movie to realize that though.

15)War & Peace-Leo Tolstoy

So I finally finished this tome in July...It only took 7 months (including a 2 month hiatus). I can honestly say that it was worth it. I am glad that I read it and stuck w/ it til the end. I could have done w/o part 2 of the epilogue but @ that point after reading something like 1150 pages I wasnt going to skip it.

16)A Confederacy of Dunces-John Kennedy Toole

I loved this book...Ignatius was a great character and I would definitely recommend this to others. Very funny.

17)Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood-Ann Brashares

I enjoyed this quick read. I had read the others a few yrs ago and DVRed the second movie not realizing that it was based on the 4th book not the 2nd. So it was pushed up the list.

18)Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal-Christopher Moore

I really enjoyed this book also. This is the second Moore that I have read and I will definitely be reading more. I do wonder if I would have had a different view of it had I actually read the bible but eh regardless it was funny and I liked it.

[Jaime]

19)The Tenth Circle-Jodi Picoult
20)Me Talk Pretty One Day-David Sedaris
21)Club Dead-Charlaine Harris
22)Frankenstein-Mary Shelley
23)Bunnicula:A Rabbit-tale of Mystery-Deborah Howe
24)The Awakening-L.J. Smith
25)Born Standing Up:A Comic's Life-Steve Martin
26)Julie and Julia:365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen-Julie Powell
27)Playing for Pizza-John Grisham
28)Dexter in the Dark-Jeff Lindsay
29)Freakonomics:a Rogue Econimist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything-Steven D. Levitt

And that ends 2009...I definitely slacked this year...Hoping 2010 is better