I have not kept up with my blogging in the latter half of 2010--New Year's resolution to be more up to date in my blogging. Here is what I read in 2010: My top 10 favorites are in bold.
1. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (Book Club)
2. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
3. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
4. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
5. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (Book Club)
6. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Audio)
7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
8. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (Audio)
9. The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
10. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
11. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
12. Balzac and the Little Seamstress by Dai Sijie (Audio)
13. La’s Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith (Audio)
14. Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger (Book Club)
15. Emma by Jane Austen
16. 13 ½ by Nevada Barr (Audio)
17. The Help by Katheryn Stockett
18. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (Audio)
19. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
20. Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris (Audio)
21. Caught by Harlan Coben (Audio)
22. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
23. Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
24. Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris (Audio)
25. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
26. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris (Audio)
27. The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
28. Scout, Atticus and Boo: A Celebration of 50 years of To Kill a Mockingbird by Mary McDonagh Murphy
29. Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
30. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (Audio)
31. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Book Club)
32. The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley (Audio)
33. The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
34. They Poured Fire on us from the Sky by Bensen Deng, Alephonsian Deng, and Benjamin Ajak (Book Club)
35. Gone for Good by Harlan Coben (Audio)
36. Mini-shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
37. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford (Audio)
38. Jackdaws by Ken Follett (Audio)
39. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (Book Club)
40. An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris (Audio)
41. The Likeness by Tana French
42. Skinny Dip by Carl Hiassen (Audio)
43. Knit Two: A Friday Night Knitting Club book by Kate Jacobs
44. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson (Audio)
45. Room by Emma Donoghue (Audio)
46. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
BOOK CLUB 2010
1. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
2. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
3. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
4. Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger
5. Bee Season by Myla Goldberg (I listened to this in 2007.)
6. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
7. They Poured Fire on us from the Sky by Bensen Deng, Alephonsian Deng, and Benjamin Ajak
8. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Monday, October 4, 2010
They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky by Benson Deng, Alephonsian Deng and Benjamin Ajak
Book club pick for October
This is a non-fiction book about the Lost Boys of Sudan. In the late 80s, the Arabs invaded southern Sudan for religious reasons and for natural resources. The boys had to flee across Sudan into Ethiopia and eventually made their way to Kenya. This is 3 boys stories of their long journey.
We watched the movie "God Grew Tired of Us" to accompany our book club evening. This topic was so sad, but through it all these boys have remained hopeful and cheerful. Many have come to the US as refugees and are trying to build a life for themselves here.
Highly recommended.
This is a non-fiction book about the Lost Boys of Sudan. In the late 80s, the Arabs invaded southern Sudan for religious reasons and for natural resources. The boys had to flee across Sudan into Ethiopia and eventually made their way to Kenya. This is 3 boys stories of their long journey.
We watched the movie "God Grew Tired of Us" to accompany our book club evening. This topic was so sad, but through it all these boys have remained hopeful and cheerful. Many have come to the US as refugees and are trying to build a life for themselves here.
Highly recommended.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Great book! I really liked this book. It's fairly long (over 500 pages) so it took me a few weeks to read it, but once I got going I was fully immersed in this tale of Harrison Shepherd. Shepherd was born in America in 1916 to a Mexican mother. His mother decides to go back to Mexico when he is 13 and takes him with her.
Shepherd ends up working for Diego Rivera the famous Mexican muralist. His life becomes intertwined with Diego and Frida Kahlo, Diego's wife. It was interesting to read a fictionalized version of Diego and Frida, but from the biography that I read about Frida I think Kingsolver was very accurate in her portrayal.
Shepherd also becomes acquainted with Lev Trotsky and is ultimately put on trial for his affiliation with the Trotsky. He's accused of being a communist just by association. It's rather appalling that this actually happened in the US in the late 40s and 50s.
I love Kingsolver's writing style. I enjoyed this book much more than "The Poisonwood Bible" which is touted as one of her best. I think "The Lacuna" trumps PB by a landslide.
Shepherd ends up working for Diego Rivera the famous Mexican muralist. His life becomes intertwined with Diego and Frida Kahlo, Diego's wife. It was interesting to read a fictionalized version of Diego and Frida, but from the biography that I read about Frida I think Kingsolver was very accurate in her portrayal.
Shepherd also becomes acquainted with Lev Trotsky and is ultimately put on trial for his affiliation with the Trotsky. He's accused of being a communist just by association. It's rather appalling that this actually happened in the US in the late 40s and 50s.
I love Kingsolver's writing style. I enjoyed this book much more than "The Poisonwood Bible" which is touted as one of her best. I think "The Lacuna" trumps PB by a landslide.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley and The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
These are two books that feature 11 year old Briton, Flavia de Luce. Chemist, investigator, instigator and precocious girl that gets herself mixed up in solving two murders (one in each of the above-referenced books). You fall in love with her and can't really even believe she's only 11 since she knows so much about chemistry. She has 2 older sisters: Daphne and Ophelia of Fili for short. The stories take place in 1950 England. Fun, Fun, Fun!
I enjoyed listening to these in the car on my daily commute. I highly recommend the version that Jayne Entwistle narrates as she's very entertaining and gets each character's voice just right.
I enjoyed listening to these in the car on my daily commute. I highly recommend the version that Jayne Entwistle narrates as she's very entertaining and gets each character's voice just right.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Very interesting and spiritual book that had my book club talking about our faith journeys. In a lot of ways we connected on a deeper level because of this book. Santiago is a boy who is on his journey to find his treasure and along the way meets people that push him forward. It's beautifully written and spiritually uplifting.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
SO GOOD!
The book is about a senator's wife who finds out that her husband has cheated on her through the media. This book is written from the wife, Sylvie and their two adult daughters' (Diana and Lizzie) perspective. Weiner is quite knowledgeable on this topic as she mentioned at her book signing that we are seeing these men in the news cheating on their wives and having press conferences with the wife present! (ie. Elliott Spitzer) It's a quick easy read, but fun and engaging. I recommend picking this up when you get a chance.
The book is about a senator's wife who finds out that her husband has cheated on her through the media. This book is written from the wife, Sylvie and their two adult daughters' (Diana and Lizzie) perspective. Weiner is quite knowledgeable on this topic as she mentioned at her book signing that we are seeing these men in the news cheating on their wives and having press conferences with the wife present! (ie. Elliott Spitzer) It's a quick easy read, but fun and engaging. I recommend picking this up when you get a chance.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Jennifer Weiner booksigning
I have to share with you that I went to the Tattered Cover (awesome independent bookstore with three locations in the Denver metro area) to see Jennifer Weiner last week. I was so excited to meet her. She spoke for about 45 minutes and then read a short excerpt from her new book "Fly Away Home". She then took the time to sign her books and take pictures with the people that were in attendance. It was such a fun night as she is hilarious in person!!! She had some funny stories to share about her mother meeing Rosie O'Donnell for the first time. She was a hoot and I really enjoyed the evening with my friend Arin. Here is a picture of us with Jennifer:
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