Books Read 2011
Here’s a reverse-chronological list of all the books I’ve read in 2011. My rating system is out of five stars, but it’s not a comparison system, so all of the five stars aren’t of the same value, all of the four stars aren’t the same, etc. It’s more a rating of my experience as I was reading the book. Did I absolutely love it and wish it wouldn’t end? Did I fear that it never would end? That being said, here’s my rough guideline; in practice, the line between 5s and 4s gets blurred a lot. 5: extraordinary; I will definitely read other books by this author. 4: very strong read, good writing style, really enjoyed and will seek out the author in future, but didn’t quite have the magic of a five-star experience. 3: a good read, possibly had one or two really strong areas, but the rest was average OR parts were great and other parts were just miserable. 2: there were some major flaws that affected my experience, but there were some good points as well. 1: I regret ever having even considered reading this book.
All titles are linked to the publisher’s page on the book, the Library Thing page for out-of-print selections, or the link I downloaded it from in the case of free ebooks. I want to pay more attention to imprints and editors, and this is a simple way for me to do so. :) Also, I’ve recently become interested in the age of the books I read, so the original year of publication follows the author. In the case of translated works, I’ve gone with the year it was published in its original language; in the case of books originally published in English but in a different country, I’ve once again noted the earlier year. I’ve also begun noting the translators when relevant; I get this information by checking the book’s copyright page, and sometimes the translation is just accredited to the publisher. In those cases, I’ve marked the translator as ‘unknown.’ Finally, if I’ve discussed a book on the blog, that’s noted and linked in parentheses following the author. I use ‘thoughts’ to indicate at least a paragraph-worth of writing; ‘brief thoughts’ indicates a single sentence recommendation.
-December-
- A Fine and Private Place by Peter Beagle | 1960*** (brief thoughts)
- The Reenchantment of Art by Suzi Gablick | 1991**** (brief thoughts)
- Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai | 1980***** (brief thoughts)
- The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley | 1997***** (brief thoughts)
- Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Armin | 1925***** (340) (brief thoughts)
- The Universe and the Teacup by K.C. Cole | 1998***** (brief thoughts)
- Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories by Sandra Cisneros | 1991***** (brief thoughts)
- The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs | 2011***** (brief thoughts)
- The Opposite House by Helen Oyeyemi | 2007***** (brief thoughts)
- In Other Worlds by Margaret Atwood | 2011**** (brief thoughts)
- Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin, trans. by Chi-Young Kim | 2009** (brief thoughts)
- The Magic Lantern by Jose Tomas de Cuellar, trans. by Margaret Carson | 1889-92***** (brief thoughts)
- Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery | 1923***** (brief thoughts)
- Death of a Prankster by M.C. Beaton | 1992**** (brief thoughts)
- A Country Doctor by Sarah Orne Jewett | 1884**** (330) (brief thoughts)
- Kraken by China Mieville | 2010**** (brief thoughts)
- Ghost Hunters by Deborah Blum | 2006***** (brief thoughts)
- The Dead Path by Stephen Irwin | 2010*** (brief thoughts)
- The Truth About Girls and Boys by Caryl Rivers and Rosalind C. Barnett | 2011**** (thoughts)
- Psmith in the City by P.G. Wodehouse | 1910***** (brief thoughts)
- Virginia Woolf’s Nose by Hermione Lee | 2007***** (thoughts)
- The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin | 2010***** (thoughts)
- Apollo’s Angels by Jennifer Homans | 2010** (thoughts)
- The Harrowing by Alexandra Sokoloff | 2006*** (brief thoughts)
- Weird Sister by Kate Pullinger | 1999**** (320) (brief thoughts)
- Death of a Snob by M.C. Beaton | 1992***** (brief thoughts)
- The Unseen by Alexandra Sokoloff | 2009*** (brief thoughts)
- Death of a Hussy by M.C. Beaton | 1990***** (brief thoughts)
- Maizon at Blue Hill by Jacqueline Woodson | 1992**** (brief thoughts)
-November-
- Cape of Storms by Nina Berberova, trans. by Marian Schwatrz | 1951***** (thoughts)
- The Letters of Abelard and Heloise, trans. by Betty Radice | c 1100s** (brief thoughts)
- My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due | 1997***** (thoughts)
- Rereading Women by Sandra M. Gilbert | 2011***** (thoughts)
- The Long Ships by Frans Bengtsson, trans. by Michael Meyer | 1941/1945***** (thoughts)
- The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, trans. by Mark Musa & Peter Bondanella | 1352/1370-71**** (310) (thoughts)
- Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri | 1999**** (thoughts)
- Death of a Perfect Wife by M.C. Beaton | 1989***** (brief thoughts)
- Winning the War on War by Joshua Goldestein | 2011**** (thoughts)
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier | 1938***** (brief thoughts)
- Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke | 2004***** (thoughts)
- The Second Life of Samuel Tyne by Esi Edugyan | 2004** (thoughts)
- The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins | 1859***** (brief thoughts)
- Enchanted Hunters by Maria Tatar | 2007***** (thoughts)
- Ammie, Come Home by Barbara Michaels | 1968*** (brief thoughts)
- The Calligraphers’ Night by Yasmine Ghata, trans. Sophie Lewis | 2007**** (300) (brief thoughts)
- Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie | 1972***** (brief thoughts)
- Death of an Outsider by M.C. Beaton | 1989**** (brief thoughts)
- Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman | 1998***** (thoughts)
-October-
- Passage by Connie Willis | 2001*** (brief thoughts)
- Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer | 1935*** (brief thoughts)
- My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart | 1959*** (brief thoughts)
- The Sirens Sang of Murder by Sarah Caudwell | 1989**** (brief thoughts)
- Travels in a Thin Country by Sara Wheeler | 1999*** (brief thoughts)
- From the Beast to the Blonde by Marina Warner | 1996*** (brief thoughts)
- Gilgamesh by Joan London | 2001*** (290) (brief thoughts)
- Quicksand by Nella Larsen | 1928***** (thoughts)
- A Thousand Times More Fair by Kenji Yoshino | 2011*** (brief thoughts)
- Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves | 2010** (brief thoughts)
- Touch by Alexi Zentner | 2011***** (thoughts)
- The Game by Laurie King | 2004*****
- The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien | 1955*****
- Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen | 1818*****
- The Cruellest Month by Hazel Holt | 1991***
- At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie | 1965***
- The Love Child by Edith Olivier | 1927***** (280) (thoughts)
- The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien | 1954*****
-September-
- Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi | 2011***** (thoughts)
- Death of a Cad by M.C. Beaton | 1987****
- The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard | 2010***** (thoughts)
- Triumph of Individual Style by Carla Mason Mathis & Helen Villa Connor | 1993**
- Strangers by Taichi Yamada, trans. by Wayne Lammers | 2003***
- A Candle for St Jude by Rumer Godden | 1947***** (brief thoughts)
- Robbing the Bees by Holley Bishop | 2005**** (brief thoughts)
- Death at Rainy Mountain by Mardi Oakley Medawar | 1996**** (brief thoughts)
- The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley | 2011***** (270) (thoughts)
- The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths | 2009*** (brief thoughts)
- Tolstoy by Rosamund Bartlett | 2011*** (thoughts)
- Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon | 2009***(brief thoughts)
- Living, Loving and Lying Awake at Night by Sindiwe Magona | 1991***** (thoughts)
- Ragnarok by A. S. Byatt | 2011*****
- Paris, Paris by David Downie | 2011***** (brief thoughts)
- My Great Wide Beautiful World by Juanita Harrison | 1936**** (brief thoughts)
- The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole | 1764*** (brief thoughts)
- The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood | 1993***** (brief thoughts)
- Jazz by Toni Morrison | 1992***** (260) (brief thoughts)
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson | 1962***** (brief thoughts)
- The Damnation of Theron Ware by Harold Frederic | 1896***** (brief thoughts)
- The Golden Road by L.M. Montgomery | 1913**** (brief thoughts)
- The War Machines by Danny Hoffman | 2011***** (thoughts)
- Mrs. Malory Investigates by Hazel Holt | 1989***** (brief thoughts)
- Arabian Jazz by Diana Abu-Jaber | 1993**** (brief thoughts)
- Walking with the Comrades by Arundhati Roy | 2011**** (thoughts)
- Anatomy of a Disappearance by Hisham Matar | 2011**** (thoughts)
- Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz | 2009*** (brief thoughts)
- Nothing Left Over by Toinette Lippe | 2002**** (250) (brief thoughts)
- Simplify Your Life by Elaine St. James | 1994* (brief thoughts)
- The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan, trans. by Earl Jeffrey Richards | 1405***** (brief thoughts)
- The Perpetual Curate by Margaret Oliphant | 1865*** (brief thoughts)
- Elective Affinites by Goethe, trans. by David Constantine | 1809***** (brief thoughts)
- Gold Boy, Emerald Girl by Yiyun Li | 2010***** (thoughts)
- Hope, Human and Wild by Bill McKibben | 1995**** (brief thoughts)
- Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote by Ahmadou Kourouma, trans. by Frank Wynne | 1998**** (brief thoughts)
- Wings of the Dove by Henry James | 1902***** (brief thoughts)
- A Band of Noble Women by Melinda Plastas | 2011***
- Nairobi Heat by Mukoma Wa Ngugi | 2011**** (240) (thoughts)
- Kassandra and the Wolf by Margarita Karapanou, trans. by N. C. Germanacos | 1976***
- A Midwife’s Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich | 1990***** (brief thoughts)
- Ambiguous Adventure by Cheikh Hamidou, trans. by Katherine Woods Kane | 1962*** (brief thoughts)
- Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio by Amara Lakhous, trans. by Ann Goldstein | 2008***** (brief thoughts)
- Still Life by A.S. Byatt | 1985***** (brief thoughts)
- Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh | 1934* (brief thoughts)
-August-
- In My Father’s House by Kwame Anthony Appiah | 1993*****
- So Far From God by Ana Castillo | 1994**** (brief thoughts)
- Seeing Voices by Oliver Sacks | 1989**** (brief thoughts)
- I the Divine by Rabih Alameddine | 2001***** (230) (thoughts)
- The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey | 1948*** (brief thoughts)
- Shortest Way to Hades by Sarah Caudwell | 1985**** (brief thoughts)
- The New Kids by Brooke Hauser | 2011***** (thoughts)
- Graveminder by Melissa Marr | 2011** (brief thoughts)
- A Writer’s House in Wales by Jan Morris | 2002**** (brief thoughts)
- Hundred Dollar Holiday by Bill McKibben | 1998***** (brief thoughts)
- Peril at End House by Agatha Christie | 1932***** (brief thoughts)
- The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer | 1934***** (brief thoughts)
- The Ballad and the Source by Rosamond Lehmann | 1944*** (brief thoughts)
- The Pirate King by Laurie King | 2011***** (220) (thoughts)
- The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood | 1969**** (brief thoughts)
- Death of a Gossip by M.C. Beaton | 1985*** (brief thoughts)
- The Ventriloquist’s Tale by Pauline Melville | 1998***** (brief thoughts)
- The Substance of Style by Virginia Postrell | 2003*** (brief thoughts)
- What I Wore by Jessica Quirk | 2011**
- An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P.D. James | 1972***** (brief thoughts)
- The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett | 1896**** (thoughts)
- Style Statement by Carrie McCarthy & Danielle LaPorte | 2008*** (brief thoughts)
- Black Water Rising by Attica Locke | 2009****
- Death of a Snob by M.C. Beaton | 1992**** (210) (brief thoughts)
- Destiny Disrupted by Tamim Ansary | 2010** (brief thoughts)
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie | 1920***** (brief thoughts)
- Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville | 1853**** (thoughts)
-July-
- The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon | 2007***** (brief thoughts)
- Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie | 2010** (brief thoughts)
- Claudine Married by Colette, trans. by Martin Secker | 1902***** (brief thoughts)
- The Sleeping Car Murders by Sebastien Japrisot, trans. by Francis Price | 1962***** (brief thoughts)
- The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs | 2011***** (brief thoughts)
- Death’s Favorite Child by Frankie Y. Bailey | 2000** (brief thoughts)
- The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything by James Martin | 2010**** (200) (brief thoughts)
- A Gentleman of Fortune by Anna Dean | 2011*** (brief thoughts)
- Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore | 2000***** (brief thoughts)
- Among Others by Jo Walton | 2011*** (brief thoughts)
- 40 Over 40 by Brenda Kinsel | 2000***
- Wolf to the Slaughter by Ruth Rendell | 1967*** (brief thoughts)
- Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan Culler | 2000**** (brief thoughts)
- Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku | 2008**** (brief thoughts)
- The Vagrants by Yiyun Li | 2009**** (brief thoughts)
- The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years by Chingiz Aitmatov, trans. by F.J. French | 1980***** (brief thoughts)
- Reading is My Window by Megan Sweeney | 2010***** (190) (brief thoughts)
- The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura | 1906***** (thoughts)
- The Black Sheep by Honoré de Balzac, trans. by Donald Adamson | 1842*** (brief thoughts)
- The Earth Moved by Amy Stewart | 2005**** (brief thoughts)
- The Little Friend by Donna Tartt | 2002***** (brief thoughts)
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander | 2010***** (thoughts)
- The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, trans. by Thomas Teal | 1972***** (brief thoughts)
- Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country by Louise Erdrich | 2006***** (brief thoughts)
- Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber | 2011***** (thoughts)
- Tom Jones by Henry Fielding | 1749***** (thoughts)
- The Zigzag Way by Anita Desai | 2006**** (180) (brief thoughts)
- Forgetful of Their Sex by Jane Tibbetts Schulenburg | 2001***** (thoughts)
- Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart by Alice Walker | 2005** (brief thoughts)
- White Teeth by Zadie Smith | 2000** (brief thoughts)
- Meeting Faith by Faith Adiele | 2004**** (brief thoughts)
- The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley | 2009****
- Read My Pins by Madeleine Albright | 2009**** (brief thoughts)
- Lust, Caution by Eileen Chang, trans. by Julia Lovell | 1979**** (brief thoughts)
-June-
- Changes: A Love Story by Ama Ata Aidoo | 2001**** (brief thoughts)
- The Toughest Indian in the World by Sherman Alexie | 2000**** (brief thoughts)
- The Calculus Diaries by Jennifer Ouellette | 2010** (170) (brief thoughts)
- The Touchstone by Edith Wharton | 1900**** (brief thoughts)
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, trans. by Larissa Volokhonsky & Richard Pevear | 1880***** (brief thoughts)
- A Bed in Heaven by Tessa de Loo, trans. by Ina Rilke | 2000***** (thoughts)
- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie | 1939***** (brief thoughts)
- The Innocence of the Devil by Nawal El Saadawi, trans. by Sherif Hitata | 1994** (brief thoughts)
- The Education of a British-Protected Child by Chinua Achebe | 2009****
- The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier | 1957**** (brief thoughts)
- Reading the Middle Ages by Thomas Steinberg | 2003***** (brief thoughts)
- Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton | 2003***** (brief thoughts)
- Crooked Letter Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin | 2010*** (160) (brief thoughts)
- The Honor Code by Kwame Anthony Appiah | 2010*** (brief thoughts)
- Inheritance by Lan Samantha Chang | 2004* (brief thoughts)
- The Secret in Their Eyes by Eduardo Sacheri, trans. by John Cullen | 2005*** (thoughts)
- The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins | 1878***** (brief thoughts)
- The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart | 1908** (brief thoughts)
- Sex on Six Legs by Marlene Zuk | 2011***** (thoughts)
- Sister Pelagia and the Black Monk by Boris Akunin, trans. by Andrew Bromfield | 2008* (brief thoughts)
- The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters | 2009**** (brief thoughts)
- The Oresteia by Aeschylus, trans. by Robert Fagles | 458 BCE**** (brief thoughts)
- Hijas Americanas by Rosie Molinary | 2007*** (150) (brief thoughts)
- Swami and Friends by R. K. Narayan | 1933*** (brief thoughts)
- In Search of Snow by Luis Alberto Urrea | 1999****
- The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot | 1860*** (brief thoughts)
- Becoming a Heroine by Rachel Brownstein | 1982**** (brief thoughts)
- Jenny by Sigrid Undset, trans. by Tiina Nunnally | 1911***** (thoughts)
- Thus was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell | 1981***** (brief thoughts)
- Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers | 1929***** (brief thoughts)
- Trickster Travels by Natalie Zemon-Davis | 2006**** (brief thoughts)
- A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper by John Allen Paulos| 1995*** (brief thoughts)
- The Story Girl by L.M. Montgomery | 1911***** (140) (brief thoughts)
- White Woman on a Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey | 2010***** (thoughts)
- The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto, trans. by Michael Emmerich | 1995**** (thoughts)
- Passed On by Karla FC Holloway | 2009***** (brief thoughts)
- From Empire to Empire by Abigail Johnson | 2011**** (thoughts)
- Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugrešić, trans. by Ellen Elias-Brusac, Celia Hawkesworth, and Mark Thompson | 2009***** (thoughts)
- Jonah’s Gourd Vine by Zora Neale Hurston | 1934**** (brief thoughts)
- Mexican Enough by Stephanie Elizondo Griest | 2008**** (brief thoughts)
- The Discarded Image by C.S. Lewis | 1964**** (brief thoughts)
- Courtroom 302 by Steve Bogira | 2005***** (brief thoughts)
- Fireflies in the Mist by Qurratulain Hyder, trans. by Aamer Hussein | 1994** (130) (brief thoughts)
- The Postmistress by Sarah Blake | 2010* (brief thoughts)
- The Pluto Files by Neil deGrasse Tyson | 2009**** (brief thoughts)
- The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope | 1864*** (brief thoughts)
- More than Good Intentions by Dean Karlan & Jacob Appel | 2011** (thoughts)
- Summer of the Big Bachi by Naomi Hirahara | 2004****
- Across Boundaries by Mamphela Ramphele | 1999****
- An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro | 1989***** (brief thoughts)
-May-
- A Fountain Filled with Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming | 2003****
- The Use and Abuse of Literature by Marjorie Garber | 2011***
- The Seas by Samantha Hunt | 2005**** (120)
- Days of Death, Days of Life by Kristin Norget | 2006***** (thoughts)
- Named of the Dragon by Susana Kearsley | 1999****
- The Translator by Leila Aboulela | 2006***** (thoughts)
- Opening Mexico by Julia Preston and Samuel Dillon | 2005****
- Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid | 1990***** (brief thoughts)
-April-
- The Colored Girl Beautiful by E. Azalia Hackley | 1916*** (brief thoughts)
- Tar Baby by Toni Morrison | 1981***** thoughts)
- The Body Hunters by Sonia Shah | 2006***** (brief thoughts)
- Grief Lessons by Euripedes, trans. by Anne Carson | c 400s BCE**** (brief thoughts)
- In the Land of God and Man by Silvana Paternostro | 1998*** (110)
- The Conjure Woman by Charles Waddell Chesnutt | 1899****
- My Imaginary Illness by Chloe Atkins | 2010**** (brief thoughts)
- A Strange Disappearance by Anna Katherine Green | 1880** (brief thoughts)
- Charlotte’s Inheritance by Mary Elizabeth Braddon | 1868*** (brief thoughts)
- The Carbon Age by Eric Roston | 2008**** (brief thoughts)
- Maps and Legends by Michael Chabon | 2006** (brief thoughts)
- The Time of the Ghost by Diana Wynne Jones | 1981***** (brief thoughts)
- Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood | 2006*** (brief thoughts)
- Romancing the Holy by Debra Farrington | 1997**
- In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming | 2003***** (100) (thoughts)
- Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey | 2011** (brief thoughts)
- DreadfulWater Shows Up by Hartley Goodweather | 2007***** (thoughts)
- Harlem is Nowhere by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts | 2011*** (thoughts)
- Cheri by Colette, trans. by Roger Senhouse | 1920***** (brief thoughts)
- Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray | 1848***
- Looking for History by Alma Guillermoprieto | 2002**** (brief thoughts)
- Around the World in Seventy-Two Days by Nellie Bly | 1890***
- The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiong’o | 1965**
- Taking Back God by Leora Tanenbaum | 2009***** (thoughts)
- Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon | 2007** (90)
- An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor | 2009***** (brief thoughts)
- A Guide to Elegance by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux, trans. by unknown | 1963****
- A Mind to Murder by P.D. James | 1963****
- The Complete Romances of Chretien de Troyes trans. by David Staines | c late 1100s**** (brief thoughts)
- Distant View of a Minaret by Alifa Rifaat, trans. by unknown | 1983***** (brief thoughts)
- Words Not Swords by Farzaneh Milani | 2011***** thoughts)
- Esther’s Inheritance by Sandor Marai, trans. by unknown | 1939**
- The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings by Olaudah Equiano | 1789**** (brief thoughts)
- Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones | 1985 *****
- Bernardo and the Virgin by Silvio Sirias | 2005**** (80) (thoughts)
- Reading Women by Stephanie Staal | 2011***
- Treachery in the Yard by Adimchinma Ibe | 2010**
- The Golden Ratio by Mario Livio | 2002**
- The Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner | 1883**** (thoughts)
- That Being Said by John McWhorter | 2011***** (thoughts)
- Suddenly in the Depths of the Forest by Amos Oz, trans. by Sondra Silverston | 2005*** (thoughts)
- Howards End is On the Landing by Susan Hill | 2010** (thoughts)
- Clotel, or the President’s Daughter by William Wells Brown | 1853*** (thoughts)
- Prayer: a History by Carol and Philip Zaleski | 2005** (thoughts)
- Life isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee by Meera Syal | 1999** (70) (thoughts)
- The Fever by Sonia Shah | 2010***** (thoughts)
- Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth | 1800**** (thoughts)
- Journey of the Pink Dolphins by Sy Montgomery | 2000***** (thoughts)
-March-
- The Untelling by Tayari Jones | 2005*** (thoughts)
- The Body at the Tower by Y.S. Lee | 2010**** (thoughts)
- A Small Treatise on the Great Virtues by Andre Compte-Sponville, trans. by unknown | 1995** (thoughts)
- Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea | 2009***** (thoughts)
- Passing by Nella Larsen | 1929**** (thoughts)
- Suburban Safari by Hannah Holmes | 2005**** (thoughts)
- Damascus Nights by Rafik Schami , trans. by unknown| 1989***** (60) (thoughts)
- The Invisible Sex by J. M. Adovasio, Olga Soffer, and Jake Page | 2007**** (thoughts)
- Mona in the Promised Land by Gish Jen | 1996*** (thoughts)
- And God Said by Dr. Joel M. Hoffman | 2010***** (thoughts)
- The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, trans. by Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky | 1940/1966**** (thoughts)
- The Good Women of China by Xinran** | 2002 (thoughts)
- Witch of the Palo Duro by Mardi Oakley Medawar | 1997*** (thoughts)
- The Hedgehog’s Dilemma by Hugh Warwick | 2008**** (thoughts)
- Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers | 1937**** (thoughts)
- The Abacus and the Cross by Nancy Marie Brown | 2010**** (thoughts)
- Letters From Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi, trans. by unknown | 1998**** (50) (thoughts)
- 30 Days to a Well-Mannered Dog by Tamar Geller with Jonathan Grotenstein | 2010** (thoughts)
- Don’t Shoot the Dog! by Karen Pryor | 1984*** (thoughts)
- Adopting a Dog by John Ross and Barbara McKinney | 2005** (thoughts)
- The Other End of the Leash by Patricia B. McConnell | 2002***** (thoughts)
- Bones Would Rain from the Sky by Suzanne Clothier | 2002***** (thoughts)
-February-
- Justice Hall by Laurie King | 2002*****
- O Jerusalem by Laurie King | 1999*****
- 12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time by Mark Jacobson | 2003***
- The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi | 2005***** (thoughts)
- Riding to Jerusalem by Bettina Selby | 1986*** (40)
- The Gentle Axe by R.N. Morris | 2007*
- Pedaling Revolution by Jeff Mapes | 2009***
- Medea and Her Children by Ludmila Ulitskaya, trans. by unknown | 1996***** (brief thoughts)
-January-
- The Imaginations of Unreasonable Men by Bill Shore | 2010**
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo, trans. by Catherine Liu | 1831**** (brief thoughts)
- Belinda by Maria Edgeworth | 1801**** (thoughts)
- Tents in the Clouds by Monica Jackson and Elizabeth Stark | 1957****
- Will Storr vs the Supernatural by Will Storr | 2006*****
- The New Nobility by Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan** | 2010
- Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer | 2010*** (30) (thoughts)
- Smile as They Bow by Nu Nu Yi, trans. by Alfred Birnbaum & Thi Thi Aye | 2007***
- The Heiress of Water by Sandra Rodriguez Barron | 2006****
- Well-Read Lives by Barbara Sicherman | 2010***** (brief thoughts)
- Esau and Jacob by Joaquim Machado de Assis, trans. by Elizabeth Lowe | 1904***
- The Three Incestuous Sisters by Audrey Niffenegger | 2005***
- Color Me Confident by Veronique Henderson | 2008***
- The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley | 1997***** (brief thoughts)
- Dogtown by Elyssa East | 2009**
- Fire on the Mountain by Anita Desai | 1977***** (thoughts)
- Sugar Cage by Connie May Fowler | 1992** (20)
- Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey | 1951***
- The Sagas of the Icelanders (Penguin edition), trans. by various | circa 1300s-1400s**** (brief thoughts)
- A White Teacher Talks about Race by Julie Landsman | 2001****
- Bachelor Brothers’ Bed and Breakfast by Bill Richardson | 1993*****
- A Border Passage by Leila Ahmed | 1999***** (brief thoughts)
- I am an Emotional Creature by Eve Ensler | 2010****
- The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers | 1934****
- Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie | 1994***** (thoughts)
- Mad, Bad, and Sad by Lisa Appignanesi | 2008** (thoughts)
- When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka | 2003*** (10) (thoughts)
- In the Woods by Tana French | 2007** (thoughts)
- Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki, trans. by Meredith McKinney | 1914**** (thoughts)
- Favela by Janice Perlman | 2010***** (brief thoughts)
- An Oresteia trans. by Anne Carson | c 400s BCE**** (thoughts)
- The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde | 1888**** (thoughts)
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson | 1886***
- Tail of the Blue Bird by Nii Ayikwei Parkes | 2009***** (thoughts)
- Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman | 2010* (thoughts)
- If the Spirit Moves You by Justine Picardie | 2001**** (thoughts)
Trackbacks
- Sunday Salon: Gold Stars « A Striped Armchair
- Sunday Salon: Playing with Format « A Striped Armchair
- Sunday Salon: the Books, and Just the Books « A Striped Armchair
- Sunday Salon: Seasonal Reading « A Striped Armchair
- Sunday Salon: Reader Advocacy « A Striped Armchair
- Sunday Salon: the Red Queen Effect « A Striped Armchair
- Sunday Salon: Reading From Year to Year « A Striped Armchair
- 2011 Year in Reading « Auxiliary Memory
I quite enjoy reading your posts.
Thank you Valleau!
You’ve read this much in January alone? wow! I could only read 7. How do you read so much in such a short time?
Anyways, I enjoy reading yoru blog.
I have a lot of time to read. :)
HI I just wondered if you had read J.M coetzee, I was particularly moved by his book Disgrace. I love following your blog.
karuna from India
Hi! Thanks for the comment and compliment. :) I haven’t read Coetzee yet, but he’s on my TBR list!
Just out of curiosity, how many pages do you read in an hour? Your reading speed must be incredible judging from your monthly lists.
Even when I have all day to read, I never finish a book, not even a short (under 200 pages) one.
Cheers, Katarina :)
Hi Katarina!
I have a lot of time to read (I explain why on my About page), but I wouldn’t say I’m a particularly fast reader. I do anywhere between 50 and 100 pages an hour, depending on the type of writing the book has. I can ‘speed read,’ but I don’t find it enjoyable so I v rarely do it. Another book blogger, Allie, discussed this earlier in the year if you’re curious to see how quickly other bloggers read: http://aliteraryodyssey.blogspot.com/2011/03/discussion-your-reading-speed.html. :)
Thanks for the info, I’ll definitely look into this.
I get ARCs and feel I’m constantly behind on my reading, so of course I’m interested, how other bloggers manage.
50 – 100 pages is very fast paced, from where I come from. I think I’m a slow reader, with anywhere from 10 to 25 pages an hour (depending on the book). I’m still looking into why I read so slow, maybe it’s my concentration – I’m not dyslexic though, so it’s one of life’s great mysteries.
Well, anyway I enjoy reading your blog very much.
Cheers Katarina :)
Hi again Katarina! I’ll be posting a bit more about this tomorrow, but I’m glad I could help you out a bit. I feel like I’m constantly behind on my reading too! I don’t do many ARCs, but the library books are always calling to me. ;) Do you have a book blog? I tried following the link in your username but it said the blog had been deleted.
Truly eclectic! I have thouroughly enjoyed browsing your reviews. And I am definitely going to be a regular follower.
Thank you :)
Thank you for such a kind comment! I’m sorry it took ages to reply; WP doesn’t notify me of comments on my pages.