December 30, 2011

• My 2011 Reading List

  

  I read 87 books in 2011. I’ve arranged the titles I’ve read this year into genres. Yes, Alexander McCall Smith is a genre unto himself! Each list is presented in the order of my preference, the top being the favorite. I found it very difficult to rank disparate books. How does one compare Elisabeth Elliot’s novel with Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts? The omega icon (Ω) indicates an audio book. K = Free Kindle K$ = Kindle at a price. I only read a few of these on my Kindle, but I’m especially interested in free Kindle books, and think you might be too.

  Last year I began noting the date of publication, which helps me see trends in my reading. I find it interesting/curious that as much as I think I love the classics, the only classics I read this year were children’s books. Unless you count Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, which I read to get a feel for Hemingway’s taut and sparse writing style. If I didn’t care for it, it doesn’t count as a classic, right? Seeing this list makes me determined to read Dickens, Trollope, Chesterton and Shakespeare in 2012.

  All in all it was a satisfactory year of reading. I look over the list and sigh many happy sighs. My 2011 book of the year is Unbroken. My children’s book of the year is Auntie Robbo, which you are obliged, if you have a Kindle, to read for free. Why I’ve never heard of this book before this year perplexes me. I found it on a fluke: curious about a reference to the author, I Googled her name. That’s one Google I will never regret.

  The quotes interspersed are from this year’s reading.

   

  As the train drew out of town, Matthew looked out into the gathering darkness
  of the late autumn evening. There were clusters of light here and there, and beyond
  them the dark shape of the hills. That was what the world is like, he thought:
  a dark place, with small clusters of light here and there, where there is
  justice and concord between men.  ~ Alexander McCall Smith

  Alexander McCall Smith                             
  

  The World According to Bertie 2009 K$ review
  Love Over Scotland 2006 K$ review
  The Unbearable Lightness of Scones 2008 K$
  The Charming Quirks of Others  2010 K$
  La’s Orchestra Saves the World 2009 K$
  The Double Comfort Safari Club 2010 K$

   

  And when the fresh curling trout had been eaten, with a mound of scones and butter,
  they lay late round the fire, swilling cocoa, arguing again about stags and cows,
  telling stories, and looking back on yet another well-spent perfect day. ~ Ann Scott-Moncrieff

  Children’s Fiction

  Auntie Robbo Ann Scott-Moncrieff, 1941 K review
  Moccasin Traill Elouise Jarvis McGraw, 1952
  Tamar Mal Peet, 2007 K$ review
  Hans Brinker Mary Mapes Dodge, 1865 K review
  Escape from Warsaw Ian Serraillier, 1963
  Tom Sawyer Abroad  Mark Twain, 1894 K review
  A Wonder Book  Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1852 K review
  Nothing to Fear Jackie French Koller, 1991
  The Christmas Rat Avi, 2002
  Tanglewood Tales Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1853 K
  Onion John Joseph Krumgold, 1959
  A Dog of Flanders Ouida de La Ramée, 1872 K review
  Pinocchio Carlo Collodi, 1882 K
  Tom Sawyer Detective Mark Twain, 1896 K
  The Peterkin Papers Lucretia Peabody Hale, 1880 K review
  The Little Lame Prince Dinah Mulock Craik, 1875 K review

   

  I used to tell my children that learning was like building shelves for the mind,
  some of which would come to bear much weight, some little,
  but all useful for reasoning and classification. ~ Janie B. Cheaney

  Children’s Non-Fiction

  String, Straight-edge & Shadow Julie E. Diggins, 1965 review
  Duel in the Wilderness Karin Clafford Farley, 1995 review
  Meter Means Measure S. Carl Hirsch, 1973 review

   

  Beauty is a key part to understanding God. ~ Brian Godowa

  Christian

  A Godward Life Book 2 John Piper, 1999 K$ review
  One Thousand Gifts Ann Voskamp, 2011 K$
  No Graven Image Elisabeth Elliot, 1966
  Wind from the Stars George MacDonald, 1992
  For Women Only Shaunti Feldhahn, 2004 K$
  Passion and Purity Elisabeth Elliot, 1984
  50 People Every Christian Should Know Warren Wiersbe, 1984 K$
  The Wisdom of Tenderness Brennan Manning, 2002 K$
  The Ragamuffin Gospel Brennan Manning, 1990 K$
  Women of the New Testament Abraham Kuyper, 1934

   

  On Thanksgiving Day, anyone who wants to wash dishes
  is my friend for life.  ~ Rick Rodgers

  Cooking

  Thanksgiving 101 Rick Rodgers, 2007 K$ review

   

  Despite its seeming mundanity, the ritual of flying remains indelibly linked,
  even in secular times, to the momentous themes of existence—and their
  refractions in the stories of the world’s religions. We have heard about too
  many ascensions, too many voices from heaven, too many airborne angels
  and saints to ever be able to regard the business of flight from an entirely
  pedestrian perspective, as we might, say, the act of traveling by train.
  ~ Alain de Botton

  Cultural Studies

  A Week at the Airport Alain de Botton, 2009 K$ review
  The Crisis of Civilization Hilaire Belloc, 1937 review
  How Proust Can Change Your Life Alain de Botton, 1997
  From Cottage to Work Station Allan C. Carlson, 1993

   

  An essay is more than just a report; an essay takes a position or makes a point.
  It requires higher-level thinking. ~ Janice Campbell (not exact quote; cobbled from my notes)

  Essays

  Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer Tim Stark, 2008 K$ review
  Small Wonder Barbara Kingsolver, 2002 K$ review

   

  I love fiction, strangely enough, for how true it is.
  If it can tell me something I maybe suspected, but
  never framed quite that way, or never before had
  sock me so divinely in the solar plexus, that was a
  story worth the read.   ~ Barbara Kingsolver

  Fiction

  Gilead Marilynne Robinson, 2004 Ω K$
  Green Journey Jon Hassler, 1985 review
  In the Company of Others Jan Karon, 2010 K$ review
  Dear James Jon Hassler, 1993
  Half Broke Horses Jeannette Walls, 2009 K$
  The Marriage Bureau for Rich People Farahad Zama, 2009 K$
  The Rector of Justin Louis Auchincloss, 1965
  Up and Down in the Dales Gervase Phinn, 2004 K$
  Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand Helen Simonson, 2010 K$
  Staggerford Jon Hassler, 1977 K$
  Small Island Andrea Levy, 2005 K$
  Shanghai Girls Lisa See, 2009 K$
  Olive Kitteridge Elizabeth Strout, 2008 K$
  Amy Inspired Bethany Pierce, 2010 K$
  News from Thrush Green Miss Read, 1970 K$
  Miss Julia Strikes Back Ann B. Ross, 2008 Ω K$
  No Dark Valley Jamie Langston Turner, 2004 review
  The Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway, 1926 K$

   

  Commit to one thing: You must change your life.
  But if you don’t have fun doing this thing, my friend,
  then it will be the dumbest damned thing you have
  ever done. You won’t know if you enjoy it until you do it.
   ~ Richard Watson

  Health

  Hormone Harmony Alicia Stanton, 2009
  The Philosopher’s Diet Richard Watson, 1985 K$

   

  History lessons were my joy.  ~ P.D. James

  History

  Unbroken Laura Hillenbrand, 2010 K$ review
  Truman David McCullough, 1992 K$
  The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris David McCullough, 2011 K$
  Eisenhower Stephen E. Ambrose, 1983 review
  1,001 Things Everyone Should Know About American History John Garraty, 1989

   

  The years are getting so they flash past me like pickets in a fence.
  ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower on 61st birthday

  Memoir/Biography

  West With the Night Beryl Markham, 1942 Ω
  The Sword Of Imagination Russell Kirk, 1995 review
  The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis Alan Jacobs, 2005 Ω K$
  Time to Be in Earnest  P.D. James, 1999 K$ review
  Blind Hope: An Unwanted Dog and the Woman She Rescued Laurie Sacher, 2010 K$
  German Boy: A Refugee’s Story Wolfgang W.E. Samuel, 2000 K$ review
  Heat Bill Buford, 2007 K$

   

  It’s not the tragedies that kill us, it’s the messes. ~ Dorothy Parker

  Mystery

  Original Sin P.D. James, 1995
  The Singing Sands Josephine Tey, 1952
  Break In Dick Francis, 2007 Ω K$
  Old House of Fear Russell Kirk, 1961 K$ review
  Dead Heat Dick and Felix Francis, 2007 Ω K$
  Crossfire Dick and Felix Francis, 2010 Ω K$
  Poirot Investigates Agatha Christie, 1924 Ω K$

   

  To be proud of knowledge is to be  blind with light. ~ Benjamin Franklin

  Non-Fiction

  In a Word Margaret Ernst, 1939 review
  Poor Richard’s Almanac Benjamin Franklin, 1747 K$ review

   

  We were as happy as people can possibly be in a malarious country. ~ Jessie Currie
  I like roads. I live to move. ~ Harry S. Truman

  Travel

  A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains Isabella Bird, 1873 K
  Unsuitable for Ladies: An Anthology of Women Travellers ed. Jane Robinson, 1994 K$ review
  The Crofter and the Laird John McPhee, 1969 K$
  Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure Matthew Algeo, 2009 K$ review
  The Guynd: A Scottish Journal Belinda Rathbone, 2007 review
  Two Towns in Provence M.F.K. Fisher, 1964 K$ review
  Palladian Days: Finding a New Life in a Venetian Country House Sally Gable, 2006 Ω K$
  Wonderlust Vicki Kiyper, 2007 review

   

  Happy Reading!

  • 4:09 pm
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