2006 book list
December
-
the autobiography of santa claus. it's starts out wanting you to believe in the magic of the once bishop, but toward the end i was tired of the story and all the history and history meddling which the author implies that santa and his crew have done. santa and his helpers change the course of man on many occasions and although jesus is always the reason for the season in santa's mind, i can't help but be cynical in the delivery of this story, of course.
by Jeff Guinn
-
2,001 things to do before you die. i didn't follow the last few directions and actually count the things i've already done. it's a fun little game to play to check off things like "go backstage" or "start a barbie collection." this may be my new gift to people you don't know what to give them simply because i think it would be really cool to pick it up in someone's house and go through their life with them.
by Dane Sherwood
November
-
which brings me to you. a story of love told through the confessions in letters. it sounds old school, but is set in present time. i loved the idea and ultimate sentiment and conclusion of this book. some scenes were a littlle too to, if you know. the line i loved most talking about wanting either to be loved more than understood or understood more than loved. how you couldn't live a lifetime in those possibilities and haven't we and won't we?
by Stevea Almond and Julianna Baggott
-how reading changed my life. this is really a long essay about Quindlen's lifelong love of reading. it's a good, quick read in which she discusses the lure of literature of women and the rise and change of The Canon. i wish i had read voraciously when i was young as she did.
by Anna Quindlen
-
the memory keeper's daughter. ugh. i can't believe it's taken over a month to finish one book. i did not like the book. there were parts that helped me moved along, that did not seem forced, but this book, to me, felt like a short story writer who was trying to force out a novel. i felt cheated by the auther at times, that she knew things about the characters and would withhold the information then casually supply it which is frustrating because you should always trust the writer to give you what you need up front. her style of writing was off as well. i felt like she explained too much and was too leanding. i hate giving bad reviews and i ususally don't because i will just not finish the book. i stuck with this one though and in the end, it redeemed itself somewhat, but no enough to make up for the month i spent dreading reading it.
by Kim Edwards
September
-
tender at the bone. a memior by the former new york times food critic. she delves into the experiences that pushed her to love and enjoy the world of food from eating it, to making it, to serving it, to writing about it. tales of her bipolar mother are sprinkled throughout and serve as a great contrast to the author who seems to sturdy and level headed especially when she is surrounded by food.
by Ruth Reichl
August
-
the time traveler's wife. i could live inside this book. i feel a bit like i do at times. the concept of someone traveling through time, in and out of your past, knowing your life before and after you do, it seems so strange and so wonderful at the same time. this book seems daunting, but it pulls you through effortlessly with easy writing and beautiful sentiment. i loved this one.
by Audrey Niffenegger
-
balzac and the little chinese seamstress. a few years ago i read a book called Red Azalea which was a remarkable and daring book about communist china and it's period of Cultural Revoluntion which sent young men and women away to camps or villages to work grueling jobs away from thier family, friends, and any semblence of life they knew. i thought then that i was like this book about the same topic. it was quite a different and much more light hearted take on the period of chinese history and while i liked this book, i didn't love it as much as Red Azalea. still, a clever book that made me wish i had read Balzac or Flaubert or Kipling or Tolstoy. i've read Hugo and so could relate a bit to that french mastermind, but i think i need to go dig deeper in the well of great western writers because i have the freedom to do so.
by Dai Sijie
-
the bell jar. there are some books like this one and The Catcher in The Rye that I wish I had read during high school or college when reading about such angst and inner turmoil may have awaken me to what literature could really do. i loved this book for it's honesty and bravado and also it's 1950's modestness. i am so sad that there are not more books from her, only poems will have to suffice because i think her books would have been even more and more momentus. she felt this one was not a serious work. i disagree whole heartedly and wish that i had a fraction of her talent.
by Sylvia Plath
-
the history of love. recommended by a friend who raved and raved about this book. it was brilliant. i read it in 2 days, which is a record for me and reading. it's a surprising read that keeps your mind awake and grasping for hope just as much as the characters do. and yet. a beautiful book.
by Nicole Krauss
July
-
bergdorf blondes. a chicklit book full of superficial characters with little substence. i'm starting to not like chicklit. i find it more and more boring. this book didn't help matters.
by Plum Sykes
-
garlic and sapphires. a romp through several years in the life of the new york times food critic who had to go in disguise so as not to be made by the resturaunts she was reviewing. it's a fabulous read into food the likes of which must of us will never experience. if you love food and want to know how the better half eat it, read this book. it's as good as going to dinner with her.
by Ruth Reichl
-
prep. a first person look at the inner mind of a boarding school girl. the main character is a sort of everyman with the neurotic insights we all face at some point which i'm sure have made this book so appealing. i'm just amazed at the depth in character the author was able to achieve. at some points you are baffled that she knows this character so well. well done.
by Curtis Sittenfeld
-
the hours. a story of three women struggling through the hours of thier lives. i didn't love this book simply because it was wordy at parts and my attention would wonder which is a really lame excuse for not loving a book. it's well written and well thought out, i just didn't love it.
by Michael Cunningham
-
you are not a stranger here, stories.
oh. my. dear. lord can this boy write. i said this everytime i finished a story. each story is dark without a happy ending, but the telling of them and the writing is just superb. i don't think i've been engrossed and surrounded by the language or the psychology of the characters in such intense and believeable ways as i was with these stories. boyfriend can write.
by Adam Haslett
- spygirl.
a memoir of a year in the life of a 30something private investigator new to the scene. i saw the author on the today show a year or so ago and thought the book sounded intriguing. i think was pushed me through this book was more the stories and scenes of new york city than the story line or the writing. it's a good beach or bathroom read, but dont look for much more here.
by Any Gray
June
-little earthquakes.
the story of four women who are dealing with the aftermath of pregnancy and raising children during one year in Philidelphia. this was not my favorite of her books, but i think it has to do with the fact that i'm not pregnant nor do i plan on becoming so for many, many, many years.
by Jennifer Weiner
-the man of my dreams.
well, miss sittenfeld can write her a book. well written and quick moving. the chronicles of a girl who moves through the awkardness of her sexuality, or lack there of, in finding the man of her dreams. this is what i like to call high brow chicklit, but sittenfeld would probably disagree, i don't think she likes the term. i will say that i think that this book has a great deal in common with The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank which sittenfeld bashed in the nytimes. i plan to research who else agrees with me, but i found some red flags in her arguements on chicklit and it's just a little circumspect.
by Curtis Sittenfeld
-the devil wears prada.
(i started this book 2 years ago and just read the last 40 pages). a chicklit tale of a just-out-of-college fashion magazine assistant who works for an Anna Wintour figure. it's got moments of good plot, but i felt a little bored with the book overall.
by Laura Weisberger
-one hundred demons.
it's a cartoon book, but that is too simple a description. the author takes her "100 demons" and illustrates and writes narration for them. there are not 100 in this book, but the ones she includes are fascinating, i like the idea of uprooting and letting go of our demons. it's so freeing and connecting.
by Lynda Barry
-the lone surfer of montana, kansas.
short stories with the common thread of searching. some stories kept me glued like, "A Black Dog" and i have a feeling that a lot of that story was taken from real life, the voice is just so strong. though there are illusions of a thug and hoodlums, it is obvious that davy has a cinderella view of love and that kinda makes any girl weak in the knees, gangster jive or not.
by Davy Rothbart
-the glass castle.
a memoir that proves the strength of a focused mind to overcome hardship and use the tough lessons life gives us as a roadmap to a better life. i love this book. it kept me up at night.
by Jeannett Walls
May
-fahrenheit 451.
a classic that i somehow never read. a fast and good read. and i love how many of the sentiments can so easily reverberate to today and yet it is what the end of the book warns us about. man is so flawed.
by Ray Bradbury
-eat, pray, love.
excellent. has made me very interested in yoga, meditation, and especially taking a year off to find my true self. an indulgent read into the life of one very lucky and spiritual woman.
by Elizabeth Gilbert
April/ May
-on beauty.
ms. smith is one smart ass woman. she writes well and knows her subjects and characters. i think it's remarkable how she moves so easily between classes and ages and does so with good dialogue. a smart book
by Zadie Smith
April
-encyclopedia of an ordinary life.
hiLARious. i read a good deal of it at Starbucks and had to remind myself on several occasions NOT to laugh out loud and i never laugh at books, never. such a cool concept for a book, so enlightening, so we-are-all-the-same affirmation.
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
March
- holy cow, an idian adventure.
an australian journalist travels to india for her man love and goes about the country delving into every major religion that holds a place in the ever inlcusive country. she puts herself into the religions of hinduism, buddhism, isalm, judaism, christianity, parsi, and jainism. her thoughts are objective and real and i appreciate her look at these religions. she's done the work i would like to do. there is also a good deal of life and love in the book.
by Sarah McDonald
-shopaholic and sister.
sometimes, after some high brow stuff, you need some chicklit smut. this filled that void. i've loved the shopaholie series since it came out about 7 years ago. i love that it is about london and shopping and friendship. i'm not sure if it's because i'm trying to read such a variety of things these days, but i really realized what utter non-literary crap this book is. i hope the others were not this bad, or i blame myself for being not smart enough to recogonize the literary stooping i was doing. that said, this was great escapism, totally unrealistic and unbelievable, everything chicklit smut should be.
by Sophie Kinsella
Febuary
-autobiography of a face.
beatiful. lucy grealy was an amazing writer, smart and a good storyteller. she had childhood cancer that left the right side of her face mishappen. in this book, she details how her life revolved around hospitals and the impact her face made on her social and emotional life. i'm sad that the world lost a great writer when she died and that when she lived, she published so few things. i crave more from her and this will not happen.
by Lucy Grealy
-bel canto.
after truth and beauty i had to read one of ann's ficiton books. this is her fourth and the one with the most acclaim. i have to say i didn't love it. the last 100 pages could have been all i read and i would have been fine with it. it still love ann. truth and beauty will be on my favorite list for a long long time, bel canto will not.
by Ann Patchett
January
-truth and beauty.
given to me by a friend months ago this book chronicles the friendship between two very accomplished writers, ann patchett and lucy grealy. a wonderful book about true love in friendship.
by Ann Patchett
December 2005 and January 2006
- julie and julia.
I pined for this book on Amazon not having a clue the girl was a blogger and wrote about her year trying to cook every recipe in Julia Child's first cookbook. A great read. I found myself thinking, "I wonder what Julie cooked tonight." I wish I had known about the blog beforehand. I think I would have been an addict.
by Julie Powell
-
the autobiography of santa claus. it's starts out wanting you to believe in the magic of the once bishop, but toward the end i was tired of the story and all the history and history meddling which the author implies that santa and his crew have done. santa and his helpers change the course of man on many occasions and although jesus is always the reason for the season in santa's mind, i can't help but be cynical in the delivery of this story, of course.
by Jeff Guinn
-
2,001 things to do before you die. i didn't follow the last few directions and actually count the things i've already done. it's a fun little game to play to check off things like "go backstage" or "start a barbie collection." this may be my new gift to people you don't know what to give them simply because i think it would be really cool to pick it up in someone's house and go through their life with them.
by Dane Sherwood
November
-
which brings me to you. a story of love told through the confessions in letters. it sounds old school, but is set in present time. i loved the idea and ultimate sentiment and conclusion of this book. some scenes were a littlle too to, if you know. the line i loved most talking about wanting either to be loved more than understood or understood more than loved. how you couldn't live a lifetime in those possibilities and haven't we and won't we?
by Stevea Almond and Julianna Baggott
-how reading changed my life. this is really a long essay about Quindlen's lifelong love of reading. it's a good, quick read in which she discusses the lure of literature of women and the rise and change of The Canon. i wish i had read voraciously when i was young as she did.
by Anna Quindlen
-
the memory keeper's daughter. ugh. i can't believe it's taken over a month to finish one book. i did not like the book. there were parts that helped me moved along, that did not seem forced, but this book, to me, felt like a short story writer who was trying to force out a novel. i felt cheated by the auther at times, that she knew things about the characters and would withhold the information then casually supply it which is frustrating because you should always trust the writer to give you what you need up front. her style of writing was off as well. i felt like she explained too much and was too leanding. i hate giving bad reviews and i ususally don't because i will just not finish the book. i stuck with this one though and in the end, it redeemed itself somewhat, but no enough to make up for the month i spent dreading reading it.
by Kim Edwards
September
-
tender at the bone. a memior by the former new york times food critic. she delves into the experiences that pushed her to love and enjoy the world of food from eating it, to making it, to serving it, to writing about it. tales of her bipolar mother are sprinkled throughout and serve as a great contrast to the author who seems to sturdy and level headed especially when she is surrounded by food.
by Ruth Reichl
August
-
the time traveler's wife. i could live inside this book. i feel a bit like i do at times. the concept of someone traveling through time, in and out of your past, knowing your life before and after you do, it seems so strange and so wonderful at the same time. this book seems daunting, but it pulls you through effortlessly with easy writing and beautiful sentiment. i loved this one.
by Audrey Niffenegger
-
balzac and the little chinese seamstress. a few years ago i read a book called Red Azalea which was a remarkable and daring book about communist china and it's period of Cultural Revoluntion which sent young men and women away to camps or villages to work grueling jobs away from thier family, friends, and any semblence of life they knew. i thought then that i was like this book about the same topic. it was quite a different and much more light hearted take on the period of chinese history and while i liked this book, i didn't love it as much as Red Azalea. still, a clever book that made me wish i had read Balzac or Flaubert or Kipling or Tolstoy. i've read Hugo and so could relate a bit to that french mastermind, but i think i need to go dig deeper in the well of great western writers because i have the freedom to do so.
by Dai Sijie
-
the bell jar. there are some books like this one and The Catcher in The Rye that I wish I had read during high school or college when reading about such angst and inner turmoil may have awaken me to what literature could really do. i loved this book for it's honesty and bravado and also it's 1950's modestness. i am so sad that there are not more books from her, only poems will have to suffice because i think her books would have been even more and more momentus. she felt this one was not a serious work. i disagree whole heartedly and wish that i had a fraction of her talent.
by Sylvia Plath
-
the history of love. recommended by a friend who raved and raved about this book. it was brilliant. i read it in 2 days, which is a record for me and reading. it's a surprising read that keeps your mind awake and grasping for hope just as much as the characters do. and yet. a beautiful book.
by Nicole Krauss
July
-
bergdorf blondes. a chicklit book full of superficial characters with little substence. i'm starting to not like chicklit. i find it more and more boring. this book didn't help matters.
by Plum Sykes
-
garlic and sapphires. a romp through several years in the life of the new york times food critic who had to go in disguise so as not to be made by the resturaunts she was reviewing. it's a fabulous read into food the likes of which must of us will never experience. if you love food and want to know how the better half eat it, read this book. it's as good as going to dinner with her.
by Ruth Reichl
-
prep. a first person look at the inner mind of a boarding school girl. the main character is a sort of everyman with the neurotic insights we all face at some point which i'm sure have made this book so appealing. i'm just amazed at the depth in character the author was able to achieve. at some points you are baffled that she knows this character so well. well done.
by Curtis Sittenfeld
-
the hours. a story of three women struggling through the hours of thier lives. i didn't love this book simply because it was wordy at parts and my attention would wonder which is a really lame excuse for not loving a book. it's well written and well thought out, i just didn't love it.
by Michael Cunningham
-
you are not a stranger here, stories.
oh. my. dear. lord can this boy write. i said this everytime i finished a story. each story is dark without a happy ending, but the telling of them and the writing is just superb. i don't think i've been engrossed and surrounded by the language or the psychology of the characters in such intense and believeable ways as i was with these stories. boyfriend can write.
by Adam Haslett
- spygirl.
a memoir of a year in the life of a 30something private investigator new to the scene. i saw the author on the today show a year or so ago and thought the book sounded intriguing. i think was pushed me through this book was more the stories and scenes of new york city than the story line or the writing. it's a good beach or bathroom read, but dont look for much more here.
by Any Gray
June
-little earthquakes.
the story of four women who are dealing with the aftermath of pregnancy and raising children during one year in Philidelphia. this was not my favorite of her books, but i think it has to do with the fact that i'm not pregnant nor do i plan on becoming so for many, many, many years.
by Jennifer Weiner
-the man of my dreams.
well, miss sittenfeld can write her a book. well written and quick moving. the chronicles of a girl who moves through the awkardness of her sexuality, or lack there of, in finding the man of her dreams. this is what i like to call high brow chicklit, but sittenfeld would probably disagree, i don't think she likes the term. i will say that i think that this book has a great deal in common with The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank which sittenfeld bashed in the nytimes. i plan to research who else agrees with me, but i found some red flags in her arguements on chicklit and it's just a little circumspect.
by Curtis Sittenfeld
-the devil wears prada.
(i started this book 2 years ago and just read the last 40 pages). a chicklit tale of a just-out-of-college fashion magazine assistant who works for an Anna Wintour figure. it's got moments of good plot, but i felt a little bored with the book overall.
by Laura Weisberger
-one hundred demons.
it's a cartoon book, but that is too simple a description. the author takes her "100 demons" and illustrates and writes narration for them. there are not 100 in this book, but the ones she includes are fascinating, i like the idea of uprooting and letting go of our demons. it's so freeing and connecting.
by Lynda Barry
-the lone surfer of montana, kansas.
short stories with the common thread of searching. some stories kept me glued like, "A Black Dog" and i have a feeling that a lot of that story was taken from real life, the voice is just so strong. though there are illusions of a thug and hoodlums, it is obvious that davy has a cinderella view of love and that kinda makes any girl weak in the knees, gangster jive or not.
by Davy Rothbart
-the glass castle.
a memoir that proves the strength of a focused mind to overcome hardship and use the tough lessons life gives us as a roadmap to a better life. i love this book. it kept me up at night.
by Jeannett Walls
May
-fahrenheit 451.
a classic that i somehow never read. a fast and good read. and i love how many of the sentiments can so easily reverberate to today and yet it is what the end of the book warns us about. man is so flawed.
by Ray Bradbury
-eat, pray, love.
excellent. has made me very interested in yoga, meditation, and especially taking a year off to find my true self. an indulgent read into the life of one very lucky and spiritual woman.
by Elizabeth Gilbert
April/ May
-on beauty.
ms. smith is one smart ass woman. she writes well and knows her subjects and characters. i think it's remarkable how she moves so easily between classes and ages and does so with good dialogue. a smart book
by Zadie Smith
April
-encyclopedia of an ordinary life.
hiLARious. i read a good deal of it at Starbucks and had to remind myself on several occasions NOT to laugh out loud and i never laugh at books, never. such a cool concept for a book, so enlightening, so we-are-all-the-same affirmation.
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
March
- holy cow, an idian adventure.
an australian journalist travels to india for her man love and goes about the country delving into every major religion that holds a place in the ever inlcusive country. she puts herself into the religions of hinduism, buddhism, isalm, judaism, christianity, parsi, and jainism. her thoughts are objective and real and i appreciate her look at these religions. she's done the work i would like to do. there is also a good deal of life and love in the book.
by Sarah McDonald
-shopaholic and sister.
sometimes, after some high brow stuff, you need some chicklit smut. this filled that void. i've loved the shopaholie series since it came out about 7 years ago. i love that it is about london and shopping and friendship. i'm not sure if it's because i'm trying to read such a variety of things these days, but i really realized what utter non-literary crap this book is. i hope the others were not this bad, or i blame myself for being not smart enough to recogonize the literary stooping i was doing. that said, this was great escapism, totally unrealistic and unbelievable, everything chicklit smut should be.
by Sophie Kinsella
Febuary
-autobiography of a face.
beatiful. lucy grealy was an amazing writer, smart and a good storyteller. she had childhood cancer that left the right side of her face mishappen. in this book, she details how her life revolved around hospitals and the impact her face made on her social and emotional life. i'm sad that the world lost a great writer when she died and that when she lived, she published so few things. i crave more from her and this will not happen.
by Lucy Grealy
-bel canto.
after truth and beauty i had to read one of ann's ficiton books. this is her fourth and the one with the most acclaim. i have to say i didn't love it. the last 100 pages could have been all i read and i would have been fine with it. it still love ann. truth and beauty will be on my favorite list for a long long time, bel canto will not.
by Ann Patchett
January
-truth and beauty.
given to me by a friend months ago this book chronicles the friendship between two very accomplished writers, ann patchett and lucy grealy. a wonderful book about true love in friendship.
by Ann Patchett
December 2005 and January 2006
- julie and julia.
I pined for this book on Amazon not having a clue the girl was a blogger and wrote about her year trying to cook every recipe in Julia Child's first cookbook. A great read. I found myself thinking, "I wonder what Julie cooked tonight." I wish I had known about the blog beforehand. I think I would have been an addict.
by Julie Powell
posted by Anna at 8:14 PM
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