The Book Addicts 2012 Reading Challenge

The last challenge I am signed up for is with the book club I joined on Goodreads; The Book Addicts.  You have to select twelve books that have been on your TBR pile for over a year.  My selections are:

The Stand- Stephen King
Dragonfly in Amber- Diana Gabaldon
The Forgotten Garden- Kate Morton
Anil's Ghost- Michael Ondaatje
The Remains of the Day- Kazuo Ishiguro
Let the Great World Spin- Colum McCann
A Thousand Splendid Suns- Khaled Hosseini
The Magicians- Lev Grossman
A Passage to India- E.M. Forster
The Stone Diaries- Carol Shields
The Bonesetter's Daughter- Amy Tan
Little Children- Tom Perrotta

Alternates (although I hope to read them as well)
Bridge of Sighs- Richard Russo
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant- Anne Tyler

That brings me to a total of 4 challenges and 52 books ...I got this!!

Top Ten Books of 2011

This weeks Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks me to select my ten favorite reads of 2011.  I can easily pick ten ...the problem is choosing only ten! In no particular order they are:

1. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett 
2. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
3. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
4. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
5. Still Alice by Lisa Genova
6. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
7. The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
8. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
9. Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein
10. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

2011 End of Year Book Survey

The Perpetual Page Turner is hosting an end of year survey about books you read during 2011 and I just couldn't resist!

1. Best Book You Read In 2011
It impossible to pick just one book, but I can narrow it down to three! The Help, A Game of Thrones and Gone With the Wind.

2. Most Disappointing Book You Read In 2011
In the Woods by Tana French - I actually loved the book right up to the point where it ended without answering all the questions I wanted answered. Eat, Pray, Love and Never Let Me Go are close runner ups.

3. Most Surprising Book You Read In 2011 (In a Good Way!)
Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter - It was my book club's selection and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It was fun without being cheesy and over the top ...well as not over the top as one get in this case :)

4. Book You Recommended the Most In 2011
The Help and The Hunger Games to anyone who was willing to listen.

5. Best Series You Discovered in 2011
A Song of Fire and Ice - I have only read A Game of Thrones but that is because I am pacing myself.  Knowing there are two more books yet to come means I need to do what I can to reduce my wait time.  I also started reading the Sookie Stackhouse series.  They make for a quick fun read, but it simply doesn't compare ....

6. Favorite New Author You Discovered in 2011
Jeffrey Eugenides - I read Middlesex this year and can't wait to read The Marriage Plot and The Virgin Suicides.

7. Best Book Out of Your Comfort Zone You Read in 2011
Hands down Jane Eyre!

8. Most Thrilling Unputdownable Book You Read in 2011
A Game of Thrones and when a book is a 1000 plus pages that is saying a lot.

9. Book You Most Anticipated in 2011
11/22/63 - I haven't read it yet, but I just know Santa will be providing my first read of 2012.

10. Favorite Book Cover
How fun is the front and back of this book!!

11. Most Memorable Character
Scarlett O'Hara - I have seen the movie many times, but the book added so much more depth to Scarlett. Don't even get me started on Lisbeth Salander ....I finished the series this year and just love, love. love her!  I am super excited to see the movie when it comes out next week.

12. Most Beautifully Written Book You Read in 2011
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.  I read through it quite quickly and can't wait to reread it.

13. Book Read that Had the Greatest Impact on You
Still Alice - All I could think ....what if that was me ...

14. Book You Can't Believe You Waited Until 2011 to Read
Gone With the Wind

15. Favorite Passage or Quote
"When I first met you, I thought: There is a girl in a million. She isn't like these other silly little fools who believe in everything their mammas tell them and act on it, no matter how they fee. And conceal all their feelings and desires and little heartbreaks behind a lot of sweet words. I thought: Miss O'Hara is a girl of rare spirit. She knows what she wants and she doesn't mind speaking her mind--or throwing vases." - Rhett Butler

16. Book Read in 2011 that You Would Reread in 2012
The Hunger Games trilogy

17. Book That Had a Scene that had You Reeling and Dying to Talk to Someone about it (A WTF moment, epic revelation...) Be careful of spoilers!
The Kite Runner - The only book I read this year that I wanted to hurl at the wall while screaming WTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Top Ten Childhood Favorites

I am excited to be participating in my first Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!!! Such an appropriate first top ten as well. A top ten that is the roots that some 30 years later led to this blog!!! So here are my top ten Childhood Favorites :) :)

1. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White – What child hasn’t loved this book?  It was one of the first books I read and one of the first my daughter read.  To this day if you ask my daughter why shedoesn’t eat pork she will reply “I’m not eating Wilbur”
2. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume – I could list ten Judy Blume books alone on this list, but this was the book that made me feel older.  Hiding a copy of Forever also made me feel older and as a teenager it was the hidden copy of Wifey.  From Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret to Wifey …..was there a better way to have gotten through those adolescent years? I think not!!
3. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George – My 4th grade reading teacher read this to us and inspired a little backyard camping of my own.
4. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald – I read this series of books over and over and over again ……
5. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder – Another series that I read over and over again and to this day I will still watch the series on TV.
6. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein –There is something magical about his poetry no matter your age.  I now own the copy that belonged to my grandmother which makes it that much more magical.
7. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis – C.S Lewis led to my love of J.R.R Tolkien which has led to my love of George R.R. Martin.  Man, what is up with all the initials!
8. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell – Anyone who knows me would expect to love this book.
9. Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary – Just like Judy Blume, I really enjoyed all her books.  The Ramona series is probably what prompted me to consider my sister a “pest”…..ok, so it isn’t fair to blame the book for that one.
10. Bridge to Terebithia  by Katherine Paterson – The author that taught me not only can books be sad, but they can downright break your heart.

I could list so many books ….Little Women, Jacob Have I Loved, Harriet the Spy, Pippi Longstocking, Go Ask Alice, Stuart Little, Island of the Blue Dolphins ……..
I think I need to run to the bookstore now and pick up a few to reread!

November Bookworm Bite

I have decided that to get myself started writing about books that I will do a monthly wrap up post about the books I have read instead of individual book posts ....at least for now.  Having decided to take this approach I realize I should work on these posts throughout the month as I finish reading a book. The contents of my brain empty quite quickly and I am likely to have no clue what I am talking about. So a quick recap of the books I read this month and the little I can remember of what I read.  The upside of forgetting things so quickly ....rereading books isn't like rereading at all. 

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is one of those books that I didn't really think would interest me. Not sure how much more interesting you can get then a girl who was really born a boy but it went unnoticed, but that is beside the point.  However, I had continually heard such good things about the book that I decided to give it a try. I can't even put my finger on what it was that most intrigued me about this book.  It is his style of writing that just ever so gently sucked me into his world. In the end I considered it a four out of five star read.  In contrast to Middlesex, which I had I talk myself into reading, is Still Alice which I decided I had to have a copy of and read as soon as I got my hands on a copy. It is rare that a book can make me cry.  Still Alice did that and more.  It scared me.  I hope when my time comes that Alzheimer's is not the way it announces itself.  The perspective of Still Alice was what prompted me to pick it up and it was also the reason I wanted to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.  I was amazed at not just the perspective but how that perspective rarely came across as sad. Then in a totally different direction I picked up Assassination Vacation.  I enjoyed it, but it was probably my least favorite read this past month. My least favorite in that I really just have nothing to say about it except if you enjoy US history, you will enjoy this book.  Which brings me to my favorite read of the month, No Country For Old Men.  This is the second book by Cormac McCarthy that I have read. The first being The Road.  I loved The Road and I loved No Country for Old Men.   I ask myself ...what if I came across 2.4 million dollars .....I mean that would buy A LOT of books!!!

There you have it ....my first Bookworm Bite!!  I will become better at this with time and maybe even get a little more in depth with my quick witt and insight!