2011 in Books and a Contest!

January 09, 2012 candacemorris 18 Comments

Of course. Of course! I approve, most of all, of anything Anne Carson.

This is a great giveaway.
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Happy New Year! My favorite book at the moment is Origin of Inspiration by Sam Adoquei. It's perfect for when we start letting doubt creep in. His simple but beautiful essays really put me back in the right mind frame.

Congratulations! Really happy for you and your hubby!

I loved "Prayers for Sale" by Sandra Dallas. And I enjoyed the "Heretic's Daughter" by Kathleen Kent.

I also just finished the Hunger Games series which I really enjoyed. It is a young adult read, but very well written as far as the story goes etc. A bit gruesome at times, due to the content of story, in that young people fight to the death. In your delicate condition, you may wish to hold off reading these books. :)

Oh, and you must read "The Story of Beautiful Girl" can't remember the author at moment, but it is so, so good.

Dr. Zhivago. A Child's Christmas in Wales. The Selfish Gene. Icefields by Thomas Wharton. The Master and Margarita. A Brief History of Time.

Oh wow, what a great list! I will add autobiography of red to my own so thanks for the recommendation!

This year my favorites were Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield--both full of mystery--haunting and suspenseful. But my absolute favorite read was History of Love by Nicole Krauss. This book is exactly why I love to read. I laughed, I cried, I pondered, I didn't want it to end.

I would also put We always lived in a castle by Shirley Jackson on the list if anyone likes out of the box, creepy and odd.

xo

These days I am into Hemingway and so those are the ones I am reading now. If I have to name a favorite I will go for Anne Carson per NoisyPlume's recommendation. At this very moment I am reading "flow" and loving it but it is not fiction.

Thanks for the give away...

I read Autobiography of Red over the summer and fell in love with Anne Carson. The Beauty of the Husband is next on my list to read. I also recommend Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein, one of the best sci fi books. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins for a quirky read. The Outlander series is an easy read and very addicting!

I considered being embarrassed about my better than a book a week average in 2011, but being unemployed for an ungodly amount of time allows for plenty of reading and no matter how ridiculous the book is, reading it is probably time spent more wisely than my achievement of watching all the episodes of the multitude of Stargate shows in the last year.

I filled in some of the gaps of my literary experience by spending considerable time with Steinbeck and Hemingway but was completely blown away by "Moby Dick". I was never forced to read this book in high school or college, which is one of the reasons why I was able to enjoy it so much this last year, that and the fact that it is an absolutely fantastic story. When I get to talking about "Moby Dick" I get the urge to start reading it again immediately, but then I am reminded that I have been mocked in the last year on no less than five different occasions for having never read "The Great Gatsby" so I figure I'll have to put off a re-read until I get that out of the way. "Catch 22" was another great book I was never forced to read in my youth and was thus excited to read at 28, and I don't think anybody is ever forced to read it but Umberto Eco's "Name of the Rose" is fantastic.

I must insert a non-recommendation here: do not read "Atlas Shrugged". I figured I would probably disagree with Rand ideologically but I really tried to give her a chance. The entire story is morally reprehensible and I just couldn't make myself sympathize with the plight of the rich, successful industrialists who let the poor starve and die horribly to prove how important they are to society. I also feel that Rand's writing style barely approaches mediocre in its execution of this ridiculously long tome. If there was a less asinine way to put this than in all caps I would but ATLAS SHRUGGED SUCKS A BAG OF DONKEY DICKS!!!

While I sprinkle classics throughout my reading to keep up my English Major credentials, I mostly read for entertainment. Through my need to be entertained I made two fantastic discoveries: The Hunger Games trilogy was really fun. In an attempt to comprehend or at least not completely ignore the High School girls who are at my house two to three nights a week I have done a couple things I am ashamed of like read Twilight and have conversations about Justin Beiber but I am not embarrassed to admit that I read The Hunger Games; it was wicked fun. The second lovely surprise came from Stephen King. I had always snobbishly avoided King by referring to him as a popularist shill, writing for the lowest common denominator. I decided to give King a chance after reading his introduction to his Gunslinger series and am better for it. King is a very good writer and I am properly ashamed that I snubbed him for so long.

A few of the other notable books I must recommend are "This Boy's Life", "The Crying of Lot 49", any collection of shorts stories by Ray Bradbury, and anything by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. The most fun I had all year, though, was in my trek through Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Pratchett is hilarious and fun and very smart and is the one author I would recommend to every living human being. If you cannot love a Terry Pratchett novel, go recharge your batteries and get back to the assembly line because you are nothing but a soulless machine.

May I humbly submit that Atlas Shrugged is one of my favorite books of all time.

One of my friends, who is the only real Renaissance man I know (works with his hands by day, never even considered going to college, but recently taught himself to speak and read Japanese and is the most well read person I know and is currently almost finished reading Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" epic. What 30 year old does that?) also loves that book and we fight about it whenever it is brought up. I went into it knowing that I would disagree with her theme but expecting a well written book as it is considered a classic. What I got in "Atlas Shrugged" was a preachy, self-indulgent tome that was written with a skill that only slightly surpassed "the Hunger Games". I might just be pissed that Rand got me to waste so much time, but anything I say should probably considered suspect as I am typing this while wearing a Jedi bathrobe and occasionally talking to my cats.

Haha, I actually really liked Atlas Shrugged as well. I prefer The Fountainhead though.

As to not being forced to read books and discovering and loving them as an adult, I recently finished Jane Eyre. I did read this as a teenager and hated every minute of it because I was being forced. I was actually an avid reader as a teen, I just didn't like being told what to do. And wow, what a difference. Loved Jane Eyre. I'm slowly having to go through my high school mandatory reading list and reread them!

In 2011 I caught up with everyone else's "must read" lists: Sarah's Key, The Help, Pillars of the Earth.

Much to my regret, I spent all summer trudging through the drama of Pillars....ick. I almost feel like it's cliche to say it because everyone says how good it is, but I really loved the characters in The Help. It was my favorite read of 2011.

Today my book club passed on choosing "The Paris Wife" and chose "Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close." But I'll probably still read it... :)

I have had the pleasure of reading a book a day with the little miss. Our favorite books this year have been "Dear Zoo" by Rod Campbell and "Ladybug Girl at the Beach" by David Somar and Jacky Davis.

My top 3 of last year
3) Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
Non-linear narrative structure and characters you want to root for and roll eyes at in equal measure. More fun than heady, but still, there's many references to British WWI-era poets for academic cred.
2) On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Precise prose so well done that it encourages pausing, re-reading, and stopping for a bit for consideration.
1) Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
Here, too, the writing itself is tremendous, but the protagonist! You'll want to give Ree Dolly a hug, but she won't have time to accept it. She'll be too busy saving herself and everyone around her. Also, Midwest represent.

What an excellent giveaway idea!
I didn't read NEARLY enough this year, but the book that stood out the most was actually Tina Fey's Bossy Pants. It had me howling with laughter, smiling with " oh yeah, I know that feeling" moments, and taught me to listen to my inner monologue more, if not purely for entertainment!

lovely contest!!
First let me say I have just recently finished reading a lovely book of poetry by our very own Candace, and it was WONDERFUL.
I am so happy to have it :)

I also read and loved some classics, the great gatsby, and east of eden are a few. Also a northwest book called Wildwood, its for kids but is wonderful, and some lovely tom robbins.
xo

I am glad you've extended it! I take far too long with most things these days.

my recommendations from 2011 would be:

1. "A Commet in Moominland" by Tove Jansson
Never too young or too old to get swept up in the quirky and heart-warming world of the moomins. this was the first of their tales written.
2. "Living Gently in a Violent World" by Stanley Hauerwas and Jean Vanier
A series of essays, or conversations more like, on the holiness of disability and challenge to live in community
3. "Breath for the Bones" by Luci Shaw
Reflections on art, imagination and the spirit - accompanied by her fleshy imagist poems.
4. "The Cloud of Unknowing" by anonymous
An intriguing meander of ideas about god, in rich fourteenth century english.
5. "Mr God, this is Anna" by Fynn
Re-read for the sixth time maybe. This short tale is profoundly moving.
6. "A Book of Comfort" by Elizabeth Goudge
An anthology of prose, poetry and meditations to lift the soul and spirits.
7. "Dirt Music" by Tim Winton
Re-read. Fiction that is satisfyingly rugged, beautiful and unapologetically australian.
8. "Little Dorrit" by Charles Dickens
Like good english literature so often contains; scandal, mystery, strangling bureaucracy, classism, romance and justice triumphant

I did manage to fulfull my goal of one book per month (well at least 12 books within the year) but I feel like I can't remember the half of them right now.

Those that do stand out:
The Hunger Games - I literally read them during work in my truck they were so addicting.
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Sense and Sensibility
Life of the Line by Grant Achetz - story of an elite chef who lost his taste to tongue cancer and fought to get it back - great for foodies
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver

Working on Book #2 for 2012!