2011- 40

40 books, that's all! I'm so disappointed. Or at least I was at first when I added up the yearly total. My goal for 2011 was to read more than the 66 books I read in 2010. Well this clearly didn't happen. When I look at all I accomplished in 2011 though, it's hard to be too mad at myself. The first half of the year I finished up my Master's degree, yes I would much rather have been reading then writing final papers, redoing my resume, and taking licensing exams, but it just wasn't possible. 2012 promises to bring lots of excitement and adventure with all it's going to offer. I hope it offers more of an opportunity to read and depending on how things turn out it just might give lots of time for me to read. I know wherever these adventures lead, the first thing on my list will be to find a library ;)

December 4

I loved Jeffrey Eugenides first two books so when I saw he had a new 3rd book The Marriage Plot out, I knew I had to read it. It's a shame Eugenides novels are so far and few between when they are just so good. Usually authors have underlying similar themes and you can find connections to writing styles/etc. Not with Eugenides, none of his novels have any similar theme running through them, but it makes it all the better to pick one up and know you are getting something truly original and well thought out. His 3rd novel follows the lives of a woman and two men after they graduate college. The love triangle has unexpected twists and turns and doesn't follow any traditional pathway. Readers get to watch the college graduates fall in and out and go on their way. The characters grow and develop in new non typical coming of age ways. Have yet to be disappointed with a novel from this author, only wish he had more out there to read.

Author Jennifer Weiner's newest book Then Came You tackled a more intense subject matter than any of her other books, but in the same light and airy way that makes her books easy pleasurable reads. This book follows four women. An egg donor, a surrogate mother, the woman who the baby is meant for, and that woman's step daughter. In general I liked the book and it's statements on the new modern non traditional families being formed all the time these days. On the negative side though many parts were just simply not believable even in a fictional reality. The novel provides the reader the opportunity to ponder what it means to be a family especially for women, which I did appreciate. This was not one of my favorite Weiner novels but it did give me a good memory and I will certainly continue to read whatever this author has to provide, as she is always good for a break from reality for a few hundred pages.

When Will There be Good News by Kate Atkinson was a confusing listen at first. I'm not sure if it was the heavy English accent of the reader or the confusing twisting plot, but it really took me a big chunk of the book to become interested. The first chapter draws readers in by flashing back to many years ago when a young girl loses her mother and two siblings and her dog in a traumatic random stabbing by a stranger. This shocking start leaves readers to wonder what happened to the sole survivor of a horrific tragedy. The book then becomes far less interested for many chapters. I'm glad I didn't give up on it though as it did get interesting again and then in such an intense way that I was unable to put the book down until I finished it. I suppose I might try another of Atkinson's books sometime, but I would definitely want it to keep my attention throughout rather than only at the start and end.

The last read of the month was a Christmas present. Woman's Best Friend edited by Megan McMorris is a collection of short stories about women and their dogs. The stories range from typical heartwarming animal stories to sad stories to the unique and interesting ways dogs affect our lives. After reading this book I starting thinking about the two dogs I have been blessed with and what they have meant to me. I tried to come up with what I might write about when it comes to the first dog we had, Daisy, or what I could write about our current dog, Laney. The fact is though that it would be so hard to sum up in just a few pages what my dogs have meant to me. As the book constantly reminds the reader, they are a part of our families, our lives, our hearts.

November 5

Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos is an interesting book about life after college and growing up into the "real world." I can't quite recall how it ended up on my to read list, but I'm glad it did. The novel was enjoyable to read and reminded me of some of my own lost friendships throughout college. The thing about friendships, especially women's friendships, is that the idea of "best friends forever" is really just not a reality for most women. I am so fortunate to have the friends I do and to continue through the years with them. But there have been plenty lost along the way. Grown apart from, full out "break-ups", or active decisions to disengage. In any of the cases parting ways with friends is never easy. The novel appealed to me in that the main character spends most of the book trying to piece together why her two best college friends and her split ways at the end of college. They are all brought back together again unexpectedly and the book often flashes back to the college years and important events while also moving forward in the present day. It wasn't a predictable journey but also some of the unpredictability meant reading some parts that just didn't seem plausible. Overall though a very enjoyable read. Some quotes from the book that stuck with me...

"Since you left there's been a you-shaped space beside me all the time. It never goes away"

"You are like me. You like your pockets of solitude, but you're not made for being alone for long...there were people... who needed the falling together, the daily work of giving and taking and talk and touch."

"She has moved on... we are only part of who she used to be, not of who she is now."

Second read for November was a light read, Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close. It took a bit to get into this book and I almost gave up on it a few times. I'm glad I didn't though as it had such appeal to me. The book is supposed to be about a group of women who are falling into that age category when their friends start to get engaged, married, and pop out babies. Some of the girls though are not falling into any of those groups and give a Sex and the City take on life without fiances, wedding planning, and baby talk. The book although given to the reader in chapters was almost to me more a book of short stories that all interconnected. Some of the girls get their own happily ever afters by the end and some get happily ever afters that don't involve men at all, imagine that! A good read, especially for anyone who is in their mid 20s and surrounded by friends who are taking steps they aren't quite ready to take yet.

Books 3 and 4 for November were mentioned in a talk show, I can't quite remember which, and I'm glad I picked them up. The Book of Awesome and The Book of (Even More) Awesome both by Neil Pasricha are fun reads about the little things in life we forget to take moments to stop and notice. Both books have a page or two devoted to then explaining the reasons these things are so awesome. Some of my favorites from the two books: the other side of the pillow, when someone lands on a hotel you just built in Monopoly, finding out your birthday is on a Friday or Saturday next year, waking up before your alarm clock and realizing you've got lots of sleep time left, picking up a q and u at the same time in scrabble, a long hug when you really need it, the smell and sound of a campfire, celebrating your pet's birthday even though they have no idea what's going on, the three-paycheck month, finding money in your old coat pocket, when it feels like the lyrics to the song you're listening to were written just for you, taking your high heels off at the end of the night and walking home in bare feet, when you open a book to the exact page you were looking for, seeing old people holding hands, the extra time you get when the clocks roll back, an inbox of personal emails when you wake up in the morning, the moment of anticipation before the first kiss, looking at the clock and seeing that it's 12:34, the airport pickup, appreciating the beauty of all your body's scars and scratches.

The last book I read (well really listened to) in November was The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates. I love Oates as an author and was drawn to this book as I also love Niagara Falls. The plot seems simple at first glance, but as with all of Oates' novels, is anything but. A bride marries and sets off on her honeymoon to Niagara Falls, her husband of one day jumps over the falls in the morning to his death. She then ends up staying in the fictional town in Niagara and marrying for a second time. The book is told from just about every characters perspective at one point or another. The story turns from being about the suicide to an almost Erin Brokovich story. It includes family relationships, religion, suicide, murder, and coming of age themes. I liked the book even though it wasn't quite what I was expecting. That being said though, Oates' doesn't give readers a clear idea of which character we are supposed to be rooting for. The protagonist continually changes and just when you think you like a character the author shows you as a reader why you shouldn't. It was tough to root for anyone, and just as I started thinking this I thought well okay you have to root for the children then, only the children are suddenly grown and also not so easy to root for. It's a bit odd to spend a novel not really liking any of the characters. The cool thing though is that after it ends it's clear on who the good guys and bad guys were, just a little odd to read through.

October 3

October's first read was Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen Degeneres. I love, and still love, Degeneres as a comedian. I have read all of her books as they are light hearted and good for a few laughs, even when discussing serious topics. That said, I really did not enjoy her newest book. It didn't flow at all and while some individual parts were funny, I didn't really get the overall point of what she was trying to convey to us as readers. She included lots of stuff along the lines of her great motto of being kind to others, which is of course good, but the thoughts/chapters were very disjointed and did not have any consistency to them. As I was reading it I got the image of a bunch of post its scattered on a desk and then thrown together in a book without really connecting them in any way. Lots of topics were covered and individual chapters weren't bad, but I didn't see a "book" anywhere in there. In any case I'll still watch Ellen's show when I have the chance and continue reading books she puts out. She just seems like a genuine celebrity who isn't totally self absorbed in her own unreality world.

Awkward Family Photos is a website I found a few years back. It's good for laughs and for some extremely funny family stories. When my boyfriend discovered it a few months ago I got back into checking the posts and laughing along with the stories. So when I saw that they had put together a book collection I of course reserved it. Awkward Family Photos as a book collection doesn't really offer more than the website. It is however, a good collection of some of the funniest photos/stories they have and therefore a good starting point for anyone who doesn't want to weed through all the past stuff on the website. A quick easy fun read.

In September boyfriend and I went to see Magic Trip which was a good documentary that then inspired us to read On the Road by Jack Kerouac. This book had always been on my to read list and I of course didn't know at the time that it was also on his. It took me a bit longer to get into it but the book was pretty amazing once I did. Kerouac really makes you as a reader fall back into the world he creates. It's easy to visualize everything, even for a reader like me who wasn't even around during that time period. As the book progresses you want to be in the moment with the characters, hitch hiking back and forth across the country. Previous to reading the book I thought it was just about the journey of hitch hiking across the country and that was it. It has so much more involved though and includes many trips to and from. The book was great and definitely worth reading. The best part for me though was that I got to read it along with one of my favorite people. It was so much fun to have "book club" and to spend some time chatting about where we were in the book. He was ahead of me for most of the book but then I ended up finishing it first, it was fun to have this little "competition" going on throughout. It was also really cool afterwards to discuss it together.