The Books of 2011

I love to read.. I could finish a book a day forgetting the world around me. But I can't.. with a rambunctious toddler you get no time for yourself until your child naps.. and then you have a whole other list of things you need to get done.. and bedtime can not come sooner.. and you simply don't have enough hours in a day. But I can't not read. Sure it take me a month.. sometimes more to finish a book.. but I must make time to read. I am no particular genre of interest. I am willing to read anything that captures me. And if it doesn't there was time when I would still finish it.. a courtesy to the writer and a hope that it will surprise me. Unfortunately, I no longer have the patience for that. If i'm not hooked by the first hundred pages or so I must move on to the next tale on my bookshelf.

What I read this year:

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. I started with some laughs. He is a very different kind of funny.. he never fails to entertain and to think this was his life.. his real life.. I count my blessing and appreciate the normalcy of mine.

Not in the Flesh by Ruth Rendell: A quirky small English town murder mystery which was more funny than thrilling. Oddly I don't remember the end of it.. I am trying to recall and I can remember the overall plot but the who did it has been forgotten. Not a very memorable book I guess.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl who played with Fire by Stieg Larsson: If you haven't heard of this series you must get out from whatever rock you are living under. If you haven't read it I advise you to read it. I haven't gotten my hands on the third book yet but I will devour it as soon as I get it. I personally preferred the first book over the second but they are all worth the read.

Hunger Games, Catching Fire and MockingJay by Suzanne Collins: Now for me this was an amazing series.. I waited all day for night to come so that I could read some more.. I thought  about the characters and what would happen next during the hours I wasn't reading. I was obsessed. I assume this is what Twilight fans feel like. But the illusion of its awesomeness was broken when my husband started reading the series and was not as in awe of them as I was. He preferred the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. I suppose that these books are geared more towards a young adult audience and while both books are from a girls perspective Lisbeth is mature and twisted with a violent edge. While Katniss is the exact opposite but with a violent edge. Still a highly recommended read.


Currently I am reading 61 Hours by Lee Child: I have read enough to know who I feel about the book yet.

I started to read a few other books too.. but couldn't finish them.. Bullyville by Francine Prose it was intended for a much younger audience and I could get through even the first few chapters. Another was The Exception by Christian Jungersen: This one by husband read and said there was a great twist in the end but the con was that you had to get through the entire book to get there and it just wasn't worth it.

What have you read this year? Any recommendations to add to my list of next years reading?

Currently waiting on my bookshelf are:
Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris
Maps of Hell by Paul Johnston
Ravens by George Dawes Green
Nobody Move by Dennis Johnson