Snash's 11 in 11 Challenge

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Snash's 11 in 11 Challenge

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1snash
Ene 3, 2011, 7:54 pm

Marking my spot. Have to do some thinking about categories.

2deep220
Editado: Ene 5, 2011, 10:16 am

Snash-a very weighty busy this determining categories. ;)

3snash
Ene 5, 2011, 5:04 pm

deep220, Yes, very weighty but here they are

1) World Literature - translated
2) English/American Literature
3) Sociology
4) US History
5) World History
6) Travel Books
7) Science
8) Memoir
9) Writing/Creativity/Art
10) Classics
11) Early Review Books

5snash
Editado: Dic 23, 2011, 9:14 am

English/American Literature
1) The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
2) The Country Between Us by Carolyn Forche
3) The Door by Margaret Atwood
4) The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
5) A Special Providence by Richard Yates
6) The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
7) A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
8) Cool Water by Dianne Warren
9) Pao by Kerry Young
10) Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
11) The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster
12) Paris Stories by Mavis Gallant

Possibilities
Beloved A Fine Balance

8snash
Editado: Dic 21, 2011, 5:59 pm

World History
1) Red Heat
2) A History of the World Since 9/11
3) Improbable Patriot
4)
5)
6)
7)

Possibilities

9snash
Editado: Mar 12, 2011, 9:22 am

Travel Books
1) Food of a Younger Land by Mark Kurlansky
2) Lost on Planet China
3) Insider's Guide to Savannah & Hilton Head
4)
5)

Possibilities

10snash
Editado: Jun 4, 2011, 5:47 pm

11snash
Editado: Jun 4, 2011, 5:47 pm

12snash
Editado: Dic 4, 2011, 10:25 am

Writing/Creativity/Art
1) Trust the Process by Shaun McNiff
2) The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published
3)
4)
5)

13snash
Editado: Nov 9, 2011, 7:42 pm

Classics
1) The Tin Drum
2) The Portrait of a Lady
3)
4)
5)

Possibilities
Swanns Way A Suitable Boy Brothers Karamozov

14snash
Editado: Nov 26, 2011, 2:52 pm

Early Review Books
1) The Archaeology of Home
2) Solo by Rana Dasgupta
3) High on the Hog by Jessica Harris
4) Stan Musial: An American Life
5) Indigo: The Color That Seduced the World
6) Dreaming in Chinese by Deborah Fallows
7) Stein and Hemingway
8)
Possibilities

15snash
Ene 8, 2011, 12:59 pm

The Archaeology of Home is a fascinating history of a house, of a neighborhood. The author has done an amazing amount of research revealing an intriguing cast of characters which she has brought to life within the shifting backdrop of the neighborhood. The picture of each era is well drawn and fleshed out. My problem with the book is that it tried to do too many things, diminishing the impact of each. Besides being a history of the house, it is also a memoir about the author's dealings with the house and, particularly in the beginning, includes way too much filler; the story of man's relationship to property and home from the dawn of history.

It is my first book of Early Review Books

16snash
Editado: Ene 17, 2011, 9:54 am

While the topic may sound dry, by focusing on how much money people received and what they spent it on, The Standard of Living in 1860 presents a picture of everyday life in America in 1860. Due to lack of maintained statistics, the author is forced to make some guesses but clearly notes them as such and his thinking in making them. I found it to be a very good and interesting book. My particular copy did have 13 pages missing and replaced by pages from other books which was a bit disconcerting.

My first book of US History

17snash
Ene 26, 2011, 11:34 am

Solo is an excellent, stunning book. It's asks questions about how to judge success and failure, what's real and what's not, and even what are the borders of a person, and that's on the surface. I'm convinced that more insights will become evident as I live with its memory. On top of that it's fun to read, portraying Eastern Europe from the late 1800's to today and a fascinating collection of characters.

My second book of Early Review Books

18lkernagh
Ene 26, 2011, 9:59 pm

I loved Solo when I read it. I wasn't surprised that it won the Commonwealth Writer's Prize for best book in 2010. Glad to see you enjoyed it as well!

19snash
Editado: Ene 31, 2011, 3:40 pm

American Colossus was a history of capitalism in its early heyday. It covers the moguls and politicians who profited and the masses who didn't. I found it interesting in that it included the history of the gold rush, the demise of the Indians, cowboys, immigrant tenets, homesteaders, as well as factories and laborers. Often the stories were told, in part, by introducing an individual. I found it an enjoyable history.

My second book of US History

20snash
Feb 7, 2011, 4:27 pm

The fictionalized biography of Daisy Goodwill presented in The Stone Diaries is excellent. It's an ordinary, extraordinary life revealed from various viewpoints such that the reader is left puzzling over where the truth lies. When her inner thoughts are presented, they seem rich and revealing but she herself doubts her self image. The views of others add color and detail, slowly shifting the conjured up kernel of self. The inability to capture the character and place her in a neat box is sometimes frustrating. All of the other characters are also deftly drawn.

My first book of English/American literature (Canadian actually)

21snash
Feb 11, 2011, 3:26 pm

The Kindle version of Food of a Younger Land that I downloaded only included the Northeast section. It consists of WPA writer's project writings about food and food related customs in the 1940's, just before any serious influx of fast foods and National advertising. I found it more readable and interesting than I might have suspected, giving a picture of what people normally ate, not what was being served in fancy restaurants. Include chowders, jonny cakes, clam bakes, maple syrup sugaring etc.

Doesn't quite fit a category but I'll call it travel but involves some time travel too.

22snash
Feb 13, 2011, 6:54 pm

The Country Between Us is a book of poetry about man's horrific inhumanity to man from El Salvador to Serbia and beyond, it's affect on the observer as well as the victim, and the impossibility of overcoming it. Much of the imagery was stunning and unique. Excellent but difficult to read.

23snash
Feb 20, 2011, 7:44 pm

I finished reading High on the Hog which presents a history of African Americans from Africa to today with an emphasis on the foods that made up their diet brought from Africa and improvised in the Americas. It also presented brief biographies of those African Americans who made a name for themselves in the food industry along with a few recipes. Even though I knew most of the history, I still learned a number of things. I found it an enjoyable, easy book to read.

It was my third early review book

24thornton37814
Feb 20, 2011, 8:37 pm

>23 snash: That one's already on my wish list. Glad that you enjoyed it.

25Bcteagirl
Feb 20, 2011, 9:19 pm

I am jealous that you were lucky enough to get a copy of High on the Hog I remember when that one was up! Food of a Younger Land is also one I would like to read sometime :)

26snash
Feb 24, 2011, 8:58 am

On the surface these are fairly simple straightforward, easily readable poems in Margaret Atwood's The Door. About a third of them resonated for me with deeper meaning, surprising me and making me think, particularly those dealing with the poet and those dealing with age and death.

My third book in English/American Literature

27snash
Mar 9, 2011, 12:58 pm

The Tin Drum presents the story of Oskar, the boy who refused to grow up, is so full of allegories and metaphors that it would be impossible to catch them all upon an initial reading but amongst other things it touches upon dichotomy in humans, desire to avoid responsibility, the horror of the adult world, and the impossibility of maintaining innocence. Through all the layers of meaning, it's a readable tale.

My first book in the Classics category

28snash
Mar 12, 2011, 9:24 am

Insider's Guide to Savannah and Hilton Head. I will reserve comment until have returned.

My third travel book

29snash
Mar 18, 2011, 11:01 am

Bold Spirit is an interesting story of a determined strong woman's walk across America who was essentially beaten by her family in the end. Since the story was so successfully buried, the author was hampered by a scarcity of facts which she covered with background information and speculation. Enjoyable read nonetheless.

30snash
Mar 18, 2011, 11:02 am

Este mensaje fue borrado por su autor.

31snash
Mar 24, 2011, 3:47 pm

The Death of the Heart could easily be titled "Hearts", plural. The book is a painful coming of age story of a young orphaned girl within a society where all the hearts around her are already ill if not dead. As such, it's a book about alienation and pretense, people lost and unanchored. The ending seemed abrupt and hanging.

My fourth American/English literature book

32snash
Abr 2, 2011, 6:08 pm

Red Heat : Conspiracy, Murder, and the Cold War in the Caribbean by Alex Von Tunzelmann was an epiphany for me. By examining the Caribbean Cold War in depth including as much of the undercover activities as can be documented, it made to view several truths that have fluttered through my head, straight on. Mankind can be astonishingly cruel. No news or official word can be trusted at the time of events. Forming foreign policy on the basis of ideas is naive. The best of intentions can lead to horrors. The US is an imperialistic nation. I highly recommend the book but it is a disturbing one.

My first in the World History category

33snash
Abr 11, 2011, 7:00 pm

Art and Madness is a memoir covering about 10 years when the author was in her twenties, when she rejected the dullness of upper crust life and dedicated herself to the art of men. She describes a world of writers, artists, and actors emulating Hemingway in their alcohol, women and living full tilt. The people, famous and not, were intriguing but I most appreciated her close observation and ability to portray the scene. I was particularly impressed with her thoughts as she pulled herself out of the spell and chose to be a writer herself. My only complaint was that I found it hard to become emotionally attached to the author.

34snash
Abr 19, 2011, 2:37 pm

While A Mountain of Crumbs is a memoir of a girl's emotional growth dealing with family and coming of age, it's most unique in portraying a picture of Russian life, culture, and mind set. For that I found it fascinating.

35snash
Abr 21, 2011, 4:40 pm

The Warmth of Other Suns presents the migration of blacks from the south between WWI and 1970 from the historical record but mostly by presenting the story of three representative migrant. The personal slant brought the story more clearly into focus. The book, however did seem to be plagued by too much repetition of points.

36snash
mayo 2, 2011, 6:48 pm

I was set to be totally enthralled with The Tell Tale Brain but ended up disappointed. In the beginning the author seemed to be viewing and thinking very broadly across numerous disciplines and making startling and insightful conjectures. With time, certain blind spots became evident. He pooh poohed psychoanalysis using an antiquated picture of it when it could have been easily encompassed as one of several ways to enhance connections between neurons. Considering that it often works, it should be incorporated into a picture of how the brain works. Also as he got to more speculative topics, his leaps of conjecture were made on such flimsy evidence that it didn't seem worth making them.

37snash
Editado: Jun 4, 2011, 6:10 pm

In Blood, Bones, and Butter I loved the author's irreverent attitude, her candor, and honesty about herself, the cooking industry, and Italy. At times it seemed superficial but it wasn't at all, it merely reflected the author's guarded, tough nature. It's an excellent enjoyable book. As a resident of Lambertville, NJ, I also enjoyed the references to local places and people in the early part of the book.

38cbl_tn
mayo 7, 2011, 9:36 am

You've been doing some interesting reading! Bold Spirit has been on my wish list for a while. I added it after discovering it in the Unsuggestions list in my recommendations. I'm not sure how it ended up as an unsuggestion for me, because it sounds like a book I would like!

The Warmth of Other Suns is also on my TBR list. Thanks for the warning about the repetition. I have a tendency to expect too much from books that have lots of buzz surrounding them and I tend to be hypercritical in my reactions to them.

39snash
mayo 19, 2011, 3:29 pm

The Death and Life of Great American Cities was an excellent clearly presented analysis of what makes cities work and what doesn't along with practical suggestions to help problem neighborhoods. I don't keep abreast of what is presently being done in city planning but I get the impression that not enough has changed since it was written 50 years ago.

My first book in the Sociology category

40snash
mayo 27, 2011, 8:25 am

By using the various attempts through time of craniology and IQ testing to measure man, The Mismeasure of Man illustrates how science is a product of its times. Scientists often unconsciously collect and interpret data to fit their preconceived theory. Any hope of objectivity must first acknowledge this characteristic of man. The book shows this in a convincing readable manner.

My second book in the science category

41snash
Jun 4, 2011, 5:46 pm

The Red Queen is an interesting presentation of the roll of sex in evolution, and the evolution of sex. It provided much food for thought, especially the roll of parasites in driving evolution, the idea of the red queen (things evolve to stay even, there is no long term winning). I liked the authors dealing with the nature vs nurturing conflict, that they are both always involved. Especially towards the end, it seemed schools of thought were flippantly tossed on the trash heap rather than more thoughtfully analyzed. Most any theory has something to add.

My third book in the science category

42snash
Jun 4, 2011, 6:13 pm

The Lake was a quiet but deep look at how people go on after childhood traumas, their limitations and their adaptations. I found it an excellent book with great insight and some quotes to hold on to.

43snash
Jun 12, 2011, 3:46 pm

I just finished Stan Musial. My sense is that the book did the best it could with a difficult subject. It gave a good picture of the man and the times. The problem was that Stan Musial was a public man with very little private man available, even to himself. So it seemed anyway. Vecsey tried very hard to find more depth to him but could only get tiny glimpses. That said, his grace, congeniality, and humor came through clearly. A man of another era.

44snash
Jun 18, 2011, 4:28 pm

A Special Providence explores two lives, tangled together and damaged by twists of fate; the mother by men who deserted her, the son by war. They each had their coping mechanisms which often seemed to compound their difficulties. They were very well drawn portraits of likable sad people.

45snash
Jun 29, 2011, 2:14 pm

This focus of Indigo: In Search of the Color That Seduced the World was not indigo but rather the search for it; more of a memoir, travel log. As such it did give a feel for modern life in West Africa; the values, sense of spirituality, difficulty of travel, instability. Her attempts at presenting self felt distant and ethereal. It's a quick easy book to read with some return for the effort.

46snash
Editado: Jun 29, 2011, 2:17 pm

The Secret Life of Bees was a wonderful tale, perhaps a little schmaltzy but so well written, with such fascinating characters, that I forgave it all.

47snash
Jul 9, 2011, 8:42 am

A major theme of A Visit from the Goon Squad seemed to be how often our adolescent, young adult selves and our middle age selves are so different; a divergence that leaves us confused trying to resolve the two selves. The story was told with a large cast of intertwining characters over forty some years. I found that part of the story placed in the future to have a different feel from the earlier part, more like a superficial science fiction novel. I found it an entertaining novel but not great.

48snash
Jul 9, 2011, 8:49 am

Death in the Andes is a tense story of two civil guards assigned to oversee a road crew high in the Andes dealing with superstition, obsession, terror, and the elements. The struggle to make sense of various disappearances and maintain their own equilibrium is the focus of the book. An excellent, though disturbing book.

49snash
Jul 14, 2011, 5:18 pm

The Puritan Family is a small concise book describing the Puritan beliefs and society as it related to the family. It was very clear, enlightening, giving me a much clearer picture of everyday life in Puritan Society than I've gathered from any other source.

50thornton37814
Jul 14, 2011, 9:09 pm

I have that one sitting on a shelf. I will get around to reading it sometime.

51snash
Jul 21, 2011, 6:17 pm

Cool Water is a well written portrayal of a number of families on a particular day in a small farming community in Saskatchewan. All of the people are struggling with one problem or another and their lives intertwine. The characters captured my empathy and affection to the point that there were times I didn't want to read the book because one of their behaviors was angering me so. A very good book with a touching portrait of the struggles of everyday life.

52lkernagh
Jul 21, 2011, 7:12 pm

Glad to see you enjoyed Cool Water. It was on of my favorite reads last year.

53snash
Jul 29, 2011, 5:55 pm

Pao is a history of Jamaica presented through the life of a Chinese immigrant. Pao becomes the godfather of the Chinese mafia of Kingston but captures the reader's empathy. Issues of integrity, loyalty, happiness, and morality are all addressed.

54snash
Ago 9, 2011, 6:20 pm

Angle of Repose, What can I say but spectacular. It's the story of a country and the inners workings of an individual, of huge skies over grand landscapes and of a hybrid rose all done with the skill of a master story teller who has you in the palm of his able hand for the duration. On top of all that it's left me contemplating the human condition for days after.

55snash
Ago 11, 2011, 7:50 am

The Brooklyn Follies was a fun book, full of bizarre characters and improbable chance encounters engagingly written. Since truth is stranger than fiction, the story was even believable.

56snash
Ago 30, 2011, 3:05 pm

Albion's Seed explores the culture of four different waves of immigration to the US: puritans to New England, cavaliers and tenant farmers to the Chesapeake Bay, Quakers to the Delaware, and borderers to the backcountry. He then proposes that the different cultures that they established have and still do influence US character and conflicts. It's a very interesting book.

57snash
Sep 7, 2011, 1:33 pm

It took three chapters or so before I was intrigued with Baseball in the Garden of Eden but in the end it was a lot of fun, full of interesting characters and history. Particularly in the beginning it felt very scattered and confusing.

58thornton37814
Sep 8, 2011, 7:59 pm

>57 snash: We got that one on the lease program at our library, and it's been a huge hit! Everyone says it is good.

59snash
Sep 21, 2011, 12:28 pm

The author of Dreaming in Chinese uses the learning of the Chinese language and its nuances as her primary entry into understanding Chinese society. I found it quite enlightening and that it added to my picture gleaned from other sources. It also helped me understand in a general sort of way how the Mandarin spoken and written language works. It's well written and is easily read.

60snash
Sep 24, 2011, 9:29 am

The Birth and Death of Meaning is an ambitious exploration of the nature of man using Anthropology, Sociology, Psychoanalysis, and Political Science. It begins with the evolution of consciousness which presents a variety of paradoxes which man addresses with defenses and denials. These defenses and denials are then built into a society. The book suggests that in order for man to progress and for democracy to work, man has to learn to live with the truth which is fraught with ambiguity and contradiction. There are periodic comments that do date the book to the 1970's when it was written.

61snash
Sep 28, 2011, 1:18 pm

Trust the Process is a kick in the creative pants. It extolls the virtues of freedom, looseness, change, and cross pollination to get the artistic juices flowing. It comes at that message with suggestions from every angle imaginable and therewith is a bit repetitious. The resistant reader, however, needs some of that. It's a bit overwhelming to read through but I could see it as a very good resource for those lulls in the creative process

62snash
Oct 3, 2011, 8:33 am

The Parrys of New Hope and Philadelphia is a history rather than a biography focusing on Randolph Parry and his son Oliver, presenting a fair amount of background and surrounding information as well. The Parry's, influential industrialists and developers of New Hope, PA and the Spring Garden neighborhood of Philadelphia, are presented as stalwart and admirable, no skeletons revealed here. The book does present insight into the lifestyle of the wealthy, 1850 to 1930 or so, along with transportation between New Hope and Philly over that span.

63snash
Oct 22, 2011, 6:15 pm

A History of the World Since 9/11 is a scary tale of the death, deception, loss of rights, and distrust which has dominated world events since 9/11 using eight different personal anecdotes to illustrate eight different events or situations.

64snash
Oct 22, 2011, 6:15 pm

The Memory of Love is a superb, moving and thought provoking novel. The book dealt with the struggles of love, war, and the aftermath of both. It's a captivating human drama. Excellent

65snash
Nov 9, 2011, 7:40 pm

The Portrait of a Lady is in reality a portrait of 10 or 12 people. They are all so carefully drawn with their strengths and their foibles. Each of them seem to live compromised lives, lives compromised by their own limitations. It's all fabulously drawn so that reading it is almost like seeing each scene and being able to read each person's mind. It will be with me for a long time

66snash
Nov 26, 2011, 2:53 pm

Stein and Hemingway was a readable account of the friendship of Gertrude Stein and Earnest Hemingway. In the process of chronicling that friendship it provides a good portrait of them both along with a glimpse of the many others who touched their lives. For me, who had read previous biographies of both, I was particularly pleased by the picture of Gertrude which explained her writing objectives, her megalomania, her combative nature, and her appeal. An excellent book.

67snash
Nov 26, 2011, 2:54 pm

The Greenhouse is a haunting story, with insightful and unique descriptions of various emotional states. The book has the sense of allegory, sometimes almost dreamlike, which could be interpreted various ways. It is a thought provoking book

68snash
Dic 4, 2011, 10:26 am

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published is an extremely useful and practical book on all aspects of getting published, dealing this all those awkward details that writers would really rather not have to deal with but must. Besides the how-to of getting agents, dealing with editors, publicity etc, there are example query letters, proposals, contracts etc. It may not be totally up to date on self-publishing and e-book formats but with the speed of change, that would be hard.

69snash
Dic 21, 2011, 5:59 pm

Improbable Patriot is an astonishing ribald tale of a French character. His genius, cunning, and indefatigable energy and good will repeatedly bumped up against the French king and nobility. He lost everything many times but came back with perseverance. It's an excellent story well told. America owes much to him, at least as much as it owes Lafayette, but has never given him his due. Maybe this biography will help in some small way.

70snash
Dic 23, 2011, 9:15 am

Paris Stories by Mavis Gallant is a collection of stories set in Europe, mostly Paris. The characters are well drawn, as is the setting. The sense is of lost, displaced people trying to find a sense of attachment and belonging. Some excellent writing.