Late to the dance: 11 by 11 in 2011 by kcshiker

I love this idea, and anything that involves more lists, more categories, more discussion HAS to be good.

my categories:

1. Space Empire
2. Weighty Tomes
3. Favorites Reread
3a. Crime Fiction (since I've been reading a lot of Michael Connelly, Preston/Child, etc)
4. All Things British
4a. All Things Middle-East/Southern Asia
5. Dusty Tomes; replaced with
5. TBR Pile Challenge (since I'm obviously incapable of reading 11 of the dusty tomes lying about the house...); thanks to Roof Beam Reader for the idea.
6. Young-Adult
6a. Science
7. US History
8. Mindful Reading
9. Military
8a. Public Domain E-books (thanks to Pamelad for this idea)
10. Zombies and the End of the World
11. Spies & Mysteries
11a. Naval Fiction/Non-Fiction

many of the books I read will fall into two or more categories, such as It by Stephen King (dusty tomes, weighty tomes) or World War Z by Max Brooks (zombies, favorites) etc...

enjoy!

edited to change one of my categories...

edited to add some overflow categories...

Space Empire: in which I read science fiction space empire type books... Alistair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton, Charles Stross etc...

1. Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton; Feb 10
2. Higher Education by Charles Sheffield; Mar 13
3. Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks; Jun 5
4. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
5. Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
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Weighty Tomes: in which I read books with 500+ pages; It, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Pandora's Star,

1. Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton; Feb 10; 992 pages
2. It by Stephen King; 1104 pages
3. Flood by Stephen Baxter; 496 pages
4. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin; Apr 15; 864 pages
5. Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms,and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories by Simon Winchester; Apr 15; 512 pages
6. The Winds of War by Herman Wouk; May 13; 896 pages
7. Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks; Jun 5; 532 pages
8. War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk; 1039 pages
9. The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill; 752 pages
10. Blackout by Connie Willis; 512 pages
11. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
12. River of Gods by Ian McDonald

Favorites Reread: the 'comfort' category... sometimes you just need to read something you know you will love, visit old friends, recharge your batteries etc. For 2011, I'll be rereading Harry Potter, Bartimaeous, and probably some W.E.B. Griffin (it's about time.. it's been a few years)

1. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud; Jan 26
2. The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs; Jan 30
3. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson; Feb 28
4. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larrson; Mar 16
5. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larrson
6. Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand; Mar 22
7. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling; May 1
8. The Winds of War by Herman Wouk
9. War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk
10. The Testament by John Grisham
11. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
12. Foundation by Isaac Asimov

OVERFLOW CATEGORY
Crime Fiction; should have been a category from the start I guess, since I read so much of it...

1. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
2. The Brass Verdict by Michael Connellly
3. The Reversal by Michael Connelly
4. Carte Blanche by Carlo Lucarelli
5. Still Life by Louise Penny

All Things British: Right ho, pip pip and all that... P.G. Wodehouse, Wilkie Collins, Anthony Trollope, E.M. Forster, Jane Austen et.al.... all introduced via the Kindle (free downloads!).

1. Right Ho Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse; Jan 1
2. Death at the Excelsior and other stories by P.G Wodehouse; Jan 3
3. Jeeves and the Tie That Binds by P.G. Wodehouse; Jan 12
4. Quartered Safe Out Here by George MacDonald Fraser; Jan 20
5. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming; Jan 21
6. Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming; Feb 5
7. Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton; Feb 10
8. The Ionian Mission by Patrick O'Brian; Feb 22
9. The Man With Two Left Feet by P.G. Wodehouse; Feb 24
10. Spreading My Wings by Diana Barnato Walker; Mar 5
11. Death in Kashmir by M.M. Kaye; Mar 20
12. The Far Side of the World by Patrick O'Brian; Apr 18
13. Dark Matter: The Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton by Philip Kerr; Apr 26
14. The Reverse of the Medal by Patrick O'Brian
15. The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean; not technically British (Scottish)

OVERFLOW CATEGORY
All Things Middle-East/Southern Asia: inspired by conversations with Iftyzaidi over on the 100 Books in 2011 forum, and my desire to become less abysmally ignorant than 99% of my countrymen about that part of the world.

1. The Taliban Shuffle by Kim Barker
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Dusty Tomes: oh yes... those books that I've owned for 10+ years and still haven't managed to read. This may be a difficult category to complete since I (like many here) am a "ooo new, shiny" magpie type reader. Still, I'll take a shot at it...

TBR Challenge Pile; thanks to Roof Beam Reader for the idea... my take on this idea is to read 11 books that have been on my Currently Reading/TBR pile for at least a year (a year measured from the time I actually pick up the book to finish it) and have read more than 50 pages of and then set it down for some reason.

Candidates for this category are Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (a book I am determined to finish... and have been reading/listening to for at least 3 years), An Army at Dawn by Rick Atkinson, The Green Man ed. by Ellen Datlow, Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds, The Hunger Games yes I KNOW!!, Adolf Hitler by John Toland, The Dark River by John Twelve Hawks....

1. It by Stephen King
2. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark
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Young-Adult: I teach high school. So I like to be able to talk about books with my kids and be able to recommend good books. Plus, many of these are just good stories.

1. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi; Jan 4
2. Bloodhound: Beka Cooper by Tamora Pierce; Jan 16
3. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan; Jan 24
4. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud; jan 26
5. Touching Darkness: Midnighters 2 by Scott Westerfeld; Jan 31
6. Blue Noon: Midnighters 3 by Scott Westerfeld; Feb 7
7. Higher Education by Charles Sheffield; Mar 13
8. Hollowland by Amanda Hocking; May 4
9. The Time Hunters by Carl Ashmore; May 31
10. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness; May 31
11. The Pony Rider Boys in the Rockies by Frank Gee Patchin; Jun 23

OVERFLOW CATEGORY
Science: as a science teacher, I (should) read lots of science-based books... I should be able to complete this category with my Dusty Tomes category books.

1. Eyewall by H.W. Bernard
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U.S. History: as I said I am a teacher, and I teach science. Odd that one of categories wasn't science, but rather history. I think that this year, I'll try to focus on US history...

1. Stupid American History by Leland Gregory; Jan 12; this is not really a book that I can recommend. It was a free Kindle download, and yes there are some interesting nuggets of information... but there are way better books out there.
2. 1776 by David McCullough; Feb 20; required reading for anyone interested in United States history.
3. The Contract Surgeon by Dan O'Brien; May 21
4. The Indian Agent by Dan O'Brien; May 25
5. Doc by Mary Doria Russell
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Mindful Reading: my spiritual reading category. I'm currently reading two books that fit into this group Savor by Thich Nhat Hanh, and The Green Man ed. by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.

1. Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos; Feb 2
2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho; Feb 9
3. Slim to None by Jenny Gardiner
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Military: I am a U.S. Navy veteran, and have always enjoyed military history and fiction. The Caine Mutiny ranks as my #1 all time favorite book and will almost certainly go into the 'Comfort Read' category this year.

1. Quartered Safe Out Here by George MacDonald Fraser; Jan 20
2. 1776 by David McCullough; Feb 20
3. The Ionian Mission by Patrick O'Brian; Feb 22
4. Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery by James R. Benn; Mar 4
5. Spreading My Wings by Diana Barnato Walker; Mar 5
6. Treason's Harbor by Patrick O'Brian, Mar 23
7. The First Wave by James R. Benn; Apr 4
8. Pacific Glory by P.T. Deutermann; Apr 16
9. The Far Side of the World by Patrick O'Brian; Apr 18
10. The Final Storm by Jeff Shaara; Apr 27
11. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand; May 21
12. The Contract Surgeon by Dan O'Brien; May 21
13. The Information Officer by Mark Mills; May 30
14. The Reverse of the Medal by Patrick O'Brian
15. The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean
16. Battle of the Atlantic by Samuel Eliot Morison
17. The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill

OVERFLOW CATEGORY
Public Domain E-books: inspired by this thread (and this one) over on the Amazon Kindle forums... some very good reading available for free.

1. The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer
2. Carnacki the Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson
3. 'Twixt Land and Sea Tales by Joseph Conrad
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Zombies and the End of the World: yes, yet another favorite category... post-apocalyptic fiction. World War Z, The Stand, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, etc. Won't be hard to fill this list.

1. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi; Jan 4
2. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan; Jan 24
3. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest; Feb 12
4. Cold Skin by Albert Sánchez Piñol; Feb 13
5. Flood by Stephen Baxter; no zombies, but definitely apocalyptic
6. Hollowland by Amanda Hocking; May 4
7. Graveminder by Melissa Marr
8. Public Enemy Zero by Andrew Mayne
9. Tooth and Nail by Craig Dilouie
10. Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne
11. Wastelands ed. by John Joseph Adams

Spies & Mysteries: since I DO read a lot of mysteries and I like spy stories, and I didn't really have a category for them... I replaced the audible.com category with a combination 'catch-all' category that will be easily filled with the likes of Rex Stout, Laura Lippman, Ian Fleming, Alan Furst, Randy Wayne White, et.al.

1. Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass; Jan 7
2. Soul Identity by Dennis Batchelder; Jan 17
3. The Rubber Band by Rex Stout; Jan 9
4. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming; Jan 21
5. Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming; Feb 5
6. The Red Box by Rex Stout; Feb 15
7. Hit Man by Lawrence Block; Feb 24
8. Billy Boyle by James R. Benn
9. Dark Matter: The Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton by Philip Kerr; Apr 26
10. The Alto Wore Tweed & The Baritone Wore Chiffon by Mark Schweizer; May 15
11. Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout; May 16
12. The Tenor Wore Tapshoes by Mark Schweizer
13. Key Lime Blues by Mike Jastrzebski
14. The Information Officer by Mark Mills; May 30
15. The Soprano Wore Falsettos by Mark Schweizer; Jun 5
16. Over My Dead Body by Rex Stout
17. Some Buried Caesar by Rex Stout

OVERFLOW CATEGORY
Naval Fiction/Non-Fiction: I've already filled my military category, and since at least half of the military reading I do is about the navy...

1. The Reverse of the Medal by Patrick O'Brian
2. Battle of the Atlantic by Samuel Eliot Morison
3. Beat to Quarters by C.S. Forester
4. The Thirteen Gun Salute by Patrick O'Brian
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Welcome to the challenge! Nice selection of categories and I am impressed with the weighty tomes category - I keep picking up Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrel from my local library, only I never get around to starting it before I have to return it.

Welcome! I'm really looking forward to seeing what you read to fill some of these categories. I, too, hope to read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel this year, and YA reads regularly make for a good time as well.

Great categories! I am especially interested in seeing what you choose for #10 :)

comments on books already read

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi; two categories, YA and Zombies etc.. No zombies here but it is set in the post-apocalyptic future. Bacigalupi is well known for The Windup Girl which is also set in the PA future and for which he won several awards (I will be reading that book later this year).

Jeeves et.al. by P.G. Wodehouse; I have seen these stories mentioned many times here on LT and since many of them are free for the Kindle, I downloaded a couple. They are quick easy reads, and one cannot help but laugh out loud at the humor.

Beka Cooper: Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce; this is a very good YA sequel to Terrier (read in 2008 as part of the Missouri Gateway Award series) in which Beka (who is now 17) becomes sexually active, befriends a male homosexual (one of my favorite characters), and still catches the bad guy in the end. Filled with pagan gods and goddesses, talking animals (Pounce the cat, is a god) and whirlwinds, ghosts... this story series must be a nightmare for those somewhat uptight (or beleaguered by the local christian parents associations) junior high librarians.

I loved it. And I won't hesitate to recommend it to my own children and students.

Welcome!

Have seen mixed reviews of ship breaker so am interested in what you think..

strange and norrell is brilliant & very odd (I may be due a re-read)

I loved the world building in Ship Breaker. The description of an entire society surviving by salvaging the remnants of an industrial world, and the hints of conflicts with cultures nearly destroyed by that same industrial world (Inuit pirates attacking ships passing through the newly exposed Arctic sea lanes??) were all fascinating and well done.

The plot and characterization... fairly routine and stereotyped. But the world building was enough for me to give it 4 1/2 stars. But then I'm a sucker for that type of story... I mean I liked Waterworld ;-)

JS&MN has sat on my shelf for at least 3 years. I've purchased the audible version... and have tried to get through it on multiple occasions. The last thing I remember is something about a battle with the French fleet and clouds or mirages or something... I'll finish the book yet!

I had started hearing about Ship Breaker and it sounds like my kind of book. The Inuit pirates alone make me want to read it.....

Ship Breaker has caught my attention as well, I am adding it to my wishlist. Thanks.

Quartered Safe Out Here by George MacDonald Fraser; WW II memoir from the British Burma campaign... an excellent account of this little known campaign. I did get a bit tired of the philosophizing about the modern soldier and modern campaigns in comparison to HIS war, but since he published in 2001 at the age of 76, I'll forgive him a little crankiness.

fills one of the Military and All Things British category slots.

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming; I suspect that one either loves James Bond fiction or one hates it. I did not really expect to like this story, but I did. The setting, the descriptions of the characters, the casino, the games; all worked for me.

I do tire of the never ceasing examination of books and stories for 'political correctness'. Yes Bond/Fleming were racist and sexist. But that I enjoy the story doesn't make me racist/sexist. I live in a different era.

And I know that I'm a bit of a hypocrite about this... since I refuse to read Michael Crichton (and to a lesser extent Orson Scott Card, Neal Asher and not a few others) because of their political views/beliefs. Ah well.

fills Spies and All Things British category slots

I've never read Ian Fleming -- never felt the need to, having seen the James Bond movies. I'm realizing now that that is quite stupid, since I read books that get turned into movies all the time. It must be because James Bond in my head is only a movie series and thus the books are superfluous... although clearly they aren't.

And I know what you mean about political beliefs influencing reading habits. I think for me, it's that I'm willing to cut modern authors much less slack. When I find them offensive, I have to assume it's because they chose not to edit themselves -- rather than assuming that they didn't even think that they should edit themselves. I cut older books a bit more slack in that regard....

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan; a somewhat ho-hum YA zombie novel filled with teen angst and emotion... just enough interesting world-building to lure me onto the next book in the series.

fills a YA and a Zombie/End of the World category slot

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud; not exactly a reread, since I actually listened to the audible version (narrated by the amazing Simon Jones) several years ago while making long car trips. Still very very good! A movie version wouldn't be a bad idea... you'd have to get the right actor for Bartimaeus of course.

fills a YA and a Favorites Reread slot

I hated Casino Royale but I really, really liked Dr No, Live and Let Die, and to a lesser extent, Diamonds are Forever. I had the same feelings about the racism/sexism issue as you. I've got some other Bonds in my challenge and reading your thread makes me want to push them up a little in the timeline.

Touching Darkness by Scott Westerfeld; fills a YA slot. I am enjoying this series more than I did the Uglies series. Maybe because it's a little less ambitious, the kids are older, I don't know...

I read Leviathan by Westerfeld recently and enjoyed it.... and Uglies is prepped to be my next audiobook (once I finish the one currently in my car). Your Midnighters series looks really good too. And to think I hadn't even heard of Westerfeld until a few months ago....

Hi Keith, I've been putting books into multiple categories too. Wondering what's the most categories I can find for a book, and what kind of book it would be. Fun stuff. Stopped in because of your user name: are you a hiker? My wife and son are avid ATers.

Hi Jim, I have a friend who hikes the AT fairly regularly and has invited me... I've hiked some of the Ozark trail here in Missouri, some on the Boston Mts. in Arkansas, and quite a bit out west in Wyoming. I've not been near as much as I would like in the last few years due to health and family issues... but I hope to get back out there in the next few years.

if I could find a 1000 page book about the military in space taking on zombies written by Peter Hamilton that I had owned for over ten years... I'd hit six categories... ;-)

30: Can I borrow that book when you are done with it? :P

Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos; a nice cute, sometimes insightful, story written about a guy looking for the 'real' Jesus amidst all the fake Jesuses . Read it to fill a slot in my Mindful Reading category, and because it was free for the kindle. Mikalatos still fails to address the contradictions implicit in Christian theology (IMO)... I mean, how does he know once he actually finds the 'real' Jesus?? He just does.

Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming; another for my All Things British and Spies and Mysteries category. Overly elaborate plans for Bond's death provides materiel for future Austin Powers movies... terrifically racist but still entertains.

Blue Noon by Scott Westerfeld; wraps up the Midnighter's trilogy. Satisfying for the most part... I didn't enjoy this book as much as the others, but I find that to be true for most 'last' books. Fills a YA slot.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho; derided by some as pop psychology/spirituality... but I found lots to like and to think about. I plan to gift a copy to both of my children... Fills a Mindful Reading slot.

Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton; wow! Finally finished this chunk of a book that fills a slot in several categories, Space Empire, Weighty Tomes, and All Things British.

AND it gets that load of a book off my back as I've been trying to read it for years. Totally worth the effort and the time though... am already eyeing the followup Judas Unchained as now that I'm immersed in his world, I've got to see how Hamilton rescues his fat, happy & stupid human empire.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest; a very entertaining YA zombie story set in the 1870-80's. The Civil War is still going on, a dangerous machine has unleashed the blight (which makes zombies out of people), gadgets galore, family secrets, it's all here...

Cold Skin by Albert Sánchez Piñol; I'm not really sure what to make of this weird tragic horror story. Nor how to fit it into one of my reading categories... looking like it's going to go in Zombies and the End of the World although it certainly doesn't fit the traditional definition of that category. I'm glad I read the book, and expect to think about it for some time...

on a separate (but related note) I finished watching the Swedish versions of The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest on Saturday (via Netflix and family being gone for the day). I cannot imagine that Hollywood can come anywhere close to capturing the spirit, scenes, and the raw power of these films. Very much recommended for those who have access to them.

The Red Box by Rex Stout; Mysteries etc category... Stout is getting better with every novel he writes. Am looking forward to the next ~40 Nero Wolfe stories...

1776 by David McCullough; fills Military and American History slots. I'm not one to apologize for anything and everything American, supporting the US whether right or wrong. Political correctness requires me to point out that I'm also aware that not all 'Americans' are citizens of the United States... and I'm also well aware that, to many in the current political climate, that makes me less than a patriot. To those people, all I can say is "read this book... then come back and we'll have a conversation".

Excellent and highly recommended.

who knew that I read so many books by British authors?? I will have filled that category by the Ides of March at this rate...

The Man With Two Left Feet by P.G. Wodehouse; an early collection of his stories, witty & charming as usual, I especially liked the two told in the dog's voice... obviously fills a slot in All Things British

Hit Man by Lawrence Block; I'm categorizing this as Spies and Mysteries even though it's really neither. Perhaps I need to create an overflow category for those books that don't really fit. As I eye my Mt. TBR I notice several that won't be easily categorized... anyway, Block's book creates sympathy for an assassin, a hired killer, a hit man. Similar to his Burglar series, one gets to know the thoughts and feelings of a man most would consider a monster. That the whole thing is a bit tongue-in-cheek is only apparent to those who are familiar with Lawrence Block (i.e. see some of the Amazon comments who just don't quite get it). Looking forward to future installments of this series.

Favorites Reread category gets another title; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I'm an unapologetic fan of this series...

Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery by James R. Benn; not a bad first novel, set in England during WW II, a young Boston beat cop uses family influence to get himself attached to 'Uncle Ike's' staff... acting as a detective. A murder committed during the run-up to a planned invasion of Norway sends Billy behind enemy lines...

fills a Military slot

woohoo!! Two birds with one gigantic stone! It by Stephen King; fills a Weighty Tome AND a Dusty Tome slot. And it's a book by Stephen King (considered by many to be one of his best) that I had never read. Tremendous characterization... the ending brought tears to my eyes, partly because I find the endings of King's book (at least the one that I really like) to be melancholy, but also because I loved the characters.

Higher Education by Charles Sheffield fills a YA and a Space Empire slot. Pretty good story reminiscent of Robert Heinlein's juveniles... complete with the libertarian views.

Also finished rereading The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larrson. As I'm rereading this trilogy I'm thinking that I may have to pass on the new Hollywood remake of the original movies. For now at least Noomi Rapace IS Lisbeth Salander.

Death in Kashmir by M.M. Kaye rounds out my All Things British category... so no more books by or about the Brits for the rest of the year! Uhh sure...

also reread Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, a book that I read 30+ years ago, remembered liking it very much, and liked it very much this time as well.

Flood by Stephen Baxter; depressing end of the world scenario, interesting science (although I question the science behind the flood itself), shades of Earth Abides Forty Signs of Rain and The Day After Tomorrow (the movie). Earned it's three stars from me...

two books with no obvious category and one for Military

The Inventor (Fantasies of New Europa Series) by Morgan Karpiel; short, steampunk-erotica novel (how's that for a new subgenre?). Very well written IMO, and I will probably buy and read the rest in her New Europa series...

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather; I thought about trying to fit this in the US History category... but it just isn't really. I really like Willa Cather, so..... next year I may do a category for and about her.

The First Wave by James R. Benn; I really like this series about Billy Boyle, the Irish cop serving on Eisenhower's staff as a crime solver during various WW II operations... this novel is set in North Africa.

three more with no category...

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne; very nice travel adventure story... no balloons!

The Native Star by M.K. Hobsen; some zombies in this story, but not apocalyptic... steampunk and witches, one reviewer called it "witchpunk"; still a very good story

Your Day in the Barrel by Alan Furst; not, as you might expect from Furst, a spy novel. Furst's first novel, drug dealer runs afoul of the CIA... etc. etc. not terrific.

completed two for the Weighty Tomes and will finish one more over the weekend

A Game of Thrones; amazing, awesome, totally drags you into the story, I had goosebumps and tears in my eyes at the end... I just wish that he would stay with one character longer, but again, that device may be why the story works so well. Have my DVR set for Sunday night!!!

Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms,and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories; Audible book, only took me a month or so of driving back and forth to school to finish; terrifically interesting parts, the Naval conflicts, the biology and fishing, climate change and weather... this is a terrific book that many probably would not enjoy due to its length and breadth.

Kraken; I anticipate finishing this over the weekend, I'm about a third of the way through it; not really 'getting' it yet, but I'll plough my way through. --> officially abandoned

I'm just starting A Game of Thrones, so glad you loved it :)

another for my Military category

Pacific Glory by P.T. Deutermann (touchstones refuse to work for this title); another terrific naval military book by this author, this one is set against the background of the pacific theater during WW II. Highly recommended for fans of this genre.

yet another All Things British and Military with: The Far Side of the World by Patrick O'Brian; one of the weakest books in the series IMO, yet still quite enjoyable. I especially liked the passion and obsession of Maturin's zoological and botanical observations and collections.

All Things British and Spies and Mysteries with Dark Matter: The Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton by Philip Kerr; Christopher Ellis plays Watson to Newton's Holmes, a touch of The Da Vinci Code; and some very 'risque' business between Ellis and Newton's niece.... not one of my favorites by Kerr, but a very good historical fiction story nonetheless.

oh yeah, zombies galore in Hollowland; first book in a new series by Amanda Hocking (Switched is the first story in her other series) about zombies, the end of the world and all things apocalyptic. Not a stunning read, but a lot of fun and kept me hanging and wanting more. Definitely will grab the sequel.

Young Adult and Zombies category slots filled.

Favorites Reread & Chunksters slots filled by the classic The Winds of War by Herman Wouk

Mysteries slots filled two light cozy (silly really) mysteries by Mark Schweizer... The Alto Wore Tweed and The Baritone Wore Chiffon. These stories feature an independently wealthy (and talented) small town police chief who also acts as choir director for the local Episcopal church. He also fancies himself an author in the Raymond Chandler vein...

The Mark Schweizer mysteries sound like fun. I just did a quick check and neither one is in my library system, so I may have to buy them....thanks for mentioning them!

two more for the Military category, although neither fits exactly, and one for US History

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand; this story has been lauded and 5-starred all over the place... but it left me just a bit cool and skeptical. Louis Zamperini's story is tremendously inspirational... but... I don't know...

The Contract Surgeon by Dan O'Brien; moving fictional account of the last days of Crazy Horse through the eyes of Dr. Valentine McGillicuddy. O'Brien tells several stories in this book, weaving them together in such a way as to illustrate the amazing life of Crazy Horse, and the sad and hopeless cause of the Native American Sioux. Highly recommended for anyone interested in this period of American history.

completed two more of my challenge categories... Military & Spies & Mysteries

My Military was rounded out by Unbroken, and two by Dan O'Brien The Contract Surgeon and The Indian Agent (although I'm not really counting the second book as military since Dr. McGillycuddy is no longer IN the army but rather working as a government agent)

Spies & Mysteries was finished by Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout; Key Lime Blues by Mike Jastrzebski (a cute little story set in Key West featuring Mafia hit men, a beautiful stripper and a psychic named Elvis...), and the third Liturgical Mystery by Mark Scweizer called The Tenor Wore Tapshoes which IMO is the best in the series so far.

As expected my Dusty Tomes category is lagging behind... I guess there's a reason why I've not already read those books.

yet another story for two categories I've already filled... Military and Spies & Mysteries

The Information Officer by Mark Mills. This was an ARC copy... and a typo/misprint along about p.250 really confused me... didn't ruin the story or anything, just I was like.. WTH? Others have reviewed this book and claimed that the solution to the mystery was obvious pretty early. Not for me, the ending came as a surprise, although I have to say that I was more than ready for it. Good war story told in an exotic locale (Malta) and from a different perspective.

two additions to my Young-Adult category

The Time Hunters by Carl Ashmore; a cute very young adult story written for the Kindle... about time travel, Greek mythology, Nazi bad guys... etc. The bad guys escape of course and sequels are inevitable.

speaking of sequels, it might be a good idea to have the second book in the series to hand when you set out to read The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness; for that matter you might as well buy all three in the series to date as I understand that they all end with enormous cliffhangers. Terrific YA fantasy story... the 'prequel' The New World is a free short story available for kindle owners.

The Information Officer is a book that has caught my eye before, I think I would really enjoy it, so I will definitely be on the look-out for it.

This trend of writing trilogies, especially in YA, is putting pressure on the budget. When a book ends in a cliff-hanger it's hard not to immediately get the next one!

Space Empire and Weighty Tomes gains an entry due to the completion of Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks; his first Culture story, Banks spends a lot of time building and populating his universe... at the cost of plot and characterization. Still, I enjoyed the book, and am beginning to see why Banks is considered one of the best in his genre.

I think I would rate Peter Hamilton slightly ahead at this point (so far as my preferences go)... but need further entries for both...

Hollowland sounds interesting, thanks for the review :)

I've added several new overflow categories

All Things Middle East/Southern Asia
Public Domain E-books
Naval Fiction/Non-Fiction
Science

I suppose that makes this challenge more than 11 in 11 for 2011... but that's ok

thanks go to Pamelad for the idea (she may not have been the first to do it, but hers was the first one I saw...)

anyway... The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer fills a slot in Public Domain E-books; while wildly racist, repetitive, and predictable, was also highly entertaining.

also completed War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk; fills a Weighty Tomes and Favorites Reread... I cannot praise and recommend this book too highly.

I remember reading and loving both The Winds of War and it's sequel War and Remembrance years ago. Excellent books!

kcs_hiker, I stole the overflow categories idea from thornton37814's bonus categories.

Thanks for the comments on The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu. Always looking for entertaining free ebooks.

@65 I have put together an amazon list of not-so-well-known but still excellent free e-books (along with a bit of commentary), if you are interested.

Thank you. I've downlaoded The Abandoned Room and The Insidious Doctor Fu Manchu to start with.

66: Thank you also for the list!!! :)

There are a couple they have snuck prices onto now, but a lot of those look really very interesting :)

one for my new Science category

Eyewall by H.W. Bernard; written by a retired meteorologist, this exciting story traces the evolution of a monster hurricane through the eyes of three different groups of people. The science is not overwhelming, but it is present in this story as there is talk of millibars and eyewall rotation and formation... as a science teacher that only increased the appeal of the story. There are several unbelievable characters (Walker's wife, and Obermeyer's boss), and some of the dialogue was a little forced, but overall I really enjoyed this author's first effort.

I received this as an ARC a month or two ago, and noticed yesterday afternoon that it was offered as a free Kindle download (probably for a very short time), so if the book sounds at all interesting, and you have an e-reader, head over to Amazon and grab it...

and yet another book for All Things British and Military with The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean. This is an easy read and a terrific military action story. I haven't read very much by MacLean (not sure why), but I intend to remedy that over the next few years. Great movie too..

a mystery wrapped up in a spy story... not original, of course, but still very well done in Over My Dead Body by Rex Stout; Nazi agents following Balkan princesses... Wolfe makes the acquaintance of his adopted daughter, and we get some back-story on Wolfe.

Fills yet another slot in Spies & Mysteries

Graveminder by Melissa Marr; while not billed as a Zombies story... it had dead people eating live people... and that qualifies in my book. Far too much repetitive relational hand-wringing to suit me, but an interesting world and a more-or-less open ending allows for followup novels if Ms. Marr cares to write them.

Ha. Relational hand-wringing. I might have to steal it :-)

seriously? Surprisingly good entry into the Zombies category:

Public Enemy Zero by Andrew Mayne; ok ok I know that I'm going to come across as maybe a little overexcited or gushing when I say that this guy's writing is REALLY VERY GOOD! I can not believe that he ever submitted this story to any of the big publishers... because if he had they would have snapped it up and Mayne and this book would be on the best seller's list everywhere... with a movie deal coming! $.99 on Amazon for e-readers only... a book about people who become zombies only when exposed to Mitchell Roberts, our protagonist. Government conspiracies, a few surprising twists, and non-stop action...

Yes there are a few typos (maybe a dozen), there are a few characters and storylines that didn't get fully developed, and maybe a few too many coincidences... but still, Random House etc. have really good editors... so far as I can tell, this guy edited himself.

If you liked The Andromeda Strain, Cel & The Stand, The Passage, World War Z..... this story compares favorably to all of those.

ok

/gush mode

I may have to check out Public Enemy Zero then! Thank you!

catching up...

two for the public domain E-books category: Carnacki the Ghost Finder and 'Twixt Land and Sea Tales

a Weighty Tome: The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill

finished the Favorites Reread category with The Lincoln Lawyer

I'm obviously failing at the Dusty Tomes idea, so I'm replacing that category with a different (but similar) one...

TBR Challenge Pile; thanks to Roof Beam Reader for the idea... my take on this idea is to read 11 books that have been on my Currently Reading/TBR pile for at least a year (a year measured from the time I actually pick up the book to finish it) and have read more than 50 pages of and then set it down for some reason.

Candidates for this category are Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (a book I am determined to finish... and have been reading/listening to for at least 3 years), An Army at Dawn by Rick Atkinson, The Green Man ed. by Ellen Datlow, Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds, The Hunger Games yes I KNOW!!, Adolf Hitler by John Toland, The Dark River by John Twelve Hawks....

that's just a quick mental perusal... I'm sure when I walk into the library... err bedroom/garage(man-cave)... I'll find a few more.

The Hunger Games yes I KNOW!!

;-)

A TBR challenge category is a great idea. I steal that idea in 2012.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is such a strange, slow book. I am glad I read it in the end and luckily I enjoyed the writing/world so I didn't mind meandering with it but I can see why it could drive others nuts.

I like the TBR challenge.. I have been thinking of incorporating that into my 12 in 12 (Books that I entered within the first 3 months of cataloging on Librarything (So starting with April 2010)).

three more for Crime Fiction; two by by Michael Connelly...The Brass Verdict and The Reversal; and Carte Blanche by Carlo Lucarelli

Connelly writes great characters and great courtroom drama. I especially enjoy seeing his characters through other characters eyes...

Carte Blanche is a short sharp police procedural set in Italy during the later days of WWII. The protagonist is an experienced and cynical police detective who is never quite sure who he answers to, and if the answer will be the 'right' one...

Zombies gets an entry with Craig Dilouie's all too believable Tooth and Nail. As is generally the case, humans are turned into zombies by a mutated virus... the setting is New York and the protagonists are a US Army unit trapped by a city full of zombies and the rapidly deteriorating chain of command. Lots of military jargon and swearing (the author seems particularly enamored of one phrase... which he repeats a dozen times). Pretty gruesome... pretty average...

adding Slim to None by Jenny Gardiner to my Mindful Reading category. While this is not a spiritual book... Gardiner enfolds lessons about the psychology and difficulty of weight loss in a feel-good cozy-type novel.

one more for the Zombies category with Day by Day Armageddon... a surprisingly good end-of-the-world zombie tale, as told by a very likable, surviving, military officer. Brains, guts, and not a little luck keep him and his little band going...

I have both Tooth and Nail and Day by Day Armageddon on tap for my Monster Mash category in my 12 - 12. Looking forward to both.

I am officially calling my 11 in 11 thread closed. I successfully read (or will have read by the end of 2011) 11 books in 7 out of 11 categories... a 64% completion for categories, and have read at least one book in the rest of my categories (plus overflow categories).

I'm going to use December as a double-duty month this year... since I've posed such a challenging challenge for myself for 2012, I'm going to start my 2012 challenge in December and also count any residual books that I'm finishing up (Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell) towards 2011 totals.

I look forward to seeing your thoughts on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, since I read it quite recently. See you at the 12 in 12!

I am glad you liked Day by Day Armageddon... it is buried in my wishlist, but since I seem to still be on a dystopian kick I am sure it will be read :)