bonniebooks beginning again, 2012

I'm going to keep track of the books I've read in 2012 here. It's not about the numbers; I just want visitors to know up front the kinds of books I enjoy reading.

Books Read 2012:
54. Sister by Rosamund Lipton (SPL-iPad)
53. Catherine the Great (SPL-iPad)
52. Yes, Chef: A Memoir by Marcus Samuelsson (SPL-iPad)
51. God, If You're Not There, I'm F*cked by Darrel Hammond (SPL-iPad)
50. Unbroken: A World War II Story... by Laura Hillenbrand
49. The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson (iBook)
48. The City of Thieves by David Benioff (reread for bookgroup)
47. Hunger Games: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (9/10/2012, SPL-Overdrive, Audiobook)
46. The New Republic by Lionel Shriver (SPL-iPad, unfinished)
45. Hunger Games: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (9/07/2012, SPL-Overdrive, Audiobook)
44. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt. (Queen Anne Book Store, 9/02/2012)
43. Have Mother, Will Travel by Claire and Mia Fontaine (SPL-iPad)
42. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (SPL-Overdrive/Audiobook)
41. A Happy Marriage by Rafael Yglesias (Powell's-Bookgroup read)
40. Now You See It by Cathy Davidson (iBook)
39. Imagine by Jonah Lehrer (iBook)
38. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (iBook)
37. Mindset by Carol Dweck (iBook)
36. 30 Lessons in Living by Karl Pillemer, Ph.D. (iBook)
35. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (SPL-iPad)
34. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (iBook)
33. Emma by Jane Austen (SPL-reread, iPad)
32. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (SPL-reread, iPad)
31. Persuasion by Jane Austen (SPL-reread, iPad)
30. One Day by David Nicholls (SPL-iPad)
29. All Roads Lead to Austen: A Year-Long Journey with Jane by Amy Smith (SPL-iPad)
28. Obama's Last Stand: Political Playbook 2012 by Glenn Thrush (SPL-iPad)
27. A Reliable Wife by Lionel Shriver (SPL-iPad)
26. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (SPL-iPad)
25. The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass (SPL-iPad)
24. Innocent by Scott Turow (SPL-iPad)
23. All Clear by Connie Willis (SPL-iPad, unfinished)
22. Sex on the Moon by BenMezrich (SPL-iPad)
21. The Mormon People by Matthew Bowman (SPL-iPad)
20. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (SPL-iPad, unfinished)
19. Doc by Mary Doria Russell (SPL-iPad)
18. Run by Ann Patchett. (iPad, May 2012)
17. The Passage by Justin Cronin (iPad, May 2012)
16. The Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore (iPad, May 2012)
15. The Power of Habit by (iPad, March 2012)
14. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (3/23/12)
13. The Siege by Helen Dunsmore (3/16/12)
12. Great House by Nicole Kraus (unfinished)
11. Doghead by Morten Ramsland (Powell's, English version, 2/22/12)
10. The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon. (reread for bookgroup)
9. Ali in Wonderland by Ali Wentworth (iPad, 2/20/12)
8. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (iPad, 2/19/12)
7. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (Powells, Christmas-2012)
6. How to be Good by Nick Hornby (Powells, Christmas-2011)
5. Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz (a reread, rec to parent)
4. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (iPad)
3. Winner of the National Book Award: A Novel of Fame, Honor, and Really Bad Weather by Jincy Willett (for bookgroup--so NOT recommended!)
2. Brain Rules by John Median (a reread in anticipation of recommending it to parents)
1. The Obamas by Jodi Kantor (iPad)

2/14/12: Most of my reading time is spent on the iPad--hours every day and not always the best use of my time (e.g., FlipBoard, various word games, Hearts). The New York Times being the positive exception, of course. Also, educational blogs, mags and journals. It's an addiction only equivalent to the munching that goes along with it. And, hey, if anybody wants to play Words with Friends with me, I'm "bonniebooks" over there too.

Currently reading:

The Best American Nonrequired Reading, 2011 by David Eggers (Yep, I'm still reading this. I've got it in my car, so hardly ever pull it out, but it's always good!)

Illiterate America by Jonathan Kozol (SPL-iPad)
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson (SPL-iPad)

I didn't read as many books last year as I usually do, so I don't have a full Top Ten List for 2011, but the following books would be on it if I did.

Tinkers by Paul Harding
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
Every Man Dies Alone by Hans
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Juliet Naked by Nick Hornby

My list of 12 Favorites in 2010 below does not mean I think these were the best written books I read that year. Rather, they are the books that were my favorites for various reasons and tell you as much about me as anything I could say about myself.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Ministry of Special Cases
Labor Day
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
The HouseKeeper and the Professor
The Twin
The Things They Carried
Await Your Reply
Old Filth
A Guide to the Birds of East Africa
Cutting for Stone
Half the Sky

I'm also including my 2009 list, plus two books-about-books: Ex-Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman and Housekeeping vs. Dirt by Nick Hornby. I loved them both and I wouldn't have gone looking for A Complicated Kindness if not for Hornby's quote about Toews which I think could be used to describe all of my favorites:

"You may think you don't want to read about the problems of growing up Mennonite, but the great thing about books is that you'll read anything a good writer wants you to read."

My Top Ten favorite books in 2009:
1. The Help - Kathryn Stockett
2. The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway
3. Mudbound - Hillary Jordan
4. A Complicated Kindness - Miriam Toews
5. The Coroner's Lunch - Colin Cotterill
6. The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
7. The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon
8. What is the What - David Eggers
9. Still Alice - Lisa Genova
10. Lush Life - Richard Price

Other favorites in 2009:
A Case of Exploding Mangoes - Mohammed Hanif
Gardens of Water - Alan Drew
Property - Valerie Martin
Sharp Teeth - Toby Barlow - because it surprised me how much I enjoyed a book about werewolves--and I just loved that cover!
Gold - Dan Rhodes
The White Tiger - Aravind Adig

OK, "Can you hear me now?"

And, finally, I'm still doggedly hoping to get through my TBR pile this year even though I didn't make much headway on it last year. Many of these titles deserve better than that, and I do want to read most of them (except for The Story of Edgar Sawtelle). Anyway, I'll cross out titles as I finish them, because I have to admit that it gives me satisfaction to do so.

An offering from A Book Addict's Treasury:

It would be a good thing to buy books if one could also buy the time to read them; but one usually confuses the purchase of books with the acquisition of their contents. Arthur Schopenhauer, 'On Books and Writing' (1851).


The Official List of TBR Books To Be Read in 2012:

Angier, Natalie: The Best American Science Writing, 2009
Auster, Paul: The New York Trilogy (Friends of SPLibrary, Fall sale-2010)
Baker, Nicholson: The Anthologist (LT wish list, Third Place Books)
Blackmon, Douglas: Slavery by Another Name (LT wishlist, Third Place Books, 12/22/09)
Chalmers, Robert: Fortune's Bastard * (Ryan's book, Christmas-2010)
Coelho, Paula: The Alchemist
Comte-Sponville, Andre: The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality (bargain book, Ravenna TPB, Dec. 2010)
Dangor, Achmat: Bitter Fruit (Friends of SPLibrary, Fall sale-2010)
Dietsch, Deborah: Live/Work: Working at Home, Living at Work (bonnierun, Thingaversary)
Egan, Jennifer: A Visit from the Goon Squad (LT wishlist, Powell's, July 2011)
Eggers, David (edit.): The Best American Nonrequired Reading, 2010 and 2011 (Christmas gifts from Ryan and Kennon)
Emecheta, Buchi: The Joys of Motherhood (LT wishlist, Powell's, 10/17/10)
Enright, Anne: The Gathering
Erdrich, Louise: The Bingo Palace
Ferber, Edna: So Big (LT wishlist, Powell's, 10/17/10)
Franzen, Jonathan: The Corrections (Christmas gift from Ryan) *
Franzen, Jonathan: Freedom (2010 Christmas gift from Ryan)
Gallant, Mavis: The Cost of Living (Christmas gift/Ryan, 2009)
Ghosh, Amitav: Sea of Poppies (bonnierun/discounted, Third Place Books, 11/09)
Gladwell, Malcolm: What the Dog Saw (bonnierun, bargainbooks table at Ravenna TPB, December 2010)
Hedges, Chris: War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (bonnierun, Ravenna Third Place Books, December 2010)
Hosseini, Khaled: A Thousand Splendid Suns (bonnierun, Ravenna Third Place Books, January 2010?)
Jacobson, Howard: The Howard Finkler Question (LT wishlist, Powell's, 11/30/10)
Kinzer, Stephen: Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq *
Kramnick, Isaac: The Godless Constitution: A Moral Defense of a Secular State *
Li, Yiyun: The Vagrants (rec by arubabookwoman, Powells, 7/2011)
Mahfouz, Naguib: Palace of Desire (Third Place Books, a TBR w/ arubabookwoman)
Milne, A. A.: Pu der Baer (Powell's, 11/30/10)
Mistry, Rohinton: Family Matters
Morgenstern, Julie: Organizing From the Inside Out *
Morrison, Toni: A Mercy
Mueenuddin, Daniyal: In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
Murakami, Haruki: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle * (Porua?)
Naipaul, V.S.: A House for Mr. Biswas (LT wishlist, Powell's, 10/17/10)
O'Brien, Tim: In the Lake of the Woods (Friends of SPLibrary, Fall sale)
Orlean, Susan: The Best American Travel Writing 2007 *
Pears, Tim: In the Place of Fallen Leaves (gift from Bonnie/brenzi)
Perstein, Rick: Nixonland *
Russo, Richard (guest edit.): The Best American Short Stories, 2010 (Christmas gift from Erik)
Safire: Push (Friends of SPLibrary, Fall sale)
Saramago, Jose: The History of the Siege of Lisbon (LT Wishlist, Powells, May 2011)
Seth, Vickram: Suitable Boy (LT wishlist, Powell's, December 2010)
Sittenfield, Curtis: American Wife (Friends of SPLibrary, Fall sale)
Smith, Zadie (guest editor): Best European Fiction 2010 (Christmas Gift to Ryan, returned) *
Smith, Zadie: White Teeth *
Soli, Tatjana: The Lotus Eaters (Powells, Christmas-2011)
Straight, Susan: I Been in Sorrow's Kitchen and Licked out all the Pots (Friends of SPLibrary, Fall sale)
Thaler, Richard: Nudge *
Thiong'o, Ngugi Wa: Wizard of the Crow (best of your best 2009/Alcottacre, Third Place Books, 12/22/09)
Toibin, Colm: Mothers and Sons (LT wishlist, Powell's, 11/30/10)
Toltz, Steve: A Fraction of the Whole * (rec by Ryan)
Tyler, Anne: If the Morning Ever Comes (Friends of SPLibrary, Fall sale)
Udall, Brady: The Lonely Polygamist (Powells, Christmas-2011)
Undset, Sigrid: Kristin Lavransdatter * (gift from LT/Maggie?)
Vowell, Sarah: The Wordy Shipmates * (bonnierun, Third Place Books, 1/09)
Walt, Kate: A Short History of Women (LT wishlist, Powell's, 11/30/10)
Warren, Robert Penn: All the King's Men (LT wishlist, Powell's, 10/17/10)
Weiland, Matt (edit.): State by State * (Christmas gift/Ryan, 2009)
Wroblewski, David: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle * (Costco/discounted, 1/09)

*Books started and unfinished, or parts skimmed over and want to reread

It's been so long since I've posted that I've forgotten how to do this. Give me a couple of days to set up, then I hope you'll come back and chat. I've missed my LT friends and am looking forward to catching up with you all.

I like your lists! I also hope to read A Suitable Boy this year.

Indeed, great lists! Very organized of you! I'm happy to see some books that are sitting on my own TBR piles popping up on your recent best-of lists (Cloud Atlas, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Sharp Teeth).

And, man, if bookstores ever managed to figure out how to sell me reading time along with the books, I'd probably end up handing them my life savings.

6: Aahhh, lists. Nothing like lists to make me feel I'm on my way. Unfortunately, I'm also reminded that most of those books were on my list last year as well. Let's read Suitable Boy together.

7: Three very different books! Again, I liked them each for very different reasons. Sharp Teeth was the most surprising choice--not usually into werewolfish-type reading. Don't think I would have even considered it, but I was so drawn to that cover. Major Pettigrew is charming, but still has some themes worth thinking about and discussing--my book group loved it. Cloud Atlas was so fascinating, especially in that the chapters I loved were not so captivating to others (and vice versa). Some people even suggested skipping the first chapter. Frankly, I don't think you I can say you've I've read a book if you're i'm skipping that much of it--not fair to the author, for one. Would have liked to have been a part of a RL discussion group on that one.

I think you can say "you" instead of "I" there, because I happen to feel very much the same way. Looking forward to reading all three of those! When I finally get to them, that is. Sigh. "So many books, so little time" is pretty much the motto of my life.

Bonnie, so glad to see you here! What an impressive list of TBRs for 2012! Some great titles on there, and some on my own TBR list.

Just a quick hello Bonnie as I'm about to head out the door but just wanted to let you know I am soooo glad to see you posting again. be back later to look more closely at that stuff up above:)

Bonnie, I just finished reading Hilary Mantel's very long A Place of Greater Safety so I am reading some shorter books just now- Let me know when you want to start reading A Suitable Boy-It would be fun to read it at the same time. I also heard that Seth was writing a new book-something like "A Suitable Girl" !

Hi Bonnie - I've found your thread and have you starred. Thanks for stopping by mine and saying hello. I'm looking forward to seeing what you decide to read and sharing your insights with us!

Hi Bonnie. I loved A Suitable Boy and Wizard of the Crow. Sea of Poppies is on my tbr pile.

>12 torontoc:, 14

Affirming that he is writing a follow up to A suitable boy, Seth has also said that it will be something quite different.

See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8131538.stm

I read State of Wonder last night. I enjoyed it (stayed up until 3:00am to finish it), but didn't think it was a particularly outstanding book.

Bonnie, just checking in for the first time. That's quite a TBR you have.

I noticed that one of your faves from 2010 was A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson. Have you been there? Way back in the seventies I visited Kenya and Tanzania on safari. My driver who was very knowledgeable about birds had been with John Williams who wrote the Peterson's Field Guide to the Birds of East and Central Africa which I was carrying with me. He was surprised that an American would be interested in birds. His impression was that it was mostly British tourists who were birdwatchers. Anyway, it was like having my own personal ornithologist to point out birds of interest, which he did.

Glad to see you here! I'm distressed at not finding commonality among my upcoming reading and your TBR list ... but when I look at your favorites over the past several years I know it'll come! Looking forward to your comments. Just read Dan Chaon's Stay Awake, a collection of short stories, and I want more by him so am happy to see your thumbs-up on Await Your Reply. I too loved Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; haven't seen the film yet and wonder if you have and what you thought?

I wanted some "funny" in my life, so read Ali Wentworth's book, Ali in Wonderland. Feeling a little embarrassed and more voyeuristic than usual, but isn't all reading about voyeurism, in that we're always reading about someone else's life? (I know, I'm rationalizing.) I can't believe I chose that book over all the really good ones on my TBR list, but wanted a fast read. I laughed outloud in several places--not something I normally do, but one of the times I laughed was when she called herself "middle-class". That truly was hilarious.

Working backwards: No, MJ, I haven't seen the movie. When I saw that Tom Hanks was in it, I felt instant disappointment. I really didn't want to see the father played by a well-known actor. Also, I was surprised that they portrayed the boy as autistic. I didn't remember that being a part of the story, not explicitly anyway. Or maybe I just forgot? I loved how Foer used those pictures to tell his story. It felt so creative, yet still real and so poignant. I really don't want to spoil my reaction to the book by watching how they turned it into a movie--I think I'd rather just read the book again.

Suzanne, lucky you to be visiting such far away places and have such an interesting and knowledgeable guide. I haven't ever been that interested in birds, though I'm delighted when a hummingbird, bluejay, or robin comes to visit, because the crows from the park tend to police "their" territory quite aggressively. But that's what I admired about that book; the author's descriptions were very charming, weren't they? I've even seen them surround and chase off an eagle. Now that was a funny sight.

And speaking of visiting far off places, I'm going to be driving across the country this summer--by myself! This is a super big deal for me, because except for visiting New York City a couple of times, and spending one week in North Carolina while my son went to soccer camp, I've never been further east than Colorado. I'm planning on spending a month, traveling the Northern route on the way east and a more southern route on the way back. And I'll be asking all my LT friends about the best places to visit as I travel through their states. Mostly, I'm interested in museums, some scenic sights, gardens, and book stores--and good cheap food.

14: Pam, I know those are both great books. That's partly why I've put off reading tHem. I like to read books all in one go, and I'm already spending so much time sitting and reading my iPad, I haven't been wanting to start those books when I know I won't be able to keep reading. When I'm traveling this summer, I'm planning on having a box of my TBR's with me in the back of my station wagon. In the meantime, be sure and tell me when you're reading Sea of Poppies.

Hi, Joyce, Joanne, Ann, and Bonnie (aka: Sis). It's good to be catching up with old friends.

Hi Bonnie. That's an interesting and ambitious list of TBRs you have for 2012. I've read a few of them and have a few more on my own shelves of TBRs. I very much enjoyed Sea of Poppies last year, and I loved The Story of Edgar Sawtelle although I know that not everyone did. I also hope to read Slavery by Another Name, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (although I've been encouraged to give Kafka on the Shore a try first), and A House for Mr. Biswas. Maybe we'll run into each other at one of our local bookstores. :-)

A great TBR list, Bonnie, several of which are also on mine. I read Slavery by Another Name recently and highly recommend it.

23: Are you back already from your whale-watching? I was thinking that I would drop The Story of Edgar Sawtelle off my list, but maybe I'll keep it for awhile longer.

24: Linda, you would probably like The New Jim Crow then. What do we have the same? I'll go look; maybe we can tackle some together. I just started Great House again this morning. I say "again" because I recognise that I've already read this part before. I don't usually stop reading once I've started a book, so I must have read a little bit before I bought it. I can't believe it's taken me so long to pick it up again; I so loved the main character's voice in The History of Love.

Just had to say hello even though I am only partway through reading your updates - great to see you back on here. I am over in the 75 group but follow quite a lot of threads over here too. But I've been gone more than here this year since I started studying - will try to catch up soon.

Still in Hawaii, Bonnie. :-) Not back to the cool and rainy PNW until Friday evening.....

Hi Bonnie, I had a little window of extra LT time this morning and did some detective work to find your new thread. So glad you are back to posting here. I love your ambitious list of proposed reads.

>20 bonniebooks:: You're driving across country by yourself? Oh, now you are truly my hero! I know you'll keep us in the loop with daily updates on things you see and do. What fun to be able to stop when and where you please. Any trips I take with my husband are fast and furious with no time for exploration. I hope you post your itinerary here. If St. Louis or KC is on your route, maybe we could work in a little meet-up?

Yay!!! Bonnie's back!! I've been thinking about you and wondering when you would show up. That's quite a list on the top. No matter what you finish, I hope you enjoy it.

You're not the only one with a long list. Right now I have 20 library books sitting on the table. Every time the librarians see me they laugh and ask me how tall the pile is now.

You are a brave lady taking such a feat as driving cross country solo!!! Bujt I say go for it!!!

Hey, visitors! :-)

Donna, I hope that gas prices go down as it gets a little closer to summer. I don't think they will stop me from going on my trip--unless I do the math to figure out how much it will cost me to travel 5,000+ miles divided by 25... times $... a gallon?

Thanks for visiting me, Tammy. Twenty library books? I love having a big stack of library books to read--I feel so rich--but I have to avoid the library until I get more of my TBR's read.

Cusha, are you getting a teaching degree, so that you can teach K-12? Which grades or subjects do you want to teach?

Well, I've put aside Great House. As I said earlier, I loved the main character's voice in History of Love. I didn't realize that Great House had multiple voices, multiple stories (though I hear they start to come together). I much prefer one voice, so that I can get more immersed in the story. I liked the second character/second chapter of this book more than the first. Well, I liked listening to him more; I didn't necessarily like him better. He was so angry/hurt, but he was a sympathetic character anyway--or at least I felt empathy for him.

The problem I had, especially with the first chapter, is that these are monologues, and non-stop monologues leave me a bit breathless--or at least needing a break. Does anybody else have this problem? When I read, I'm reading inside my head, and the non-stop talking--no give and take, as with dialogue, or the change of pace that comes with the interplay of dialogue and description--creates a tension within my chest or a tiresome feeling. I just want to say, "Enough already!" Is this making sense?

Lots of books/stories are "told" by one character. This Boy's Life and Ellen Foster immediately come to mine, but these aren't monologues. They are, in fact, my favorite kinds of books. Kraus's characters aren't hardly stopping to take a breath, so I can't either. Maybe I'll come back to this book; it's not bad writing--it's good writing, as a matter of fact. But so far, Great House just hasn't been that great for me.

>30 bonniebooks: Fill up here in Denver, Bonnie. Gas is "only" $3.03 here at the moment.

As much as I loved The History of Love, I have yet to try Great House. It's mostly because I keep hearing such mixed reports and reactions similar to yours. I don't want to be disappointed so I keep putting it off. Maybe I'll just reread The History of Love instead.

Joanne, I have an old high school friend who lives in Denver, so I probably will be coming through Denver. I just don't get the varied pricing of gas around the country. I think it's cheaper about everywhere compared to Washington State.

Our relatively cheap gas prices have to do with greater crude supplies and lack of pipelines. We'll take it as long as it lasts...

Yay for a friend in Denver!

Your trip sounds amazing! I've always wanted to do something like that. Do you know your route yet? How far south will you get?

I've never understood the varying gas prices either. Louisiana always has some of the more expensive in the region and we make the gas! Well, that and why gas prices affect milk prices more than any other grocery.

Your trip sounds terrific, Bonnie! I would savor a drive across the country by myself. I hope you have a great time. Still a few months to go, yet, I realize...... (she writes as she watches a snow flurry outside her window).

I'm just not sure about Krauss' works. They haven't jumped off the shelf at me yet, but I know a lot of people particularly loved The History of Love. Maybe I'll look at them again next time I'm in a bookstore.

Stopping by to say Hi!!

Hi, Joanne, Jane, Ellen and Tammy. Thanks for stopping by. I haven't started planning my trip yet. My mom is getting sicker, so don't know if I'll be able to be away for that long. If she at least stays as well as she is now for the next couple of months, I'll feel more confident about going. Because it's such a long trip, I think I should ask LT-ers the "must-see" places to visit in their states. I imagine I'll be on the highways most of the time. I will go out of my way to visit museums, especially art museums, gardens, historic sites, bookstores, and funky places that reflect the cities/states I'm visiting. I think I'll enjoy the different scenery, but don't care whether I visit National or state parks. Oh, and I like cheap, fun places to eat. Suggestions, anyone?

I read The Siege last Friday. At minimum, it's hard not to feel guilty about all the food I waste while reading a book like that. And I don't have to wonder whether I would have the determination to survive those kinds of conditions; I really don't think I would. I'm going to write more about my experience of this book. Just wanted to post some of what I was reading.

Bonnie, I'm looking forward to your further thoughts about The Siege. Darryl and others have raved about it so. It's on the never-ending list.....

Great to see you back Bonnie! A road trip across the US sounds like great fun to me. When you get closer to the trip, let us know the route you'll be taking.

I'm over here this year.

Hi Bonnie, I am bit late here, but glad your posting again.

Hi Bonnie. I'm just returning from an LT hiatus and realized that I hadn't found your thread yet. Hope all is well with your mom and that your trip is on.

Good to see you posting Bonnie and your trip sounds like a memorable one so I hope you are able to go. Also hope your Mom is able to maintain the status quo. As you know, I loved (not sure that's the right word) The Siege too.

My mom has been sick (in the last stage of myelodysplastic syndrome, plus the usual problems associated with being 89). If I do pick up a book, it's been either popular brain books or fiction--both on the lighter side. I've even done some rereading. Actually, some of my book choices have been because they came available as e-books from my public library, as I have definitely moved over to the "bright side" (i.e., my iPad). My favorite fiction has been those on the list that are mostly popular with my LT friends, although I didn't like Doc nearly as much as I thought I would. I didn't not like it; his story just went on a little long for me and the ending felt flat.

I'm so behind on my comments. When I look over my list, I would still most recommend The Siege and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks read earlier in the year. The Night Circus was entertaining, but books that include magic often suffer (in my eyes) if/when the author tries to explain the magic in too much detail. I enjoyed both books by Ann Patchet-no surprise-but wasn't nearly as fond of the two Atwood books, mostly because I don't like reading 'doomsday' type books all that much anymore. Good writing, though. I liked Passage better, though I started getting more critical of the plot as it progressed. I'm just too much of a realist, I guess.

I just read Happy Marriage for my book group. This fictionalized memoir is very closely based on the author's life, including how he recently dealt with his wife's last couple weeks of her life. Both she and the wife in his book died from a gastro-intestinal cancer which led to some horrific outcomes, so some people may not want to deal with the graphic details of her illness and/or death portrayed in this book. It feels very raw, very personal, very real. But there were lots of scenes between the different family members that connected to issues in my life and/or those of my friends and family, so I got a lot out of it.

I didn't like the author's writing at first, though. The story is told by the boyfriend/husband and he talked too much like the typical, horny young man that he was. And the girl he was infatuated with seemed a bit weird/controlling. One of my book group members didn't like the flipping back and forth between those first days/years and the very intense last days of their relationship, but I did. I thought it was a really interesting way to draw the reader in, to make me care more about the evolution of their relationship, and to help me feel comfortable with all the icky details of the wife's last days.

The title of this book may be considered misleading by some. It probably could have been called "A Happy Death," though that's terribly misleading, as well, because how can the death of a spouse--and, worse yet, a mother--at a young age ever be "happy"? But the husband works so hard to help his wife to have the kind of death that she wants, I did feel happy for her while, of course, feeling also incredibly sad. Yglesias doesn't seem to leave anything out regarding his wife's last two weeks. You're in the room, and very much inside their relationship all the way through this marriage to the very end, and I really appreciated that.

I'm sorry to hear about your mother, Bonnie.

Very nice review of A Happy Marriage; I'll add it to my wish list.

It's nice to hear from you, Bonnie. I'm sorry about your mother. Is she nearby, or have you been travelling? My thoughts are with you both.

The Siege and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks were both favorites of mine too. I have not read the other two. Although your review of Happy Marriage is enticing, I'm not sure I'm up for the topic at the moment. We just updated our wills yesterday, and for the last couple of weeks, it's made me think about things I would rather not.

Take care

Bonnie -

I too am sorry to hear about your mother. Thinking of you both.

I know you are an Elinor Lipman fan. Did you know about her book of political tweets that was published this week? Kind of fun and light - unless the political world gets you worked up! http://www.beaconbroadside.com/broadside/tweet-land-of-liberty/

Loved Happy Marriage too. Have you read Lily Tuck's I Married You for Happiness?

And of course, there is another favorite of mine Story of a Marriage.

Take care of yourself,
Nancy

Hi Bonnie! I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. Happy to see your posts though, been thinking about you.

Bonnie, I'm glad to have you here online but so sorry to hear about your mom. I'll be thinking of you.

>50 alphaorder: wow Lipman is busy! I looked up her tweets book and saw she's publishing a novel and a collection of essays next April.

Hi Bonnie,
I'm really sorry to read about your mom. It's great to see you back on here.

50: Thanks, Nancy, for telling me about Lipman's book. LOL! I do go a bit crazy over politics, especially during these Presidential election years. I hope I'll be breathing a sigh of relief come November, although the way congress has been behaving, I don't have high hopes.

51-54: Hi, Tammy, MJ, and Cushla! It's so great to see some of my old friends on LT here on this ol' pathetic thread of mine. I'm looking forward to catching up on all of your threads too. I've missed your voices, and hearing about your lives as well as about the books you've been reading.

Ugh! Started Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart. Couldn't get past 30 pages. I detest this kind of writing.

Hi Bonnie, imagine finding you here! I'm terribly sorry to hear of your Mom's illness. I own A Happy Marriage and would like to get to it sometime in the near future. Great to see you posting again!

Hey, Sis! I'm working my through updating my library and thread, then will come over to visit you. Can't wait to hear how you're doing and see what you've been reading!

Bonnie my thread is sparse at the moment - I am on my 2nd big teaching placement and barely keeping my head above water with the workload, let alone getting much reading done!!

Yikes! Tough schedule, Cushla. Are you missing Switzerland with all your trips to bookstores and other adventures? I haven't found your thread yet. Your profile link isn't current, but, then, neither is mine. It's been so long since I've done that on LT, I've forgotten how to do it. I'll have to get on my computer to refresh my memory.

No it's not - I just realised! Here's my latest thread.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/138474

I'm missing Switzerland but very happy to be home. Life is much easier here in many ways and although we are missing the travel around Europe and the big adventure (and time to read) we have all settled back in very well. It seems like another life though - I have been flat out with my teacher training course since the middle of January and it goes till almost Christmas. I have 3 very busy weeks of real teaching left, then back to assignments and exams (also lots of work but not the same as multiple deadlines every day!). It's good, but I am breathing deeply...

Well, today was my birthday. 63–yikes! Had a great breakfast out with friends, took a beautiful, scenic walk and got taken to a cool independent book store that I had never been to (how can that be?) where I bought a birthday book, The Sisters Brothers.. It was a bit of a weird choice for me, considering the brother's profession as killers for hire, but I've been hearing about this book for the last year, so took a chance. I did enjoy it (lazing around reading is also a recent birthday tradition) but I don't think it will make a good book group book which is one of the reasons I bought it.

I really liked the narrator's voice (the younger brother, Eli) and even like him for much of the book. I'm going to share and discuss this book with a friend, before discussing it online.

Happy birthday!! You read the whole book in a day? That's my idea of a good birthday.

Happy Birthday, fellow Virgo!

Has anybody else read The Sandcastle Girls? This was not the best written book, but I thought it was a really good way to tell the story of the Armenian Genocide. In fact, according to Wikipedia: The word "genocide" was actually created to describe... "the systematic extermination of the Armenian population from its historic homeland in Asia Minor by the Ottoman government. It took place during and after World War I and was implemented in two phases: the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacre and forced labor, and the deportation on death marches to the Syrian Desert of women, children, the elderly and infirm. The total number of lives destroyed as a result has been estimated at between 1 and 1.5 million."

At times, the behavior of some of the main characters didn't seem believable for the 1920's, but their personal stories kept me reading about a part of history that I had only heard about in the last couple of years. Sometimes fiction is the best way to make history stick and, hopefully, make us care enough to help prevent the same thing from happening again and again. Unfortunately, we haven't learned that lesson yet. Ironically, how Bohjalian chose to tell the story (which I really liked, btw) reminds us how easily these lessons are sadly forgotten. The story switches back and forth between 4 main characters who are living through the genocide and the granddaughter of two of them who, even though she is a writer, knows very little about the experiences of her grandparents or the Armenian genocide at all. By chance, through a picture and a name (her grandfather's) in the newspaper, she starts on the trail of unwinding their interconnected stories and I happily (?) follow along, and am certain that I will never forget this part of our history.

Happy Birthday Bonnie!!!!

Happy, happy Bonnie and many, many more!

Happy birthday to you, Bonnie! I am so sorry to hear about your mother. Thinking of you.

Happy belated bday, Bonnie! I haven't read the Bohjalian book yet, but it sounds interesting. I requested it as an ER book, but received something else instead. Have you read The Gendarme by Mark Mustian? It too is a novel about the Armenian genocide and was a favorite read for me in 2010.