I was originally going to do one nice, long "2014 is almost done and this is how I've spent it" post. but a year is too long for one post, so I'm splitting the definitive parts up over several days -- and enjoy it over one week, instead.
today I have a cup of cocoa and a good book -- it's weally lovely -- but not really. what I have is a whole linear year of good-book-ness, which is even lovelier. and (almost unmitigatedly [made-up word]) fortunate. and I will face the Great Unknown with confidence and not keep crying about my favorite characters and their untimely demises.
even though that's ALWAYS what happens.
total books read this year: 157**
(rereads: 43
new reads: whatever 157 - 43 is. 114. yeah.)
top ten new reads (again, an * means tears were involved!)
1. never let me go (kazuo ishiguro)*
2. the book thief (markus zusak)*
3. night (elie wiesel)*
4. shirley (charlotte brontë)*
5. fahrenheit 451 (ray bradbury)
6. when you reach me (rebecca stead)*
7. pelican brief (john grisham)
8. black moth (georgette heyer)
9. devil in the white city (erik larson)
10. rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead (tom stoppard)
and a bonus!! the acts of king arthur and his noble knights (translated by john steinbeck)
top five rereads
1. dune (frank herbert)
2. tuck everlasting (natalie babbitt)
3. beyond the desert gate (mary ray)
4. science fair (dave barry & ridley pearson)
5. enchantress from the stars (sylvia engdahl)
bottom six reads (several of which also reduced me to tears. of frustration.)
6. trilby (george du maurier)
it didn't pack the punch I expected; more mediocre than anything.
5. the inner society (melinda louise bohannon)
an odd mix of dystopian sci-fi, christian romance, and personal growth/man-vs.-self story. with a
little bit of this-is-the-epitome-of-teenage-awesome wishful thinking on the author's part. plus
bad prose.
4. tom jones (henry fielding)
too many pages for the plot depth. also I just couldn't like the protagonist -- and the excuses
everyone made for him when he did wrong things. you can't just let him get away with that.
nobody would ever like him for real!!
3. rookie bookie (l. jon wortheim & tobias moskowitz)
stereotypical children's-book kid/parent relationship, which totally turned me off, and the little
economic lessons were terribly integrated. the book was pathetic.
2. captivating (john & stasi eldredge)
this could wreck someone's faith. the values are utterly misplaced and their whole intention -- of
'justifying the ways of God to man', so to speak -- is unfounded in Scripture. like, if you're going
to write a book for christians, use christian values. not hollywood. which they literally do.
and the worst... mr. knightley's diary (amanda grange)
this review sums it up for me. just go read emma.
top five poetry anthologies
1. the best poems of the english language (harold bloom)
2. collected poems of robert service (robert service)
3. collected lyrics (written & compiled by edna st. vincent millay)
4. the top 500 poems (william harmon)
5. child's anthology of poetry (elizabeth hauge sword)
author of the year: lemony snicket!
no, he didn't make it on my top 10 new reads (although the end would have, but I'd forgotten night and didn't want to make the list 12-long). for me, though, it wasn't one particular book as it was all of them together. I've read more snicket books this year than any other author; and really, the way he's impacted my year -- personally and family-wise -- I think he makes the top. this will always be The Year of Lemony Snicket to me, and that's the way I like it.
beatrice.
(sniffles a little bit)
2015 plans
- I have to read book 3 in the 'all the wrong questions' series!! I'm dying of suspense.
- keep using gutenberg.org. I have discovered some fantastic books there.
- read more josephine tey. I've read three of hers so far (brat ferrars, daughter of time, and singing
sands) and I really like her style.
- definitely read more john grisham. I cannot get enough :)
- find -- and read! -- a shropshire lad (a. e. housman).
- then of course I have a list of to-reads that I usually keep with me but forget about when I'm at the
library...
and that was my year in books! I am so looking forward to 2015.
-
**so far. the year ain't over yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment
by all means, leave a comment if you have something to share! please keep your language clean, respectful, and polite.
staying on topic would be nice, too, but I know that can be hard sometimes.