LauraBrook's 11-11 Part 3 - Bonus Reads

The second thread was getting a bit too full, so here goes my last thread for the year. Since I've already completed this challenge, I'll simply list the books I read for the rest of 2011, no categories or anything.




I've also abandoned my tracker for books purchased this year - let's just say that I bought more than double what I planned on and leave it at that. :)

Part 2 can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/121456
Part 1 can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/103364

Books Read

136. Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli (Nov 8) 344 pgs
137. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (Nov 7) 232 pgs
138. Radioactive: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss (Nov 8) 208 pgs
139. Summer by Edith Wharton (Nov 9) 202 pgs
140. Locke & Key Vol. 1 by Joe Hill (Nov 11) 168 pgs

141. The Compass of Pleasure by David J. Linden (Nov 12) 230 pgs
142. Dear Fatty by Dawn French (Nov 13) 370 pgs
143. These Three Remain by Pamela Aidan (Nov 30) 18 hrs 18 min
144. Founding Gardeners by Andrea Wulf (Nov ?) 9 hrs 23 min
145. Habibi by Craig Thompson (Nov ?) 672 pgs

146. The History of the World According to Facebook by Wylie Overstreet (Nov ?) 153 pgs
147. Locke & Key: Head Games by Joe Hill (Nov 30) 156 pgs
148. Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows by Joe Hill (Nov 30) 152 pgs
149. Locke & Key: Keys to the Kingdom by Joe Hill (Nov 30) 160 pgs
150. Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II by Philip Eade (Dec 3) 348 pgs

151. Dracula by Bram Stoker (Dec 24) 461 pgs
152. The Diary of a Young Lady of Fashion, 1764-5 by Cleone Knox (Dec 25) 249 pgs
153. Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich (Dec 27) 305 pgs
154. Souvenir of Canada by Douglas Coupland (Dec 30) 142 pgs
155. Down and Out in Manhattan by Irene Magers (Dec 31) 236 pgs

156. Then Again by Diane Keaton (Dec 31) 8 hrs
157. Paris, My Sweet by Amy Thomas (Dec 31) 285 pgs

Books / Pages / Audiobook Time per Month

December: 8 / 2,026 / 8 hrs

November: 14 / 3,047 / 27 hrs 41 min

October: 28 / 4,765 / 54 hrs 56 min

September: 13 / 2,020 / 65 hrs 32 min

August: 11 / 2,128 / 57 hrs 27 min

July: 10 / 1,505 / 22 hrs 10 min

June: 6 / 1,172 / 8 hrs 26 min

May: 13 / 1,843 / 21 hrs 38 min

April: 11 / 2,409 / 9 hrs 54 min

March: 13 / 1,209 / 26 hrs 56 min

February: 11 / 2,199 / 22 hrs 54 min

January: 16 / 2,230 / 16 hrs 30 min

Book 136: Asterios Polyp by David Mazzuccelli
Not at all what I expected, but it was a treat. I'm not sure exactly how to describe this book, since it's about art and architecture and love and loneliness and is narrated by a stillborn twin, but if you like GN's, you'll like this book. 4 stars

Book 137: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Slightly tragic and wonderfully done, this is another winner of a GN and is rightfully on many "best of" lists. 4 stars

Book 138: Radioactive: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss
Possibly my favorite book of the year. A beautiful story, filled with amazing, color-saturated artwork (that glow-in-the-dark cover is great!), I can't think of a better way to tell the story of Marie and Pierre Curie. If Santa doesn't get me this, I'm going to buy it for myself. Simply outstanding. 5 stars

Book 139: Summer by Edith Wharton
A book that was revolutionary for its time, and has often been compared to Ethan Frome, I enjoyed this story of not-so-sexual sexual awakening in the Catskills. I've yet to read a book by Edith Wharton that I haven't enjoyed. 3.5 stars

Book 140: Locke & Key: Volume 1 by Joe Hill
More disturbing than I thought it'd be, this is the start of a GN series about a haunted-ish house and a haunted family. I'm looking forward to the rest of the books (I believe that the fourth one was just published?), though I'll either have to plow through the grimness and layered storytelling or space them between other, happier reads. 3.5 stars

Book 141: The Compass of Pleasure by David J. Linden
A well-researched look into how our brains process pleasure and how different addictions (food, gambling, sex, etc) are physically wired (and can change their wiring). Fairly easy to read, though it did seem a little same-y and dry in parts. I'd like to own a copy of this simply so I can dip into it again in the future to refresh my sad little memory. 3.75 stars

Habibi is finally in my hands from the library, so I hope to make a good dent in it tonight. I doubt I'll read any of it laying down though, as it's pretty hefty, so my page count by bedtime might be a little slim. And, I'm getting a new fridge on Monday (yay!) so I need to spend some time tomorrow cleaning it out and up, and make sure there are enough open areas around it so when the delivery guys arrive it's not such a mad dash to make room.

I'm ready for bed, and it's 7:40 pm. This whole dark-at-4:30 thing is hard to get used to and already old. When is spring again?

Hi Laura, it's been a while since I've visited but am making up for it by being first here, YAY! :-)

Locke & Key had already reached my radar but your comments have cemented it's place on the wishlist.

Hi Ilana, and welcome!

Hi Wolfy! Glad you're going to read the series, it's been sticking in my brain since I finished it yesterday. I hope the library is quick with their ILL!

Book 142: Dear Fatty by Dawn French
A disappointment, if I'm honest. It was interesting to hear about Dawn's life (especially as an overseas fan with barely any access to her work), and I did enjoy bits, but not as much as I wanted to. Told epistolary style, written to various people (her parents, brother, husband, daughter, best friend, sister-in-law, ...) it was meant to come off in a "you're reading my personal letters" kind of a way, and it mostly didn't work. Though, fair enough, it'd be a great way to write your first book. Just not as readable or compelling as it should be, perhaps. I'm glad I read it, but I don't know if this is one that I'll hang onto forever and ever. 3 stars.

Saving my spot.. but sadly not catching up just yet .. sorry :P

Hi Laura, just dropping by to add a star. Your recent Graphic Novels all sound interesting. Like Wolfy I have Locke & Key on my radar, but so far, my library isn't carrying it and I don't like to buy GN as they can be so expensive.

Don't sweat it Kath, I'm not going anywhere! I'm behind on your thread too. Life and all...

Hi Judy! I know, GNs are really expensive - so far the only one that I'm willing to shell out the bucks for is Radioactive. While I like Locke & Key it's not something I'm anticipating reading over and over again.

Stopping by to star the thread. Disappointed to hear about Dear Fatty - it's on Mt. TBR and I was hoping it was as hilarious as she is. Good to have my expectations at a reasonable level, though!

Just catching up on threads and starring so I don't lose you. I don't read GN, but some of your reviews make me want to try at least one. Maybe I'll try to fit one in next year.

Found and starred your new thread! Interesting about graphic novels - I tend to find them fairly reasonably priced, usually. Crisp graphic novels are among my favorite items of everyday luxury (even though I kind of detest that term a little bit), which I really should treat myself to more otfen.

GNs aren't always expensive, but when faced with putting $30 of gas in my tank or adding another book to the shelves, the gas always wins. :( Darn that responsibility!

I've been reading a bit, but not much is getting finished, which is unfortunate. Suddenly the end of the year is in sight, and while I've finished my LT challenges, I still have 4 books to read for other online ones, plus I have 2 ER books to read and review (one of which requires me to read 2 more books first), and a Member Giveaway win to read and review. Not to mention the library books that are coming due faster than I'd like. And the audiobooks. *sigh* I think I need to make a list (yay!) of what needs to be read by Jan 1 and what can wait. And then I need to figure out how in the world I'm going to fit it all in!

There are 2 books that I've finished recently, but I've wasted enough time on LT tonight trying to play catch-up, so I'll save those for when I have a little more time / my Turkey Day dishes are ready to go.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my US LT pals! I'm ever so thankful for each and every one of you - you guys make life so much better, and it's so nice to find like-minded, funny, intelligent readers! I love you guys! /sap-fest

Off to chop and mix and melt and stir with some coffee and iTunes playing DJ. So far, among various other stuff I've listened to (and turned up) "Someone is Watching" by Solomon Burke, "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" by The Smiths, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by George Harrison, and right now "Kashmir" by the awesome Led Zeppelin. Rock on!

Ug! I hate being swamped with Have to reads :P

Oh well.. most times it is worth it,,,,

Happy Thanksgiving to you :)

Happy Thanksgiving, Laura -- and awesome playlist!

My current view after a jam-packed day of eating, playing Phase 10 and Skip-Bo, and watching a little TV with my parents. Life is pretty good right about now.

Happy cat!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Perfect view, beautiful kitty.. good way to finish the day :)

Lovely picture!!! Happy Thanksgiving to you too. Since I'm not American, I don't have a tradition for Thanksgiving (spent the day baking for Xmas!), but I do enjoy having a 4-day weekend! :)

I guess you are liking sitting in front of the fire so much that you have decided to stay there!
Good plan :) I like my fire too !

My 12 in '12 thread is up and running!: http://www.librarything.com/topic/127781

I did stay in front of that fire for the rest of the night, and had another good one last night after work. It's one of my favorite things to do if it's not too cold outside.

Sorry for the delayed absence. Been working a fair bit, which sounds like a good thing, but it's really more time spent driving and cleaning up after others (unpaid), so it's more of a wash than anything else. Today is my first full day off without leaving the house in a couple of weeks. Yahoo! I'm gearing up to finish 2 books before I hit the sack, and will be back later on to add up all of my November reading. It's a small amount, but it's better than nothing!

I read a few more books since my last update, but don't feel like reviewing them. Let's just say that I liked them and leave it at that.

December is slipping away from me, and with that comes end of year lists and best of this and that. I'm working on mine, but it won't be up until around Christmas time. My next big thing on deck (aside from trying not to play Angry Birds for hours a day - yes, I got an iPhone as an early Christmas present!) is getting my house ready for my Chestnut Party tomorrow night! Today ended up being a total wash, despite the fact that I've been home since 11 am (see: Angry Birds) and have one thousand things that need doing, including, but not limited to, what everyone will be eating and drinking aside from the nuts. Not good hostessing on my part!

And now, I'm off to do a quick-clean of my living and dining room as a client is coming over for a chair massage and chin wag (hopefully she'll be gone in under 2 hours, but usually it's closer to 4 - yes, that's 4 hours for a 30 minute appointment). Here's hoping I'm back again tonight or at least tomorrow - it's been far too long since I've been on LT for more than 15 minutes!!!

LOL - Angry Birds is such a time-sucker! :)

"4 hours for a 30 minute appointment"
I sure hope she's fun to hang out with!!

I know - I made myself stop playing to come back and check in on LT! At least I got as far in Rio as I can get w/o paying!

She is, but she isn't. While I appreciate that people enjoy spending time with me and that they can tell me anything (and I mean anything) w/o judgement, I also would like a little time to myself. Or, even better, time to schedule another client and earn a little income. Tonight, I have to confess, I lied to her. Her appointment was for 6:30 - she showed up 15 min late. When she got here I told her I was meeting a friend for coffee at 8:30 tonight so we had to keep the appointment moving. We did the massage, talked for a bit, and then it was 8:15 so I said "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry to rush you, but I need to get going!" She said "Oh, of course, here, I'll walk out with you". So I changed into regular-person clothes, and got into my car! I just drove for a mile or two so she could see where I was going, and then turned around, came home and put on my pajamas. Yes, it's a well-followed-through-and-overly-elaborate lie, and I feel slightly guilty, but on the other hand, I am SO HAPPY to have the house to myself to read and clean up for the rest of the night!!! We've known each other for years and if I thought that she was the kind of person who would understand that I would prefer to keep her visits close to the length of her appointment, I'd prefer to be honest. But she's really not that kind of person, and would be quite offended, so it's easiest if I just "garnish the truth" a bit.

Sorry, probably more info than you wanted to know, but I'm just excited to have gotten my client out of the house in under 2 hours!

I'm nearing the halfway point in Dracula and I'm surprised at how readable and atmospheric it is! Not sure what I was expecting exactly, but it's not this! Aside from that, I'm reading a bio of Prince Philip's early years (courtesy of ER), the second in the Flavia de Luce series (so I can read and review the 4th book, courtesy of ER), and I've just started a book I've wanted to read since I brought it home, The Diary Of A Young Lady of Fashion in the Year 1764-5. Written by Miss Cleone Knox, born in 1744 in County Down, Ireland, it's her actual diary, edited for clarity and spelling. Epistolary things are totally my bag, and the fact that it's a real persons real diary is even better. I can hardly wait to get in to it!

Excuse me while I go and separate my two fighting children/cats. Lots of grumbling and bitch-slapping for 10 minutes and then they sleep curled together for an hour. Sense it does not make.

I can't believe you actually had to go for a drive!!! L.O.L! :) You know what, she would probably take it personally and be hurt if you said that you'd rather be by yourself. I have a friend who is an extrovert and her mental batteries are charged by having other people around and I'm the total opposite. Luckily I can tell my friend that I need some me-time, but I know deep down, she doesn't quite understand and is a little hurt that I, as she perceives it, say that I get tired of her. We're so odd us humans, so similar and yet so different. :) If we were more like kittehs, it'd be better: we could just have the occasional slap-fest and then be friends again, no hard feelings. :D

I completely know about the type of person you just can't cut short - spent an hour more than I wanted to with my mum yesterday (but then again, there is a new grandchild in the house, so I guess I can see why she wants to talk for so long). What usually bothers me with that kind of energy vampire (seems fitting you're reading Dracula) is that they are never prepared to return the favour. They usually arent the ones that will provide a shoulder to cry on, but will rather find a clever way to make your life crisis be about them too: "You know, I know EXACTLY how you feel, because with the situation I am in..." Seems to me a big part of the problem here is a fuzzy line between client and friend. If she essentially hi-jacks your work time, perhaps you need to try and separate the two? Make sure you always have another client right after, and book the social time separately?

I'm ailurophobic (have a fear of cats), but kind of enjoy their personality at a distance :)

I love the way your thread suddenly delves into the truly personal, Laura, I always have. In fact, to make space in my thread for stuff not entirely book related will be one of my aims for the 12 in12. I'm an ex-blogger, after all!

I know, Eva! I'm an introvert as well and she (let's call her N) is very much an extrovert. We're so odd us humans, so similar and yet so different. Very true!

Hi Anders! I understand why your Mom wants to talk so much, obviously, but it can be a little over-doing it at times. Your example about N being an energy vampire is so true - that exact phrasing has come out of her mouth on more than one occasion!

You make a very good point about the work/friend line. Since I'm saying everything else, I'll tell you how I know her. I did yoga every week for 4 or 5 years, and a couple of years in, she joined the class as well. So I saw her once a week, and she seemed very nice, but was a lot more chatty while the class was starting than anyone else. After a couple of years, one of my best friends started to come to yoga with me, and that seemed to be the trigger for her to talk to me (and my friend) even more. When I stopped going to yoga, I forgot that I'd given her one of my business cards and just assumed that I wouldn't see her again. My best friend was still going to the class and one day N asked her if my # was the same - she said yes - and then I got a call from N asking about making an appointment. I said yes, of course, and was happy to have the business (and I still am, I should say). The appointments started out with a little talking, totally normal, and then over the course of 2 appointments had somehow gotten way off the rails and had devolved into 3 hour events.

There are several factors as to why this has gotten so out of hand, not the least of which I know is that I hadn't set up boundaries properly at the outset. Because I'm an empathetic/sympathetic person this has always been an issue and I'm not great at picking up on initial "warning" cues to put up some walls and protect myself. Another factor is that I'm the same age as her kids, so when we talk about deep stuff (spirituality, religion, the root of human psychological behavior, soul purpose, etc) it's sort of like she's finding out what her kids think if they thought about this stuff. (I should say that most of my good friends are at least 20 years older than I am, so talking about those kind of things are part of our regular conversations.) Yet another factor is that she comes to my house, so she's very comfortable, and I don't have clocks all over the place to remind her of the time.

It's been a couple of years since these appointments have been going on, and I'm sure my current "crisis" about this is because I have 2 other people who see me at the massage clinic that do the same thing, and they're all starting to get on the same schedule. There are some weeks where I see all of them, and that's what's happened. I'd suggest that we make a plan for N and I to do something socially, but her idea of that is having a steak dinner, going to an indie concert and then getting cocktails afterwards. My idea is coffee or a dinner somewhere quiet where we can talk and home by 10. It wouldn't work out.

And now, I have to get moving. It's shower time and then cleaning up my house and making some food. And the plumber is coming over again (3rd time this week) to bust up my old concrete laundry tub and haul it out, so most actual cleaning needs to be done after he leaves this afternoon. Oh, and I want to finish watching this episode of Inspector Morse so I can mail it out today too!

Hi Laura. Glad to see you're back. I can understand your need to drive away. I'm an outgoing introvert, if you can picture that. Even so, I usually catch on to clues that people want to leave or whatever.

At work, they used to have chair massages one day a week at lunch and I loved it. I need to see whether they still offer them.

I'm starting 12 in 12 on Monday (12/12) so that's the place to look for me.

"My idea is coffee or a dinner somewhere quiet where we can talk and home by 10."

I'm with you - I'll do the steak dinner or the indie concert or the cocktails, but not all in one night. Gee, maybe I'm just getting old. :)

In that case, I'm getting old too! And, I've finally finished a book this month!

Book 150: Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II by Philip Eade

An ER win, I sadly have to say that I'm glad I didn't lay out any cold hard cash for this book. Told from before his birth up through the first year of his marriage to the future Queen, I had a difficult time following the narrative. It wasn't that readable for me. It's clear that Mr. Eade did his homework, but there wasn't any flow to his writing. Some tidbits were familiar, others weren't, and while I can't say that I've read anything else specifically about Prince Philip before, I don't think that I feel the need to any longer. Rec'd only for fans of the British Royal Family. A generous 3 stars, mostly for research and effort.

Congrats on reaching book 150, Laura. A double 75. I should get there later this week. I think I'm at 148 now so I'm right on my usual "pace."

"I've finally finished a book this month!"

Yey!! :)

150 is mightily impressive, anyways!!

I agree, you do want ER books to be great, but when they're not there is that aspect of, "glad I didn't spent money on this."

Thanks, Linda! Didn't realize it was a double 75 until just now, don't know where my head is. Do you think you'll get 2 more read before the year is out? I'd assume so, especially if you have some extra time off of work.

Hi Eva, and thanks! I know, I'm always so hopeful about them. I scanned the rest of the ER reviews on the books page and I seem to be the only slightly negative one. Part of me feels badly about it, but it's a small part. Oh well, to each his own! Recently I won the latest Flavia de Luce book (without having read books 2 & 3 yet), so I'm quickly going through those to get to the ER. And then there's the book I won last month that's a stand-alone but I feel like I should read the month-older win first, you know?

Sorry, rambling, am having a cup of coffee like a dope, will either crash in a half hour or be awake until 2. Crossing my fingers it's the former!

As long as you say why in a review, I don't think a negative review is necessarily a bad thing. There are two people here at LT that I know with about 80% certainty that if they don't like a book, I should just dash out and buy it immediately. :)

I've gotten extremely particular with my LT picks too - there are just so many books on my own bookshelves (OK, on the floor), I shouldn't be requesting any at all. "Shouldn't" being the operative word. :)

-Eva-
(formerly bookoholic13)

I agree... reviews should be honest.. good or bad. I also agree that there are just so many books already here, waiting to be read that I have gotten a little choosier with ERs

Good luck with your situation with the over friendly client..
that's a tough one !

Merry Christmas to all of my LT friends family!!!

I hope you all get everything you asked Santa for, and that you have a lovely, book-filled holiday weekend!

Merry Christmas Laura!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Lori & Alison!

I received 3 books from various LT Swaps - Mistress Shakespeare and Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette from dissed1 through SantaThing, and Cutting For Stone from Valerie/jolerie through Mark's Christmas Swap! I'm excited about all of them, and I hope that this year will finally be when I read one of my SantaThing/Swap books! :)

Between last night and lunch today I managed to finish one and read another book!

Book 151: Dracula by Bram Stoker
Surprisingly readable and completely atmospheric, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Dracula. It's got a few good things going for it right off the bat (epistolary, gothic, vampires), but what was the real surprise for me was how much I could tip myself into it. Alternating between fast-paced action and lots and lots (and lots) of talking/writing, it dipped and swelled in all of the right spots. It'll be a book that I re-read again for certain. 4 stars

Book 152: The Diary of a Young Lady of Fashion, 1764-5 by Cleone Knox and Magdalen King-Hall

A charming, funny, and interesting diary, Ms. Knox is a Mid-18th Century Bridget Jones. Born on May 12th, 1744 at Castle Kearney, County Down, Ireland, Cleone was an heiress, and a probably typical member of her society. This journal covers her early twenties while she is at a crucial point in her love affair with a Mr. Ancaster. To distract her from this gentleman, her father takes her and her brother, Ned, on the Grand Tour, and along the way she meets the King and Queen of England, King and Queen of France, and Voltaire, along with lots of various and sundry characters.

With entries like "July 15th. To church. A sermon so lengthy that I near died. Dozed behind my fan.", and "May 19th. Lord be praised! in a few moments our Coach will have conveyed us away from this monstrously dull place. Mr. and Mrs. Talbot, to whom brother Tom gave us letters of recommendation, are as excellent a couple as one could hope to see but hardly enlivening as Host and Hostess, while as for their mansion house with its Greek porticos and its monstrously cold rooms, 'tis more fit to be a Sepulchre than a human habitation.", it makes me chuckle quite a lot.

Only edited to correct spelling and to remove "a good many entries that are of no general interest, mostly referring to purchases and personal expenditure" by her ancestor, Alexander Black Kerr, in the 1920's, this is a wonderful window into society life. If you are lucky enough to find a copy, pick it up and treat yourself to a fantastically entertaining read. 4.5 stars

Sounds like two good reads! I've never heard of ms. Knox book, but it sounds wonderful. Who is Magdalen King-Hall, if I may ask? An editor? A ghost-writer?

And I really must get around to Dracula one of these years...

Hi Anders! I have absolutely no idea who Magdalen King-Hall is, I'm guessing she's a relative of some sort. Since Alexander Kerr wrote the preface and the endnote, and he says that he is a cousin of Cleone's, I really don't know who Magdalen is. But, she pops up as the author here and on other places around the web, so I must be missing something! At least it doesn't hamper the reading experience! And, I know a lot of people say this about a lot of books, but you really should read Dracula at some point. For me, I'd forgotten about all of the vampire myths (garlic, for an example) since vamps are so popular these days and have all sorts of different "rules"; it was nice to read the origin story, as it were. I think you'll like it.

Late last night, I made the mistake of starting to read this book - I finished it 3 1/2 hours later at 3:00 in the morning! But, it was all worth it - it's great!

Book 153: Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

There have been quite a few people out there in cyberland that haven't been happy with this series the last couple of years - I think this book will please every single one of them! Every summer I look forward to the latest entry, and after #17 this past summer I didn't want to wait another year - thankfully, Ms. Evanovich released this book about a month ago. While I usually chuckle out loud a few times, this time I laughed out loud more than I can count. Lula is especially hilarious, and her choice of boyfriend is stellar as usual. At the end of the previous book, I thought that Stephanie would have finally chosen a man - well, I don't want to spoil anything, but the fact that she is tan everywhere except for a small ring line around her ring finger made for a lot of entertaining reading. If you're a fan of the series, this entry will not disappoint. 4.5 stars

I'm a few behind in the series but hoping to catch up soon. It takes a lot for me to laugh out loud over a book, but, when I was reading #8, I was laughing so much that my husband ended up reading it to see what I was laughing over. Now he likes to read them after I finish.

I've been traveling without the laptop - so let me say a belated Merry Christmas and I hope you have a wonderful New Year!

>43 LauraBrook:. I bet she's just a tag-along, the greedy moocher! I'll make myself co-writer of some random classics here on LT too! "Er, who is this Anders Duus guy getting half the credit for The divine comedy, Little women and Ubik, does anyone know?" Happy New Year!

I've gotten half-way through Dracula a few times, but somehow never manage to finish. I do love vampire-stories, though, so I'm not sure what the problem is. Try, try again, I suppose. :)

Betty, I'm so glad to hear that your husband reads those books too! I agree with what Joe said on my 75er thread - it's one of her best!

Hi Victoria, thanks for stopping! I hope you have a great night yourself!

Anders, that's a great idea! I'll vouch for your authenticity too, no problem. :)

Eva, I got stalled about halfway through too. But once I forced myself through it (it took a few tries), it picked back up again and it was pretty readable. I say give it another go!

Courtesy of a read-a-thon the last few days, I've managed to finish 2 books in my stack, and I'm hoping to get 2 more done before midnight tonight.

Book 154: Souvenir of Canada by Douglas Coupland

A nice little book, and I feel like I'm a little more Canadian after having read it! Filled with pictures and short entries (it's set up like a dictionary/encyclopedia), it was a good way to learn a bit aboot Canadian culture and history. 3.5 stars

Book 155: Down and Out in Manhattan by Irene Magers

Won through a Members Giveaway here at LT, I enjoyed this novel about a woman trying to restart her life. Maggie gets fired from her boring but reliable job and decides to take a 2 week Mexican cruise on a snap decision. Once onbaord, she meets some characters, most of them seniors, and there are a few little storylines that get introduced. Not the least of these is one with a potential romantic suitor, Michael. Some accidents happen, and a few mysterious things occur, and Maggie ends up getting off of the cruise early. After she's back at home in NYC, we follow up with her and one of her new friends in the next few months.

I enjoyed the book, but it could have been better with just a few small changes. I enjoyed the relatively short (2-5 page) chapters, but the earlier chapters finished very abruptly; just one more sentence would have wrapped it up nicely. Also, there was a bit of an overall feeling for me that there wasn't enough explanation of some of the secondary characters - some of the threads were just left hanging, and some characters acted like we should be right there with them, experiencing all of these emotional things. Instead, it seems a little choppy and didn't make for a smooth reading journey overall. Despite these quibbles, I did like the book. It was nice to read a story about a woman older than 25 trying to get out of her rut and find out who she is, and it was all finished in a predictably happy way in the end. 3.25 stars, and I'd like to read more work by the author in the future.

Shockingly, I don't think I've done one of these before. Well, in no particular order, here are my top reads of 2011. They weren't all 5 star reads, but they all stood out for one reason or another.

1. Wisconsin's Own by M. Caren Connolly
2. Daddy Long Legs and Dear Enemy by Jean Webster
3. Still Life by Louise Penny
4. The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde
5. Dresden by Lord Gerald Hugh Tyrwitt-Wilson Berners
6. The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure
7. Doctor Dolittle's Journey by N. H. Kleinbaum
8. Radioactive: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss
9. Habibi by Craig Thompson
10. The Diary of a Young Lady of Fashion, 1764-5 by Cleone Knox
11. Divergent by Veronica Roth
12. Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton
13. The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson
14. The Library, The Money Tree, The Gardener, and The Friend by Sarah Stewart
15. Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins
16. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
17. Black Diamond by Martin Walker
18. Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen
19. Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich
20. Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot

Here's hoping that 2012's reading is just as good!

Whew! Just under the wire, I finished my final 2 books for the year with 45 minutes to spare.

Book 156: Then Again by Diane Keaton

A touching, funny, sentimental, honest look back on her mother's life and her own. I laughed and cried right along with her as she (excellently) narrated the book. 4 stars

Book 157: Paris, My Sweet by Amy Thomas

What seemed, at first, like a little slip of a book about eating wonderful sweets in Paris, was actually about not just that, but her life in NYC, where her heart truly lies in regards to most any life topic, her health woes (hit pretty close to home, I have to say), and oh yeah, eating wonderful sweets. A real treat, and I'm thrilled to say it's an ER book too! 4.25 stars

And with that, I'm off to open my bottle of sparkling Muscato, do some goal-planning, and watch the rest of When Harry Met Sally.

Cheers, dears!

Two books finished on New Year's eve! You're serious about your reading, Laura, that's fersure :) Hope the Muscato was lovely and that you have a great start to 2012!

HNY to you. Great finish. I have both those books on my radar so good to know they're enjoyable.

Happy New Year Laura, and nice finish to 2011!

Thanks, everyone! Come on over to my 12-12 Challenge here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/127781

See you there!