Joeinma's 100 in 2011

With 3 days to go in 2010, it looks like I will finish with 166 books read. The third straight year over 150! However, I am lowering my goal for 2011 as I plan on focusing on reading mostly books from the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list, and as some of you know, some of those books can be huge!

So my goal is 100 in 2011. First up is War and Peace which I am currently reading but will not have done this year.

Welcome back! And good luck with War and Peace, I'm afraid I made little headway on it when I tried many years ago. (I enjoyed the peace bits, but the war! Eurgh! Must try again with a different translation, and hopefully an extra 20 years experience will also make the difference.)

I've got some chunksters lined up too, from the "1001" list too... But I won't say I'm going to read them, because then I never will. :)

I struggle through it but finally finished it!

This year listing books read in one post per month...
* = A 1001 Books to Read Before you Die Book.

So for January 2011, here they are:
#1 - War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy *
#2 - The Exile - Andrew Britton
#3 - Electric Barracuda - Tim Dorsey
#4 - American Rust - Philipp Meyer *
#5 - Home - Marilynne Robinson *
#6 - Mr. Monster Dan Wells
#7 - Invisible - Paul Auster *
#8 - The House of Secrets - Richard Hawke
#9 - Hostile Intent - Michael Walsh
#10 - Nineteen Seventy-Seven - David Peace *
#11 - Final Target - Steven Gore
#12 - I Am Not A Serial Killer - Dan Wells
#13 - Hard Rain - David Rollins
#14 - Obama's War - Bob Woodward
#15 - The Man with the Golden Arm - Nelson Algren *
#16 - A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens *
#17 - Triggerfish Twist - Tim Dorsey
#18 - The 120 Days of Sodom - Marquis de Sade *

congrats on finishing War and Peace! I've yet to work up the courage to take it off the shelf.

Wow, I thought it might take you a few more days to get through W&P! (It'd take me some weeks!) Congratulations!

Books read in February. Count is YTD. * = 1001 Books to Read Before you Die

#19 - The Stingray Shuffle - Tim Dorsey
#20 - Vanish - Tess Gerritsen
#21 - To Fetch A Thief - Spencer Quinn
#22 - The Secret Soldier - Alex Berenson
#23 - EveryThing Matters! - Ron Currie, Jr.
#24 - Small Island - Andrea Levy *
#25 - Ghost Watch - David Rollins
#26 - The Glass Rainbow - James lee Burke
#27 - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon *
#28 - Crescent Dawn - Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler
#29 - Brighton Rock - Graham Greene *
#30 - Fatal Error - F. Paul Wilson

Only 3 books from the "1001 Books to Read Before you Die" list in February. Slipping on my goal after only 2 months!

March books read. Count is YTD. * = From 1001 list.

#31 - Ben-Hur - Lew Wallace *
#32 - Agent X - Noah Boyd
#33 - The Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan *
#34 - Moonlight Mile - 946594::Dennis Lehane
#35 - 21214::The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells *
#36 - The Call of the Wild - Jack London *
#37 - The Fallen - Mark Terry
#38 - The Bricklayer - Noah Boyd
#39 - Dead Spy Running - Jon Stock
#40 - Critical Mass - Whitney Strieber
#41 - The Devil's Pitchfork - Mark Terry
#42 - The Serpent's Kiss - Mark Terry

Wow, you got through Pilgrim's Progress! I haven't heard anything too encouraging about that one.

Yes, it was tough to read Wookie, but thankfully not many pages, i think under 200. I read on my Kindle during lunch hour, a little at a time.

April books read. Count is YTD. * = From 1001 list.

#43 - The Templar Salvation - Raymond Khoury
#44 - The Bone House - Brian Freeman
#45 - City of God - E. L. Doctorow *
Slow reading month...finally got to 4th book of the month...
#46 - Red on Red - Edward Conlon
#47 - The Unit - Terry DeHart
#48 - The Border Lords - T. Jefferson Parker
#49 - The Golden Ass - Apuleius *
#50 - Afraid of the Dark - James Grippando

May books read. Count is YTD. * = From 1001 List.

#51 - The Prophecy - Chris Kuzneski
#52 - Enemies Among Us - Bob Hamer
#53 - The Twelfth Imam - Joel C. Rosenberg
#54 - Frankenstein: Lost Souls - Dean Koontz
#55 - Lions of Babylon - Davis Bunn
#56 - The Inner Circle - Brad Meltzer
#57 - Cadillac Beach - Tim Dorsey
Seems like Touchstones are not working lately.
#58 - The Lincoln Lawyer - Michael Connelly
#59 - 2030 - Albert Brooks

#60 - Altar of Bones - Philip Carter
#61 - The Mephisto Club - Tess Gerritsen
#62 - The Sword of the Templars - Paul Christopher
#63 - House of Seven Gables - Nathaniel Hawthorne *
#64 - Against All Enemies - Tom Clancy
#65 - The Bone Yard - Jefferson Bass
#66 - The Jefferson Key - Steve Berry
#67 - The Templar Cross - Paul Christopher
#68 - A Heartbeat Away - Michael Palmer
#69 - The Tiger Warrior - David Gibbins

July books read...

#70 - The Intruders - Michael Marshall
#71 - The Jungle - Clive Cussler
#72 - The Gods of Greenwich - Norb Vonnegut
#73 - Moll Flanders - Daniel Defoe *
#74 - Power Down - Ben Coes
#75 - The Straw Men - Michael Marshall
#76 - Rizzo's Fire - Lou Manfredo
#77 - The Devil Colony - James Rollins
#78 - Crude Deception - Gordon Zuckerman

August books read...

#79 - Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe *
#80 - The Valley of the Shadow - Mark Terry
#81 - Sex on the Moon - Ben Mezrich
#82 - Adrenaline - Jeff Abbott
#83 - Dark Prophecy - Anthony E. Zuiker
#84 - The Redbreast - Jo Nesbo
#85 - Don't Look Back - Karin Fossum
#86 - House Divided - Mike Lawson
#87 - Bloodmoney - David Ignatius
#88 - The Snowman- Jo Nesbo

September books read...

#89 - The Mango Opera - Tom Corcoran
#90 - Odd Jobs - Ben Lieberman
#91 - Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin
#92 - Boca Knights - Steven M. Forman
#93 - The Exodus Quest - Will Adams
#94 - Boca Mournings - Steven M. Forman
#95 - Lockdown - Sean Black
#96 - Bodies in Winter - Robert Knightly

October books read...

#97 - The Elementary Particles - Michel Houellebecq *
#98 - The Club Dumas - Arturo Perez-Reverte *
#99 - Brother One Cell - Cullen Thomas
#100 - Very Bad Men - Harry Dolan
#101 - Pronto - Elmore Leonard
#102 - Police and Thieves - James Patrick Hunt
#103 - Trigger City - Sean Chercover
#104 - Riding the Rap - Elmore Leonard

I love the snail, although if that was a photo finish, I'd say he's already reached 100. :)

I've got Atomised (same as The Elementary Particles, just a US/UK naming difference, I think) on Mt TBR. Did you like it? I'm regarding it with some trepidation.

Hi Wookie, I did like it. It was a little dirty, lot of sex scenes, not that I'm complaining! :-) It was a quicker read then I thought it would be.

Thanks Joe! I'm feeling slightly less trepidation about the book, although I have the feeling I may have to carry it around in a plain brown paper bag now. ;)

November books read:

#105 - Gumbo Limbo - Tom Corcoran
#106 - Coup D'Etat - Ben Coes
#107 - Platform - Michel Houellebecq *
#108 - Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell *
#109 - Pirate King - Laurie R. King
#110 - A Clash of Kings - George R. R. Martin
#111 - The Shipping News - E. Annie Proulx *
#112 - Ambler Warning - Robert Ludlum
#113 - The Lost Angel - Javier Sierra
#114 - The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen *
#115 - The Once & Future King - T.H. White *
#116 - UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go on the Record - Leslie Kean

December books read:

#117 - The Spy Who Came In from the Cold - John le Carre *
#118 - The Delta Solution - Patrick Robinson
#119 - Silent Enemy - Thomas W. Young
#120 - Empire of the Sun - J. G. Ballard *
#121 - 11/22/63 - Stephen King
#122 - Under the Skin - Michel Faber *
#123 - Black Storm - David Poyer
#124 - The Tehran Initiative - Joel C. Rosenberg
#125 - David Copperfield - Charles Dickens *
#126 - The Jefferson Project - Thor Dun

Well I started this year off with the goal of focusing on the books from the 1001 Books to Read Before you Die list, but with 12 days left in year I have only read 29 books from the list, or 23.4% of my total books read. Granted it's the most 1001 books I have read in any one year, but was hoping to knock off at least 50 this year. Guess I am too addicted to modern fiction!

Lots of great reading this year, even if you didn't include as many 1001 books as you wanted (do the little asterisks mean 1001 book? B/C The Once and Future King is a 1001 book - maybe you actually read 30!)

Yes, I never read as many "1001" books as I mean to. :) Still, it's some great reading you've been doing here! Under the Skin was really creepy, I don't think I'm ever going to forget that one...

Thanks Wookie! You're right, Under the Skin was weird. Merry Christmas!

Thanks Jennifer! Yes, the asterisk denotes 1001 books, thanks for noticing that! Yippee #30! :-)

Finally finished David Copperfield for #31!