Snash's 1010 challenge

Can't wait to get started. I managed to read almost 70 books last year so I would think 7 or 8 books/category would make sense for me.

Here's a start on a list of categories
World Literature
English/American Literature
American History
Travel Books
Sociology
Science
Memoir

1) World Literature - translated
2) English/American Literature
3) Sociology
4) History
5) Travel Books
6) Science
7) Memoir
8) Writing/Creativity/Art
9) Poetry
10) Serendipidy

World Literature
1) After the Quake
2) Billiards at Half-Past Nine
3) The Remains of the Day
4) The Nine Guardians
5) The Glass Room by Simon Mawer
6) Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa
7) The Perfect Circle by Pasquale Quiviger
8) Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky

Candidates
Swann's Way, Dom Casmurro, The Lost Honor of Katharina BlumIn Other Rooms Other Wonders

English/American Literature
1) Mrs. Dalloway
2) Crossing to Safety
3) Sula
4) The Lovely Bones
5) O Pioneers
6) Cold Comfort Farm
7) Chef: A Novel
8) Their Eyes Were Watching God
9) To Kill a Mockingbird
10) The Earth Hums in B-Flat
11) Pigs in Heaven
12) Absalom, Absalom!
13) Family Matters: A Novel

Candidates
Beloved, A Suitable Boy, A Fine Balance

Sociology
1) The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner
2) Distracted by Maggie Jackson
3) Society without God
4) Spent
5) An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage
6) Mood Matters by John Casti
7) A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace

Candidates

History
1) The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
2) Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World
3) Genghis Kahn and the Making of the Modern World
4) The Real George Washington
5) Constantinople: City of the World's Desire
6) Ten Hills Farm
7) The Woman Behind the New Deal
8) Victorian America: Transformations in Everyday Life
9) India: A History

Candidates

Travel Books
1) Snakes and Ladders: Glimpses of Modern India
2) India-Culture Smart
3) In Europe: Travels Through the 20th Century
4) Baghdad Without a Map
5) American Terroir
6)
7)

Candidates

Science
1) The Overflowing Brain
2) Godel, Escher, Bach
3) Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth
4) Uncle Tungsten
5) The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey
6) The Singing Life of Birds
7)

Candidates
Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness, Microcosm

Memoir
1) Goosetown: Reconstructing an Akron Neighborhood
2) By Heart: Poetry, Prison, and Two Lives
3) A Freewheelin' Time
4) A Place to Stand
5) Enemies of the People
6) Wounds of Passion
7)

Candidates:

Writing/Creativity/Art
1) Writing True by Sondra Perl and Mimi Schwartz
2) The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick
3) Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original
4) From Margin to Center: The Spaces of Installation Art
5) Crossing the Yard
6)
7)

Candidates

Poetry
1) Atlantis: Poems by Mark Doty
2) Different Hours: Poems by Stephen Dunn
3) The Shadow of Sirius by W.S. Merwin
4) Nostalgia's Thread by Randall Freisinger
5)
6)
7)

Candidates
The Door

Serendipidy
1) Prompted by GPWS
2) Lester Higata's 20th Century
3) Get Down by Asali Solomon
4) Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self
5) American Salvage
6) Montana 1948
7) Tinkers
8) Changing My Mind

Candidates

Hi, love the Serendipidy category. I wish I had chosen one like it no! :)

Mrs Dalloway The book is superb; not easy, without plot but an impressionistic picture of life, what it means, how it feels. It captures the ramblings of the mind from ecstasy with the minutia to distress with the hollowness and from the peace of the universe to the horror of a glance. Sometimes it's all in one sentence.

first book of the year and of the English/American Literature catagory

Crossing to Safety is a story about friendship and in the process of telling that story it also presented different approaches to life and death. The characters were entirely believable with their numerous faults and were people I recognized from my own experience. It's one that I will carry with me in my thoughts for a long time.

Second book of the English/American Literature category

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine is a revelation, though not one that totally surprises. The book documents in relentless detail the treatment of the Palestinian people from the 1920's through to today with a focus on 1947 to 8. It describes the ethnic cleansing that went on along with the successful burying of that fact. It sadly reveals that populations are no different from people. Those who are abused are likely to abuse once in power. To do differently takes a self awareness and understanding which is unusual.
It is obvious that any solution will have to involve addressing the acts of 1948. If it is not done the prognosis for peace in the area (or the world) is low. Given the Western, particularly US, present demonization of Muslims, this scenario seem unlikely. Admittedly, any solution which treats Palestinians justly, will create a different Israel.

First book of my History category

I've read three or four books about or set in India in the last year. I read Snakes and Ladders: Glimpses of Modern India to get an overview of Indian culture and history. Although most history presented was post 1947, I still learned a great deal. I got the impression that the book presented those bits of Indian culture that came to the author's mind but then it never pretended to be comprehensive. I came away from the book with a clearer idea of India's astounding plurality on every front.

It was an easy read definitely worth the effort.

My first book in the travel category

I read Crossing to Safety last year and really enjoyed it. It was kind of slow, but that wasn't a bad thing.

I guess it was slow but I hardly noticed coming to it from Mrs Dalloway. I also find slow books just fine with me.

16. hmm.. that's a pretty intense title and topic. Are you going to read more on the Middle East? I might suggest some broader background reading if you are interested -

The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict is a collection of primary sources regarding the creation of the state of Israel, among other things.

A Peace to end all peace is on the divvying up and creation of the modern middle east by the European powers (largely Britain) after WWI, which provides some context for the Zionist movement and the peoples living in what is now Israel at the time.

From Beirut to Jersalem was written (somewhat) more recently (1980s) and looks at the region from a journalistic perspective. Thomas Friedman has been reporting on the region for a while now (30 years?).

As befits a nebulous topic like happiness, there are no definitive conclusions in The Geography of Bliss. In the end, the author even questions whether happiness is the ultimate goal at all. The book does, however, stimulate thought. As he charges around the world trying various country's version of happiness, he paints a unique picture of a number of countries. In many ways the book is a fascinating travelogue, entertaining and illuminating.

My first book in the Sociology category

I found Writing True inspiring for its examples of good creative non-fiction, its straight forward encouragement, and its practical no-none-sense stepwise advice on how to write creative non fiction. As I read it, it sounded easy. I know it's not. However thinking it might not be elusive magic, encourages me to continue trying. I even have an idea what questions I need to ask of my draft and how to respond to my answers.

My first book in the Writing/Creativity/Art category

Atlantis: Poems is a collections of poems using luminous descriptions of the physical world, both natural and manmade, to illuminate the longings of life -- a life attempting to come to terms with death. Haunting and inspiring.

My first book in the Poetry category

Goosetown was an early review memoir. It was a good story about the price we pay for family secrets. It was, however, difficult to get into due to its organization.

After the Quake was my introduction to Murakami and I found the stories haunting. The stories are all held together by their relationship to the Kobe earthquake but the stories themselves occur throughout Japan. The magical realism read like a cross between parable and modern stories of the ordinary person. I can't say I immediately understood them all but I can't stop thinking of them.

My first book in the World literature category

The The Overflowing Brain focuses on Working memory, what it is, what's known about how it works, it's limits and the implications of those limitations. Towards the end, it also explores possible ways to enhance working memory by drug or training. While the book was well written and understandable, I did not find it fascinating, either because the focus was so narrow or I already knew some of the information.

My first book in the science category

In Sula, I loved the writing, the scenes and characters created, a lush world to immerse oneself in. It felt like I missed a good deal of the depth of meaning so ended feeling frustrated with myself for not "getting" all of it.

My third book of English/American Literature categoy

For Billiards at Half-Past Nine I had to use Wikipedia to figure out the point of view for each chapter but once I did that, everything was clear. It's a look at the effect of Germany's history upon a family; how the violence and hate leaves them without any bearings. Each member finds his own way to cope. It actually only becomes effective after this troubled pacifist family begins to reveal their secrets and share the reasons for their actions. I found it interesting and worthwhile.

My second book in the World Literature category

Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World is a look at history, politics, biology, fishing, conservation, and cooking as they impact upon man's relationship with cod. Well written and quite interesting although scary since the cod have been pretty well wiped out of the oceans.

My second book in the history category

Genghis Kahn and the Making of the Modern World is a history of the Mongol Empire from Genghis Kahns birth to the 1400's and its demise with the coming of the plague. The history uses the newly translated and interpreted "Secret Histories" written by the Mongols at the time and corrects the Western picture of them as demonic hordes. Their innovations and influence was amazing to discover, paper money, a universal alphabet, far reaching commerce, freedom of religion etc. It's interesting to speculate how the world would be now if the plague had not destroyed their rule.

My third book in the history category

Distracted presents a fascinating and frightening collection of evidence for our distracted lives; distracted by split focus, mobility that erodes our sense of space, involvement in the digital world while loosing contact with the real. Then the book looks at the effects of this distraction, alienation and an inability to think deeply. An ability to focus and give attention are two major losses.

I thought the book was a wake up call that few will probably notice. Realistically, I doubt there's much hope for society but it did give me a reminder for my own life. I found it an excellent book

The author of Society without God spent a little over a year in Denmark and Sweden. During that time he carried out a large number of interviews exploring their attitudes and beliefs about religion, death, meaning of life etc. They revealed themselves to be a secular society spending very little time worrying about such questions. He concluded that religion was not innate; Society could be moral and just without religion. He also explored theories as to why those societies were secular while the US is so religious.

All of his logic made perfect sense and almost seems obvious to me. Perhaps for that reason I found his technique of quoting from interview after interview to drive home his point repetitious. It made the book boring to me.

My third book in the sociology category

The Real George Washington is a portrait of Washington and his activities presented primarily from his own word. It is well written, easily followed, and thorough. My problems with the book are that the Washington presented is flawless and the author seems to have an agenda to prove Washington to be a religious man. I believe he was a religious Deist but don't need to be told each and every time he commented on God.

My fourth book in the history category

The narrator of The Lovely Bones is the murdered girl speaking from heaven. I found this premise awkward, intrusive, and cutsie. Some characters I found unbelievable. Despite that I thought the description of various people's efforts to deal with the loss of a young girl, well done. Various attempts to portray and explain the serial killer were also credible.

My fourth book in the American Literature category

I didn't think I wanted to read The Lovely Bones. Now I'm sure. Thanks!

O Pioneers is the story of a time (late 1800's) and a place (Nebraska) as much as it is of the characters. The land is vividly portrayed along with those who love it. Agatha, her brothers, and her neighbors seem believable and real. I found the book compelling and touching.

My fifth book in the American Literature category

Stephen Dunn's poems in Different Hours find the eternal in the mundane, the loneliness in company. They're written in an accessible manner. A joy to read.

My second book in the poetry category

The Remains of the Day was a humorous, poignantly sad book about the effects of a public self upon the private self. It points out that if one becomes too rigid and enamored with one's public self (as a professional, as an optimist, as a together one, etc) the result is isolation from others and oneself. The writing is superb as well.

My third book in the World literature category

Culture-Smart India is meant to give sight seers or business travelers a quick overview of what to expect in India with a few do's and don'ts. As such, it doesn't do badly. My problem was that the nature of Indian culture was presented with sweeping statements and little depth. After reading several such statements, I tended to forget them. Despite that, I did get some hints about the various religions, how the caste system and Karma manifests itself in the Indian outlook, and some other general feels for Indian culture.

My second book in the Travel category

The Shadow of Sirius: Poems without punctuation giving them a nebulous quality to fit with haunting poems about timelessness and the unfathomable unknowing unknown inhabited by the the lone lost questioner.
Six poems I particularly liked were "Raiment", "Inheritance", "Youth", "Recognition", "My Hand", and "One of the Butterflies".

My third book in poetry

The Situation and the Story suggests that good memoir is that written with the correct voice, mimicking the story being told. When that happens the memoir has emotional clout and approaches universal truth. The book does this by presenting numerous examples.

My second book in writing/creativity category

Cold Comfort Farm is a parody of English Victorian novels full of romance played out against a dreary atmosphere. The parody is hardly subtle. It is exaggerated to the ludicrous from my perspective. It is pure silliness that becomes at least entertaining once the scene is set (the first half of the book) and actions begin.

I didn't particularly like the book. The English Victorian novel does not seem an integral piece of society such that it's parody adds to an understanding of society or people. It seems merely an entertaining exercise.

My 6th book in English/American Literature category

Godel, Escher, Bach is a fascinating book. It is an intertwining look at logic, philosophy, consciousness, music, art, biology, computers, and countless other topics through the prism of concepts of uncertainty, incompleteness, and self reference. While reading it, I was astonished at how many things came up, that the book suggested a new way to consider.

Written in the 1970's some information in biology, computers, and physics could not include some of the most recent understandings so was dated. I found some of the number theory chapters more obtuse than I was willing to struggle with but I was always rewarded with a new insight if I persevered.

My 2nd book in the Science category

By Heart, Poetry, Prison, and Two Lives is an excellent book, one that will stay with me for a long time. It is a little hard to classify. It's called double memoir which it is but it is also a series of essays on prisons, prisoners, and art programs in prisons. Those essays pack a wallop because the memoir portion makes specific people very real; that and the extremely intelligent and insightful writing of Spoon. One line that I know I will remember forever is, "Think of the worst thing that you've ever done. Now imagine that your entirely defined by that act and nothing else."

My 2nd book in the Memoir category

Chef: A Novel relates the life of a Sikh son of an Indian soldier and hero, who joins the army as a chef with an assignment to Kashmir in deference to his father. The book is played out against the cold, verdant beauty of Kashmir, a symphony of foods, flavor, and smells, and the incessant Hindu/Moslem conflict.

The plot slowly reveals a variety of unexpected twists and turns which helps capture and hold the readers interest. Somehow, however, something felt a little hollow. The characters were drawn on the surface and depth was suggested in their contradictory actions but not quite realized since the reader was never sure of their central motivations.

It was a pleasurable read with exquisite picturesque scenery, presenting a slice of Indian life and culture.

My 7th book in English/American literature

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a superb book telling the life of Janie as she discovers who she is after many years of living safely as suggested by her grandmother. The plot and characters are well drawn. The writing is spectacular. The speech is in black dialect and the spectacular metaphors are drawn out of the black experience and language.

My 8th book in English/American literature

Zadie Smith has an amazing essay about Their Eyes Were Watching God in her book, Changing My Mind. It's well worth reading if you happen upon it.

Constantinople: City of the World's Desire is the history of a city. Because it was the capitol of the Ottoman Empire, much history of the Empire is told but the book also includes a picture of everyday life from Sultan's palace to back street homes giving the feel of the city from many perspectives. Its tolerance for religious and ethnic diversity was particularly refreshing.

My 5th book in History category.

I found Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original to be a well researched and well rounded picture of Thelonious Monk. Given his struggles with his own mental state and with the jazz critics, it's amazing that he persevered as long as he did and created such spectacular original music. I wish there was a more complete picture of the emotional nature of his upbringing to better understand the sources of his troubles but I'm assuming that's well hidden.

I have always loved his music and this look at the man gives me even greater respect for him. As others have mentioned, the book would probably be tedious without a familiarity with jazz movements and musicians.

This is the third book in the Creative/Art category

Nostalgia's Thread is a book of ten poems inspired by Norman Rockwell Paintings. Anticipating it, I was trying to imagine how the poems were going to avoid sentimentality. He had no problems. In some poems he even directly addressed the low art, sentimental sugar sweet reputation of the Rockwell print. Essentially he used the Rockwell prints as images of the world presented and promised to that generation born in the mid 1900's and then juxtaposed that with the world as they found it in adulthood. In some cases there's anger, others sadness, others more wistfulness at the contrast. I was impressed with the concept. I enjoyed all the poems but most particularly, Girl at Mirror, Freedom of Speech, The Runaway, and Artist Facing Blank Canvas II.

This is the 4th book in Poetry

Can't explain how I got as old as I am without having read To Kill a Mockingbird but at long last the deficit has been made up. It's a great story of a small southern town. By telling the story from a child's point of view, the reader gets to discover the sins and uglinesses of life starting from innocence. The reality revealed is multifaceted from racism to heroism, from narrow mindedness to broad. There were times that Atticus, Jem, Dill, and Calpurnia seemed too self aware and too good to be believable but then they were the people Scout, the narrator, loved. An excellent book.

My 9th book in English/American literature

I really need to re-read To Kill a Mockingbird after reading your posting. Such a great book!

snash, you're not the only one who hasn't read it until later in life. I also have it planned for my challenge this year.

I usually don't listen to audiobooks, but I recommend the unabridged version of To Kill a Mockingbird read by Sissy Spacek unreservedly. I found it the ideal way to "reread" this book as we listen differently than we read and Spacek's soft southern voice was ideal for the story.

A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties is Suze Rotolo's memoir of her life during that decade. Four years of that time she was Bob Dylan's girlfriend so an inside look at the early Bob Dylan is a major draw of the book. It's more than that, though, for she lived an interesting life herself and rubbed shoulders with multitudes of legendary figures of that time. The book is written in a somewhat disjointed style, taking various threads forward in time and then going back to pick up another. It feels true to the chaotic exciting time and place it describes.

My third book in Memoir category

Ten Hills Farm was an excellent history of a farm near Boston. Initially established by John Winthrop, Isaac Royall, John Stark, and George Washington all owned or passed through its door. The history also strives to tell the whole story, noting that the opulence of the estate was built and maintained by slaves both on sugar cane plantations in Antigua and on the estate. Since records of individual slave lives are so elusive, much of the story from the slave's point of view had to be conjecture but every effort was made to include their story and contribution. I found the book fascinating and engagingly written. Excellent, 5/5 stars

My 6th book in history category

From Margin to Center: The Spaces of Installation Art, while limited in scope since it focuses only on the NYC scene, does explore installations in terms of their history and nature. The relationships and questions aroused by installations in terms of museums, the viewer's participation, politics, collectibility, and preservation are all explored. There are also descriptions and pictures of some specific installations.

The 4th book in writing/creativity/art category

Prompted is an excellent anthology of writing by present or former members of the Greater Philadelphia Workshop Studio. I may be prejudiced since I've been writing with the group for 5 years myself. There are two different workshops and were 9 years before my arrival so I actually know only a quarter of the writers. The writing is varied in style and genre but universally good. There are poems, fiction, travel writing, memoir, and drama. Some of the pieces were very moving, thought provoking, and not easily forgotten. I heartily recommend it. (available on Amazon)

The 1st book in serendipity category

Prompted is an excellent anthology of writing by present or former members of the Greater Philadelphia Workshop Studio. I may be prejudiced since I've been writing with the group for 5 years myself. There are two different workshops and were 9 years before my arrival so I actually know only a quarter of the writers. The writing is varied in style and genre but universally good. There are poems, fiction, travel writing, memoir, and drama. Some of the pieces were very moving, thought provoking, and not easily forgotten. I heartily recommend it. (available on Amazon)

The 1st book in serendipity category

Lester Higata's 20th Century is an excellent selection of interrelated short stories reminding me in format to Olive Kitteridge. The Hawaiian setting gives the book lushness and cultural diversity. The characters are multidimensional and interesting. I love that the stories are set at progressively earlier times so that a character is met and then in a later story there are clues as to how they came to be as they were. It was a rich, thought provoking, excellent book.

The 2nd book in serendipity category

Great review on Lester Higata's 20th Century - I have become a huge fan of the interrelated short stories format (Yup, loved Olive) and have added this title to my 'search for it' list!

The Woman Behind the New Deal is a biography of Frances Perkins who was an amazing woman who had a major impact upon modern America. Her role in instigating and then pushing to reality most parts of the New Deal is awe inspiring. This was done when women in such roles were viewed very skeptically. As a public woman she was a success. Her private life, while never as important to her as her public one, was difficult and painful. The author has done a good job in presenting the whole person, even the private parts which Frances kept as hidden as possible. Along the way, personality profiles of other figures of the 30's to 60's are exposed including FDR, Truman, Al Smith, etc.

The 7th book in the history category

Who could possibly whip up your interest and enthusiasm for slime mold or Spriggina, a several cell animal present millions of years ago? Richard Fortey in Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth is who. He writes with awe, knowledge, and enthusiasm about the development of life with some lively descriptions of the people and expeditions who have uncovered it. It presents the history of life in its presently understood version; that our understanding can and will change with new evidence is consistently brought up. It's a wonderfully engaging and informative book.

The 3rd book in the science category

@63, I love good science books! On to the tbr pile it goes.

>63 snash: Fortey is wonderful. I've read Trilobite! and Fossils:The History of Life and expect I'll read much more by him.

In Enemies of the People, using memory, their memoirs, interviews and most importantly the Hungarian Secret Service Files and FBI files, the author tells the story of her journalist parents who lived in Budapest from 1947 to 1958 before immigrating to America. It's a fascinating story. I've tended to think the cold war was largely contrived. I have to adjust that concept.

My 5th book in the memoir category

An Edible History of Humanity looks at the impact of food on the history of mankind starting with the impact of agriculture, and continuing with how the search for spices changed the medieval world, how new world foods and improved yields fueled the industrial revolution, the role of food in war, and the impact of the green revolution. While some of this history may be common knowledge, there were many intriguing insights and I was particularly surprised that its prognosis for the future was much more positive than most sociological, anthropological books. I heartily recommend the book.

My 5th book in the Sociology category

The Glass Room is historical fiction, set between 1928 and 1990. The glass room is a very unique modern house in Czechoslovakia which plays the role of connecting a number of unrelated lives while playing the part of a character in and of itself. The story is one of love, in its many flavors, and the fateful role of history in people's lives. An excellent book

My 5th book in World Literature

>67 snash: An Edible History of Humanity has been on my wish list since it showed up in the ER books. I was disappointed that I didn't snag a copy. It sounds like it was a great read!

I found Victorian America: Transformations in Everyday Life to be a fascinating book. It provides an overview of everyday life (housing, transportation, working, playing, etc) across America over 40 years. With that broad a picture, the focus on any one time or subject can not be tight. For me, who has spent the past year reading a local weekly newspaper from 1860 to 1890, it provided the perfect overview in which to place the particulars of my findings.

My 8th book in the History category

The story of The Earth Hums in B-Flat is set in Wales about a young girl trying to make sense of her world that is riddled in secrets. The secrets begin to unravel with the death of a neighbor man who turns out to be more closely intwined in her life than she could have imagined. The book told from the girls viewpoint, with her inventive mechanisms of coping with her harsh world has an enchanting quality to it. In the end, however, Gwenni's analytical response to devastating events left me a little disappointed.

My 10th book in the American/English Literature Category

Wounds of Passion is an extremely intense memoir speaking insightfully and passionately about the truths of race, sexism, creativity, and self. The book was written in equal measure in the first person and the third person. The first person presented the memoir from the traditional viewpoint. The third person is her observing self at the time of writing the book. The format allows for a depth of self analysis that is inspiring. I thought it was spectacular and gave me much to think about.

My 6th book in the Memoir Category

Conversation in the Cathedral is a book about corruption on both the public and private level throughout society. The ambience of that depravity is created by presenting an entwined story from many points of view jumping frequently from one point of view to another and from one time to another. It sometimes makes following the story difficult but it's part of what envelops and swallows the reader up in malaise.

My 6th book in World Literature

Mood Matters presents a series of observations correlating social mood, optimism or pessimism about the future, with fads, politics, and world events. It's major thesis is that these moods originate in group psychology, the interactions of people, and not in response events. The mood implies a likelihood for particular events. The author admits clearly that this is science in its early stages of development and does not suggest that even an underlying theory is yet evident. I think the author presents enough evidence of the correlation to warrant further research. Since most indicators of present mood are negative on both a short and long term scale, the book is rather depressing.

My 6th book in Sociology

The Perfect Circle was stunningly and poetically written describing the dangers of love, loss of self and rebirth through that pain. The shifts of thought and feeling are subtle so that it sometimes feels like a beautiful pounding on the same nail. By the end, however, you realize you've made an amazing long journey. I almost never reread passages while reading a book. With this one I found myself doing it repeatedly.

My 7th book in World Literature

Get Down was a collection of short stories about young people, 12 to 30. They described their attempts to deal with awkward situations told with compassion, honesty, and with full access to their inner fantasies and fears. It might not be great literature but very good and numerous of its characters linger in my mind.

The 3rd book of Misc.

In some ways Uncle Tungsten seemed schizophrenic in that it was a memoir but also a biography of a family, and a history of chemists and chemistry. The memoir was frightening, cruel at times. The family biography was enchanting. The history of chemists and chemistry was infused with boundless enthusiasm but would still be inaccessible to anyone with less that college chemistry. I have a chemistry degree so I quite enjoyed the book despite its divided focus.

My 4th book in Science

In Europe: Travels through the Twentieth Century. Traveling throughout Europe in 1999, the author uses the various locations to spur a history of the 20th Century. The overwhelming sense is of careening from one massacre to the next horrific tragedy. It was all very well written and I found some insights fascinating but the litany of disasters over 800 pages wore on me.

My 3rd book in Travel

I've added In Europe to my wishlist.

While the majority of the main characters in Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self were young, teenage and twenties, the plots transcended age issues to what is love, friendship, family. These were presented with honesty, complexity, and without answers. This was a superb book that I recommend without reservation.

American Salvage is a collection of short stories that portrays the lives of the poor, struggling underbelly of American life with compassion but honestly. Some stories, particularly "The Yard Man" stick with me.

My 5th book in Serendipity

India: A History is very impressive for its readable history giving equal time across the ages and regions of India. While it seemed a little heavy on battles and rulers, it still gave a good sense of India's culture, religions, and art. I found the book an excellent even-handed history.

Pigs in Heaven was fun to read with a host of memorable, entertaining characters, most of of whom I liked. It dealt with a difficult dilemma which was perhaps too neatly solved but it made me happy.

Crossing the Yard is the heart wrenching story of one man's experience teaching creative writing in the Arizona prisons over the course of 30+ years. The stories of various individuals and situations all serve to support the book's inditement of the American prison system as completely untenable and counter-productive. Excellent.

Montana 1948 is a spectacular gripping book. It's a concise, tale with complex characters and moral dilemmas told from the perspective of an adult remembering his twelfth year.

Baghdad Without a Map which I just finished reading offers a picture of the Mid-East in the late 1980's. While describing his travels he provides insight on the contradictions and dilemmas of the ordinary people he runs across. He writes with humor, respect, and compassion. Thank goodness he did so since I nor few others could travel fearlessly enough to have the experiences he did.

Tinkers is a story of three generations of men told slowly with description and metaphor. It sounded like a formula for capturing my attention, but it didn't. I was more than half way through the book before I'd built up curiosity about any of the characters. i bogged down in the descriptive metaphors wondering why I cared and it seemed too many were variations on the same idea of people fading away.

I have to agree with you regarding Tinkers - the book was great for descriptive prose but I found myself a couple of times confused as to the plot and found the ending rather weak.

The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey presents a picture of man's migrations between 60,000 and 10,000 years ago. It is a companion book with the TV special and provides more background into the scientific rational of the study and its conclusions. It is presented in a manner quite understandable to the lay person.

My 5th book in the Science Category

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again is a series of essays, with the ones about TV, the Ill. state fair, and the Caribbean cruise being my favorites. They're full of insightful observations about the mundaneness of life, its pathetic, miserable attempts to entertain itself. They're extremely funny but as the essay about TV points out, criticism and irony alone is hallow and so with time one thinks, is that all there is (just as his essays wonder).

I had never read Faulkner before and I was blown away with Absalom, Absalom!. Stylistically it's thick, difficult, and sparkling. Its plot was revealed at an enticingly and frustratingly slow manner. It's interpretations are so numerous, interwoven, and complex that it'll be reverberating in my head for a long time. Definitely worth the struggle.

Although I have read at least two other renditions of the Mayflower and the Pilgrim's first year, Thanksgiving: The Pilgrims' First Year in America gave me a better sense of what it was like than the others. Although it was built on information, it read like a story and was very enjoyable.

My 10th book in the History category

Faulkner I have been wanting to read since high school, but have always been a bit afraid of. I think I'm going to add Absalom, Absalom! as an option to my 11 in 11 Challenge on the basis of your experience, and perhaps I'll have the strength of will to pick it up sometime this year. ;)

Like I say, it's worth it but not easy.

Family Matters: A Novel is a book of Family Matters but also of human matters. It was a disconcerting in that so many of the characters were so good, kind, trying their best to do right but their own faults and limitations were too great to avoid various disasters and repeating the mistakes of previous generations. An excellent book, full of humor, insight, and kindness as well as melancholy.

American Terroir is a fascinating collection of stories about food production in a manner that allows a particular food to taste of where it was grown. It chooses 12 different foods, from maple syrup to chocolate and from honey to salmon, describing the workings of nature and man to produce uniquely flavorful treasures. While some of the foods presented might seem just a bit precious, one's mouth waters reading of them. I learned a whole lot about nature like how and why Maples create their sap, and how bees achieve 20% sugar in honey. Each chapter is capped by a couple of recipes and a list of sources. It's an excellent, engaging and easy read.

I'm considering this book as in the Travel category (not too big a stretch)

I was really hoping that I'd win American Terroir through Early Reviewers, but I won a different one that month. I'm glad to know it's worth reading though!

Set in Germany Broken Glass Park is about a 17 year old Russian immigrant, an intelligent gutsy girl overwhelmed by anger. It is well written and the character believable. At various points it seems that the plot could get sentimental, soppy, and unbelievable. It never succumbs to that but rather allows the complexity of human needs and desires to drive the plot. I thought it a very good book.

My 8th book in World Literature category

Changing My Mind is a mixed bag of essay, all written with intelligence and insight but many of narrow interest. I found the essays on "Their Eyes Were Watching God", "That Crafty Feeling", Speaking in Tongues" and the three memoir pieces under the heading of Feeling very good and thought provoking. The rest I found a struggle.

My 8th book in Serendipidy

Yeah, Changing My Mind was uneven, wasn't it? I though Smith might have done better to wait until she had enough really good essays before putting out this book--an awful lot was filler and distracted from the excellence of the whole.

The Singing Life of Birds is a summary of thirty years worth of study on bird singing. Glancing ahead at the book, I thought it looked way more detailed than I would care about and I would just skim it. I, however, found it very readable and so interesting that I did no skimming at all. Besides giving an overview of the immense diversity of birdsong, it's study has revealed much about bird behavior. The author's enthusiasm is contagious. It also comes with a CD so you can hear what you're reading about. An excellent book

My 6th book in Science category

Well I seem to have managed 72 books this year, about what I predicted. I read too slow or don't devote enough time to achieve 100 in a year. And next year 121!! No way. I'll do it though because I like all the different categories.