Heather's Book List 2010

Alright I'm pretty sure I can do 75 books; I keep getting snowed in so reading time is almost all I have on some days. Also, I'll be taking up a semi-nomadic lifestyle in May so I have to get through all the unread books on my shelf. This also means that anything that shows up on this list is likely to show up on Bookmooch.

1.the Beginning and the End-Naguib Mahfouz
2.Whale Talk-Chris Crutcher
3.Specimen Days-Micheal Cunningham
4.Skellig-David Almond
5.The Business of Fancydancing-Sherman Alexie
6.Like Water for Chocolate-Laura Esquivel
7.The Power Book-Jeanette Winterson
8.A Plague of Doves-Louise Erdrich
9.Tipping the Velvet- Sarah Waters
10.Oranges Aren't the Only Fruit- Jeanette Winterson
11.Love Invents Us- Amy Bloom
12.The Night Listener-Amistead Maupin
13.Finder-Emma Bull
14.Candy- Luke Davies
15.Fog Heart-Thomas Tessier
16.Bronx Masquerade-Nikki Grimes
17.The Seventh Heaven-Naguib Mahfouz
18.Noughts and Crosses-Malorie Blackman

I was really pleased with all these books and actually surprised by how much I liked "Like Water for Chocolate", for some reason I didn't think it would offer much.

I will say that as far as "The Beginning and the End" goes it wasn't the best thing I've read by Mahfouz. The book read quickly and I was interested and engaged while reading it, but the pervasive sense of hopelessness was fairly draining. Still, I feel like Midaq Alley was fairly hopeless at some points, yet there was a lightness to it that was absent from "The Beginning and the End".

Welcome! Nice start for the year.

Hi, Neuronin,

Welcome to LibraryThing. You've found a quite fun challenge here. Be sure to stop by some threads of other "challengers" to say hi and jump into the conversations.

It's been a while since I've read anything by Naguib Mahfouz. I really should grab a book or two of his again.

I've also read Specimen Days and thought the first story (about Simon in the machine) was very creative. I enjoyed the book very much, but that particular story stood out as my favorite.

Hi guys, and thanks for the welcome.

-SqueakyChu, I give my full unfailing support to reading more Mahfouz. Even though I've only read a few of his books he is definitely my favorite author. I also agree about Specimen Days; the first story seemed the most true to Whitman's philosophy as well as being the most interesting. It also got me to start re-reading Leaves of Grass and I'd like to read more by Cunningham.

I give up on the ticker, it's proving way more complicated than it actually is.

Welcome to the group, Heather!

Oooh! A trip to Japan? For real? Sounds wonderful!

Hi Heather - I clicked on your thread because we share the same name!

Specimen Days is in my TBR pile, glad you enjoyed it!

Awesome! It's amazing, always great to meet another Heather.

Yeah, with luck, I've got friends over there so I need to take advantage.

Welcome Heather!

I note you read David Almond's book Skellig. This was my favorite book of 2008. I enjoy his books tremendously.

Yeah, I wasn't sold on it in the first few chapters but all of a sudden I couldn't put it down. I'm really interested in looking into his adult lit now.

#13: I did not know David Almond wrote any adult books. All the ones I have read by him have been of the young adult/juvenile variety. Titles please, of the adult ones? I want to check them out!

Hey Alcottacre, it looks liek his adult career was short lived; but I have two titles: Sleepless Nights and A Kind of Heaven. Apparently Sleepless Nights was self published so I don't know how many copies of it are out there. It will be interesting to see though, I'm hoping I can find these and more of his YA books.

#15: Thanks, Heather. I will see if I can find copies of them.

Welcome Heather

David Almond is one of my favorite writes.
I think Kit's wilderness is his best YA book with Clay as close second.

Anita

Great, I'll have to see if I can find that one. I'll have to tell my roommate too, I gave her my copy of Skellig for her classroom library, she's always on the prowl for interesting YA authors.

Alright
I finished Oranges Aren't the Only Fruit and Tipping the Velvet, both good, Tipping the Velvet exceptionally so, I never knew my heart could beat so fast or stop so suddenly. In fact I blew my grocery money on getting my own copy.

Food is overrated anyway, right?

I loved Tipping the Velvet too, Neurorin.

NO, unfortunately my love of food is nearly as strong as my love of books :( I need tender steaks with blues cheese, and bakes ziti, and curried pumpkin soups- I tend to eat while I'm reading.

ha! I am back after a hiatus, and it is going to be harder t read 75 books than I thought, but I have purchased over 50 this year already so I need to get on that...at least I don't do heroin, right? I only read about people who do heroin.

#23: Considering how many bad vices there are available, books to me seem a minor one :)

I agree completely, but I can't say this addiction of mine never impeded my work and social life- oh well, my friends are mostly book people too and understand.

Well, I've slowed down some from the beginning of the year, but I'm still adding to the list, we'll see what happens when I start my summer long bout of traveling, sometimes I read endlessly on the road, sometimes I read nothing.

Maybe this year will be a good reading summer for you!