2011 Reading List

Number of books read in 2011: 158 (highest ever, I think)

New reads: 149

Number of books read in 2010: 150
Number of books read in 2009: 103
Number of books read in 2008: 99
Number of books read in 2007: 85
Number of books read in 2006: 64
Number of books read in 2005: 56

Average read per month: 13.16
Average read per week: 3.03

Number read in worst month: July (3)
Number read in best month: January (31!)

Female authors: 26
Male authors: 25

Fiction: 152
non-fiction: 6 (marked *; 2010: 12, 2009: 16, 2008: 12, 2007: 10, 2006: 4, 2005: 2)

Scifi/fantasy: 12
Mystery/crime: 108
Literature/fiction: 25
Graphic novels: 0
Horror: 0
YA: 7
Poetry: 0 (As in 2010, few individual poems read but no complete collections/works. Perhaps I ought to start making a note of poems read.)

January
Doctored evidence by Donna Leon
Blood from a stone by Donna Leon
Through a glass, darkly by Donna Leon
The story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
The curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters
The uncommon reader by Alan Bennett
Suffer the little children by Donna Leon
The kill artist by Daniel Silva
The girl of his dreams by Donna Leon
The English assassin by Daniel Silva
About face by Donna Leon
Snow Flower and the secret fan by Lisa See
A question of belief by Donna Leon
The confessor by Daniel Silva
The voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
The redbreast by Jo Nesbø
Freaks and revelations by Davida Wills Hurwin
The silver chair by C.S. Lewis
Brother Cadfael’s penance by Ellis Peters
Death of a gossip by M.C. Beaton
Death of a cad by M.C. Beaton
Niubi! The real Chinese you were never taught in school by Eveline Chao*
The cat who ate Danish modern by Lilian Jackson Braun
Death of an outsider by M.C. Beaton
Death of a perfect wife by M.C. Beaton
Death of a hussy by M.C. Beaton
Death of a snob by M.C. Beaton
Death of a prankster by M.C. Beaton
Death of a glutton by M.C. Beaton
Death of a travelling man by M.C. Beaton
Death of a charming man by M.C. Beaton

February
Death of a nag by M.C. Beaton
Death of a macho man by M.C. Beaton
The princess of Burundi by Kjell Eriksson; trans. Ebba Segerberg
Death of a dentist by M.C. Beaton
Major Pettigrew’s last stand by Helen Simonson
The cruel stars of the night by Kjell Eriksson; trans. Ebba Segerberg
Bereft by Chris Womersley
I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
Foundation by Isaac Asimov

March
Death of a scriptwriter by M.C. Beaton
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
Death of an addict by M.C. Beaton
A cold day for murder by Dana Stabenow
A fatal thaw by Dana Stabenow
Dead in the water by Dana Stabenow
A cold-blooded business by Dana Stabenow
Play with fire by Dana Stabenow
Blood will tell by Dana Stabenow
Breakup by Dana Stabenow
Killing grounds by Dana Stabenow

April
Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy
The troubled man by Henning Mankell
Hunter’s moon by Dana Stabenow
Midnight come again by Dana Stabenow
The singing of the dead by Dana Stabenow
A fine and bitter snow by Dana Stabenow
A grave denied by Dana Stabenow
A taint in the blood by Dana Stabenow
A deeper sleep by Dana Stabenow
Whisper to the blood by Dana Stabenow
A night too dark by Dana Stabenow
Though not dead by Dana Stabenow
Mystery by Jonathan Kellerman
A loyal character dancer by Qiu Xiaolong
China Witness by Xinran*
A game of thrones by George R.R. Martin
A clash of kings by George R.R. Martin

May
Do the work! by Steven Pressfield*
A storm of swords by George R.R. Martin
Dead reckoning by Charlaine Harris
The transcendental murder by Jane Langton
Excellent women by Barbara Pym
A jest of God by Margaret Laurence
A highland Christmas by M.C. Beaton

June
Death of a dustman by M.C. Beaton
Death of a celebrity by M.C. Beaton
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
A feast for crows by George R.R. Martin

July
Can you forgive her? by Anthony Trollope
Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope
The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman

August
Dance hall of the dead by Tony Hillerman
Listening woman by Tony Hillerman
People of darkness by Tony Hillerman
The dark wind by Tony Hillerman
The ghost way by Tony Hillerman
Raney by Clyde Edgerton
Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman
Missing by Karin Alvtegen
A thief of time by Tony Hillerman
Talking god by Tony Hillerman
Coyote waits by Tony Hillerman
Sacred clowns by Tony Hillerman
The fallen man by Tony Hillerman
The first eagle by Tony Hillerman
Hunting badger by Tony Hillerman
The wailing wind by Tony Hillerman
The sinister pig by Tony Hillerman

September
Skeleton man by Tony Hillerman
The shape shifter by Tony Hillerman
Earth abides by George R. Stewart
Medicus by Ruth Downie
Terra incognita by Ruth Downie
Persona non grata by Ruth Downie

October
Winter in Thrush Green by Miss Read
Thrush Green by Miss Read
Return to Thrush Green by Miss Read
Affairs at Thrush Green by Miss Read
News from Thrush Green by Miss Read
Gossip from Thrush Green by Miss Read
Battles at Thrush Green by Miss Read
At home in Thrush Green by Miss Read
A tiger in the kitchen: Memoirs of food and family by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan*
The Ayatollah begs to differ: The paradox of modern Iran by Hooman Majd*
Caveat emptor by Ruth Downie
Reamde by Neal Stephenson
A fire upon the deep by Vernor Vinge
A deepness in the sky by Vernor Vinge

November
The children of the sky by Vernor Vinge
Bootlegger’s daughter by Margaret Maron
Southern Discomfort by Margaret Maron
Shooting at loons by Margaret Maron
Up jumps the devil by Margaret Maron
Death’s half acre by Margaret Maron
Killer market by Margaret Maron
Home fires by Margaret Maron
Storm track by Margaret Maron
Slow dollar by Margaret Maron
High country fall by Margaret Maron
Rituals of the season by Margaret Maron
Winter’s child by Margaret Maron
Hard row by Margaret Maron
Sand sharks by Margaret Maron
Christmas mourning by Margaret Maron
One coffee with by Margaret Maron

December
Crossing to safety by Wallace Stegner
Death of a butterfly by Margaret Maron
Drawing conclusions by Donna Leon
Death in blue folders by Margaret Maron
The Easter parade by Richard Yates
The right jack by Margaret Maron
My father’s paradise: A son’s search for his Jewish past in Kurdish Iraq by Ariel Sabar*
Mockingbird by Walter Tevis
Baby doll games by Margaret Maron
Three Junes by Julia Glass
The whole world over by Julia Glass
The vault by Ruth Rendell
A free life by Ha Jin
Still life by Louise Penny
A fatal grace by Louise Penny
The cruellest month by Louise Penny
A rule against murder by Louise Penny
The brutal telling by Louise Penny
Bury your dead by Louise Penny
A trick of the light by Louise Penny

Highlights of 2011? The wonderful women crime novelists: Dana Stabenow (Kate Shugak series), Margaret Maron (Deborah Knott and Sigrid Harald), and Louise Penny (Armand Gamache), in particular. I loved the development of the characters and their life stories. I love books that introduce me to parts of the world I am unfamiliar with – the Navajo country in Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn and Chee series, and the Venice of Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti (and the food!). Along the same lines, that of depicting an unfamiliar culture, Ariel Sabar’s biography of his father and his family history and culture, My father’s paradise: A son’s search for his Jewish past in Kurdish Iraq, also rates very highly. Ha Jin’s A free life  for its depiction of the immigrant (and poet’s) experience. Wallace Stegner’s Crossing to Safety and Richard Yates’ The Easter Parade both for their depictions of relationships. Crossing to safety is my book of the year, I think, for the sheer beauty of his writing.

Sheer fun: The uncommon reader by Alan Bennett. Also, Reamde by Neal Stephenson (I predict this one will be made into a movie).

Most disappointing (because most anticipated): Vernor Vinge’s Children of the sky. Too long and rambly and didn’t tie up any of the loose ends introduced in A deepness in the sky. The best thing about this book was the fact that its anticipation caused me to re-read A fire upon the deep and A deepness in the sky!

In 2011 most of what I read was for sheer pleasure. Nothing wrong with that, I guess. I do always have the vague aim of reading to improve myself though…

I also really started using GoodReads regularly in 2011. All these books were tracked on that site. I joined it in 2007, but it hadn’t really grabbed me, possibly because I didn’t really have (m)any friends there. This has gradually improved over the years, so it’s rather more interesting on the site now. The social aspect really shouldn’t be underestimated, in my opinion.

In 2011 I set myself a challenge of reading 150 books and managed to exceed it, thus, for 2012, the target is 160 books. I’m not certain if I will reach it, but we’ll see…