So... I haven't officially decided if I'm going to repeat my 52 books project from last year. However, that hasn't stopped me from doing an awful lot of reading again this year- with one notable change, that I've reintroduced some non-fiction to my reading. And I realized the other day, that I'd already reached my quarter-of-the-way-through goalpost of 13 books. So without further ado, here they are.
1. The Ghost Brush - Katherine Govier (+)
I heard an interview with the authour on CBC, and was intrigued. It's the story of the daughter of the famous painter Hokusai. As it turns out, his daughter worked with him and in fact many of her own paintings have been wrongly credited to Hokusai. This is the telling of her story, and it's a very good read.
2. Ender's Game (audiobook) - Orson Scott Card ♥
Call me a sci fi late bloomer, but I only just discovered this classic book. And loved it. I think the audiobook was a particularly awesome way to read this book. Read! this! book!
3. Someone Knows My Name - Lawrence Hill (+)
AKA "The Book of Negroes". Historical fiction about the life of a woman from Africa who gets captured and taken into slavery as a girl. An award winner and for good reason- it's a great story and a great read.
4. Motorcycles & Sweetgrass: A Novel - Drew Hayden Taylor (+)
I read this because it's on the GG's short list this year. It's a great read, a modern day tale about the trickster Nanabush. And the authour nails it, it reminded me so much of the Nanabush stories we read as kids.
5. Speaker for the Dead (audiobook) - Orson Scott Card
Follow-up to Ender's game and, along with the book "Xenocide", makes up a trilogy. Don't bother- there's no similarities between books 2 & 3 to "Ender's Game" and I found the plot too complicated and tangled up to really be interesting.
6. The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less - Barry Schwartz ♥
Loooved this book. It spoke to me about all the things that make me a poor decision maker and a paralyzed, unhappy person when faced with decisions. It's a combination of the over-abundance of choice in our society and my 'maximizer' personality- always wanting to make the 'best' choice. Some great info on how to avoid suffering from the "tyranny of choice".
7. The Saxon Shore - Jack Whyte (+)
I am in the middle of this book series of historical fiction on the forming of Camelot and the King Arthur legend. Local author from Kelowna, it's a great series, even if he does tend to overwhelm with detail at times.
8. Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Hard - Chip and Dan Heath ♥
A great follow-up to "Paradox of Choice", I also looooved this book. It's about how to make successful changes in your personal life or at work, using an effective strategy using 3 components: appealing to your analytical mind, your emotional mind, and tweaking your environment to make the change easier. Also, the authours had a killer editor and this book has air-tight grammar, with nary a misplaced punctuation mark to be found.
9. Xenocide (audiobook) - Orson Scott Card (-)
Bleh, I suffered this book to the very end, enduring a drawn out plot, monotonous philosophical and religious theorizing, and characters that I just couldn't give a carp about. Don't bother. If you loved "Ender's Game" and desperately want more, go straight to "Ender's Shadow", which is equally awesome.
10. Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project - Jack Mayer (+)
Though the authour is rather a poor writer, this is a great book about a non-Jewish Polish woman who helped to save many Jewish children during the holocaust, yet was an unsung hero throughout history until recently, when some Kansas students found out about her and did a school project about her life. Lots of insight into Poland during the holocaust.
11. Winter Garden - Kristin Hannah
Unremarkable and not worth commenting.
12. The Sorcerer: The Fort at River's Bend - Jack Whyte (+)
More Jack Whyte, see above.
13. Half Broke Horses - Jeannette Walls (+)
If you read Jeannette Walls' memoir, "Glass Castle" and wondered how she ended up with such a bizarre set of parents, you will probably also like this memoir about her maternal grandmother's life. Amazing woman and an amazing life!
Monday, March 14, 2011
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