In 2010: Books

I read 150 books this year. Paring that list down to my favorite fifteen almost killed me. But out of all 150 books these are the fifteen I'd most encourage someone (being YOU) to read.

Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones.


This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald.


O Pioneers, Willa Cather


Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh


Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card


Girl Meets God, Lauren F. Winner


The Custom of the Country, Edith Wharton


Home, Marilynne Robinson


Wise Blood, Flannery O'Connor


Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman


Spindle’s End, Robin McKinley


We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson


Heretics/Orthodoxy, GK Chesterton


The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon


A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini

Books in November, 2010

This month I: took the SAT again, got really sick, went to the movies a million times, wrote a 35,000 word story, and read 16 books (totaling to 136 so far this year). That's why I didn't really blog a lot.

121. The Road from Home, David Kherdian
Considering how much I love history, I know very little about the time and place this book was set it. It was really eye-opening.


122. At Home in Thrush Green, Miss Read
There is something irresistible about charming country living in England.


123. The Abolition of Man, CS Lewis
This was a really thought-provoking collection of essays. Honestly though, I disagreed with him on a lot of things. His education theory was good, but I don't think he really 'got' kids.


124. The Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
Spooky and awesome. I am such a sucker for books that take place on boats or have to do with whaling or colonialism or explorations.


125. Wharton: Collected Stories 1891-1910, Edith Wharton
She is just the most perfect author ever. Every time I read her I can't believe how amazing she is. It was a really awesome collection, full of fascinating characters, which is is what she does best.


126. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon
I can't believe I've never read this book before. It was absolutely magnificent. It was carefully plotted; obviously Haddon spent a lot of time working out the way the plot would unfold. Also, it made me cry. First book this year!


127. Leisure: The Basis of Culture, Josef Pieper
A fascinating little lecture, defending leisure. My sister had to read it for her Philosophy class, and I stole it for a while.


128. Cart and Cwidder, Diana Wynne Jones
How can Diana come up with so many completely unique universes? This book was epic, and beautifully written and plotted. Her vision always shines through and her characters are always hysterical.


129. The Philosophical Act, Josef Pieper
Another little lecture. Really, they were incredibly short, but incredibly impactful. Read them- it will only take an hour or so, but it will give you a lot to think about.


130. Hidden Rainbow, Christmas Carol Kauffman
I've never been so proud to be a Baptist! (No offense to all my pedobaptist friends out there) It's a story about a family in Yugoslavia who owns a copy of the Bible, and how their religious views change, and how they are persecuted for it.


131. The Neumiller Stories, Larry Woiwode
This was an amazing collection of stories, all about the same family. They weren't told in chronological order so it was a lot of fun piecing them together. They were so beautiful.


132. 97 Orchard, Jane Ziegelman
After six months on the hold list, I finally got this book! It was a book on the culinary history of the Lower East Side, covering a German, Irish, Jewish, Russian and Italian family, spanning from 1860 to the mid 20th century.


133. My Hands Came Away Red, Lisa McKay

This was an very inspiring book. I'm a fan of good, modern, religious fiction. (Except I didn't like Kyle. He was kind of jerky. Her romance with Jeff was much more developed and mature... I thought the love triangle bogged the book down.)

134. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Alexander Solzhenitsyn
I seriously enjoyed this book. I'm usually not fond of books full of misery and war, but this was really excellent. I am always kinda proud of myself when I genuinely enjoy classics. Haha.


135. Dear Emma, Johanna Hurwitz
I'm surprised I never read this before. I thought I'd read every piece of historical fiction about Jews in New York for children ever written, but I obviously missed this one.


136. The Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
WHAT DO I LOVE BETTER THAN EMO WIZARD TEENS? NOTHING. There is nothing I love better than emo wizard teens. If LotR had had an emo wizard teen, I'd probably have liked it.

Okay then.

Books in October, 2010

And I've done it. I've read 120 books this year. From now on it'll all just be icing on the cake. I honestly did not think I could do it, but here we are. This month I read 17 books, from 104 to 120.


1. Leave it to Psmith, PG Wodehouse
Leave it to Wodehouse really. Leave it to him to write this book. Did he have to draw maps of his characters relations to each other? Psmith had more awful pals, fake fiances, and common thievery then even your average Jeeves and Wooster book.


2. How the Heather Looks, Joan Bodger
A beautiful memoir of a family who travels to England to see the sights in children's books. From Wind in the Willows to House at Pooh Corner... it feeds Englandlust like none other.


3. Scott Pilgrim vs the Universe, Bryan Lee O'Malley
I've been reduced to begging, obviously. Please read these books. They will make your life better. Funnier books there have never been, but they are so sweet and genuine too.


4. Sunshine, Robin McKinley
What can I say about this book? It was beautifully written, captivating, romantic, hysterical, perfectly formed and filled with a host of crazy characters. If you were disappointed in the lost opportunities in Twilight then read Sunshine.


5. Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev
Russian people are weird in such a lovely way. Maybe it's because my sister and one of my best friends are obsessed with Russians... but they always make me laugh.


6. A Glove Shop in Vienna and Other Stories, Eva Ibbotson
Only a few days after I finished this my friend told me Eva had died. She writes the most optimistic, darling stories set all around Europe. Magical.


7. Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour, Bryan Lee O'Malley
So if I say I actually cried while reading this would you think less of me? Perfect ending to a perfect series. Spread the Scott Pilgrim word!!


8. The Uses of Enchantment, Bruno Bettelheim
This was a glorious, fascinating book analyzing fairytales and fairy tale tropes. Anyone who ever loved fairytales needs to read this.


9. Scorpius: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, Rockne O'Bannon
Oh my love. You are so lost without John. I can't wait till the next two come out in soft cover. I wait with bated breath.


10. All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
I'm not a fan of war books but this was was really amazing. I guess that's why the back of it said, "The greatest war novel ever written!"


11. An Unwilling Guest, Grace Livingston Hill
Nothing like a good Christian romance novel. It's like a romance novel, plus some people getting saved! Really though I read it cause I'm a sucker for Edwardian.


12. Miniatures and Morals, Peter J Leithart
A interesting book of essays on Jane Austen's novels. I've always enjoyed her books but never really 'got' them and this book helped me with some historical context for one.


13. The Virginian, Owen Wister
This was just complete over-the-top, fan-service, cowboy, soap opera drama! With cowboys. And the prairie. And TAVERNS.


14. The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
The most freaking weird book I've ever read. Sure, it was all religious-literary-foreign-fiction, etc, etc... but mostly it was just spooky and awesome.


15. The Lost Hero, Rick Riordan
Really my first thought upon finishing this was, "WAIT WHAT? I HAVE TO WAIT A WHOLE YEAR TILL MOAR PERCCYYY?" My second thought was, "Wow, that was awesome." If you like Roman mythos or Greek mythos or American landscapes or amusing teenagers... you'll like this.


16. The Rest is Noise, Alex Ross
Wow. This made me want to know more about music. It made me feel music. It's a beautiful non-fiction mix of stories about composers, historical commentary, and chilling descriptions of music.


17. The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
I think I enjoyed this book a little too much. Then again I read it like a fantastical comedy, which I think it must have been written as. Because nothing else makes sense.

This is kinda 24 hours late because I decided that watching Bad Blood on Halloween was more important than blogging.

Books in September, 2010

I read a lot of books this month. LIKE SO MANY. I don't even know how I did this.
Lots of books means long post. I apologize in advance.


1. The Children of Green Knowe, LM Boston
An awesome, creepy children fantasy. Straight up bizarre. But of course it still had that cosy, rainy, warm aura most, if not all, British children's books have.


2. Decline and Fall, Evelyn Waugh
Elegant, spiritual, heavy-handed, hysterical satire. One part Fitzgerald, one part Wodehouse and one part Theologian.


3. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, Bryan Lee O'Malley
I've never read a book, a graphic novel or watched a movie until Scott Pilgrim that pegged the dialogue of the modern era. It's absolutely gorgeous to read, hysterical, I could spend hours picking apart a page.


4. Something Wicked this way Comes, Ray Bradbury
There is a lack of modern fantasy in the world. You know, no magical creatures, no scientific explanation, just magic and terror running amok in the modern age. This book is a gem.


5. Home, Marilynne Robinson
The astounding sequel to Gilead. I actually cried; it's one of the best books I've ever read. Also I read it during four sitting of this song which I feel is relevant.


6. The Sorrows of Young Werther, Goethe
Werther was the original mopey hipster boy. I don't know if I actually enjoyed this book, but it was humbling to see how little youth culture has developed in the last 400 years.


7. The Outlaws of Sherwood, Robin McKinley
She has the wonderful ability of establishing a world before bothering with too much action. I've never read an author who could suck me into a life-style quite like her. Also, anything Robin Hood related is automatically perfect in my mind.


8. The Blue Bedroom, Rosamunde Pilcher
I am a short story junkie... These reminded me of All Creatures a bit, that seriously comforting British feeling. I wonder if England really does feel that way.


9. The Philosophy of the X-Files, Dean A Kowalski
I love my fandom. The essays were soo awesome! William James and The X-Files, The X-Files' Unsung Hero and Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose were my favorite. And I loved how Kowalski tied "Daemonicus" and "Empedocles" into I Want to Believe, paralleling William, Luke and Christian. Did I mention I love my fandom?


10. Mrs. Mike, Benedict Freedman
A Canadian book filled with pioneer spirit, so I automatically liked it. But the romance just didn't do it for me. 16 year olds should just not be getting married.


11. Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Bryan Lee O'Malley
These graphic novels are honestly the funniest and most sincere books I've ever read.


12. Love in the Ruins, Walker Percy
During the late 20th century a Bad Catholic attempts to resist a spiritual apocalypse. This was a delicious book. The plot did not make much sense- the beauty of the book lay in the amazing dialogues about religion, politics, family...


13. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Honestly, I was disappointed. I wanted more creepy, Gothic drama. Not Shakespearean soliloquies about what it means to be human. But I didn't dislike it persay.


14. Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness, Bryan Lee O'Malley
"Tell it to the cleaning lady on Monday. Because you'll be dust by Monday. Because you'll be pulverized in three second. And the cleaning lady dusts. She dusts." OH TODD YOU SEXY VEGAN YOU.


15. Alchemy and Meggy Swann, Karen Cushman
One of my favorite things about Cushman's books is that they are never romantic or full of romance. They are plain, gritty, real and completely lovely because of that. Her Medieval lit is especially magnificent and this was no exception.


16. The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx
As someone living in the 21st century I figure it's an important read. How Modern Day Europe And Stuff was born from this 40-something page whine-fest, I have no idea.


17. A Jury of her Peers, Susan Glaspell
Although this was a very extreme story, it brought out my feminist side. It was gloomy and Americana and all girl-power and snowy, so all the things I like.


18. A Tall Dark Stranger, Joan Smith
A mystery novel wrapped in a ridiculous Regency romance. Rather short and fuffy but terribly enjoyable.


19. Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together, Byan Lee O'Malley
The characters are so real and dynamic and lovely even though they're cute and tiny and basically these are masterpieces. Also, never punch a girl in the boob.


20. The Loved One, Evelyn Waugh
This is a book about people who work at funeral homes. How such a ridiculous, witty, depraved book can be so morally judgmental... Evelyn is amazing at slipping God into everything.

It is Tuesday. Only Tuesday??? In honor of TumblrTuesday... here is a link to Purpleboots because I've got such a girlcrush on her.