lit*chick

My Top Ten Reads of 2009 and a few more

My ya fiction list quickly morphed into this list consisting of my top 10 books read in 2009. Most were published this year but let this serve as my disclaimer.  Here are my picks - including contemporary fiction, memoirs, and ya/juvenile fiction.

Top Ten

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Undercover by Beth Kephart 

When You Reach Me  by Rebecca Stead

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson 

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenburg

 Still Alice by Lisa Genova

The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano

 Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

The Girl with No Shadow by Joann Harris

highly recommended/shortlisted:

Take This Bread by Sara Miles

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

April & Oliver by Tess Callahan

Happens Every Day: An All Too True Story by Isabel Gillies

  TheElegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein

 The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

No booklist from me would be complete without a giveaway. I have a new copy of When You Reach Me to send to a lovely reader.  Leave me a comment and tell me a few of your faves this year. Comments will remain open through midnight est, Thursday, December 10th.

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Here a Book, There a Book

Lately, I have the attention span of a gnat which may explain why I've started 6 books. They are everywhere :

1. Cranford - stuck between the seat & center console in my car. My hands are too fat to get it out.
2. Tamar - in the baby's room, currently still piled with scrapbook supplies & guest bed. Just thinking about cleaning it out causes me to pick up the book instead.
3. A Fraction of the Whole -  on my nightstand, all alone.
4. The Magician's Book - in the reading room. Where hardly any reading is actually accomplished, but all the bookshelves live there.
5. Four Queens - in the going up the stairs basket, to keep A Fraction of the Whole company on the nightstand.

6. The Collection - in my purse. Bookmarked by sonogram pictures.

And now you know why there aren't any reviews....

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Top Eleven Reads of 2008

If you've followed along for the last few months of 2008, you may be able to predict what's going on my top 11 list. But there was a request for an official list and I thank you for giving me something to blog about. :)  So here goes in no particular order:

1. Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek - hip hip hooray! We love Jayne here and I've been seeing this book on lots of book bloggers Top Ten lists.
2. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri - loveliness in short stories.
3. The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle
4. What is the What by Dave Eggers *
5. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
6. White Mary  by Kira Salak
7. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (it seems so long ago that I read this, but really it was just a year)
8. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
9. Persepolis by Marjane Sartrapi
10. Tethered by Amy Mackinnon
11. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

* This past weekend we watched God Grew Tired Of Us which is a documentary following 3 of the Lost Boys from their refugee camp to the United States. It is a wonderful companion to What is the What - putting a visual on living conditions and situations difficult to imagine from our comfy couches.

My favorite ya books this year were:

1. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
2. Savvy by Ingrid Law
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

In memoirs, I enjoyed:

1. Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
2. The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan
3. Comfort by Ann Hood

Okay, your turn. If you made a list on your blog, include the link in your comment. Otherwise, feel free to include your full list or just a few titles. I'd love to see your favorites.

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Election Booklist

Since it has already been done, and done well by the Children's Book Council, here is the 2008 Election Booklist for Children.

My favorites are:

Madam President by Lane Smith

What to Do About Alice? by Barbara Kerley

Lincoln and Douglass: An American Friendship

President's Day by Anne Rockwell

and this one, not on the list but recommended by my peeps on Goodreads:

If I Ran for President by Catherine Stier

and just because I think the collage art looks cool: What Presidents Are Made Of

these are family faves:

Presidential Elections and Other Cool Facts by Syl Sobel, J.D.

Smart About the Presidents (Smart about History) by Jon Buller, Susan Schade and Jill Weber - On a side note, I'm a fan of the Smart about series - esp the one about Chocolate ;)

John, Paul, George and Ben by Lane Smith

I saw this in the book store and it is gorgeous:

 Our White House: Looking In Looking Out

There is a fantastic post full of resources at Wild Rose Reader and My Readable Feast.

Finally, Trish at Hey Lady! has a huge giveaway of political books for adults. I've already told her I'll talk politics and watch politics, but not so much read politics - unless it's children's lit. But if you are a fan - go enter!

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The Big Read: Plus a Q&A

I've seen this list of 100 books (taken from the BBC Big Read , thanks Jill) floating around various blogs and had already written a post about books you should have read. I thought it would be nice to combine the two. So here is the list - I've highlighted ones I've read for a grand total of  32, lest you think I'm some literature snob. And the italicized are the ones I'd like to read someday.  Apparently those of you who are big  Harry Potter fans are in pretty good shape. In case you missed it...I couldn't get through the first book. I was bored. I have made it through the Austens and the Steinbecks, the latter coming from an extensive college course where I read the man's entire catalogue.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

Honestly, there aren't many here I feel bad about missing. But I do have some reading guilt about not having read the following:

1. My Antonia - Willa Cather
2. Light in August - William Faulkner
3. Night - Elie Wiesel
4. Agatha Christie
5. Margaret Atwood - i dimly recall reading The Handmaid's Tale and thinking it was weird, but this was back in the days when I was only reading Patricia Cornwell and Tom Clancy.

Again, this is my personal list of regrets. I think all readers have a list like this. Please share a couple of your "books i should have read" and choose one to read before the end of the year. I'm choosing Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin. Having just received a copy through Book Mooch means I won't even have to step away from the NEW shelf at the library. (This whole mooching thing is way out of hand, but that's a story for another time.) I need a good excuse to step back from trying to keep up with the latest reads - they just won't stop publishing and let me catch up!

C'mon, what's it gonna be?

The End.

100 Books

Remember the end of last year, when I made it to 95ish and was stoked? And remember how I said this year my goal is not quantitative but qualitative? Well, with a little help from tropical storm Hanna and no pressure, I've somehow made it to 100. In September!

Who says I have to wait until the end of the year for a top 10. I'll do one now. (and then)

1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
2. Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek
3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
4. Persepolis by Marjane Sartrapi
5. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
6. So Brave Young and Handsome by Leif Enger
7. The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle
8. Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
9. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
10. What is the What by Dave Eggers

And as a bonus my pick of the week: The White Mary by Kira Salak.

Hubs says woo-hoo, think of all the free time you'll have now that you've reached your goal - you won't have to read for another 3 months! Clearly, he doesn't know who he's dealing with.

So thanks to the fam for putting up with me,  the girl with her head stuck in a book for most of the year. I won't promise to stop reading, but I will try to cook more. Thank goodness for soup weather!

If you had to make your list of top reads this year what would be on it? C'mon, it's only fun if you share yours too. How about 3?

The End.

Ack! It's a School Night?

It's list time again...

I know many of you have already started your school year, but here in the mid-atlantic we start "late"(this week or next). It is never too late to add more books to the list. An ode to  back to school - some fiction, mystery, memoir, poetry, childrens, and a classic.

FYI - I haven't read any of these, but they are all on my list.

Schooled by Anisha Lakhani (the cover got me)

Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School  by Philip Delves Broughton

Inside Mrs. B's Classroom: Courage, Hope, and Learning on Chicago's South Side by Leslie Baldacci (heard good things about this...Allison?)

Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year by Esme Raji Codell 

Saving Miss Oliver's: A Novel of Leadership, Loyalty and Change by Stephen Davenport

Wayside School is Falling Down by Louis Sachar 

 The School Mouse by Dick King-Smith

Lunch Money and Other Poems About School by Carol Sheilds

Yoko by Rosemary Wells

The Crazy School by Cornelia Read

Village School by Miss Read (anyone read this series?)

The Secret School by Avi  

Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman (groovy)

Great Books for High School Kids: A Teacher's Guide to Books that Can Change Teens' Lives by Rick Ayers and Amy Crawford - curious to see what my hs english teacher friends (ahem, e, j & d) think of this list.

Schoolhouse Rock - " Personally, I celebrate the (man's) entire catalog"

I happen to be partial to Grammar Rock, in a pinch I find myself singing the songs to remember certain rules.

and just like Library Lady, I present to you:

Lunch Lady tee hee.

So before you get buried in massive amounts of paper & homework  battles - gird yourself by reading something good.

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R&R

The boys and I had a relaxing few days at my parent's house up in PA. We watched the men installing pavers in their driveway, got their new school shoes, played putt putt, and went to the farmer's market.  The boys watered flowers, fed the birds, and timed themselves running around the outside of the house. I marveled at what might be the world's least crowded Target - it even had a Starbucks, which is a rare find in those parts.

It was quiet, fairly calm, and the perfect place to go the week before school. I managed to read a few books and checked my email, but found the lack of computer time refreshing. I'll have to keep that in mind in the coming weeks.

We return to a house in limbo. Undone projects and  odds & ends from the school supply lists compounded by a back to school party at our house and all the usual errands means these next five days will be a blur. It's times like these that make me wish I weren't such a procrastinator. Although many items are put on the "after the kids are in school" list, they are bothering me NOW. And the lure of approximately 20 new books stacked up and ready to be read isn't helping.

I have:

• Cost by Roxana Robinson
• The Condition by Jennifer Haigh
• A Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg
• Tethered by Amy McKinnon
• The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman
• Netherland: A Novel by Joseph O'Neill
• Novel Destinations by Shannon Mckenna Schmidt, Joni Rendon, and Matthew Pearl
• Moloka'i by Alan Brenart
• The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
• What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn
• Good-bye and Amen by Beth Gutcheon
• Three Bags Full : A Sheep Detective Story by Leonie Swann

• The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted by Elizabeth Berg

As much as I would like to perservere through The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, it's not going to happen. It might be the timing, or it may just be a no-go - either way it's off the list, in spite of all the acclaim.

What's next on your list?

The End.

Indie Bound

one of my favorite resources - booksense.com - the site for independent bookstores has a new look and a new name:

Indie Bound

check out the indie next list (formerly the booksense monthly pick, otherwise known as lit chick's favorite book list). :)

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PS - Love Walked In questions are up on Friday. We'll be using the blog page format instead of the message board. AND send all your peeps to the giveaway.

4th of July booklist & bonus soundtrack

for the wee patriots:

The Star Spangled Banner illus by Peter Spier    Fireworks, Picnics, and Flags by James Cross Giblin

Fireworks and Freedom: Fourth of July Activity Book              F is for Flag by Wendy Cheyette Lewison

 

The 4th of July Story by Alice Dalgliesh                 

                 

You're a Grand Old Flag illus by Warren Kimble       This Land is Your Land

We the Kids by David Catrow                        America the Beautiful by Robert Sabuda

and for you over acheivers:

1776 by David McCullough                                Common Sense by Thomas Paine

Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis               and shouldn't every house have one of these? for $2 i think so :)

Have a safe, wonderful, strawberry shortcake filled 4th.

The End.