Category Archives: Lists
The White Hotel by D.M. Thomas
Surreal and beautiful. A fantastic book that combines prose and poetry in an intoxicating mixture. Set in a resort style hotel we see people going about a wealthy holiday with seemingly no awareness that the world is changing around them. As the book builds and swirls, however, the enormity of the times and realization that something is wrong becomes inescapable. I am forever indebted to the friend who first gave this to me. Reading it was a thoroughly inspiring and enjoyable experience.
View all my reviews
Leave a comment | tags: 5 stars, book review, books, dm thomas, dream sequence, friday favorites, holocaust, magical realism, recommended by a friend, review, the white hotel | posted in Favorites, Lists, Words
What am I doing on the last day of the year?
Trying to take over the world in Civilization 5
Probably killing things in some other video game
Considering keeping a recipe binder that was going to a friend for myself
Laundry
Scavenging through Christmas leftovers
Slacking on a knitting project
Looking forward to drinks with friends
How about you, my unicorn readership?
1 comment | tags: 2011, Civilization 5, end of old, gaming, knitting, laundry, new year's eve, nye, video games, year end | posted in Lists, Musings
Best Books Read in 2011
1. Room by Emma Donoghue
Not many authors can write well from a child’s point of view, especially when writing for an adult audience. In Room, Emma Donoghue does precisely that. She conveys a haunting tale with beauty and wonder and terror. I was skeptical when I picked up this book. After putting it down seven months ago, I still think of it regularly. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Original Review
2. The Christ-Haunted Landscape by Susan Ketchin
3. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
4. The Forever War by Dexter Filkins
5. Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
6. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
7. The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
8. Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
9. A Great & Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
10. The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
1 comment | tags: 5 stars, best books read in 2011, bloody spiders, book review, books, contemporary fiction, emma donoghue, heartwrenching, intriguing review, review, room, too stubborn for their own good, you think your family has issues | posted in Best Books Read in 2011, Lists, Words
1 comment | tags: 0.5 star, adam schnell, book review, books, fiction, fooooood, godawful, have some more wine, icky, italy, magical realism, racial tension, that is not natural, the fuck is this the fuck was that, tomato rhapsody, worst books read in 2011 | posted in Lists, Words, Worst Books Read in 2011
Best Books Read in 2011
2. The Christ-Haunted Landscape: Faith and Doubt in Southern Fiction by Susan Ketchin
The Christ-Haunted Landscape takes its name from a quote by Flannery O’Connor: “I think it is safe to say that while the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted.” Having grown up in the South, this rang true. Rarely do I spend so much time thinking about a book while reading it or take 5 months to do so. Comprised of interviews with and excerpts from the works of 12 authors, this book reminded me of where I am from. I recommend it to anyone interested in writing or in the interaction between beliefs and reality.
Original Review
3. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
4. The Forever War by Dexter Filkins
5. Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
6. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
7. The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
8. Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
9. A Great & Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
10. The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
2 comments | tags: 5 stars, appalachia, best books read in 2011, bibliophilia, book review, books, christ-haunted, christ-haunted landscape, culture, down south, essays, favorites, heard about on public radio, non-fiction, racial tension, re-read potential, recommended by a friend, religion, review, short story, south, susan ketchin, writing & literature | posted in Best Books Read in 2011, Lists, Words
3 comments | tags: 0.5 star, apocalypse, book review, books, braaaains, dearly departed, fiction, godawful, horror, intriguing review, lia habel, losers unite!, post apocalyptic wastelands, review, romance, science gone wrong, skeptical, steampunk, sweet sweet luuurve, worst books read in 2011, you think your family has issues | posted in Lists, Words, Worst Books Read in 2011
3 comments | tags: 5 stars, best books read in 2011, book review, books, country, fiction, great frontier, re-read potential, recommended by a friend, review, rural, sherwood anderson, short story, winesburg ohio | posted in Best Books Read in 2011, Lists, Words
3 comments | tags: 0.5 star, adrian dawson, book review, books, boozy, bourbon coffee & smokes, disappointing, fiction, godawful, intriguing review, precocious kiddos, random discovery, review, science fiction, science gone wrong, sequence, so much math, TARDIS recommended, the fuck is this the fuck was that, time travel, worst books read in 2011 | posted in Lists, Words, Worst Books Read in 2011
Best Books Read in 2011
4. The Forever War by Dexter Filkins
With wars as complicated as those in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is natural that many of the books published dwell heavily on the hows, whys, blame, and credit. The Forever War did none of that. Written by Dexter Filkins, a reporter who spent long stretches of time in both countries and was embedded with troops on multiple occasions, it reads more like oral history than your typical history. It is a story about the people living and fighting in those countries. For that, it receives every bit of praise I can give.
Original Review
5. Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
6. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
7. The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
8. Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
9. A Great & Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
10. The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
4 comments | tags: 5 stars, Afghanistan, araaaaabian niiiiiights, best books read in 2011, book review, books, current affairs, dexter filkins, history, Iraq, journalism, mission still not accomplished, non-fiction, oral history, re-read potential, review, the forever war, war, world affairs | posted in Best Books Read in 2011, Lists, Words
5 comments | tags: are you high, ben lerner, book review, books, contemporary fiction, fiction, godawful, leaving the atocha station, losers unite!, random discovery, review, spain, spoiled brats, up to no good, worst books read in 2011 | posted in Lists, Words, Worst Books Read in 2011
