Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Old and New Year's Books

Last year one of my New Year's Resolutions was to read 20 books. I hit that goal in the first six months. I finished the year off with 29 books; I guess I had more free time than I thought. Here are my three favorites:

My Antonia by Willa Cather
I couldn't stand Antonia for the first part of the book. But I really came to love her as she grew older and wiser. There were some wonderful quotes that I marked down too. I'd share them but they were rather lengthy. Excellent classic novel.


The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Schaffer and Annie Barrows
The epistolary format really bugs some people, but I found all the characters so engaging and loved getting to know each of them through "their own words." I am a sucker for WWII fiction, and this takes place post-WWII on a little island off the coast of France and England. It was simply delightful to read!


A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey
I loved the confidence and gusto of Bess. I felt like I connected with her in a lot of ways. It is also epistolary, although the entire book is from Bess's perspective. This one is completely marked up because there were so many life messages/statements that I thought were so poignantly expressed.

This year, I set my goal for 21 books for 2011. I didn't want to be overambitious because McKay really doesn't like it if I even crack a book while he's awake "doh dits!" (close it!), and his naps aren't quite as long anymore. Plus with my Let's Play Music classes that I teach, I have learned my spare time has been pinched quite a bit.


This year kicked off with Prisoner of Zenda and The Friday Night Knitting Club for book group, and Sense and Sensibility--the only Austen novel I hadn't read. Although these are all similar to books I would regularly find on my reading list, I want to branch out again with my selection of books this year; I found that I really actually enjoyed some of the books that caused me to broaden my horizons last year. We'll see where the rest of the year takes me.

Any suggestions?

3 comments:

Elizabeth said...

I'm also comprising my book list for this year and liked looking at your favorites. My suggestion for you would be Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. Thought provoking but still entertaining. Good luck with the 21 books this year!

Aisling said...

wow. i made a goal to completely get through 5. And that's going to be hard for me. haha. I don't think "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" counts as one.

I'm sad that i never have time to read. :( But that's pretty amazing for you! Good job. Maybe i'll one of your choices. You should do a book review of your top 10.

Lacey said...

I'm ashamed how little I have read in the past year--probably because I read for a living. I wrote down the titles you mentioned. They sound really interesting.
Miss you so much!!!!!