The Sunday Salon – Best of 2011

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While I don’t like to put these lists together until the actual year has ended, I will be taking some time off around the holidays so I thought I’d break with my tradition and name my favorites of 2011.

Let me explain how I picked these books, and no, not every one of these books is a 5 star book. I thought about going that route but decided instead to look at the list and see how I feel about the books now. Honestly, if I’m still thinking about, or recommending, a book six months later, obviously it was a good book for me regardless of how I rated it at the time I wrote the review. That seems arbitrary but it’s my list and I can make it however I want. The list is done by month and my favorite(s) of the year are at the end.

So here goes:

January

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

 

February

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

 

March

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

 

April

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville

A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin

 

May

The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma

 

June

The Dark Enquiry by Deanne Raybourn

The Postmortal by Drew Magery

 

July

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks by Juliet Eilpern

 

August

After Dark by Haruki Murakami

Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran

A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin

 

September

The Taker by Alma Katsu

 

October

A Crimson Warning by Tasha Alexander

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

 

November

A Visit from the Good Squad by Jennifer Egan

The Twelfth Enchantment by David Liss

 

December

11/22/63 by Stephen King

 

Did I have an overall favorite? Maybe. I loved several books on this list. I will re-read several books on this list. Can I say I had an absolute favorite in 2011? No, but I was able to narrow it to three books:

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

A Visit from the Good Squad by Jennifer Egan

Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran

So, there you have it, my best reads of 2011. What books/authors were among your favorites this year?

Review — Neverwhere

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Neverwhere

By Neil Gaiman

HarperTorch

ISBN: 0380789019

4.75 stars

There are some authors you know will always cheer you up especially when you’ve had a rough day. Neil Gaiman is one of those authors. When I’ve had a day I want to forget, I know I can count on him to take me somewhere else with his words.

Neverwhere, sadly, has languished on my list for a long time, and at one point, I thought I might have read it. I was indeed wrong about that. While in my favorite bookstore one night, I gave in and bought it. I was so glad I did too.

Richard Mayhew leads a normal, rather boring life. He works in an ordinary corporate job filing reports and is engaged to a beautiful woman who slightly intimidates him. But he’s sure it’s the life he wants. It’s ordinary and normal; what everyone wants. On his way to dinner with his fiancée, he stops to aid a girl bleeding on the street. Knowing he can’t leave the girl hemorrhaging on a London sidewalk, he decides to help her and walks away from his ordinary and normal life. He finds out the London he’s been living in has a whole other side, one that feeds off of the unbelievable and a world he can’t quite understand. It’s where Richard finds himself and he’s able to let go of everything he thought he wanted and embrace a new life.

Oh, where to begin. The idea of a London underground is fascinating and Gaiman does a fantastic job making it real. The subway stops, the markets, and even the creatures. There’s something amazing about being able to slip into this world, much like good ol’ reliable Richard Mayhew, and through him be amazed. My favorite part is when he’s no longer stunned by everything and even starts to see connections and rationalizations for how things work. It changes him and for the better I thought. The new Richard wasn’t so invisible anymore. He was, well, whole — something he wasn’t before.

When I picked this book up I was in a slight reading lull. Nothing good, nothing bad; just sort of meh about the books I was reading. I wanted new, exciting and I’m sorry I didn’t look to my old favorites quicker. When I spied this on the shelf I knew it would be perfect. American Gods will soon be purchased for my reading enjoyment and probably a few more in the Sandman series. Oh, holidays, I can’t wait for you this year.

The Sunday Salon – In which I reveal a few non-music facts

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OR the totally true tale of a tone deaf reader

Music and books is a topic I see around but a topic I don’t understand and not for lack of trying. In general, I don’t listen to music and when I do it tends to be music I’m very familiar with; I don’t try out new music often. And I don’t try out new music while reading at all. The only place I regularly listen to music, and admit it’s for distraction purposes, is in the car while cursing snarled traffic. This doesn’t mean I don’t like music, because I do. I appreciate classical while cooking, I love songs I can sing along to in the car on long road trips, and when I see a song someone is listening to mentioned on their blog, I click on the link. I may not understand the connection but I’m curious as to why someone would pick that song.

Haruki Murakami is an author that falls into this topic. He’s been influenced by Western music and in particular jazz. Go ahead and google that if you don’t believe the woman who admitted in the previous paragraph to knowing nothing of music. Side note: I once saw Winton Marsalis play in Chicago. It was an interesting concert mostly because I didn’t understand any of it. Jazz is too discordant for me; I can’t find the rhythm. I spent the entire concert watching others to figure out why they were into it so much. I probably should have been paying closer attention to the concert itself though. What can I say; I was newly out of college and knew nothing. Anyway, while this Murakami/jazz connection has been made, and he’s admitted to enjoying jazz, I don’t get it. How can someone listen to something so random and write something so interesting? Maybe I need to try listening to some jazz while reading his books to understand it better.

Moving on to last night… We stopped at a friends’ house for a tree trimming party and were regaled with the sounds of Mary Poppins. They have a two year-old who knows and can recognize the different songs and was insistent on the one she wanted to hear. I didn’t recognize any of the songs. Yes, I was outshone by a two year-old when it came to musical knowledge. Shortly after, we stopped off at a bar to wish another friend a happy birthday. He loves music and his standards were played: Springsteen, U2, The Pogues. While flipping through the song list, I noticed several punk selections. I love punk. I know, I don’t get it either. You would think it would fall into the way too discordant category of music for me since I don’t understand jazz but I heart punk like you wouldn’t believe. And I have a most favorite song — Waiting for the Man by Nico and the Velvet Underground.

Here’s the connection I have to punk. And wait for it…it’s a book — The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. The main character, Henry, loves punk. In one scene, he’s waiting for someone, who happens to be a drug dealer, and he starts singing the song to himself. (Yes, the song is about a drug deal if you’re not familiar with it.) I went and looked it up because, well, I don’t remember why I did but I did. And I loved it. I fell in love with the song. Each time I hear it, I remember reading The Time Traveler’s Wife. Oh, memories. So anyway, this is my one and only music/book connection I have ever made to this day.

It’s what you get with a tone deaf reader. You were warned.

But I’m going to ask anyway. Do you have recommendations? I’m willing to give almost anything a listen.

And with that, I’m off to enjoy the company of some friends. Happy Sunday.

Review – The Castle of Wolfenbach

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The Castle of Wolfenbach

By Eliza Parsons

ISBN: 2940013320802

3 stars

I picked up The Castle of Wolfenbach after Chris at Chrisbookarama reviewed it. She described it as essentially being so bad it was good. I downloaded it to my Nook, and honestly, I had a good time with it. I’ve never read a book with so much fainting and weeping before and all of it amused me.

Matilda Weimer lives a quiet life at her uncle’s home in Germany. Both parents are dead and she relies on her uncle for everything. After overhearing a conversation between her uncle and the housekeeper that involves plans for her, she convinces another servant, Albert, to runaway with her. They end up seeking shelter at the Castle of Wolfenbach while trying to figure out what to do. The caretakers of the castle, Joseph and Berta, agree to put them up but warn that the castle is haunted. Matilda ignores their pleas, and the supposed haunting, and finds out the secret of the castle — the Countess of Wolfenbach is very much alive and confined to the upper halls by a secret pledge she cannot reveal. The Countess’s story is as sad as Matilda’s and the two scheme to send Matilda to the Countess’s sister in France. Once there, Matilda befriends the Countess’s sister, the Marchioness, and finds herself in a safe place until her uncle shows up and lays claim to her. This sets in motion a new series of events involving a nunnery, a chase across the sea, pirates, revealed secrets, unrequited love, and finally marriage.

There are so many twists and turns in this book at one point I started laughing out loud and wondered how much more I could take and then got right back to it realizing how much fun I was having thinking about the next crazy antic. Almost every woman in this story is aggrieved, heartbroken, or hiding. Poor Matilda among the worst of them too — she’s got an uncle who has sick plans for her, she has no family members alive (that she knows of), no love interest, views herself as sad and lonely, cries at the drop of a hat, and she’s on the run with no money. Every one she meets has sympathy for her and luckily for her they all want to help and have the money and or mean to offer help. It’s a ridiculous story though and here’s why (and no it’s not the addition of pirates although that contributed) — no one, and I mean no one, can have this amount of drama and luck at the same time without being in a gothic novel. How do you know when you’re reading a gothic novel? Characters faint then weep, and then faint some more and then someone comes to their rescue. And yes, that person can be a pirate who has seen the light and plans to leave the death and destruction of the waves behind.

OK, there’s a reason why Jane Austen pokes fun at these stories. This one along with The Mysteries of Udolpho are mentioned in Northanger Abbey and while two of the characters revere the books with a sense of awe, others deride them for even bothering to read them. Austen pans the books and rightly so but you can see how someone would get hooked on one. Yes, this one was laugh out loud funny at times and ridiculous at points but fun. I’ve had The Mysteries of Udolpho on my Nook for a while now and I feel like I need to get to it. I’ve heard better things about that one and now that a toe has been dipped in the Gothic novel pool, I may be willing to add a whole foot.

Review – The Queen’s Rival: In the Court of Henry VIII

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The Queen’s Rival: In the Court of Henry VIII

By Diane Haeger

Penguin Group

ISBN: 9781101478905

3.5 stars

I can’t pinpoint the moment I had my fill of Tudor stories but it occurred sometime in 2011. Yes, I lasted longer than most. I won’t pretend this will be my last either. Earlier this year I read a non-fiction book on Henry VIII and thought that would be my last but I forgot I had downloaded this to my Nook and found myself reading it when I needed something comforting — this is a setting I know well. I was out of town on a long business trip and I turned to it.

Elizabeth (Bess) Blount is a beautiful and naïve girl who lands a position in Queen Katherine’s household. This new position puts her directly in front of Henry VIII. Amazed by the opulence of the Court and especially by the King himself, she finds herself in a precarious situation. She can become the mistress to the King she believes she loves and in the process ruin her reputation and position with the Queen and possibly bring the downfall of her family. She picks Henry and gives him something he’s been wanting for years, a son.

While nothing about this story felt new, if you read enough books set in Tudor England nothing feels new, but it was well written and interesting. Parts were slow and at other times it felt as if large sections of Bess’s life were left out. We go from seeing her as a 14 year-old, and it feels as if only a few months worth of time, then she’s the King’s mistress and shortly after pregnant with his child. She finds a life outside of Court, and it’s a happy one at that, but it goes by so fast and I wondered when she turned 30. Besides that small quibble, it was good. A solid read.

I was wondering why I purchased this one considering I thought I was done with the Tudors and as it turns out it was for a challenge. So, now it appears I’m finished with The Royal Mistress Challenge. I ended on a good note then.

2012 Challenges

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When I join challenges, I try to keep it to a minimum — for me that means about three and no more. I like to be able to keep up with and actually finish the challenges and three seems to be my limit. Unfortunately, there are some great 2012 challenges out there and narrowing this list down was crazy hard.

By the way, I know how to count; yes, there are five challenges listed below but two are personal challenges and ways for me to keep track of my reading habits and I’m not really counting them as actual challenges since I’m not joining anything to complete them. I’m only counting for my own reasons.

Gender in Fantasy and SciFi Challenge hosted by Cynical Bookworm

Runs January 1 – December 31, 2012

You can read the rules here.

What I’ll be reading for this challenge:

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (re-read)

Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin

The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly (re-read)

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

Back to the Classics Challenge 2012 hosted by Sarah Reads Too Much

Runs January 1 – December 31, 2012

You can read the rules here.

What I’ll be reading for this challenge:

Any 19th Century Classic — Madame Bovary by Gutave Flaubert

Any 20th Century Classic — This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Reread a classic of your choice — To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

A Classic Play — The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

Classic Mystery/Horror/Crime Fiction — Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

Classic Romance — Emma by Jane Austen

Read a Classic that has been translated from its original language to your language — Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

Classic Award Winner —- Kim by Rudyard Kipling

Read a Classic set in a Country that you (realistically speaking) will not visit during your lifetime — Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Additions to the above that may or may not get read for this challenge:

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

The Lady in White by Wilkie Collins

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe

Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Tea & Books Reading Challenge hosted by The Book Garden

Runs January 1 – December 31, 2012

You can read the rules here. I’m in for the Berry Tea Devotee level, four books but I have a feeling this might actually be more. I heart big fat books.

What I’ll be reading for this challenge:

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin

A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin

#4 is pending but will appear

 

Personal Re-Reading Challenge

This is my own. I’m going with the general timeframe – January 1 – December 31, 2012 and the list will change and probably grow (hopefully) before the end of the year. Also, feel free to join if you want. I’m not really putting any rules on this one. And yes, some of these books appear in the challenges above as well. It’s my personal challenge and I’m all right with that.

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

 

Ebooks Read in 2012

I know there is a challenge out there for this but I’m doing my own thing. What I’m going to do is keep track of what I read on my Nook so I can compare how much I read on my Nook vs. regular books. That sounds so weird, regular books.

Joining any challenges this year?

The Sunday Salon – Mixed Bag

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It’s been weeks since I’ve posted a Sunday Salon. Today’s actually the first Sunday I’ve been home and feeling up to writing complete sentences. I feel like I’ve been ignoring my blog slightly; mostly I’m trying to fit too many things into my life and a few things started to fall off. Sunday Salons were one of those things. That time of year I guess — too many places to be, too many people to see, too many things to do.

My reading’s been slow too. In November, I read five books but all books I enjoyed. I especially enjoyed A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. Definitely the best book of November and a contender for best book I read in 2011. I may also have to throw Stephen King’s 11/22/63 in the running too. And…that’s enough for now because if I go off on that tangent I’ll never come back.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about 2012 challenges. There’s a few that look promising: Gender in Fantasy and SciFi Challenge hosted by Cynical Bookworm and Back to the Classics Challenge hosted by Sarah Reads Too Much. I plan on signing up for both this week. I also have a few things of my own to put together. I have a list of books I want to re-read next year with a list that’s already growing madly. It’s going to be my own personal challenge but I guess if anyone wants to join I wouldn’t discourage them.

2012 will also be a year in which I read more of my own books. In the second half of this year, I felt buried under review copies which I don’t request often but somehow ended up with. I was glad to read and review them but I’ve got so many books sitting in piles and on shelves that I felt I needed to stop reading for others and go back to reading for myself. I guess you can say this is my second personal challenge for 2012.

And on a completely different topic, we’re planning on getting our Christmas tree today. We usually don’t get one until after my birthday (family tradition but I’m old enough now to understand Christmas and my birthday are not the same thing :-)) but we’ll be too busy next week, and with us traveling to visit family, there won’t be enough time to enjoy it. So, today it is.

I’m done rambling. This post is more, shall we say varied, than I anticipated but I’m going with it. Happy Sunday.

I like it when an author surprises me

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Stephen King has surprised me. I’m familiar with his work. In fact, I have certain expectations of his books. Every one of those expectation are good ones. His books have caused me sleepless nights — not because he scared me; he did that too — because I couldn’t stop reading. I devoured words racing to the end of each page, chapter, and eventually the end of the book knowing he wouldn’t let me down and knowing I had to know what would happen.

I’ll admit to being more familiar with his earlier books and I haven’t sampled the Dark Tower series yet, but I will. I’ve heard good things.

When 11/22/63 came out I took note. It went on my list. Then I became suspicious. Everyone loved this book and I mean LOVED it. They couldn’t stop talking about it. I dropped my suspicion and picked up my curiosity. Hmm…could I break my rule about not reading shiny, new books? Did I want to break my cherished rule? It’s a rule for a reason and this book could disappoint me, yes it could. I can’t have that. In the end, I decided to break my rule. I bought 11/22/63 and gave it a day or two. Then I opened it. It’s not at all what I expected. For one thing, and I say this knowing I’m not actually giving anything away, it’s a time travel book. Yes, Stephen King wrote a time travel novel. And, it’s so good. So good I actually want to be reading it right now and not typing this but I need to tell you all how it good it is.

Eventually there will be a review here and though I’ve still got a few pages left in this chunkster of a book, I predict it will be a positive review. There is so much here to love. The characters and setting break your heart so much so that you start wondering when the bad thing will happen and then you realize it already has.