#1: Notes on the 50 Book Challenge

365 Blog Challenge: Post #1

Late last year, my husband challenged me to read 50 books in 2010. He had ulterior motives for this challenge, but none-the-less, I have succeeded. I officially read 54 books in 2010, and here they are in order for your viewing pleasure:

1) Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2)- Suzanne Collins, 391 pages

The Hunger Games series is amazing. If you haven't picked up this young adult series, you must cause God knows they're going to butcher the movie.

2) Open: An Autobiography- Andre Agassi, 385 pages

The tennis rebel tells his story (and some interesting details about Brooke Shields) and I had a hard time putting this one down.

3) Midwives- Chris Bohjalian, 372 pages

A great book in medical ethics though I suppose putting it that way, it sounds boring. Though it's actually a very intriguing story of a delivery gone wrong and it's aftermath.

4) The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, No. 3)- Dan Brown, 509 pages

Definitely the worst of the Robert Langdon books. More of the same. Snore.

5) Mirror Mirror- Gregory Maguire, 280 pages

After having read Wicked, I expected a little more from this book but I wasn't especially impressed. While Mr. Maguire does have quite the imagination, the story was a little lacking.

6) Shutter Island- Dennis Lahand, 369 pages

Skip the movie (and Leonardo DiCaprio's TERRIBLE Boston accent...."I'm a federal Maaashall.") and read the books. It's a good one.

7) Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven- Susan Jane Gilman, 304 pages

An incredible memoir of a new college graduate exploring China in the 80s, just as it had become open to tourists. Between a mentally ill travel partner and the language barrier, it's a disaster that will make you think twice about being ill-prepared for international travel.

8) Appointment in Samarra- John O'Hara, 272 pages

This was a suggestion from our friend Helen, a fellow book-lover who works at the German Book Office. It's one of her faves, and while I wasn't in love with it, it is a great social commentary of the early 20th century.

9) Under the Dome- Stephen King, 1072 pages

Holy moly where do I start? This is the first Stephen King book I've ever read and I was amazed at how tight the story was in this novel, how everything wove together so beautifully and kept me on the edge of my seat. It's worth the time it took to get through 1000+ pages. Loved it.

10) What I thought I knew: A Memoir- Alice Eve Cohen, 191 pages

A writer becomes pregnant at age 44 after being told for years she was unable to conceive a child. Imagine finding out you're with child when you're 6-months pregnant. Oops. Insightful.

11) Over My Head: A Doctor's Own Story of Head Injury from the Inside Looking Out- Claudia L Osborn, 322 pages.

It's amazing how life can change in the blink of an eye. Dr. Osborn suffered a head injury while riding her bicycle and her whole world was turned upside down. An interesting read for anyone who has suffered a TBI or knows anyone who has. Don't take your brain for granted kids.

12) Columbine- Dave Cullen, 370 pages

I occasionally have a hard time reading non-fiction but this book was well-researched and thoughtful. It introduces you to the victims of the Columbine tragedy but also gives a human view of the shooters. Absolutely worth reading.

13) The Gunslinger: Revised and Expanded (The Dark Tower Series, #1)- Stephen King, 300 pages

Having so enjoyed Under the Dome, I thought maybe I'd be a Stephen King junkie. Nope. This book was far too abstract for me. I struggled through it and struggled to care about anything that happened in it. Blech.

14) Brendan Wolf- Brian Malloy, 288 pages

I may be partial to this author just because he was my fiction-writing TA in college and I loved him as a teacher. But I think the main reason I like him is because he's a damn good writer. This book is darker than his first novel, Year of Ice, but perhaps leaves you with more to think about.

15) The Yiddish Policemen's Union- Michael Chabon, 411 pages

Michael Chabon is one of my favorite authors and, even though my husband had a hard time getting into this one, this book to ME is just as impressive to me as Kavelier and Clay.

16) Memories of My Melancholy Whores- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 115 pages

A teeny tiny book about an old man and his sex life. Not as bad as it sounds.

17) Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia- Maya Hornbacher, 289 pages

I have always been fascinated with eating disorders and this memoir does not fail in the train wreck department (Tragic but you can't look away.)

18) My Own Country- Abraham Verghese, 429 pages

I picked this book up at a law school book store while doing jury duty because I needed something to pass the time. What a find! This is a great book about an infectious disease doctor (originally from India) during the start of the AIDS epidemic. A great account of a truly compassionate doctor who happens to have a new, critically acclaimed novel out, "Cutting for Stone" which I have yet to pick up.

19) The Rule of Four- Ian Caldwell, 372 pages

This book came out right around the time of The Da Vinci Code so didn't get as much hype as it probably should have. It's similar in that it's a mystery story with clues set in the historical legends (This one at Princeton University), however, this is much better written than anything Dan Brown has ever penned.

20) The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon- David Grann, 319 pages

I swear the title is the most exciting part of this book. The author didn't really do anything that made me care about the fate of Col. Percy Fawcett. And while this book is probably well researched, it was a snore.

21) The Corrections- Jonathan Franzen, 576 pages

The author everyone is talking about, though this is an earlier novel. It is a brutally honest looks at a dysfunctional family who is struggling to come to terms with the patriarch's Parkinson's disease and dementia. Funny, untraditional, snarky even. Can't wait to read his new one.

22) Milk and Honey (Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus, #3), 416 pages

The Decker/Lazarus series is a unique one. Decker is an LA detective. Rina Lazarus is an orthodox Jewish woman raising 2 kids on her own. Yet, they fall in love and solve crimes in the meantime. Good light reads.

23) Breaking Dawn (Twilight #4)- Stephanie Meyer, 756 pages

Ok, this shows what a literary snob I am not. I love the Twilight series. No, it's not the great American novel. No, the writing isn't particularly impressive. Yes, Bella Swan seems like a big pain in the ass. Yet, I am hooked. And sometimes you need books that do the work for you so you don't have to think so much. Yes, this one required a little bit of forgiveness on the supernatural front, but still quite enjoyable.

24) The Year of the Flood- Margaret Atwood, 431 pages

Oh Margaret Atwood and your Utopian (dystopian?) society novels. Always interesting, though this one is less of a classic than A Handmaid's Tale. This one was just so-so.

25)Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen, 335 pages

Gotta love a story about a bucking young vet school drop out and his experience joining the Benzini Brothers Circus and falling in love with the show's main attraction (no, not the elephants, the circus boss' wife.)

26) Day of Atonement (Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus, #4)- Faye Kellerman, 373 pages

More orthodox, LA detective crime solving fun.

27) Imperfect Birds- Anne Lamott, 272 pages

This was one of my favorite books of the year. A story of a small family including a daughter with an unrecognized drug problem. Told from both the mother and daughter's perspective.

28) Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman- Jon Krakauer, 344 pages

Has anyone ever read a Jon Krakauer book they didn't enjoy? I didn't think so. In this book, Krakauer writes engagingly about Pat Tillman, a former NFL player who quit the NFL to join the Army Rangers and was killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire. Sad, moving, inspiring.

29) WAR- Sebastian Junger, 304 pages

So I was on a war book kick and read this book written by journalist Sebastian Junger about the time he spent with a platoon in Afghanistan. It is worth a read because it's important to get first hand perspective of what is going on over there. But this wasn't nearly as good as Jon Krakauer's book. I do want to see the documentary that was made about this platoon that Junger contributed to, Restrepo.

30) Incarceron (Incarceron, #1)- Catherine Fisher, 442 pages

Another young adult series, this one about a dystopian society and a hidden prison in which Finn, the protagonist, has been forced to live with only fleeting memories of his early life outside. I think this will be a popular series, but it does have some similarities to the Hunger Games which I prefer.

31) The Namesake- Jhumpa Lahiri, 292 pages

My friends at work were raving about this novel, and while it is well written, I must say it is quite depressing. It was a good book, but not one of my favorites.

32) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)- Stieg Larsson, 644 pages

Yes, I jumped on that band wagon, and I'm glad I did! It is such a tragedy that Larsson passed away and was unable to finish the series (which I believe was supposed to be 10 books long). This one does take a good 100 pages to get into, but then you get 500+ pages to enjoy it. And it's worth it. Plus, Lisbeth Salander is officially one of my favorite literary characters ever.

33) Slaughterhouse Five- Kurt Vonnegut, 215 pages

Every once in a while, you have to pick up one of those classics so you can keep up with the literary buffs. This was a good one.

34) The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium, #2)- Stieg Larsson, 630 pages

I think I am in the minority, but I enjoyed the first Millennium novel more than this one, probably because I am over-protective of the characters I love (e.g. Lisbeth).

35) Hellhound On His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin- Hampton Sides, 480 pages

Perhaps I expect too much from non-fiction, for while this book was informative, it didn't live up to the hype it was getting from outside sources.

36) The Lonely Polygamist- Brady Udall, 602 pages

During this challenge, it was intimidating to pick up books with over 400 pages because of time constraints. However, this one was so worth it. Udall had me laughing in the first 3 pages. He (respectfully) points out the humor in this untraditional situation, yet can beautifully portray tragedy and human emotion as well.

37) Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside- Katrina Firlik, 264 pages

A good, quick read, especially for someone like me who's rather new in the medical profession. Not only is it interesting to read about Firlik's experience with trauma and neurosurgery. It's also nice to hear stories of a medical newbie and the challenges she faced (some of which I can relate to.)

38) Mennonite in a Little Black Dress- Rhoda Janzen, 271 pages

A great little memoir about going back to your roots in a time of personal crisis. Janzen is another funny author, though knows when to be serious, and she provides some insight on who the Mennonites actually are and how she became the woman she is.

39) Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1)- Jim Butcher, 322 pages

Another example of lack of literary snobbery on my part. This may be the first real "fantasy" book I've ever read. It was a little too out there for me, though for those who are more able to open their imaginations more than I, I can see why they enjoy it.

40) A Wedding in December- Anita Shreve, 325 pages

This is the first Anita Shreve book I've read (it was a gift from my dear Jamie Lyn), and I rather enjoyed it. A mini-high school reunion in the setting of a wedding of two former classmates, one of who has advanced breast cancer. Memories and hormones ensue.

41) The Help- Kathryn Stockett, 451 pages

I see why this book is so popular. A great story of numerous brave women, three in particular. Emma Stone is perfect to play Skeeter in the movie. (Skeeter is another great literary character I read about this year.)

42) Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)- Suzanne Collins, 390 pages

The long awaited third installment of this trilogy. I must say, I missed the arena, though I understand why it couldn't be a part of this one. And an ending I could live with and was, in fact, happy about.

43) The Surgeon- Tess Gerritsen, 350 pages

The strong, leading lady in this book (obviously I'm drawn to strong leading-ladies) is Jane Rizzoli, the sole female detective on a Boston homicide squad. I enjoyed this book because Gerritsen is an MD and adds much appreciated and accurate physiological details into her murder mysteries.

44) The Memory Keeper's Daughter- Kim Edwards, 408 pages

I enjoyed this book but stories like these tend to make me upset. So much heartbreak in this story could have been avoided by simple honesty.

45) The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake- Aimee Bender, 293 pages

I was excited to read this book the moment I heard about it. A girl who can feel people's emotions by eating the food they make? Sounds like a good one of me, Ms-Excessive-Empathy-USA. However, it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. A little disappointed.

46) Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America- Barbara Ehrenreich, 240 pages

As a realist, I appreciated the message in this book which ISN'T to do the opposite of thinking positively. The message seems to be that hoping for the best is ok, but be realistic and allow yourself to experience your true emotions instead of hiding them under a mountain of optimism.

47) The Apprentice (Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles, #2)- Tess Gerritsen, 384 pages.

Another Rizzoli story, this time introducing Maura Isles as medical examiner in a copy-cat case similar to that in The Surgeon. These books are the basis for the TNT show Rizzoli and Isles, and though they can be a bit gruesome, they are rather enjoyable.

48) The Passage (The Passage, #1) - Justin Cronin, 766 pages.

This book is EPIC. Sick of the vampire phase? I don't care. Read just ONE more vampire book and make it this one. This book is supposedly the first in a series about a world in the future where, due to a military science experiment gone bad, the world is full of "virals" out to get the few remaining non-infected humans. Amazing.

49) Super Sad True Love Story- Gary Shteyngart, 331 pages

A cynical, yet hilarious, story about what America (NY specifically) will be like in the future when the dollar fails and other countries swoop in to take over. Yet, it is a love story. A super sad, super funny, love story.

50) The Unit- Ninni Holmqvist, 268 pages

While the premise of this book is a good one, I wasn't particularly impressed with the translation. The "dispensible" population of presumably Sweden (those who aren't married, don't have children or jobs that sufficiently contribute to society" are forced to live in a residence which is luxurious and enjoyable except for the fact that they are regularly subjected to biological experiements until they make their "final donation". Yikes.

51) A Reliable Wife- Robert Goolrick, 291 pages

This book was great. A wealthy, rural Wisconsin man (with a past) posts an ad for a "reliable wife"...guess who answers it....

52) The Rapture of Canaan- Sheri Reynolds, 321 pages

Hmm, this is what happens when kids don't get sex ed. A story of a fundamentalist community and one independent thinker.

53) Fury: A Memoir- Koren Zailckas, 309 pages

This is Zailckas' follow up to "Smashed- The Story of a Drunken Girlhood". It's kinda hard to believe that this writer has 2 memoirs written before the age of 30, but she does, and they're both great, honest, insightful and worth reading!

54) Still Alice- Lisa Genova, 397 pages

A unique account of a female psychology professor who is diagnosed with early-onset alzheimer's disease, her family and her deterioration.

Alright, I make NO PROMISES about reading this many books in 2011. However, I will keep reading. So let me know if you have or need any suggestions!