May 2011 Reading Wrap-Up

Jun 052011

May started off really, really slowly as far as my reading went, but I sort of went full throttle at the end of the month and ended up having an amazing month. I finished 22 books including 5600 pages of print and 41 hours of audio. I’m still amazed I read that many books, particularly because the beginning of the month was like molasses, but I finished a book each day from the 13th to the 30th.

I will first be listing the books reviewed over the last month, and will include unreviewed books below, so you can see what will be coming up!

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor, narrated by John Telfer

Fiction
Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen
How to be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway
The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips
The Arrivals by Meg Mitchell Moore
If Sons, Then Heirs by Lorene Cary

Mystery
Murder Under Cover by Kate Carlisle
Grace Under Pressure by Julie Hyzy
Towards Zero by Agatha Christie

Historical Fiction
March by Geraldine Brooks
The Last Time I Saw Paris by Lynn Sheene
Doc by Mary Doria Russell

Nonfiction
How Shakespeare Changed Everything by Stephen March
The Convert by Deborah Baker
Wicked Bugs by Amy Stewart

Saturday Story Spotlight
Have You Seen My Cat? by Eric Carle
Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton
Tumford the Terrible by Nancy Tillman

Other Posts:
A Rose by Any Other Name
Oh, D.E.A.R. – Upcoming Books
Getting Excited About Audiobook Week – Audies Winners
Audiobook Week 2011 Info and Discussion Topics
Cool Down with Agatha Christie – Standalone Readalong
High School Book Drive Wrap-up

Pick of the Month:

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The Arrivals by Meg Mitchell Moore

I had trouble choosing just one this month, Doc by Maria Doria Russell and The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips were incredibly strong contenders as well

April 2011 Reading Wrap-Up

May 012011

Wait, it is MAY already? Really? *sigh*

April was a decent month, but nothing spectacular. I finished 15 books, including 2 audio, for about 4100 pages and about 24 hours of audio. All of these numbers are WAY down from my March totals, but I was also sick pretty much all month, and spent a good amount of time playing games on my phone or staring at the computer while watching tv on dvd.

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger, narrated by Rosalyn Landor

Fiction
The Violets of March by Sarah Jio
Galore by Michael Crummey
The Coffins of Little Hope by Timothy Schaffert
Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye
Mothers and Daughters by Rae Meadows
The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry
Friendship Bread by Darien Gee
The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer

Mystery
The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
Head You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward
A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear
The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear

Historical Fiction
Captivity by Deborah Noyes
The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen

Saturday Story Spotlight
Bring On the Birds by Susan Stockdale
Good Night, Baby by Denise Lewis Patrick, illustrated by Barbara Lanz
Spot’s First Easter by Eric Hill

Other Posts:
Audiobook Week approaches!
High School Book Drive: Announcement/Reminder
BOOK CLUB – Galore by Michael Crummey
Oh, D.E.A.R. – Unbridled Books Oh, D.E.A.R. – Series

Pick of the Month:

For pure awesome hilarity, Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward is a must-read.

March 2011 Reading Wrap-Up

Apr 032011

March was a really fabulous reading month. I finished 22 books, including 18 in print and 4 in audio, for a total of almost 5700 pages and close to 60 hours of audio. I started a few of these in February and just finished in March, but overall a really great reading month. You’re in for some very enthusiastic reviews in April, because some of those unreviewed books below were fabulous.

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell, narrated by Sarah Vowell, John Slattery, Paul Rudd, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, John Hodgeman, Catherine Keener, Keanu Reeves, Maya Rudolph

Fiction
Christian Lacroix and the Tale of Sleeping Beauty by Camilla Morton
Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon
Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
Picking Bones from Ash by Marie Mockett
The Atlas of Love by Laurie Frankel
The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht

Mystery
Learning to Swim by Sara J Henry
Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear
An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear
Hail to the Chef by Julie Hyzy
The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman

Historical Fiction
The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead by Paul Elwork
Sins of the House of Borgia by Sarah Bower
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Nonfiction
Madre: Perilous Journeys with a Spanish Noun by Liza Bakewell
Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution by Holly Tucker
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
She Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth by Helen Castor

Saturday Story Spotlight
Will You Wear a Blue Hat? by Scholastic
Touch and Feel Baby Animals by DK Publishing
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Three Hens and a Peacock by Lester A. Laminack, illustrated by Henry Cole

Other Posts/Guest Posts:
“The Blood of a Lamb” by Holly Tucker, author of Blood Work

Pick of the Month:

Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear

I’m choosing Among the Mad partly on its own merit, and partly as a representative of its series. I am absolutely loving the Maisie Dobbs books, and I am so happy that I was encouraged to join the readalong that Book Club Girl is hosting. I can’t believe I’m nearly caught up on the series, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do for the next year while waiting for the next book. Among the Mad was a particularly good entry in the series, though, I could barely put it down.

February 2011 Reading Wrap-Up

Mar 062011

I’m changing up the format of my monthly wrap-ups a bit for 2011. Instead of listing everything I read and linking to what has been reviewed, I will first be listing the books reviewed over the last month, and will include unreviewed books below, so you can see what will be coming up! This month I reviewed 15 books – 14 print and one audio – in addition to highlighting 4 books Daniel and I are reading in Saturday Story Spotlight. I also read 18 books – 16 print, two audios – for a total of about 4,400 pages and 22 hours of audio.

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
Genome by Matt Ridley, narrated by Simon Prebble

Fiction
13, Rue Therese by Elena Mauli Shapiro
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Amaryllis in Blueberry by Christina Meldrum
The Gospel of Anarchy by Justin Taylor
Goodnight Tweetheart by Teresa Medeiros
Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen
The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard

Historical Fiction
The Last Brother by Nathacha Appanah
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
The Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas
Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson by Jerome Charyn

Nonfiction
I is an Other by James Geary
A Kidnapping in Milan by Steve Hendricks

Saturday Story Spotlight
That’s Not My Snowman by Fiona Watts, illustrated by Rachel Wells
Elmo’s ABC Book by Deborah November, illustrated by Carol Nicklaus
Everywhere a Moo, Moo by Scholastic

Other Posts:
Randy Susan Meyers’ Oh, D.E.A.R
Fairy Tales – What’s Old is New
Daniel’s First Blizzard
A Very Bookish Valentine’s Day
Oh, D.E.A.R. – Florida
BOOK CLUB – The Last Brother

Pick of the Month:

Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen

I chose Sarah’s debut novel, The Opposite of Me, as a pick of the month around this time last year, but Skipping a Beat blows even the accomplishment of her first book out of the water.

January 2011 Wrap-Up

Feb 062011

Because of my blogging break over Christmas that did not include a reading break, and the way I am trying to read farther ahead these days, I’m changing up the format of my monthly wrap-ups a bit for 2011. Instead of listing everything I read and linking to what has been reviewed, I will first be listing the books reviewed over the last month, and will include unreviewed books below, so you can see what will be coming up!

In January, I reviewed 19 books, including 4 Saturday Story Spotlight posts. I read a total of 22 books (not including what I read with Daniel). Of those 22 books, 6 were audio and 16 were print, for a total of 2.6 days of listening and about 4900 pages read. 14 books I read in January had not yet been reviewed as of January 31.

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee, narrated by Stephen Hoye
Atlantic by Simon Winchester, narrated by the author

Fiction
The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
You Know When the Men are Gone by Siobhan Fallon
Under the Mercy Trees by Heather Newton
The Frozen Rabbi by Steven Stern
The Love Goddess’ Cooking School by Melissa Senate
State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy

Historical Fiction
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear by Atiq Rahimi
The Queen of Last Hopes by Susan Higginbotham
Original Sins by Peg Kingman

Nonfiction
Inventing George Washington by Edward G. Lengel
American Uprising by Daniel Rasmussen
Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love by Andrew Shaffer

Saturday Story Spotlight
Little Rabbit Lost by Harry Horse
Just Like Daddy by Cecilia Johnson
Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill
Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margaret Apple

Other Posts:
On Nonfiction
Bloggiesta Mini-Challenge: Google Forms
Books I Gushed About in 2010

Picks of the Month:

I just can’t decide, I read a lot of good stuff this month, but there were two books that stood out above the rest, and I cannot choose between them.

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You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon
The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

I know, big surprise, I loved books from the Amy Einhorn Books imprint at Penguin. This is why I read everything that comes out of this imprint, because it is pretty much all made of win for me.

November 2010 Reading Wrap-Up

Dec 032010

This was a really stupendous reading month. For one thing, I read 22 books, including 4 audiobooks, totaling nearly 4800 pages of print and over 2 days of audio. For another, the books I read were of such high quality that I had an incredibly difficult time picking a single pick of the month and eventually had to give up on that idea.

After my list of what I read this month, you’ll find a list of the other reviews I posted this month.

What I Read:

Audiobooks
The Fall by Guillermo del Toro, narrated by Daniel Oreskes
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom, narrated by Orlagh Cassidy and Bahni Turpin – review pending
The Dead Beat by Marilyn Johnson, narrated by the author
Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle – review pending

Fiction
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson – review pending
A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein
The Red Thread by Ann Hood
Life After Yes by Aidan Donnelly-Rowley
The Sherlockian by Graham Moore – review pending

Historical Fiction
Wolves of Andover by Kathleen Kent
The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove by Susan Gregg Gilmore
Voltaire’s Calligrapher by Pablo de Santis

TV/Film
Chief Wiggum’s Book of Crime and Punishment by Matt Groening
Harry Potter Film Wizardry by Brian Sibley

Nonfiction/Memoir
Coop by Michael Perry
The Bucolic Plague by Josh Kilmer-Purcell
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey – review pending

INSPY (no reviews)
She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell
Her Mother’s Hope by Francine Rivers
The Fiddler’s Gun by A.S. Peterson
The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen

Picks of the Month:

Banner month, huh?

What I Posted:

Announcements, Guest Posts, and Features
“What’s Old is New – Jane Eyre”
“Oh, D.E.A.R. – The Books I Never Got to Read in 2010”
“Why Harvest Week?”
Don’t Sing at the Table by Adriana Trigliani – Guest Review
“Books Guaranteed to Put Me to Sleep” by Lauren Grodstein, author of A Friend of the Family”
“Oh, D.E.A.R. – Deep Valley Edition”

Saturday Story Spotlight
Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs by Sandra Boynton
My First Thanksgiving by Tomie dePaola
Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino
Baby Nose to Baby Toes by Vicki Ceelen

Audiobook
C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy by Jeff Sharlet, narrated by Jeremy Guskin

Fiction
Frankenstein’s Monster by Susan Heyboer O’Keefe

Historical Fiction
The Passionate Brood by Margaret Campbell Barnes

Nonfiction
The Heroine’s Bookshelf by Erin Blakemore
All I Can Handle, I’m No Mother Theresa by Kim Stagliano

Note: Some of these books were provided to me for review.

Chicago Author Month Wrap-Up

Oct 312010

4866515992 41b02a5de1 m picture This has been a fantastic month! I don’t think I’ve read a single book that has disappointed me, and I even got all gushy about three of them. I’ve had a great time learning about and meeting some Chicago-area authors, and I hope that you’ve found some books you are interested in as well, whether or not the Chicago connection means anything to you.

What I Reviewed:

Fiction
Good Enough to Eat by Stacey Ballis
After the Workshop by John McNally
Divine Appointments by Charlene Baumbich
The World in Half by Cristina Henriquez
Currency by Zoe Zolbrod
According to Jane by Marilyn Brant
Not Ready for Mom Jeans by Maureen Lipinski

Mystery/Thrillers
Skating Around the Law by Joelle Charbonneau
The Hanging Tree by Bryan Gruley
Body Work by Sara Paretsky

Graphic Novel
Mr Mendoza’s Paintbrush by Luis Alberto Urrea

Chicago Publishers Spotlights:

Other Voices Books
Oasis Audio
Featherproof Books
Sourcebooks
Tyndale House

Sunday Spotlights:

Shel Silverstein
Some Sing, Some Cry by Ntozake Shange and Ifa Bayeza
My Maasai Life by Robin Wiszowaty
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

Bookstore Reviews:

Long Way Home by Laura Caldwell
A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True by Brigid Pasulka
The Thousand by Kevin Guilfoile
The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger

Guest Posts:

“What’s in a Blog” by Libby Hellmann, Author and Founder of ‘The Outfit’
“Haunted by Chicago History” by Kelly O’Connor McNees, Author of The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott
“Confessions of a Chicago Lawyer” by David Ellis, Author of Breach of Trust
“A Writer’s Life” by Melanie Benjamin, Author of Alice I Have Been
“Richard Wright, Chicago’s Native Son” by Michelle from ‘That’s What She Read’

Pick(s) of the Month:

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Note: Some of these books were provided to me for review.

August 2010 Reading Wrap-Up

Sep 052010

Okay, no more complaining about slow reading, because August was a *banner* month. TWENTY THREE BOOKS. Read’em and weep…no pun intended. Five audiobooks, for almost 3 days of listening, and 18 print books of over 5,300 pages. Don’t ask how, I have no idea. Even better, I’ve already reviewed almost all of them.

I’m feeling quite accomplished at the moment, if you can’t tell.

After my list of what I read this month, you’ll find a list of the other reviews I posted this month.

What I Read:

Audiobooks
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, narrated by
How to Buy a Love of Reading by Tanya Egan Gibson, narrated by
The City & The City by China Mieville, narrated by John Lee
Kraken by China Mieville – review pending
Body Work by Sara Paretsky – review coming in October

Fiction
Simply From Scratch by Alicia Bessette
29: A Novel by Adena Halpern
Kapitoil by Teddy Wayne
What He’s Poised to Do by Ben Greenberg (short stories)
Lake Overturn by Vestal McIntyre
Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin
The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart
The Life You’ve Imagined by Kristina Riggle
Dracula in Love by Karen Essex
American Music by Jane Mendehlson
Numb by Sean Ferrell

Young Adult/Middle Grades Fiction
Dangerous Neighbors by Beth Kephart
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mystery/Thriller
The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva

Historical Fiction
The Report by Jessica Francis Kane
The Gendarme by Mark Mustian

Memoir
Everything is Going to be Great by Rachel Shukert
Let’s Take the Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell

Pick of the Month:

It has been a long, long time since I have had such a difficult time picking a favorite book for the month. Of course, it has also been a long, long time since I finished 23 books in a month, too. I considered Rachel Shukert’s Everything is Going to be Great, The Life You’ve Imagined by Kristina Riggle, and Lake Overturn by Vestal McIntyre.

The winners, however, is: The Report by Jessica Francis Kane, partly because it was such a sleeper hit, and The City & The City by China Mieville, which was just a phenomenal audiobook..

Honorable mention to The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva and Body Work by Sara Paretsky, both of which made me want to read all of the previous books in both of these prolific series.

What I Posted:

Announcements/Specials
An Interview With…Me!
My Kind of Book: A Celebration of Chicago Literature

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Fiction
The Stuff That Never Happened by Maddie Dawson
The Time it Snowed in Puerto Rico by Maddie Dawson

Historical Fiction
The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

Note: Some of these books were provided to me for review.

July 2010 Reading Wrap-Up

Aug 012010

You’re all going to yell at me when I say this was sort of a slow month, because I finished 21 books. However, 5 of them were audiobooks, so I feel like my print reading was ever so slightly lower than I would have liked. I suppose that, looking at it objectively, it wasn’t that slow, but the end of my month WAS really slow, after a really hot start.

After my list of what I read this month, you’ll find a list of the other reviews I posted this month.

What I Read:

Audiobooks
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
The Surrendered by Chang Rae-Lee
A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – review pending
The Quickening by Michelle Hoover – review pending

Fiction
Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman
The Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
The Stuff That Never Happened by Maddie Dawson – review pending
The Time it Snowed in Puerto Rico by Sarah McCoy – review pending

Young Adult/Middle Grades Fiction
Gringolandia by Lyn-Miller Lachmann
Funny How Things Change by Melissa Wyatt
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Historical Fiction
The Scarlet Contessa by Jeanne Kalogridis
The Sister Wife by Diane Noble – review pending
The Dark Rose by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
For the King by Catherine Delors
The King’s Mistress by Emma Campion
All the Queen’s Players by Jane Feather
The Captive Queen by Alison Weir (DNF)
The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory – review pending

Nonfiction
How to Mellify a Corpse by Vicki Leon

Pick of the Month:

Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman

What I Posted:

Guest Posts
“The Chouans and the Downfall of Napoleon” by Catherine Delors, author of For the King
“Werewolves where?” by Maggie Stiefvater, author of Shiver and Linger
“Market Making” by Richard C. Morais, author of The Hundred-Foot Journey

Audiobook
Feed by Mira Grant

Fiction
Day for Night by Frederick Reiken
The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais
Icing on the Cupcake by Jennifer Ross
Commuters by Emily Gray Tedrowe

Note: Some of these books were provided to me for review.

The Chouans and the Downfall of Napoleon – Guest Post by Catherine Delors, Author of “For the King”

June 2010 Reading Wrap-Up

Jul 042010

June was sort of a slow reading month. I blame Audiobook Week. And LOST, which we are currently working through season by season.

After my list of what I read this month, you’ll find a list of the other reviews I posted this month, as well as an update of how I’m doing in my challenges. Still, I did complete 16 books last month: 13 print books at a total of 4,311 pages and 3 audiobooks for 1.6 days of audio.

What I Read:

Fiction
Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky, translated by Tim Mohr
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Gowda
Day for Night by Frederick Reiken (review coming July 7th)
My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares
Bad Marie by Marcy Dermansky
The Icing on the Cupcake by Jennifer Ross
The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst
Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson (review pending)
Commuters by Emily Grey Tedrowe

Young Adult/Middle Grades Fiction
Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson, narrated by Jeannie Stith (review pending)

Mystery/Thriller/Horror
Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott (review pending)
So Cold the River by Michael Kortya, narrated by Robert Petkoff – audiobook
Still Missing by Chevy Stevens
Feed by Mira Grant, narrated by Paula Christensen and Jesse Bernstein (review pending)

Pick of the Month:

The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst

What I Posted:

Discussion Posts
Oh, D.E.A.R! BEA Edition
By Popular Demand…My Reading Schedule
My Day As An Indie Bookseller
Shilpi Gowda – Author Event At The Bookstore
Hot Summer Reading

Audiobook Week Posts
Why Audiobooks?
How To Write An Audiobook Week Review
Audiobook Week Meme
When Do You Listen To Audiobooks?
Recommended Audiobooks
Other Audiobook Week Discussions

Fiction
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson, narrated by Paul Altschuler
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch

Mystery/Thriller/Horror
Bad Things Happen by Henry Dolan, narrated by Erik Davies – audiobook
The Whole World by Emily Winslow
Motherhood is Murder by Diana Orgain

Historical Fiction
31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan

Nonfiction/Memoir
My Life in France by Julia Child, narrated by Kimberly Farr – audiobook
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, narrated by Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin – audiobook
Leaving the Saints by Martha Beck, narrated by Martha beck – audiobook
Love in a Time of Homeschooling by Laura Brodie

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Chicago Publishers Spotlights:

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Bookstore Reviews:

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