Review of 2011 Reading

2011 was my first full year of blogging and keeping track of my reading on goodreads.com. I don't know how many books I normally read in a year, but I'm quite proud of the 70 books I read this year. According to goodreads, I read 29,074 pages! I don't know about anyone else, but that seems like a lot of pages!!

I've enjoyed blogging about the books I read this year, although I have fell incredibly behind in my reviews. The end of the semester and the holidays caught up to me and I broke out of the routine of posting about my books shortly after finishing. I want to start up again and finish up reviewing all the books I have left from 2011 and stay on track for 2012.

In terms of my 2011 book challenges, I succeeded rather well! I completed 4 book challenges. From goodreads, I originally challenged myself to read 50 books, but I read 70! Here are my other challenges along with the books I used to complete them:

2011 Chunkster Reading Challenge

I chose the highest level for this challenge- Mor-book-ly Obese - 8 books of 450 pages or more, 3 of which have to be over 750 pages.

 

Books Completed:

1. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - 1088 pages

2. The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova - 592 pages

3. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - 1037 pages

4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - 552 pages

5. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood - 460 pages

6. The Iliad by Homer - 704 pages

7. The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin - 465 pages

8. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson - 515 pages

9. Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran - 464 pages

10. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky - 667 pages

11. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray - 680 pages

12. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson - 464 pages

13. Elizabeth I by Margaret George - 671 pages

14. Decision Points by George W. Bush - 497 pages

15. The Help by Kathryn Stockett - 544 pages

16. Uncle Silas by Sheridan Le Fanu - 528 pages

17. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - 521 pages

18. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - 465 pages

19. The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson - 503 pages

20. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson - 563 pages

21. The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume 1 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - 752 pages

22. The Distant Hours by Kate Morton - 562 pages

23. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie - 625 pages

24. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson - 630 pages

25. Before Versailles: A Novel of Louis XIV by Karleen Koen - 460 pages

 

 

Off the Shelf Challenge

 

I entered at the Trying level, which was to read 15 TBR books on my book shelves.

Books Completed:

1. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

2. The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Short Stories by Leo Tolstoy

3. Human by Michael Gazzaniga

4. The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

5. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

6. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

7. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

8. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

9. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

10. The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

11. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

12. The Iliad by Homer

13. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

14. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

15. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

16. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

17. The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

 

 

I entered the first level of this challenge- Master of Trivial Pursuit- which meant I had to read 1 to 3 non-fiction books, each from a different category.

 

Books Completed:
1. Human by Michael Gazzaniga - Science
2. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - Science/Cultural Studies
3. The Tigress of Forli by Elizabeth Lev - History
4. Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor - Travel/Memoir
5. Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution by Holly Tucker - Medical/History
6. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell - Science
7. Bossypants by Tina Fey - Memoir
8. You Are Not Your Brain by Jeffrey Schwartz and Rebecca Gladding - Science/Self-Help
9. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Barlett - Art
10. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson - History
11. Decision Points by George W. Bush - Memoir/Politics
12. Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch - Memoir
13. Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton - Memoir

14. Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard

15. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

16. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie

 I exceeded my expectations in all of the challenges. Which means that I now have baseline to judge how I want to handle my book challenges for 2012 :)

2011 Non-Fiction Challenge

My 2011 Book Challenges are growing as I find more of them to join!

This challenge, run by The Broke and the Bookish, promotes reading non-fiction books in order to learn and grow in 2011. Here are the rules and guidelines:

Rules:

- The challenge runs from January 17th to December 31st 2011.
-  Anyone who links a review up is eligible to be entered to win a book of their choice (under $15). How many reviews you link up determines how many entries you get. Additional prizes may be added once I organize this more and depending on how many people sign up. (International readers welcome if Book Depository ships to you).
- Anyone can join. If you don't have a blog, you can link reviews on Goodreads or Amazon or wherever you have your reviews.
- You can join the challenge at any point throughout the year.

Here's the challenge:

Topics:

Culture: Non-fiction books about different cultures, religions and foreign lands; memoirs & biographies count.

Art: Non-fiction books about anything art related (painters, music, architecture, photography, dance, literature, film, etc.). Memoirs/biographies of any people related to the arts count.

Food: Food memoirs, anything related to food industry, food lifestyles

Medical: anything related to the medical field--industry memoirs, memoirs about illnesses (mental included) /diseases, etc.

Travel: travelogues, industry memoirs, travel guides, etc.

Memoir/Biography: Self explanatory

Money: Anything related to finances, economics, history of money, financial improvement etc.

Science/Nature: Anything related to any scientific field, memoirs count.

History: Anything history related-- events, biographies of historic figures, etc.

Levels:

1-3 books from different categories: Master of Trivial Pursuit
4-6 books from different categories: Apply For Who Wants to Be A Millionaire
7-9 books from different categories: Future Jeopardy Champion

For now, I am only planning on following the first level, Master of Trivial Pursuit. This means that I will read 1 to 3 (probably 3) non-fiction books, each from a different category. I am choosing the lowest level becasue while I do read non-fiction books, they tend to all be science related, which means that only one of them will count for this challenge.

My current book will be the first to count for the 2011 Non-Fiction Challenge: Human by Michael Gazzaniga.

Off the Shelf 2011 Reading Challenge

This challenge is all about reading the books that you've bought but just haven't gotten around to reading yet. My husband will be so happy to hear that I'm challenging myself to read these books since he hates my habit of buying books when he knows I haven't read all of them that I have! I just can't resist the lure of a shiny new cover, the smell of an unopened book, or a great recommendation from a friend!

The 2011 Off the Shelf Challenge will help me re-focus on the books I have so that I can save my money from buying more books (or maybe not...) and relish in the delights already on my bookshelf!

I will be entering at the Trying level, which committs me to read 15 unread books on my shelf.  Not only will that get almost all of my unread books read, but also means I'm committed to reading another 15 books this year!

Chunkster Reading Challenge

I recently discovered the vast community of book blogs and the challenges that people set for themselves. I think this looks like great fun and I am hastily joining the Chunkster Reading Challenge!

I LOVE large books, or tomes as I prefer to refer to them! I love getting lost in a story that continues for so long that you feel as if you are part of that world and the characters are your best friend. I'm always sad when I finish a long, good book and realize that my new friends are going back to the bookshelf.

The Chunkster Reading Challenge is perfect for me! The challenge is to read adult literature (fiction or nonfiction) books of 450 pages or more.

You can choose any level you want for your goal for 2011. I will be choosing the highest level- Mor-book-ly Obese, because I love a good book challenge! This level means that I will have to read at least 8 books of 450 pages or more in 2011, 3 of which have to be over 750 page! Woohoo!

Finally, I don't have to feel guilty about reading so few books (a 750 page book does take some time to get through), just because I enjoy a nice tome now and then.

This challenge started on February 1, 2011. Therefore, a few of my books already count towards my goal:

Gone with the Wind: 1037 pages

Atlas Shrugged: 1088 pages

The Swan Thieves: 592 pages

Unfortunately, I read Pamela by Samuel Richardson in January so that will not count (and that was also over 750 pages!).

Therefore, to complete this 2011 challenge, I have to read 5 more books over 450 pages and one of them must be over 750 pages.

Please comment on your favorite tomes. I have a few in mind but I'd like to hear suggestions!