Year In Review - 2009

Oh my dearest blog, the neglect you have experienced is painful for me too. Please believe that you are constantly on my mind and I am several posts behind. With a vacation coming up this week, my biggest hope is to catch up on my posts and give you the love you deserve.

That being said, this post excited me when I started it on January 9, only for me to push it aside until now. I even had an awesome Christmas with a surprise gift – a Kindle (more on that later)!! Yet I haven't shared that with you either. I honestly think that the first two months of 2010 were by far the busiest on record. The dust seems to be settling now and I can finally get back to my passion ... BOOKS.

Here is my recap of 2009, late as it is, but hopefully still relevant.

How many books did you read in 2009?
22! I have to admit, counting back, that is WAY more than I ever thought I read. Yay me! Hoping to top that this year with my shiny new Kindle.

How many were nonfiction?
I'm not typically a fan of nonfiction, unless memoirs count. And I say they do. So in that case, two: Grayson and Look Me In The Eye.

Books about animals?
Not normally a topic I would seek out because animal stories are almost always sad. But if werewolves count, the count would be five: Grayson and the Twilight series.

Male/Female author ratio?
Fairly even: 10 by men, 12 by women

Favorite book of 2009?
Without a doubt, The Help. It was so great, and I think about it all the time. I'm considering reading it again very soon.

Least favorite book of 2009?
Hmm, let me think (insert sarcasm). The Shack may come to mind as my least favorite book of all time, but I won't give it that much emphasis just yet. Yuck.

Any that you simply couldn’t finish and why?
This doesn't happen to me very often, mainly because of my displaced obligation to finish everything I start. But The Shack was the closest contender. It was just horrible, but I forced myself to finish it because it was a gift from a dear friend.

Oldest book read?
Without doing too much research, I'm going to say She's Come Undone. Most of the books I read are current and/or on the bestseller list, so I don't normally go back to older books. But I had to reread one of my favorite books of all time, and will probably continue to do so every couple of years. It's that good. if you haven't read She's Come Undone, DO IT NOW.

Newest?
Probably The Help. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Longest and shortest books?
The Hour I First Believed = longest
The Reader = shortest

How many books from the library?
Only four. I was surprised by that low number, but now that we have a lending library at work, I guess it makes sense.

Any translated books?
I think The Reader was translated?

Most read author of the year, and how many books by that author?

Two by Wally Lamb. Wish he would write faster!

Which book wouldn’t you have read without someone’s specific recommendation?

Friday Night Knitting Club

Which author was new to you in 2009 that you now want to read the entire works of?

Not too many new authors for me, but if Kathryn Stockett writes anything else, I'm all over it.

Any re-reads?

There really are so many books I want to reread, but the list of new books keeps getting longer and longer. I was pretty impressed with myself for reading She's Come Undone and Wicked again.

Did you read any books you have always been meaning to read?
Maybe I could classify the Twilight series here. I was somewhat intrigued because of all the press the books were getting, but didn't ever think it would be a subject I'd be interested in. After some coaxing, I was quickly hooked. 

Her Fearful Symmetry

It's no secret that The Time Traveler's Wife is one of my favorite books. I think about it all time (but not more than She's Come Undone). So obviously I was excited to hear that Audrey Niffenegger finally came out with another title. I picked up Her Fearful Symmetry completely excited to tear through it at top speed. And for my standards, I did. It held my interest until the very end. But then I sat there kind of scratching my head.

A woman in England dies. She, Elspeth, leaves her apartment and nearly all its contents to the twin daughters of her twin sister, who lives in Chicago. With one stipulation. Her sister is not allowed to set foot inside the apartment; which incidentally is next to Highgate Cemetery; final resting place of many famous people. The lazy, unmotivated girls move to England and meet Elspeth's neighbors. I will go as far as to say that the character development is brilliant here. Then Elspeth realizes that she is a ghost and is trapped in her former apartment. A bit of a stretch, but then tell me time travel isn't. She's pretty endearing as a ghost and makes great effort to communicate with the girls and her lover, Robert. And that's when it started to go way off the map for me. It's a crazy thing called the "Little Kitten of Death." Hmmmm ... not so much. Any shred of believability is out the door for me at this point. Plus, once Robert starts reading Elspeth's journals, I just become confused. Trying to figure out relationships and who's who and generally thinking "oh please don't go there. Oh no, don't. Stop. And we started off so well."

The thing is that even when the plot went completely wonky, I was still flying through the pages. And I admit that I was pretty pleased with the last page ... not the overall ending, but one specific part of it. But there is still a question that I don't know the answer to! And I don't think it's because I just didn't get it, but because the explanation was so confusing. I've even asked a few people what they think and they aren't sure either.

So I'm torn. Niffenegger's writing is beautiful. The plot had serious potential. But I'm on the fence. I'm not going to tell anyone not to read it, because I want you to so that I can ask you who the father is (don't want to spoil it too much!). So hurry up and read it then call me, OK?


maybe more like 3-1/2? can't commit on this one
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