Cover to Cover Challenge discussion

I was far more confident in my neglecting abilities than I actually managed, the downfall of having a wonderful family. I'll tone it down a bit but still aim higher than last year! Now if I could only figure out a way to read while exercising . . .

Love your title!

How to read while exercising--Audiobooks!

I agree with Journeywoman. However, I do better with the old-fashioned tape players than the discs. Since I'm now into disc (finished most of the books on tape at the library) I put the disc into a stand alone player and turn it very high while I'm on the treadmill. That creates a different problem--I can't exercise unless I'm the only one in the house! Excuses, excuses!

January 2011 - 8 total


1. Fated
2. Spook Country
3. One for the Money
4. A Tale Dark and Grimm
5. Museum of Thieves
6. The Kills
7. Freedom and Necessity
8. Blind Spot

February 2011 - 9 total

9. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer 10. The Confessions (Penguin Classics) 11. Pop Apocalypse: A Possible Satire 12.Zero History 13.The Montmartre Investigation 14. The Woad to Wuin 15. Bryant & May off the Rails: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery 16. Autobiography 17. That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything in Between

March 2011 - 6 total


18. Hotel Paradise
19. Hissy Fit
20. I Shall Wear Midnight (Tiffany Aching, #4)
21. Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language
22.The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca
23.The Water Room

April 2011 - 7 total


24.Spooky Little Girl
25. The Thief of Always: A Fable
26. A Red Herring Without Mustard
27.Darkness, Take My Hand
28.A Moveable Feast
29. Two of the Deadliest: New Tales of Lust, Greed, and Murder from Outstanding Women of Mystery
30. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

honorable mention:Lit

May 2011 - 11 total


31. Ravens
32. The Gates
33. Every Breath You Take : A True Story of Obsession, Revenge, and Murder
34. Whispers of the Dead
35. Horns
36. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
37. Heart-Shaped Box
38. A Reliable Wife
39. Dirty Jokes and Beer
40. Bossypants
41. Due

honorable mention: The Lincoln Lawyer
honorable mention: Kraken

June 2011 - 14 total


42. Wisconsin Death Trip
43. The Name of the Wind
44. At Home: A Short History of Private Life
45. Lost and Found: The True Story of Jaycee Lee Dugard and the Abduction that Shocked the World
46. Unfamiliar Fishes
47. When You Are Engulfed in Flames
48. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress
49. Johannes Cabal the Detective
50. The Wise Man's Fear
51. Swamplandia!
52. The Stupidest Angel
53. Story Time
54. The Serialist: A Novel
55. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

honorable mention: The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation
honorable mention: Summerland

July 2011 - 11 books


56. It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita
57. The Wee Free Men
58. Naked
59. The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death: Reflections on Revenge, Germophobia, and Laser Hair Removal
60. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
61. Neverwhere
62. A Hat Full of Sky
63. The Glass Demon: A Novel
63.5 The Arrival
64. American Gods

honorable mention: How Did You Get This Number
honorable mention: The CEO of the Sofa

August 2011 - 11 books


65. I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away
66. Me Talk Pretty One Day
67. The Poet
68. The Red Tree-The Rabbits-Lost Thing
69. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
70. Amulet: The Stonekeeper
71. The Black Angel
72. Castle Waiting
73. Ghostwalk
74. Castle Waiting
75. Jack of Fables: The End

semi-honorable mention: Lies that Chelsea Handler Told Me

September 2011 - 9 books


76. Amy Unbounded: Belondweg Blossoming
77. Amulet: The Stonekeeper's Curse
78. The Scarecrow
79. The Reader
80. The Akhenaten Adventure
81. Mister B. Gone
82. Amulet: The Cloud Searchers
83. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
84. The Housekeeper and the Professor

October 2011 - 10 books

85. Iorich
86. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
87. Sorry
88. Homicide Special: A Year with the LAPD's Elite Detective Unit
89. Wyrd Sisters
90. Every Thing on It
91. Snuff
92. The Name of the Wind yes, again
93. True Crime: An American Anthology
94. Tiassa

honorable mention: Feynman
honorable mention: Blueprints for Building Better Girls: Stories

November 2011 - 4 books (oof)

95. A Game of Thrones
96. Zone One
97. A Clash of Kings
98. Daytripper


honorable mention: When a Jew Dies: The Ethnography of a Bereaved Son

December 2011

99. Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris
100. Don't Vote, it Just Encourages the Bastards
101. M
102. Supreme Courtship

1. Fated by S.G. Browne 01/02/11 - excellent, among the new fad of writing about mythological characters, gods, and creatures, this book was a fun and silly boyish book. I ran across it on the new fiction shelf at the library, and it reminds me to thank my local librarians.

01/05/11 - Spook Country by William Gibson
a reread, since my husband got the 2nd book for xmas (so what's his is mine, what's the problem). had completely forgotten the ending, which made for excellent surprise and enjoyment.

01/06/11 - One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
gotta love the book swap, for some reason the local library doesn't have the first of many mystery series, which makes me crazy. lightly enjoyable.

01/08/11 - A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
as a book for kids, excellent. a fun voice, with creepy asides, plus some very original and gory Grimm fairy tales. Certainly the better of modern attempts to introduce kids to original stories.

01/13/11 - Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner
very interesting. perhaps I've read too many tween books lately, there seems to be a lot of them about, which does raise the question of who exactly is reading them, but this had some very interesting aspects. the build up for the trilogy is a little juvenile, but I am quite sure I will find myself reading the next one too.

6. 01/15/11 - The Kills by Linda Fairstein
Love the bookswap! this wasn't bad, as far as mysteries go. I felt there were too many characters, too many mysteries, but she maintained and there was only one part that I scoffed at. nice easy and very entertaining for a sick day read.

7. Freedom and Necessity Steven Brust & Emma Bull - 01/18/11 - this enormous book took me forever to read, but after reading Territory by Emma Bull I had to pull this off my shelf where it had been languishing for years.
excellent, interesting, weirdly magical, and fascinatingly historical. I know more know about the Chartists movement than I ever learned in history class. and I've met characters I long to see again . . . alas and dammit.

You are not good for my resolution to make a dent in my TBR pile... I just added 3 of yours to my list ;p

doh! I have to limit my review of other readers for that very reason. the book swap doesn't help either! but I-can't-stop!

8. Blind Spot by Terri Persons

well, poot. I was really hoping that this would be better. strangely appealing premise, and moderately interesting criminal, oh, and a very intriguing main character cliff-hanger, but even added all together, felt like a freshman effort.

9.Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

2/1/2011 - This was fantastic, funny, charming, interesting. I am actually excited for further stories in this world. far more adult, all right all right, slacker adult than the Twilight series.

definitely the best entertainment so far this year.

10. The Confessions (Penguin Classics) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

2/3/2011 - I'm totally counting for my English class reading, since I actually read this with more intent than anything I've read in the past, oh, 15 years. what? fine, 17 years, hush up.
I actually enjoyed it too, Rousseau turns out to be hilarious if you don't take him too seriously. and what a pervert! surprise surprise surprise.

11. Pop Apocalypse: A Possible Satire by Lee Konstantinou

2/7/11 - how have I missed so much modern satire? This is definitely lad-lit, but it was fun, funny, and politically interesting. I have to say, it made me far more aware of the Egyptian protests than I would have been. entertaining read, I look forward to more from this author.

12. Zero History by William Gibson

2/11/11 - amazing. very surreal having just finished Pop Apocalypse: A Possible Satire. I fear the future, and adore Gibson.

13. The Montmartre Investigation by Claude Izner

2/15/11 - meh. as much as I was interested in the characters and the location, the overall mystery was a dud. alas.

14. The Woad to Wuin by Peter David

as a huge fan of Brit comedy, Terry Pratchett, and silliness I thought this pun-filled adventure would suit me. plus I hugely enjoyed Darkness of the Light. but alas, this one did not fill my heart with glee. falling somewhere between comedy, groans, and adventure, with either too much or not enough of any.

hasn't stopped me from enjoying any other his other books however.

15. Bryant & May off the Rails: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher Fowler

This series continues to surprise me, with each page I am drawn to these fussy old men. Part of me wants to adopt and part of me hopes my parents never reach this age, and stubbornness.

Oops, too late.

16. Autobiography by John Stuart Mill

This was an assignment read, but in the end it was probably the best thing I'd read all semester. Dry, Victorian-ish, yet powerfully optimistic about mankind. Despite his rather depressing upbringing, JSM had a wit and razor mind that leads me to believe he would be a wonderful dinner guest.

Plus the decades long love affair, which he barely mentions, is titillating in the extreme. Perhaps not the first feminist, but a true one nonetheless.

17. That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything in Between by Victoria Beckham

I am NOT a "girl's girl", but I did enjoy this. some useful tips, and you know, sometimes it is nice to pretend I am girly. and to my surprise, which is so biased of me, the tone is not obnoxiously superior, but friendly and calm.
I now have a crush on Posh. weird.

18. 03/03/11 Hotel Paradise by Martha Grimes


I really liked this book, to the point of dragging my mother to the library to get it. The main character is so desperately twelve, and wonderfully smart and unspoiled.
Or maybe I just have a thing for smartass girls. I love the de Luce novels (A Red Herring Without Mustard) as well.

19. Hissy Fit by Mary Kay Andrews

Sassy, southern, house and interior designer porn. Not bad, but far too chick lit for my mood.

20. I Shall Wear Midnight (Tiffany Aching, #4) by Terry Pratchett

if there is ever any proof that the gods like to tease, it's the fact that Sir Pratchett will not live forever, writing books and being awesome.

the fourth and last of The Wee Free Men: A Story of Discworld, as wonderful, heart-lightening, and seriously funny as ever.

21. Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language by Eva Hoffman

once again I am reminded that I am not the amazing genius that I think I am.

a Polish teen brought to North America, learns not only an entirely new language, but expresses herself more poetically and beautifully than most native speakers.

this is her struggle to find her voice and her self in the two worlds of old Europe and new America.

lovely, fascinating, and crushing.

22. The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca by Tahir Shah

This nonfiction book was really great, and at the same time a struggle to get through. I feel as though the author lacks imagination, he describes beautifully, but failed to bring many characters and adventure to life for me.
Again, spoiled by previous readings (I'm looking at you Shantaram).

23. The Water Room by Christopher Fowler

Oh, how I wish they would take this story and turn it into a movie.

Descriptively wonderful, crotchety old men, the type of mystery where you constantly think you have it figured out, but NO.

Adorable.

24. Spooky Little Girl by Laurie Notaro

I love the premise, and mostly this book was enjoyable. Perhaps it was just the wrong time to read lite-lit. I adore her non-fiction books, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in harmonious shame as I did reading The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life

25. The Thief of Always: A Fable by Clive Barker

For some reason I pick this book up thinking it’s a Clive Barker I haven’t read, but I’ve read it now at least three times.
Weird and fantastical, but childish. I can’t even claim to have shivered the first time I read it.

26. A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley

Something is just magical about Flavie de Luce. These books are amazing, Flavia is obviously young, but poised and curious in just an engaging manner. I am so very happy to have been introduced to these books.

27. Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane

Someone gave this book to my husband, and he left it in the “throne room” which is how I ended up reading it. It joins the short list of books that I still shake my head at, wondering why I spent the time on THIS particular book.
Not horrible, but really, not worth the sixty words I’ve written about it.

28. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Damn. Hemingway is good. All those critics were right.
I hate it when that happens.
A memoir of his time in Paris, with his first wife. Read it with equal parts longing sighs and edge-of-the-seat excitement. WAY funnier than I expected.

29. Two of the Deadliest: New Tales of Lust, Greed, and Murder from Outstanding Women of Mystery edited by Elizabeth George

I'm not one for short stories, but this is the perfect type of that kind of book. Chewy, interesting, but not annoyingly short. Vignettes that offer mystery and shock, plus an introduction to characters and writers I'd not experienced before.

30. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Perfectly titled. Sad, sweet, bitter, nostalgic.

31. Ravens by George Dawes Green


Winner of the "Meh" award for the year's reading.

I will say, NOT comic at all. But I agree to original. Maybe too original for me . . .

32. The Gates by John Connolly

This is a book that people will insist on giving to me. I can only assume because they never get around to reading it themselves. But they should. Definitely movie material.
Childishly scary, silly, with groan inducing puns you have to share.