Monday, January 09, 2012

2011 and 2012 Books

2011 was my best year for reading yet. I read 18 books!

Here is what I read...

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
My rating: 5 stars out of 5
My full review here

The Help by Katheryn Stockett
My rating: 5 stars out of 5
My full review here

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
My rating: 3 stars out of 5
My full review here

The Pact by Jodi Picoult
2 stars out of 5
My full review here

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhonda Janzen
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars
My full review here

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
My full review here

Something Blue
by Emily Giffin
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
My full review here

Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
My full review here

Last Night at Chateau Marmont by Lauren Weisberger
My rating: 2 out of 5 stars
My full review here

Sacred Marriage by Gary L. Thomas
My rating: 2 out of 5 stars
My full review here

The Secret Gift by Tedd Gup
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
My full review here

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars
My full review here

The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Laura Schlessinger
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars
My full review here

Faithful Place by Tana French
My rating: 2 out of 5 stars
I just couldn't get into this book for some reason. The plot didn't interest me and the "Irish" was hard to understand.

Who Moved my Cheese By Spencer Johnson
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars
More of leaflet than a book. Easy little allegory to read.

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars
A good read but didn't like it as much as Something Borrowed and Something Blue. I did like seeing some of the same characters from those books though!

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
My rating: 1 out of 5 stars
Even though I loved Freedom I didn't like this book. It had no plot and the characters bugged me. I quit about 1/3 of the way though.

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Great book! Interesting characters and crazy plot twists.

-------------------

In 2012 I plan to read these 12 books plus a few others for my book club that have not been decided yet.

January - One Day by David Nicholls

February - The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

March - The Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin

April - Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

May - First Break all the Rules by Marcus Buckingham

June - On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah

July - Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

August - The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

September - Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs

October - The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

November - The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond

December - Wishing and Hoping by Wally Lamb

What was your favorite book in 2011? Have you read any of my 2012 books? What are you reading in 2012?

12 comments:

Ally said...

The Glass Castle is so good!

Carly Anne said...

The Glass Castle is breathtaking. Enjoy!

LWLH said...

I know it was crazy popular, but I loved The Help.

Maria said...

I really need to up my reading this year! No excuses! Your reading list and reviews area great help and will definitely be used by me :) Thanks!
Also a big fan of The Glass Castle. Love that it is a memoir and the parents are... unique. I got very emotionally invested in this book.

Truly His said...

Seriously, what a great thing to do! Each month a new book. Love that! I am going to have to start. I usually dive into books in the summer considering I am a teacher and have that time off, yet you inspired me!!

Jane said...

The 19th Wife is really good ... but its a beast to get through! It is REALLY long ... or at least it seemed that way. I enjoyed it ... and learned a lot. :)

Katie said...

great list! I've added a few of these to my own list :-)

Kara D said...

I enjoyed "A Reliable Wife" and "The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes."

The Bryants said...

I read many of your books: One Day, Glass Castle, Love & Respect, Pioneer Woman, and Wishing & Hoping. I loved Glass Castle and Pioneer Woman. Love & Respect was really really good! Happy Reading!!

Shoshanah said...

One Day is an awesome book! Just the way it's written is so interesting, plus it tells a great story. I also enjoyed The Pioneer Woman did. The Nanny Returns was good as well, but didn't quite live up to the original for me.

SheDan said...

2011 was a great year of reading for me as well! And I am already on a roll for 2012. Currently reading The Oath by Frank Peretti.

I listened to a few hours of Nanny Returns on CD and had to turn it off. It was just... weird. I have't read anything else on your 2012 list.

Stephanie said...

Seriously skip to November and read the pioneer woman book 1st it's FABULOUS!!!!!

Blog Widget by LinkWithin