TomeStones: JUST A WEE BIT BEHIND

WHAT I'VE READ IN 2004

Amanda Davis: Wonder When You'll Miss Me
A traumatized teen girl runs off to join the circus. More than just another troubled coming-of-age story; the excellent writing and storyline are compelling.
Ann Packer: The Dive Off Clausen's Pier
Ann-Marie MacDonald: As the Crow Flies
Annette Sanford: Eleanor and Abel: a Love Story
This is delightful. Reading about a couple of 70-somethings falling in love is totally charming. It's possible that you have to be a 50-something or more to fully appreciate it, but I hope not.
Azar Nafisi: Reading Lolita in Tehran
Bonnie Jo Campbell: Q Road
Chris Bohjalian: Before You Know Kindness
This has been a favorite author for awhile now, and his newest does not disappoint. I've been dragging this everywhere with me, and reading more than knitting in order to finish. Bohjalian has a deft hand with family dynamics. He clearly shows both sides of any argument. He creates characters who a reader can get fully involved with. Read this, read any of his books. Purely satisfying.
Dan Brown: The Davinci Code
David Liss: The Coffee Trader
Debbie MacComber : The Shop on Blossom Street
Pretty treacly. But it was about knitters and yarn and it did keep me interested enough to finish.
Dodie Smith: I Capture the Castle
Elinor Lipman: The Pursuit of Alice Thrift
This author is skilled at creating engagingly humorous characters. I always enjoy her books.
Elizabeth Berg: The Art of Mending
Love this author!
Gail Tsukiyama: Women of the Silk
A gentle book, it was pleasant to read, but a bit short on exciting plot development.
Gail Tsukiyama: The Language of Threads
Excellent sequel to Women of the Silk.
Gregory Maguire: Mirror Mirror
Oh wow! This is his best one yet. I love his writing! Have you read Wicked, or Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister? Don't miss any of them.
Jeffery Eugenides: Middlesex
Jhumpa Lahiri: The Namesake
Completely satisfying book from first page to last.
John Grisham: The Last Juror
So so.
Kent Haruf: Eventide
If you liked Plainsong, this will be equally satisfying. Haruf is good at exploring both the warmth and chill of human relationships. I like his characters, and he leaves the door open for a continuing saga about how these lives keep intersecting each other.
Laura Kalpakian: The Memoir Club
She is an excellent author, but this isn't one of her more memorable books.
Lawrence Block: Tanner's Twelve Swingers
My first ever audio book. I'm a Block fan from his books Hit Man and Hit List. This wasn't as good, but it was entertaining enough to finish...and I got a lot of knitting done as well.
Lela Nargi: Knitting Lessons
Similar to the KnitLit books, offers reflections about knitting from knitters. I enjoyed this.
Leslie Pietrzyk: A Year and a Day
Highly satisfying read. A dead mother talks her daughter through the difficulty of mourning. This really works, and the ending was just right. I really enjoyed this.
Linda Perlstein: Not Much...Just Chillin'; The Hidden Lives of Middle Schoolers
If you have any connection with young adolescents, or about-to-be young adolescents, steel yourself and read this book. It's hard to know all this, but it's important.
Linda Roghaar and Molly Wolf: KnitLit Too
Lisa Tucker: The Song Reader
My book club's October selection. It was....okay. I liked until the end. Somewhat trite ending, in my opinion. I'll be interested to hear what the others think.
Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Entertaining, informative, and often thought-provoking. This was a good picture into the mind of an autistic child.
Marlena De Blasi: A Thousand Days in Venice
Orson Scott Card: The Crystal Cave
Pearl Buck: The Good Earth
This is considered a classic for a good reason. I first read it forty-plus years ago. Loved it then; loved it now. THe family life cycle in pre-Revolutionary China, and the family life cycle in 21st century America....not much difference in dynamics.
Philippa Gregory: The Queen's Fool
I love historical fiction from the Tudor/Stuart reigns. This one does not disappoint. Try The Other Boleyn Girl by this author as well.
Richard B. Wright: Clara Callan
Roger King: A Girl From Zanzibar
Roxana Robinson: Sweetwater
Sara Nelson: So Many Books, So Little Time
Entertaining. She does for books what we knitbloggers do for knitting. Good for small gulps of time. Otherwise, save the time for reading real books.
Sheila O'Connor: Where No Gods Came
Our August book club choice. A winner.
Sheri Holman: The Mammoth Cheese
This was terrific. Great character development and several intersecting plot lines. Highly recommend.
Terry Kay: The Kidnapping of Aaron Greene
A bit slow to get into, and repetitious in parts, but eventually I got caught up in the plot and decided to finish it. Ending falls flat...the whole book was a bit flat. Kay is a good writer, but he needs a better story to tell. His previous book, To Dance With the White Dog," was far superior. Read that one instead.
Tim Farrington: The Monk Downstairs
Tobias Wolff: Old School
Interesting coming-to-grips-with-integrity story.
Tracy Chevalier: The Lady and the Unicorn
Vivian Schilling: Quietus
This is a can't-put-down book. I was willingly persuaded to suspend belief and go along with the overtones of the supernatural. Through the plot line of survivors of a plane crash being picked off one by one by spectres of Death, the book explores issues of mortality. Not exactly a cheery topic, but like a sore tooth, I am often drawn to probe around it anyway.

Several readers (I have readers?) have noted that I have not kept this blog current. At all. It's not like it hasn't been on my to-do list. Obviously, it must have a permanent location on that list...and it's not at the top. But along with cleaning out closets recently, I'm tidying up that to-do list, so here we are. I guess I'll just plunge in and list everything I've read so far in 2007. I'll only annotate if the book was extra special. Hold on...here it goes!

Intuition by Allegra Goodman
Murder at the Ford Museum by Margaret Truman
The Last Van Gogh by Alyson Richman
The New Woman by Jon Hassler
The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard......EXCELLENT
Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (How could the man who wrote A Hundred Years of Solitude ever write this? Blah!!)
Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen
Passage by Connie Willis

After by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.....EXCELLENT
A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas
A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Urrea.....EXCELLENT
There Will Never Be Another You by Carolyn See
The Book of Names by Gregory & Tintorini
The History of Love by Nicole Strauss.....I LOVED THIS
The Good Children by Kate Wilhelm.....EXCELLENT

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert....I enjoyed this; my two book clubs were strongly divided. Regardless, read her earlier work of fiction...Stern Men. An excellent novel.
Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
Liars and Saints by Maile Meloy
Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman
Sylvia's Farm by Sylvia Jorrin.....read this if you are contemplating raising sheep. Otherwise, maybe not.

Tall Grass by Sandra Dallas
The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho
The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood
Everymans Rules for Scientific Living by Carrie Tiffany....a unique and interesting novel. Quirky. I liked it a lot.
Cellophane by Marie Arana
Hot Rocks by Lev Raphael
The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld....Excellent

Walking on Eggshells by Jane Isay.....Must reading for parents of adult children...or for adult children.
Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands by Susan McCarthy
Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
Disobedience by Naomi Alderman.....good until a very weak ending
The Birth House by Ami McKay.....FASCINATING
The Monk Upstairs by Tim Farrington
The Covenant by Naomi Regan
The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue......this might be my FAVORITE of the year
Little Children by Tom Perotta
Three Junes by Julia Glass.....I read this 5 years ago and thought it had a very weak ending. I just reread it for book club, and the ending is just as weak.

Now if I can just stay caught up, maybe I can say something truly intelligent about what I'm reading. I'll try.

TomeStones

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