Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year!

DH and I are enjoying a cup of Cafe Monteverde Rainforest coffee from Costa Rica. A very yummy coffe from a fantastic vacation from a great year. For my first post for 2009- my fave books of 2008 (and some that were not).

Excellent to Very Good
fiction
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle- David Wroblewski- probably my fave book this year
Hummingbird’s Daughter- Luis Alberto Urrea- beautiful and a strong female main character
Out Stealing Horses- Per Peterson- spare writing but very moving story- I could smell the forest- it does just end. I felt it could have had a few more chapters
Outlander- Gil Adamson- slow start but when I wanted more when the story finished
Housekeeping- Marilynne Robinson- hooked me in
Gilead- Marilynne Robinson- beautiful story about a dad and his son
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society- Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows- a feel good love story that you know what will happen but you enjoy the story anyway
The Art of Racing in the Rain- Garth Stein- I can’t look at Indy the same anymore
Snow- Orhan Pamuk
Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen- another slow starter but good
Peony in Love- Lisa See- just loved this- not sure why
The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald- it’s a classic for a reason
Deep Blue Goodbye- John D MacDonald- fun detective story- so 60’s but still good
Book Thief- this also might be my fave this year

nonfiction
Old Dogs- Gene Weingarten :) see page 107
Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain- Maryanne Wolf- surprisingly easy to read and fascinating- I’m learning so much
Outliers- Malcolm Gladwell
In Defense of Food- Michael Pollan
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly- Jean-Dominique Bauby
How to Read Literature like a Professor- Thomas C Foster- another fun read
The Case for Language- Gao Xingjian
Red Azalea- Anchee Min
Painting Chinese: A Lifelong Teacher Gains the Wisdom of Youth- Herbert Kohl
Seductions of Rice- Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
Eating India: An Odyssey into the Food and Culture of the Land of Spices- Chitrita Banerji
The Glass Castle- Jeanette Walls
Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism- Muhammad Yunus
Infidel- Ayaan Hirsi Ali
The Shadow of the Sun- Ryszard Kapuściński


Good
Enchantress of Florence
- Salman Rushdie
How Starbucks Saved my Life- Michael Gates Gill
The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food- Judith Jones
Nineteen Minutes- Jodi Picoult
Atonement- Ian McEwan
Eat, Pray, Love- Elizabeth Gilbert
The Madonnas of Leningrad- Debra Dean
Divisadero- Michael Ondaatje
The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild- Craig Childs
The World Peace Diet- Will Tuttle
Getting Things Done- David Allen
The Double Bind- Chris Bohjalian
The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature- Steven Pinker



Not for Me
Holiday’s on Ice- David Sedaris- I loved the story 6-8 Black Men but prefer to be in my happy place at the holidays
The Inheritance of Loss- Kiran Desai- great writing but too bleak for me
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao- Junot Díaz- but I plan on trying once more
Duma Key- Stephen King
Lulu in Marrakech- Diane Johnson

In the Middle of
Soul Mountain- Gao Xingjian
The Yiddish Policeman’s Union- Michael Chabon
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down- Anne Fadiman
The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears- Dinaw Mengestu
The Invention of Hugo Cabret- Brian Selznick
The Library at Night- Alberto Manguel


Snow in August- Pete Hamill


Faves from other years
Plain Truth
- Jodi Picoult
Second Glance- Jodi Picoult
Pigs in Heaven- Barbara Kingsolver
A Fine Balance- Rohinton Mistry
Bel Canto- Ann Patchett
The Piano Tuner- Daniel Mason
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan- Lisa See
Palace Walk- Naguib Mahfouz
Anil’s Ghost- Michael Ondaatje
The Road- Cormac McCarthy
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim- David Sedaris
Memory Keeper’s Daughter- Kim Edwards
A Staggering Work of Incredible Genius- David Eggers

TBR
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Stieg Larsson
Travels with Herodotus- Ryszard Kapuściński
The Tenderness of Wolves – Stef Penney
Chains- Laurie Halse Anderson
In the Woods- Tana French
Home- Marilynne Robinson
The Last Chinese Chef- Nicole Mones
Mountains Beyond Mountains- Tracy Kidder
Loving Frank- Nancy Hora
2666: A Novel- Roberto Bolano
Death of Vishnu- Manil Suri
The Other- Ryszard Kapuściński
The Writer as Migrant- Ha Jin

New Cookbooks
Heirloom Beans- Steve Sando
Hot Sour Salty Sweet- Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World- Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Cooking Light Annual 2008
Seductions of Rice- Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
The Rice Cooker Cookbook- Beth Hensberger
How to Cook Everything Vegetarian- Mark Bittman
The Chopra Center Cookbook- Deepak Chopra











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