Aloha
What did you think of Ruhlman's book?
Laura, I loved it! I hope to get a chance to share my thoughts soon.
Good! I'll look forward to seeing what you have to say!
So far in January:
1. Unpacking Forgiveness by Chris Brauns (finest book I'll probably read all year!).
2. True Woman by Susan Hunt
3. Intern by Sandeep Jauhar
4. The Uncommon Reader, A Novella, by Alan Bennett
I just finished a rather strange book today, The Brief History of the Dead. Brockmeier certainly knows how to string words together and the tale is very inventive (a word from the front cover,) but the plot didn't grab me. It's definitely not a creepy story, though, just strange. (I picked it up because he lives in Little Rock. 
)
If you haven't read any of Ivan Doig's books, give them a try. "The Whistling Season" is absolutely wonderful and endearing. When I was about a third of the way finished with this one, I ordered three more of his books. I haven't been disappointed. Currently I'm reading "Dancing at the Rascal Fair". I hate to put it down!
Shirley
I like Burke so much. . . That is one of the boy names that was on my short list. . . ruled out, though, because of how much it clashes with our last name.
I loved "The Killer Angels." What's also impressive is that Michael's son Jeff is a fine writer himself, and his historical fiction can stand proudly next to his father's.
The Old Man and the Sea is a brilliantly written book. Anyone that can make a book about fishing a page-turner has done something well. It is no surprise Hemingway won an award for this book. I think his first paragraph is the best of any book I've read. I loved it.
Much more impressive than my March list, which ended up being almost entirely science fiction. Good stuff, but still fluffy set next to yours.
I'm curious to know your thoughts on Rose Marie Miller's book. I read it a couple of years ago but struggled to like it because, for reasons of both style and content, I'm not a big fan of Sonship. I'm enjoying Ed Welch's book on fear, though.
atlantagirl, my thoughts exactly. A women's book club at my church read it, so I felt obligated, but I had to force myself to finish it. I have Ed Welch's book but haven't read it yet.
Sebastian, but my list was driven by homeschooling. I likely wouldn't have picked up the Communist Manifesto on my own!
That is one of the boy names that was on my short list.love your Blog.
I still must read The Kite Runner. I am almost finished with Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book, Infidel, and I think I'm going to have to digest it awhile before reading anything else about Muslims.
I really loved The Kite Runner. Disturbing, yes, but very well written. He's a great story teller. I've just ordered his next book.
Once again Anne - you make me feel like I need to re-do the Hooked On Phonics collection.
Oh, "Gallia est omnis diuisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquitani, tertiam, qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur. "
OOH, Legends of the Fall. Did you read this in a version that also had Vengence? This is a story that was made into a Kostner movie. I thought both of these were well written.
Yes, it had Revenge in it plus another one. I really liked Revenge & Legends of the Fall, and really didn't like the other one (can't remember the name of it now).
Anne, please tell me what you thought of Thousand Splendid Suns.
And I second the Ivan Doig recommendation. (We Montanans have to stick up for one another.) His fiction is good, but I really appreciated his Heart Earth which is about his mother who died when he was young. I lost my mother at a very young age so this really resonated with me.
I also read Ruhlman's Soul of a Chef and West's Death of the Grown-Up this year, and very much liked both.
I've just started reading Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism, and have been pleasantly surprised by its substance. I was expecting a lighter read, given his breezy NRO style, but it seems he's a historian as well as a humorist.
Others I've read and liked this year include Walker Percy's The Thanatos Syndrome, Thomas Sowell's A Personal Odyssey, Nancy Etcoff's Survival of the Prettiest, Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers (though I disagree with many of his conclusions, the book was a very enjoyable read), Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop, Judith Harris's The Nurture Assumption, Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct, and Theodore Dalrymple's Life at the Bottom.
I think this year's prize goes to Agnes Morely Cleaveland's No Life for a Lady. It's a pleasure from cover to cover.
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