2011 Year End Roundup

I've actually finished a handful of books in the last month or two, but being a total slacker and bogged down by holiday goings-on, I haven't recorded them here. So here we go:

#14/2011:


The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
This was a recommendation from my brother-in-law Roger, who felt I would be interested in it even though it was a harrowing book for him to read. The Dust Bowl is in my blood as a fourth generation Okie, and I certainly didn't escape from it majoring in history at the University of Oklahoma, but that never makes it any easier to confront the stories of what happened to people in the Dirty Thirties. Egan does a great job of telling anecdotes that the reader can approach on a human level.

#15/2011:


The Doll People by Ann M. Martin & Laura Godwin
Proof that sometimes juvenile fiction books really are just for kids. I probably would've loved this book when I was eight or ten. I'll hold on to this copy for Mags.

#16/2001:


The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Another brother-in-law story here: this book was given to me by my other BIL, Jeff, and his wife Jeannette (I don't know which of them, or if both, read it first). I had heard of this book as it was fairly popular when it was published in the '80s, and then it was made into a mini-series for TV in the '90s. A great page-turner and interesting take on the Arthurian legends from the point of view of the women, especially Morgan le Fey.

#17/2001:


They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie
The next book in my quest to conquer Agatha's library. This one isn't my favorite. The twist was fairly clever, but the setting in a school for juvenile delinquents was pretty odd. On to the next!

18/2001:


SoulPancake: Chew on Life's Big Questions by Rainn Wilson, et al.
I've been very interested in this project of Rainn Wilson's (the guy who plays Dwight on The Office) since I read about it somewhere. The book is mostly just a collection of art and questions gleaned from the website project with a few interviews and guest columnists thrown in, but it is still an interesting and brain-stimulating read. Definitely check out the website - it's an entire day's worth of time-wasting internet browsing.

#19/2001:


Bossypants by Tina Fey
The first book I read on Mike's new Kindle and new iPad. Now I'm trying to decide if I prefer the e-ink or the backlit color touch screen. But regardless of whether you read it on a tiny iPhone screen or over someone's shoulder on the bus, who doesn't love Tina Fey??