Salmon and Souvlaki

Here are my favorite author-specific books from 2011, as part of my series, “The Year of Books.”  The books with extended reviews are the ones that I rated as “5”; the ones without reviews, I rated as “4”.  The reviews themselves are what I wrote at the time I read them (edited slightly for the blog). 

The Alternate Title:

I Read It Because of the Author and Not Because of the Subject Matter

1. The Reach of a Chef: Beyond the Kitchen by Michael Ruhlman

I really enjoyed this book. It’s about celebrity chefs, which I really don’t care about at all. But his writing is so compelling that I’m giving it 5 stars. I can’t wait to read his other books. And I’d love to eat at Thomas Keller’s restaurants!

2. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

This was by far the best of the three Gladwell books that I’ve read. Nik and I have had some good conversations coming out of this book – primarily, “What does Ellie need to practice for 10,000 hours in order to become excellent at it?” (And I know, we’re going to sound like the “Tiger Mother” soon!)   The book is sobering on many levels though because he clearly shows that success depends on so much more than personal determination and hard work and smarts. Most people must think that if a person is smart enough and tries hard enough, they are bound to succeed. Sadly, this is not the case.

3. What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell

I love all of Malcolm Gladwell’s books. I think we should just put him in charge of the world and let him solve the world’s problems. This book makes a good stab at them.

In addition, I also enjoyed the following books by these authors in 2011:

Walk on Water by Michael Ruhlman (about pediatric open heart surgery)

Elements of Cooking by Michael Ruhlman

 Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Here are my favorite memoirs from 2011, as part of my series, “The Year of Books.”  The books with extended reviews are the ones that I rated as “5”; the ones without reviews, I rated as “4”.  The reviews themselves are what I wrote at the time I read them (edited slightly for the blog). 

1. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson

A very interesting, thought-provoking book. I wish we could take all the money that’s being poured into fighting the war in Afghanistan and give it to Greg Mortenson. I think the Taliban would be defeated through peace. I also found this book very interesting because I’ve had so many students who come from Pakistan. (ETA – See my comment below in reply to Cassie to get my current feelings about Greg Mortenson and the work that he does.)

2. The Grace of Silence by Michele Norris

Read this book. You’ll learn about race relations in America, about African-American soldiers in WWII, and about how important it is to listen to what is said and what is not said in your family. I heard Ms. Norris speak at the Baltimore Film Festival in September 2010 and I’m glad to finally have read her book. It did not disappoint. It felt like I was reading NPR (which to me is a very good thing).

3. The Sibling Effect: What the Bonds Among Brothers and Sisters Reveal About Us by Jeffrey Kluger (This is both memoir and presentation of current research findings.)

One of my favorite books of the year. I’m interested to talk to my siblings about some of the stuff in this book whenever we get together next.

4. The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma, Jim Brozina

This is a wonderful book. Some of the chapters were laugh-out-loud funny. A couple times, as I was reading while Ellie nursed, I looked down to find that she had stopped nursing and was laughing along with me!  As a lover of books and reading, this book hit [almost] all the right notes for me. Her last few chapters (after The Streak ended) were not as compelling. But other than that, a great book.  As a teacher, I read out loud to my students a few times a year. I usually read them Pippi Longstocking because the chapters are fairly self-contained (perfect for one period) and SO FUNNY. I wish now that I had read aloud to them more. This book reinforced in me the belief that listening to a story is not wasted time.  Highly recommended – particularly to anyone who is thinking about reading to kids: their own sons or daughters or nieces or nephews or any other well-loved children in their lives

In addition, I also enjoyed the following memoirs in 2011:

Prisoner of Trebekistan by Bob Harris (about a very successful Jeopardy champion)

The Winter of Our Disconnect by Susan Maushart (about a woman who cut her and her family off from all media for six months).

Here are my favorite fictional books from 2011, as part of my series, “The Year of Books.”

Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

I loved pretty much everything about this book, even the thread of sadness running through it. I especially loved the very last thing that happened in the book. Make sure to read Bean Trees first. (I didn’t know they were a series so luckily I read them in the correct order!)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer

I really enjoyed just about everything about this book – but particularly the setting (post-WWII England) and the immensely entertaining characters.

Light from Heaven by Jan Karon

This is the ninth and final book in the Mitford Series.  I reread these books every few years.  I reread all nine books in 2011 and this one is by far my favorite.  It “preached me a sermon” – a pretty good one.

In addition, I enjoyed the following fiction in 2011:

Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

many books (15-20?) by Alexander McCall Smith: I read most of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series and the entire Sunday Philosophy Club series.  I particularly love the philosophical discussions in the Sunday Philosophy books.

Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott (a reread)

Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White (a reread)

A Good Year by Peter Mayle

a few by Maeve Binchy, including my two favorites: Evening Class and Minding Frankie

Animals Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver

Railway Children by E. Nesbit

Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright

The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill

Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (a reread)

The Enchanted Barn by Grace Livingston Hill (this was the 20th millionth time (or so!) that I had read this book and I still love it)

2011 has certainly been a year of reading for me.  I’ve spent more time reading this year than probably any other year of my life (discounting the academic reading that I had to do in college and grad school).

For the past several years, I’ve been tracking and reviewing the books that I read on Goodreads.  If we aren’t already friends on Goodreads, then you should join me there and we can see what each other is reading!

  In 2011, according to my Goodreads stats, I read 141 books.

One hundred and forty-one.

141!!  That’s ridiculous!

That’s an average of a book read every two and a half days.  I’m not exactly sure how I read that many but I did.

So over the next couple weeks, I’m going to share with my most favorite books of the year.  I’ll share the reviews of all the books that I gave a “5” to (Goodreads’ top rating) along with the names of all my “4” ratings as well.

Even though I read so many books this year, I still have 230 books on my “To-Read” list.

I will never finish reading.

Hooray!