The End of 2010

I just finished reading Entertainment Weekly's Best and Worst of 2010 issue. It was an eye opener.
2010 Best Movies….haven't seen one of them.
2010 Best TV shows….don't watch any of those either.
2010 Best Music CD's…don’t own one of them and only recognized one artist name (Kanye West).
2010 Best non-fiction books…haven't read one although four were familiar titles.
2010 Best fiction books….haven't read ANY and only recognized ONE (!) title (Room).
2010 Best Stage shows….oh please, did I even need to type the heading? Zero, zip, nada.
2010 Best games….my best showing, I've played Angry Birds on the iPad.

I didn’t realize how completely unhip I am. I'm socially illiterate.

I may not have fared well compared to the general population but I was pretty happy with just myself for completing the bulk of the challenges I entered this year.

First off, and always a little bit tricky (darn that X!) is the A-Z Reading Challenge - this one I finished.

Next is Women Unbound, I never actually set a goal for this one but I would still call it a success, I think I met the minimum requirements with a few extra.

The Audiobook Challenge is a piece of cake other than my neglecting to add them to the list and link them up! This one is complete with about 25 audiobooks listened to this year.

The Year of the Historical challenge was a wash. The Historical fiction book club lost it's steam and so did I. I only read 4 of the 12.

I ended on an almost bang by completing the Holiday Reading Challenge - but I haven't written any of the posts so although complete it's not a resounding success.

I had in the back of my mind all year to sign up for the What's In a Name? challenge. Of course, it never happened but I still love this challenge and want to see if I could have done it...
1.A book with a food in the title: Yes, Dark Tort
2.A book with a body of water in the title: Yes! Green River Running Red
3.A book with a title (queen, president) in the title: Yes! The Queen's Mistake
4.A book with a plant in the title: Yes, again! The Bean Trees
5.A book with a place name (city, country) in the title: Yes, again! The New York, Regional Mormons ...
6.A book with a music term in the title: Nooooooo! So close! Next year, for sure.

The Hunger Games Trilogy

No need for a description on these, if you haven't heard about them yet, you must be in an isolation unit somewhere! Both Bookworm and Youngest had read the first two when it came time for Mockingjay to come out. I figured if both those kids (not to mention the bulk of the book blogging world) liked the series, I probably would too so I carved out some time this past week and enjoyed all three in a row.

I probably liked the first one best for the usual reason -it was all fresh and new and exciting. The next two had surprises but they couldn't match the wonder of discovering everything for the first time. I had the same response with Harry Potter and Twilight With The Hunger Games, I liked the way the author expanded the scale with each book leading up to such a climatic ending. And I liked that she gave each of the male romantic possibilities a true shot at winning Katniss' heart. (Unlike the Twilight series where the answer was soooo obvious. OK that's a joke just for all the Edward fans out there.)

I know there is a movie coming but can't find any details yet - I'll look forward to seeing who gets picked to be Katniss - although I shouldn't get excited, it will probably be some teenager I have never heard of!

I've been so idle that I've lost track of my challenges but if it is still going on this one would count for Woman Unbound (Katniss is definitely unbinding herself and everyone else!). And, The Hunger Games can be my "H" book and Mockingjay my "M" book for the A-Z Reading challenge.

Brick Lane by Monica Ali

From the Amazon product description: After an arranged marriage to Chanu, a man twenty years older, Nazneen is taken to London, leaving her home and heart in the Bangladeshi village where she was born. Her new world is full of mysteries. How can she cross the road without being hit by a car (an operation akin to dodging raindrops in the monsoon)? What is the secret of her bullying neighbor Mrs. Islam? What is a Hell's Angel? And how must she comfort the naive and disillusioned Chanu? As a good Muslim girl, Nazneen struggles to not question why things happen. She submits, as she must, to Fate and devotes herself to her husband and daughters. Yet to her amazement, she begins an affair with a handsome young radical, and her erotic awakening throws her old certainties into chaos.

This was a delightful book. Nazneen is such a likable young wife and it is fascinating to see the world through her eyes. She is accepting of so many injustices as "Fate", simply her lot in life because she is a woman, a wife, an immigrant, and a mother. Just like in real life, when I see an Indian friend seem to sell herself short and put herself last, I felt a little frustration with Nazneen's inertia. But that is who she is and she gently makes important changes for her family. Although the bulk of the novel is set in a housing project outside of London, we see glimpses of life in India through her correspondence with her sister. That was one thing that made enjoying this as an audiobook somewhat tricky, when the viewpoint would change from one sister to another, it often took me a minute to figure that out and resettle back into the story. The narrator had a lovely, placid voice and her soothing tone was just right for Nazneen who seemed to desire going through life without creating a ripple.

If you like audiobooks, I am giving away some that I liked, here.


Nazneen is the perfect character for the Women Unbound challenge. I practically cheered when she had an affair simply because she was doing something for herself rather than for others!And although her political activism was somewhat short-lived, it was a start.





This book counts toward the 2010 Audiobook Challenge hosted by the bloggers over at Royal Reviews. Click on the button to see my progress.

Three Cups of Tea By Greg Mortensen

From the Three Cups of Tea website: In 1993 Mortenson was descending from his failed attempt to reach the peak of K2. Exhausted and disoriented, he wandered away from his group into the most desolate reaches of northern Pakistan. Alone, without food, water, or shelter he stumbled into an impoverished Pakistani village where he was nursed back to health.

While recovering he observed the village’s 84 children sitting outdoors, scratching their lessons in the dirt with sticks. The village was so poor that it could not afford the $1-a-day salary to hire a teacher. When he left the village, he promised that he would return to build them a school. From that rash, heartfelt promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time.


What an inspiring story of the difference in the world a single person can accomplish! If you take the deeds that Greg Mortensen did, that alone is an amazing story. If then you add in the danger of mountain climbing and of being an American who is working and negotiating in Islamic countries before and after the events of 9-11, that makes it all the more exciting. So this is a good story. The telling of the story in this book, however, didn't knock me over. I listened to this on audio and it took FOREVER! I had to renew it at the library for four extra weeks to make it through. And, "make it through" is kind of how it felt after awhile. I started out really enjoying the story, Mortensen is a living hero, but then it just seemed to go on and on. The people and the villages started blurring into an indiscriminate Middle Eastern mash and I had a hard time maintaining an active interest. If I had a better grasp of geography, that might have helped. If I could have seen some of the vocabulary in print, like the names, that may have helped. Even though it was too long for me, I enjoyed it and I am glad I listened to it.

This book shows the powerful force that women's education can have on society. And, it highlights that the freedoms I take for granted here in the States are not available to women everywhere.






This book counts toward the 2010 Audiobook Challenge hosted by the bloggers over at Royal Reviews. Click on the button to see my progress.

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

From the Amazon product description: Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head-on. By the time Taylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completely unexpected child, a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle, and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places.

I absolutely loved it! I have seen Barbara Kingsolver's name floating around recently because she just published a new book, Lacuna. Well, I have some catching up to do if all her books are this good because The Bean Trees was her debut novel and it was great. I had to get past the initial disbelief of - "nobody would ever just hand over a beautiful baby girl to a stranger" - but after accepting that (just say "It's fiction!" really loud), the rest was gritty and bittersweet - exactly the style I like. When I googled to find a cover image, I was surprised to see Sparks notes and other study guides. I didn't click on a one because I knew it would just point out all the pieces that I missed - the foreshadowing, the imagery, the themes...ugh, English 101. If I was reading this for a book group discussion, yes, those things would be important to me but for pleasure, all I need to know is that I liked it!

This book has a wealth of strong women fighting for what is right - a childhood free of abuse, immigrants rights, and marriage that is a partnership.







This book is my "B" book for the 2010 A-Z Reading Challenge. Click on the button to see my progress.

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza

From the product description: In the spring of 1994, more than one million people were murdered in the Rwandan genocide. This is the story of how Immaculee survived certain death, along with seven other women, by hiding in a very small bathroom for more than 3 months. Day after day, for months, the killers would search nearby – gleefully chanting “kill them big, kill them small, kill them, kill them, kill them all!”

With uncommon sincerity, Immaculee shares with us her soul's struggle through disbelief to anger and rage and, ultimately, forgiveness. She is living proof of the power of prayer and positive thinking.

Oh my, there just aren't words to describe how reading about the genocide in Rwanda effects me. I have read about the genocide before, most recently in Tracy Kidder's Strength in What Remains, but it just doesn't get any easier. This book was especially gripping because it was a woman's memoir. Although the genocide was just as devastating to the male population, the women seem more vulnerable because they often were raped and tortured first. This one bothered me more than Deo's story in Strength in What Remains, is it because it was more horrific - can you put these horrible acts on a continuum and say this is worse than that? No, it's just that Immmaculee was a woman, like me, and a Catholic, like me. Her faith was a big part of the story as she relied on prayer to get her through. So it felt more personal.

The other half of the equation is the politics. I won't say too much about it because I'll just display my ignorance. Despite having read a few memoirs of survivors, I've never heard the other side of the story. The other side is one big "Why?". Why didn't the rest of the world intervene? Why wasn't the news media all over it generating interest and encouraging action? In this age of communication, why wasn't this stopped sooner?


I think this book is just right for the Women Unbound challenge. It depicts a strong woman fighting to survive and succeeding against all the odds.


This book is my "L" book for the 2010 A-Z Reading Challenge. Click on the button to see my progress.

Women Unbound Reading Challenge

This month a new challenge started, Women Unbound. Click to read the details but here is a short blurb from the dedicated website, "The challenge runs from November 1, 2009-November 30, 2010, but you may join in the fun whenever you wish! Participants are encouraged to read nonfiction and fiction books related to the rather broad idea of ‘women’s studies.’"

***UPDATE***I'll post what I have actually read here but leave my list of good intentions below.
Non-fiction:
1. Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza
Fiction:
1. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
The thing I love about these challenges is perusing my stacks of TBR's and finding the perfect fit. It's the same optimistic feeling I have when I come across books on my wish list and purchase them despite knowing I have more books than I will probably read in my LIFETIME already in my house.

As I looked through my stacks, I was fairly confident making my non-fiction selections. The fiction is a little shakier. I am basing my potential reads just on the back cover blurb; I think I'll have to read at least a bit before I know if it is truly a good fit for this challenge. Here's what I have come up with.....

Nonfiction:
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Thinking Out Loud by Anna Quindlen
The Faith Club by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner

Fiction:
One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus
Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea