Here it is at long last. This is a pie that could have been divided in any number of ways, so I chose those that were most interesting to me. I note that my reading was divided exactly equally between fiction and non-fiction, and that without my paying much attention to making it come out even! How 'bout that?
Here are the books I read in 2011 divided in various ways and in no particular order. (Can we pretend that the book titles are properly italicized? When I copied and pasted the lists from a Word document, the italicizing didn't come along.)
Non-Fiction
Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
The Pace of a Hen: Ways to Fulfillment for a Housewife by Josephine Moffett Benton
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
The Blessings of Weekly Communion by Kenneth Wieting
Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson
On Christian Liberty by Martin Luther
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Conjugal America: On the Public Purposes of Marriage by Allan Carlson
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett
Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World by N.D. Wilson
1066: The Year of the Conquest by David Howarth
The Natural Family: A Manifesto by Allan C. Carlson and Paul T. Mero
The Most Reluctant Convert: C.S. Lewis's Journey to Faith by David C. Downing
Christmas Book 13 published by Gooseberry Patch
Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God by John Piper
Sixpence in Her Shoe by Phyllis McGinley
The Madman and the Professor: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester
The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi
The Gentle Art of Domesticity: Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art & the Comforts of Home by Jane Brocket
Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches by Russell D. Moore
Confessions by St. Augustine
Martin Luther's Christmas Book edited by Roland Bainton
Fiction
Oedipus the King by Sophocles
A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck
Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome
The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
A World Lost by Wendell Berry
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jane Birdsall
Journey Cake by Isabel McLennan McKeekin
How Right You Are, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie
The Tuesday Club Murders by Agatha Christie
Good-bye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton
Agamemnon by Aeschylus
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
King Lear by William Shakespeare
Books of a Devotional/Theological Nature
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Blessings of Weekly Communion by Kenneth Wieting
Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson
On Christian Liberty by Martin Luther
Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World by N.D. Wilson
The Most Reluctant Convert: C.S. Lewis's Journey to Faith by David C. Downing
Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God by John Piper
Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches by Russell D. Moore
Confessions by St. Augustine
Martin Luther's Christmas Book edited by Roland Bainton
Children's Books
A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jane Birdsall
Journey Cake by Isabel McLennan McKeekin
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Housekeeping Books
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
The Pace of a Hen: Ways to Fulfillment for a Housewife by Josephine Moffett Benton
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson
Christmas 13 published by Gooseberry Patch
Sixpence in Her Shoe by Phyllis McGinley
The Gentle Art of Domesticity: Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art & the Comforts of Home by Jane Brocket
Old Books a la C.S. Lewis (100 Years Old or Older)
On Christian Liberty by Martin Luther
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett
Confessions by St. Augustine
Martin Luther's Christmas Book edited by Roland Bainton
Oedipus the King by Sophocles
Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
Agamemnon by Aeschylus
King Lear by William Shakespeare
Classic Fiction
King Lear by William Shakespeare
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Agamemnon by Aeschylus
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Oedipus the King by Sophocles
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
Most Disappointing Books
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jane Birdsall
The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket
The Pace of a Hen: Ways to Fulfillment for a Housewife by Josephine Moffett Benton
Most Pleasantly Surprising Books
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Sixpence in Her Shoe by Phyllis McGinley
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi
Journey Cake by Isabelle McLennan McKeekin
Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
Funniest Books
The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
How Right You Are, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Overall, I'm very pleased with this experiment. I wish I had read more old books, though several were almost a hundred years old. One thing I caught myself doing was avoiding long books (over about 200 pages) because I knew I couldn't finish them in a week. So this year I hope to go back and pick some of those up, which will mean fewer books read this year, of course, but possibly as many or more pages. I discovered that I don't have a natural affinity for ancient literature, which is too bad because I think it's important to read. Hopefully I can make myself tackle a few each year. Thank you for following my reading journey this past year. I will continue to post book reviews from time to time. Happy reading, everyone!
I for one enjoyed all your thoughtful reviews, Martha. I'm with you on the ancient literature and, you're right, it is important and once I do read it (by educating my kids I've placed myself in a position where I've had to read it) I am changed by it, the themes and ideas of these works coming back to me again and again, often when I read a modern work. This week I was reading that one of the delights of Jefferson Davis' life was reading Vergil. I'm definitely not there yet, but maybe someday.
ReplyDeleteI've been off the hook reading ancient literature with my kids since that's Dave's specialty. He always handled that and so I wasn't forced to read it. But I really sense a big hole in my understanding of literature and Western civilization in general because of my lack in this area. So I will slowly plug away at it. The good thing is, Dave is always willing to go along for the ride with me, and that helps me be motivated. His enthusiasm is infectious. And Hannah takes after her father in this. She gobbles up any ancient lit. she can find. She told me the other day she enjoys it as much as reading modern fantasy lit. (and that's really saying something for her!).
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