2015

2015 has been a banner year. I have read. I have knitted. I have read books about knitting. 2016 promises to be better than 2015 (which was already better than 2012, 2013, and 2014 by even having a post associated with it).

And so 2011 Begins....

1. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck, 1940)
2. Twelve Sharp (Janet Evanovich)
3. Fatal Voyage (Kathy Reichs)
4. Chapter & Hearse (Lorna Barnett)
5. Lean Mean Thirteen (Janet Evanovich)
6. Fearless Fourteen (Janet Evanovich)
7. Grave Secrets (Kathy Reichs)
8. Bare Bones (Kathy Reichs)
9. Whiskey Sour (J.A. Konrath)
10. Alibi in High Heels (Gemma Halliday)
11. Mayhem in High Heels (Gemma Halliday)
12. Crazy Love (Francis Chan)
13. Hour of the Hunter (J.A. Jance)
14. Bloody Mary (J.A. Konrath)

Books Read in 2010

1. Dead Until Dark (Charlaine Harris)
2. Plum Lovin' (Janet Evanovich)
3. Rabbit is Rich (John Updike, 1982)
4. Living Dead in Dallas (Charlaine Harris)
5. A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
6. Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (John Cleland)
7. Club Dead (Charlaine Harris)
8. Life With Jeeves (P.G. Wodehouse)
9. A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
10. Dead to the World (Charlaine Harris)
11. Dead as a Doornail (Charlaine Harris)
12. Definitely Dead (Charlaine Harris)
13. All Together Dead (Charlaine Harris)
14. From Dead to Worse (Charlaine Harris)
15. The Story of O (Pauline Réage)
16. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
17. Sacred Marriage (Gary Thomas)
18. The Moonstone (Wilkie Collins)
19. Something Rotten (Jasper Fforde)
20. Death of a Cad (M.C. Beaton)
21. The Talented Mr. Ripley (Patricia Highsmith)
22. Death of a Perfect Wife (M.C. Beaton)
23. Choke (Chuck Palahniuk)
24. Death of an Outsider (M.C. Beaton)
25. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Joanne Fluke)
26. Death of a Hussy (M.C. Beaton)
27. Death of a Snob (M.C. Beaton)
28. Dead and Gone (Charlaine Harris)
29. American Psycho (Bret Easton Ellis) -- didn't completely finish this one; it was too disturbing.
30. King Solomon's Mines (H. Rider Haggard)
31. Murder on a Girls' Night Out (Anne George)
32. Strawberry Shortcake Murder (Joanne Fluke)
33. Blueberry Muffin Murder (Joanne Fluke)
34. Lemon Meringue Pie Murder (Joanne Fluke)
35. Death of a Charming Man (M.C. Beaton)
36. Death of a Scriptwriter (M.C. Beaton)
37. Fudge Cupcake Murder (Joanne Fluke)
38. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson)
39. Peach Cobbler Murder (Joanne Fluke)
40. Cherry Cheesecake Murder (Joanne Fluke)
41. Key Lime Pie Murder (Joanne Fluke)
42. Death of a Prankster (M.C. Beaton)
43. Carrot Cake Murder (Joanne Fluke)
44. Cream Puff Murder (Joanne Fluke)
45. Death of a Nag (M.C. Beaton)
46. The Girl Who Played With Fire (Stieg Larsson)
47. Wish You Were Here (Rita Mae Brown)
48. Death of a Travelling Man (M.C. Beaton)
49. Death of a Glutton (M.C. Beaton)
50. Murder is Binding (Lorna Barnett)
51. Death of a Dentist (M.C. Beaton)
52. Rest in Pieces (Rita Mae Brown)
53. Death of a Dustman (M.C. Beaton)
54. Murder Uncorked (Michele Scott)
55. Murder by the Glass (Michele Scott)
56. Silenced By Syrah (Michele Scott)
57. Bookmarked for Death (Lorna Barnett)
58. Bookplate Special (Lorna Barnett)
59. Death of a Celebrity (M.C. Beaton)
60. A Highland Christmas (M.C. Beaton)
61. Murder at Monticello (Rita Mae Brown)
62. A Vintage Murder (Michele Scott)
63. Corked by Cabernet (Michele Scott)
64. A Toast to Murder (Michele Scott)
65. One for the Money (Janet Evanovich)
66. Two for the Dough (Janet Evanovich)
67. Slow Hands (Leslie Kelly)

Books read in 2009

1. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
2. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
3. All Over But the Shoutin' (Rick Bragg)
4. The Winds of War (Herman Wouk)
5. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)
6. Intimate Issues: 21 Questions Christian Women Ask About Sex (Linda Dillow and Lorraine Pintus)
7. The Westing Game (Ellen Raskin)
8. The Act of Marriage (Tim & Beverly LaHaye)
9. War and Remembrance (Herman Wouk)
10. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
11. Arrowsmith (Sinclair Lewis, 1926)
12. Sex God (Rob Bell)
13. Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh)
14. The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)
15. In the Presence of My Enemies (Gracia Burnham with Dean Merrill)
16. American Pastoral (Philip Roth, 1998)
17. The Three Musketeers (Alexandre Dumas)
18. Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal (Christopher Moore)
19. The Jungle (Upton Sinclair)
20. Come Thirsty: No Heart Too Dry for His Touch (Max Lucado)
21. Out of the Silent Planet (C.S. Lewis)
22. A Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole, 1981)
23. The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume 1 (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
24. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
25. Schindler's List (Thomas Keneally)
26. A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
27. The Remains of the Day (Kazuo Ishiguro)
28. The Yearling (Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, 1939)
29. Breakfast at Tiffany's (Truman Capote)
30. The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume 2 (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
31. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
32. Tuck Everlasting (Natalie Babbitt)
33. 84, Charing Cross Road (Helene Hanff)
34. Heaven (Randy Alcorn) -- partial
35. The Prestige (Christopher Priest)
36. Summer of My German Soldier (Bette Greene)
37. Far From the Madding Crowd (Thomas Hardy)
38. Celebration of Discipline (Richard Foster)
39. All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque)
40. The Road (Cormac McCarthy, 2007)
41. The Eyre Affair (Jasper Fforde)
42. So Big (Edna Ferber, 1925)
43. The Virgin Suicides (Jeffrey Eugenides)
44. The Joy Luck Club (Amy Tan)
45. Foreign Affairs (Allison Lurie, 1985)
46. Lost in a Good Book (Jasper Fforde)
47. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
48. The Woman in White (Wilkie Collins)
49. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (Douglas Adams)
50. Empire Falls (Richard Russo, 2002)
51. The Well of Lost Plots (Jasper Fforde)
52. Rabbit, Run (John Updike)
53. The Secret History (Donna Tartt)
54. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling)
55. Rabbit Redux (John Updike)
56. The Yada Yada Prayer Group (Neta Jackson)
57. Valley of the Dolls (Jacqueline Susann)
58. The Shining (Stephen King)
59. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Milan Kundera)
60. The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)

Pulitzer

Here's a list of all the Pulitzer Prize-winning novels -- the ones colored and in bold are the ones I have read, and the others are ones that I have yet to get to. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the list grows by one every year. They are in reverse chronological order.

2009 : Olive Kitteridge : Elizabeth Stout
2008 : The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao : Junot Diaz
2007 : The Road : Cormac McCarthy
2006 : March : Geraldine Brooks
2005 : Gilead : Marilynne Robinson
2004 : The Known World : Edward P. Jones
2003 : Middlesex : Jeffrey Eugenides
2002 : Empire Falls : Richard Russo
2001 : The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay : Michael Chabon
2000 : Interpreter of Maladies : Jhumpa Lahiri
1999 : The Hours : Michael Cunningham
1998 : American Pastoral : Philip Roth
1997 : Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer : Steven Millhauser
1996 : Independence Day : Richard Ford
1995 : The Stone Diaries : Carol Shields
1994 : The Shipping News : E. Annie Proulx
1993 : A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain : Robert Olen Butler
1992 : A Thousand Acres : Jane Smiley
1991 : Rabbit at Rest : John Updike
1990 : The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love : Oscar Hijuelos
1989 : Breathing Lessons : Anne Tyler
1988 : Beloved : Toni Morrison
1987 : A Summons to Memphis : Peter Taylor
1986 : Lonesome Dove : Larry McMurtry
1985 : Foreign Affairs : Alison Lurie
1984 : Ironweed : William Kennedy
1983 : The Color Purple : Alice Walker
1982 : Rabbit is Rich : John Updike
1981 : A Confederacy of Dunces : the late John Kennedy Toole
1980 : The Executioner's Song : Norman Mailer
1979 : The Stories of John Cheever : John Cheever
1978 : Elbow Room : James Alan McPherson
1977 : (no award)
1976 : Humboldt's Gift : Saul Bellow
1975 : The Killer Angels : Jeff Shaara
1974 : (no award)
1973 : The Optimist's Daughter : Eudora Welty
1972 : Angle of Repose : Wallace Stegner
1971 : (no award)
1970 : Collected Stories : Jean Stafford
1969 : House Made of Dawn : M. Scott Momaday
1968 : The Confessions of Nat Turner : William Styron
1967 : The Fixer : Bernard Malamud
1966 : Collected Stories : Katherine Anne Porter
1965 : The Keepers of the House : Shirley Ann Grau
1964 : (no award)
1963 : The Reivers : William Faulkner
1962 : The Edge of Sadness : Edwin O'Connor
1961 : To Kill a Mockingbird : Harper Lee
1960 : Advise and Consent : Allen Drury
1959 : The Travels of Jamie McPheeters : Robert Lewis Taylor
1958 : A Death in the Family : the late James Agee
1957 : (no award)
1956 : Andersonville : MacKinlay Kantor
1955 : A Fable : William Faulkner
1954 : (no award)
1953 : The Old Man and the Sea : Ernest Hemingway
1952 : The Caine Mutiny : Herman Wouk
1951 : The Town : Conrad Richter
1950 : The Way West : A.B. Guthrie
1949 : Guard of Honor : James Gould Cozzens
1948 : Tales of the South Pacific : James A. Michener
1947 : All the King's Men : Robert Penn Lewis
1946 : (no award)
1945 : A Bell for Adano : John Hersey
1944 : Journey in the Dark : Martin Flavin
1943 : Dragon's Teeth : Upton Sinclair
1942 : In This Our Life : Ellen Glasgow
1941 : (no award)
1940 : The Grapes of Wrath : John Steinbeck
1939 : The Yearling : Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1938 : The Late George Apley : John Phillips Marquand
1937 : Gone With the Wind : Margaret Mitchell
1936 : Honey in the Horn : Harold L. Davis
1935 : Now in November : Josephine Winslow Johnson
1934 : Lamb in His Bosom : Caroline Miller
1933 : The Store : T.S. Stribling
1932 : The Good Earth : Pearl S. Buck
1931 : Years of Grace : Margaret Ayer Barnes
1930 : Laughing Boy : Oliver Lafarge
1929 : Scarlet Sister Mary : Julia Peterkin
1928 : The Bridge of San Luis Rey : Thornton Wilder
1927 : Early Autumn : Louis Bromfield
1926 : Arrowsmith : Sinclair Lewis
1925 : So Big : Edna Ferber
1924 : The Able McLaughlins : Margaret Wilson
1923 : One of Ours : Willa Cather
1922 : Alice Adams : Booth Tarkington
1921 : The Age of Innocence : Edith Wharton
1920 : (no award)
1919 : The Magnificent Ambersons : Booth Tarkington
1918 : His Family : Ernest Poole
1917 : (no award)

The 1% Well-Read Challenge

I am a voracious reader and love keeping track of the things I read (hmm -- obvious purpose for this blog, right?). The 1% Well-Read Challenge is going on again, and it encourages reading. Duh. The idea is to read 10 books in 10 months from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die by Peter Boxall. There are 2 editions, each slightly different, and I am going with the 2006 edition. The 2008 edition is way too heavy on modern fiction for me -- there are too many classics I haven't read yet! You can find a link to the 2006 list here.

I have finished 9 books off the list already this year and am almost finished with a 10th. I'll get through a few more in the second half of the year. I am quite excited with my progress. I don't intend to read all 1001; about 25% really interest me. Here's what I have read from the list so far this year:

1. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
2. Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh)
3. The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)
4. American Pastoral (Philip Roth) -- this one overlaps with my Pulitzer goal
5. The Three Musketeers (Alexandre Dumas)
6. The Jungle (Upton Sinclair)
7. A Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole)
8. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
9. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)

Pulitzer 2009

The Pulitzer prize winners will be announced today at 3 p.m., EDT. Update on the winner for novel/fiction to come.

Update:
The winner has been announced. This year it's Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. On the list it goes!