2012 Challenge: Chunkster and Tea & Books Challenges

Wendy at Caribousmom and Vasilly at 1330V have teamed up to host the 2012 Chunkster Reading Challenge.

GOES UNTIL JANUARY 31, 2013

This is the third year I've participated in this challenge.  In 2010, I bit off more than I could chew, signing up for six books and only finishing four.  So I scaled back in 2011 to the "Chubby Chunkster" four-book level. 

Despite my less than stellar performance in years past, I am signing up for the Do These Books Make my Butt Look Big? option to read SIX chunksters from the following categories: two books 450 - 550 pages; two books 551 - 750 pages; and two books longer than 750 pages.

One of the reasons I upped the pressure is because, for the first time, collected editions of essays or short stories count.  That increased my options.

The other reason I'm in for six books is because I can overlap with the Tea & Books Challenge hosted by Birgit at The Book Garden.  I am signing up at the Berry Tea Devotee level to read four books longer than 700 pages.  If I really get on a roll, I'll upgrade to the 6-book level.

INCOMPLETE

BOOKS, REVIEWS, & POSSIBILITIES

I have finished six books so far, of which three count for the Tea & Books Challenge and five for the Chunkster Challenge:

World Without End by Ken Follett (1,024 pages); reviewed here; 


The Gate House by Nelson DeMille (800 pages), reviewed here;

Witness by Whittaker Chambers (802 pages), reviewed here;


The Book and the Brotherhood by Iris Murdoch (624 pages), reviewed here;

Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (511 pages), reviewed here; 

Glittering Images by Susan Howatch (462 pages), reviewed here;


I figured out how to sort the TBR books in my LibraryThing library by the number of pages, so I can check that list for inspiration.  Here are some possibilities:

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (960)

More Matter: Essays and Criticism by John Updike (928)

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (862)

Redemption by Leon Uris (848)

The Charm School by Nelson DeMille (816)

Ancient Evening by Norman Mailer (800)

A Personal History by Katharine Graham (642)

The Life of Noel Coward by Cole Lesley (608)

NOTES

Last updated on December 26, 2012. I fell one short for the Tea & Books Challenge.  The Chunkster goes until January 31, 2013, so I have time to finish one more in the 551 - 750 category. I am working my way through Katharine Graham's autobiography, so should finish this challenge shortly.

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Leaves of Fate

By what consequence am I foretold!

-- The Leaves of Fate by George Robert Minkoff.

This is the third volume of Minkoff's In the Land of Whispers trilogy about Jamestown and America's earliest days.  I haven't read the first two, The Weight of Smoke and The Dragons of the Storm, but I understand that this one is good on its own.

This holiday week is always a great time to cuddle in with an absorbing novel.



A Few More Pages hosts Book Beginnings every Friday.  The event is open for the entire week.

2012 Challenge: Audio Book Challenge

FINISHED

Teresa at Teresa's Reading Corner is hosting the 2012 Audio Book Challenge. Click on the button or the link to go to the main challenge page for  more details. 

I signed up for the "Married" level to read (with my ears) 40 audio books.

"Married" is a pick-your-own-number level (over 25).  I listened to roughly 50 audio books in 2011, so 40 is probably a little low, but I am hoping that joining this challenge will inspire me to write more reviews of the audio book I listen to.

MY BOOKS

The Coffee Trader by David Liss

High Stakes by Dick Francis (reviewed here)

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (reviewed here)

Dracula by Bram Stoker (reviewed here)

My Grandfather's Son by Clarence Thomas

Shroud for a Nightingale by P. D. James

Blood Sport  by Dick Francis (reviewed here)

Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe by Thomas Cahill (reviewed here)

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

What's So Great About Christianity by Dinesh D'Souza

The Black Tower by P. D. James (reviewed here)

Driving Force by Dick Francis

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

Tinkers by Paul Harding (reviewed here)

Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope (reviewed here)

Dressed for Death by Donna Leon

The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson (Booker winner; reviewed here)

Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl (reviewed here)

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black

Other People's Children by Joanne Trollope

Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships by Daniel Goleman

Spies of the Balkans by Alan Furst

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (reviewed here)

Trespass by Rose Tremain

The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner (reviewed here)

Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley

The Silver Swan by Ben Black

The Edge by Dick Francis

Writing Places: The Life Journey of a Writer and Teacher by Howard Zinsser

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

Brother and Sister by Joanna Trollope

Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil by Tom Mueller, reviewed here;

The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren (National winner)

Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler

Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (reviewed here)

Death of an Expert Witness by P. D. James

The Honourable Schoolboy by John Le Carre

A Personal Odyssey by Thomas Sowell

The Children of Men by P. D. James

About Face by Donna Leon

NOTES

Last updated on December 26, 2012.  So far this year, I've read 42 books with my ears and am going to finish one more before the end of the year. But I haven't reviewed many, especially lately. I always have great intentions of writing reviews, but have fallen way behind.

2012 Challenge: Vintage Mystery Challenge

INCOMPLETE

Bev at My Reader's Block is hosting the Vintage Mystery Challenge again in 2012.  This was one of my favorite challenges in 2011.

The idea is to read mysteries by more than one author, all published before 1960. 

This year, Bev has several "vintage themes" to choose from or invites participants to make up their own theme.

Click the button or the link above to go to the main challenge post for more details.

I am using two of Bev's suggested themes, signing up for the Golden Age Girls  and Cherchez le Homme categories to read eight books by female authors or featuring female detectives and eight by male authors or featuring male detectives.

I have in mind reading more Agatha Christie, because I read a couple in 2011 and loved them. My plan is to start with this:



Murder on Board, an omnibus edition of three novels by AC: The Mystery on the Blue Train, Death in the Air, and What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw.

Another possibility include a couple of pre-1960 Helen McInnes books, perhaps  Assignment in Brittany (1942). Friends and Lovers (1947), Rest and be Thankful (1949), or North from Rome (1958), all on my TBR shelf now.

MY BOOKS AND REVIEWS

• Dracula by Bram Stoker (reviewed here);
• The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (reviewed here);
• Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie; 
• The Rubber Band by Rex Stout (reviewed here);
• The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie;
• Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh (reviewed here);
  
• The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (reviewed here);
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle; 

NOTES

Last updated December 27, 2012.  I read 5 of my 8 female books, and only 3 of my 8 male books. Uh oh. Better luck in 2013!

Teaser Tuesday: Jumptown

Action central was Williams Avenue, an entertainment strip where you could find jazz twenty-four hours a day.

-- Jumptown: The Golden Years of Portland Jazz 1942-1957 by Robert Dietsche, published by the OSU Press. Great cover.  And great Portland history.


There is an interesting story about where Dietsche came up with the Jumptown title. The Portland Trailblazers adopted it, but it's not as historically authentic as it sounds.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

2012 Challenge: European Reading Challenge (My Challenge List)

TAKE THE GRAND TOUR

January 1, 2012 to January 31, 2013

FINISHED

This is my sign up page for the European Reading Challenge. Please see the main challenge page for more details or to sign up.  Go to this page to post your reviews.

The gist: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour.

It's my challenge, so I am signing up at the highest level, the Five Star (Deluxe Entourage) level, to read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.

I originally thought I'd go for the Agritourisimo version for foodie readers – to read  food-related books written by European authors or about European food, cooking, restaurants, culinary traditions, farming, winemaking, etc.  This would be a good tie-in with the Foodies Read 2 Challenge.  But I didn't see enough qualifying books from different countries on my TBR shelf, and my main goal for 2012 is to climb Mt. TBR. 

BOOKS, REVIEWS, & POSSIBILITIES

So far, I have read the five books I need to complete the challenge:

• High Stakes by Dick Francis (UK; reviewed here)
• Serenissima by Erica Jong (Italy; reviewed here) 
• People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (Bosnia; reviewed here) 
• Vie De France: Sharing Food, Friendship and a Kitchen in the Loire Valley by James Haller (France; reviewed here)
  
• Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson (Norway; not reviewed)

I am not sure yet if I will read more books this year, but some possibilities for next year from my TBR shelves include:

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie (American; Russia)

The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker (Dutch; Holland)

Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz (Polish; Nobel)

Death in the Truffle Wood by Pierre Magnan (French; France)



The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass (German; Germany)

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (Norwegian; Norway)

How German Is It = Wie Deutsch Ist Es by Walter Abish (Germany; PEN/Faulkner)

I, the King by Frances Parkinson Keyes (American; Spain)

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (Russian; Russia)

NOTES

Last updated on October 5, 2012.

Mailbox Christmas Monday!

 

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

Lady Q at Let Them Read Books is hosting in December.  Be sure and visit her terrific blog!

Santa brought me a lot of books, much to my delight. But I am too busy celebrating to post them yet.  They'll be posted in my first Mailbox Monday of the new year!

Merry Christmas!

1 Day to Christmas!

2012 Challenge: Graham Greene Reading Challenge

FINISHED

MY BOOKS

• The Comedians, reviewed here; 
• May We Borrow Your Husband?, reviewed here. 

ORIGINAL SIGN UP

Carrie at Books and Movies is hosting the Graham Greene Reading Challenge in 2012, to encourage people to read more of his books.

I am signing up for the "Getting Your Feet Wet" level to read two GG books in 2012.

I already planned to read The Comedians for the Birth Year Reading Challenge, so that will be my first choice.

I am not sure yet which my second book will be, but I'm going to maximize crossover with other challenges, like the Mt. TBR Challenge and my European Reading Challenge.

The following are also on my TBR shelf already, so it will be one of these:

The End of the Affair (1951)

Travels With My Aunt (1969)

Doctor Fischer of Geneva or the Bomb Party (1980)

Getting to Know the General: The Story of an Involvement (1984)

The Tenth Man (1985)

I am also going to get a GG post up with a list of all his books.  He is a favorite of mine, so he should go on my list of favorites.



NOTE

Last updated December 26, 2012.

2 Days to Christmas!

Opening Sentence of the Day: Jumptown

When most people think of the origins of jazz, Portland, Oregon, is not the first place that comes to mind.

-- from Jim Swenson's Foreword to Jumptown: The Golden Years of Portland Jazz 1942-1957 by Robert Dietsche.

Inland seaports with good railroads make for great jazz, especially during wartime, when there is an acceleration of fresh ideas and fashions from the thousands of servicemen and defense workers arriving.

-- from "The Dude Ranch: Where Jump Was a Noun," the first chapter.


This is another great book published by the Oregon State University Press.

Hubby is a huge classic jazz fan, so most of what we listen to is jazz from this era. I got this out to keep him entertained over the upcoming family visit.
 



A Few More Pages hosts Book Beginnings every Friday.  The event is open for the entire week.

3 Days to Christmas!

2012 Challenge: Mt. TBR & Off the Shelf Challenges

FINISHED

Bev at My Reader's Block is hosting the 2012 Mt. TBR Challenge.  I am signing up at the Mr Kilimanjaro level to read 50 books off my TBR shelves in 2012.

The team at Bookish Ardour is hosting a similar TBR challenge called Off the Shelf.  I am signing up for the 50-book On a Roll level.

Click the buttons or the links above to go to the main challenge pages for details.

According to LibraryThing, there are currently 1,284 books on my groaning TBR shelves.  So I have plenty to choose from.

Here is a picture of my TBR fiction wall.  These challenges were made for me!

MY BOOKS AND LINKS TO REVIEWS

Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth, reviewed here;

The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark, reviewed here;

A Case of Need by Michael Crichton;

Living by Henry Green, reviewed here;

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré, reviewed here;

Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe by Thomas Cahill, reviewed here;

The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain, reviewed here;

Serenissima by Erica Jong, reviewed here;

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, reviewed here;

A Bell for Adano by John Hersey, reviewed here;

Murder in Belleville by Cara Black, reviewed here;

World Without End by Ken Follett, reviewed here;

The World of Herb Caen by  Barnaby Conrad, reviewed here;

The Black Book by Ian Rankin, reviewed here;

A Month of Sundays by John Updike, reviewed here;

Vie de France by James Haller, reviewed here;

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson;

The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson (Booker winner; reviewed here);

On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking, and Entertainments from the American Revolution to the Food Revolution by Michael and Ariane Batterberry, reviewed here;

A Time of Hope by C. P. Snow, reviewed here;

Home Truths by David Lodge, reviewed here;

Glittering Images by Susan Howatch, reviewed here;

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black; 

Trespass by Rose Tremain;

Greene on Capri: A Memoir by Shirley Hazzard, reviewed here;

Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer, reviewed here;

The Gate House by Nelson DeMille (800 pages), reviewed here;

Witness by Whittaker Chambers (802 pages), reviewed here;

Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow, reviewed here;

Swan Peak by James Lee Burke, reviewed here;

The Comedians by Graham Greene, reviewed here;

How To Read and Why by Harold Bloom, reviewed here;

Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley;

The Folks That Live on the Hill by Kingsley Amis;

Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh, reviewed here;

Venetian Mask by Mickey Friedman;

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers, reviewed here;

Monsieur Pamplemousse Investigates by Michael Bond, reviewed here;

Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler;

Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey, reviewed here;

The General's Daughter by Nelson DeMille;

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, reviewed here;

The Honourable Schoolboy by John  le Carré;

Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes;

May We Borrow Your Husband? by Graham Greene, reviewed here;

The Book and the Brotherhood by Iris Murdoch;

Lift by Kelly Corrigan; 

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle;

Friends and Lovers by Helen MacInnes; and

See's Famous Old Time Candies: A Sweet Story by Margaret Moos Pick

NOTE

Last updated on January 9, 2013.

4 Days to Christmas!

2011 Challenge: Foodie's Reading Challenge -- Wrap Up Post

Margot at Joyfully Retired hosted one of my favorite challenges in 2011: The Foodie's Reading Challenge!  I am looking forward to the 2012 Foodies Read 2 Challenge.

I love reading books about food.  I often read cookbooks cover-to-cover, like a narrative book.  I had a lot of fun reading the books for this challenge.

I signed up at the "Bon Vivant" level to read four to six books.  I stuck with books already on my TBR shelves.

My Reviews

The Food of France by Waverley Root (reviewed here)

American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields, Rowan Jacobsen (reviewed here)

Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories From the Local Food Front by Joel Salatin (reviewed here)

The Onmivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (which I didn't review, but discussed here)

With a Jug of Wine: An Unusual Collection of Cooking Recipes by Morrison Wood (reviewed here, with a recipe) 

James Beard on Food Delights and Prejudices by James Beard (reviewed here, with a recipe)

5 Days to Christmas!

Teaser Tuesday: The Oregon Experiment

As he turned towards the courthouse and drove along Central Park, a figure shot out in front of him.  He slammed on the brakes as the hooded man punched down on the front of the car and rolled on one hip up and over the fender, then sprinted off between two houses.

-- The Oregon Experiment by Keith Scribner, published by Alfred A. Knopf.  This is quite a story about a professor and his wife who move to Oregon and he gets involved with an anarchist group.

Jeff Baker wrote a terrific profile and interview of Scribner for The Oregonian. 

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

6 Days to Christmas!

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

Lady Q at Let Them Read Books is hosting in December.  Be sure and visit her terrific blog!

I got two books last week:

Alfred Edelman: Urban Compositions, photos by Alfred Edelman, essay by Kathleen Dean Moore, poetry by Paulann Petersen (Oregon's poet laureate), published by Pacific Northwest College of Arts.

Edelman was a Portland-based architect, photographer, and founder of Hotlips Pizza (yummmmmmmmm). This beautiful books features Edelman's photographs of urban fragments, coupled with Peterson's poems.  It is lovely.

Urban Compositions is available at The Gallery at Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland (or on line), Broadway Books, or directly from Jeana Edelman.



Murder on Board, three novels by Agatha Christie, an omnibus edition containing The Mystery on the Blue Train, Death in the Air, and What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw.

This one is going to kick off my Vintage Reading Challenge.  I still need to do my sign up post, but I am going to sign up to read 8 pre-1969 mysteries by women authors.

Review of the Day: Delights and Prejudices

James Beard was the "Dean of American Cuisine."  Before Alice Waters was even born, he was championing regional, seasonal cooking.  Long before his buddy Julia Child, he had a televised cooking program -- the first ever, starting in 1946, when home televisions were a great rarity and most of audience was men in bars (his show came on after the boxing match).

He wrote more than 20 cookbooks and became famous for his New York cooking schools.  After his death in 1985 at age 81, Julia Child wanted to preserve his home, school, and memory, leading to the creation of the James Beard Foundation, still located in his Greenwich Village brownstone.  Every year the foundation honors cookbook authors, chefs, restaurateurs, food writers, and other culinary professionals with the James Beard Award.

Beard published Delights and Prejudices: A Memoir with Recipes 1964 to explain his own food loving history from toddler-hood to his New York cooking school days. He bounces around from his childhood in Portland to Les Halles in Paris to Mid-Century Manhattan and beyond.

It is absolutely wonderful, particularly for a Portlander like me.  Beard highlights Portland's rich culinary roots, with lengthy chapters on the farmers' markets, local procuce, and abundant seafood that we here in the Rose City still enjoy.  His remembrances of childhood weeks spent in Gearhart on the Oregon coast would make anyone want to head for the drizzly beach, build a huge bonfire, and roast oysters and Dungeness crabs.  

What makes the book stand out is that Beard's bigger than life, kind of oddball personality shows through.  For instance, despite launching his career with a catering company featuring canapes and the resultant first cookbook, Hors D'oeuvre and Canapes, he was ambivalent about finger food, coining the name "doots" for all little passed tidbits.  Doots?  Now, that's funny.

He had strong opinions about food and cooking -- many inherited from his strong-willed mother -- and laid them all out.  For example, he hated chicken livers, but loved gizzards (and included plenty of recipes to prove it).  He was an ardent Francophile and particularly favored bistro cooking, but could not stand Caribbean food.

When it came to holiday traditions, he loved his mother's Christmas fruitcakes (made a year in advance), but thought cranberries were an "abomination," homemade candy "really unsavory," and Christmas cookies only good if you make them yourself and eat them right away, exhorting well-wishers to "have pity on us, all you bakers -- the spirit of Christmas notwithstanding -- and deliver us from cookies that have crumbled or gone stale."

Delights and Prejudices is outstanding among food memoirs because James Beard is a giant and, therefore, learning what shaped his talent is fascinating, but also because it inspires an examination of your own food delights and prejudices and where they came from. 

RECIPE

Huckleberry Cake

(Beard, like most Oregonians, loved the wild, dark huckleberries that grow here, particularly those that grow in the hills near the Oregon coast.)

Cream 1 cup butter and 1 cup granulated sugar together until the mixture is very light.  Add 3 eggs, one by one, beating after each addition.  Sift two cups flour and save 1/4 cup to mix with 1 cup huckleberries.  Add to the rest 2 teaspoons baking powder and a pinch of salt, and fold this into the egg mixture.  Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and, lastly, fold in the floured huckleberries.  Pour the batter into a buttered, floured 8-inch-square baking tin.  Bake at 375º for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake is nicely browned, or when a tester inserted comes out clean.

Serve the cake hot with whipped cream, or cold. 

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this or any other James beard book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

This is my sixth and final book for the 2011 Foodie's Reading Challenge.  I can't wait to sign up again for the 2012 version.

WEEKEND COOKING

Hosted by Beth Fish Reads

7 Days to Christmas!

2012 Challenge: Non-Fiction Non-Memoir

FINISHED

Julie at My Book Retreat is hosting her first challenge, geared towards reading more nonfiction. To make it more of a challenge, her Non-Fiction Non-Memoir Reading Challenge will exclude memoirs, which seem to be the most read type of nonfiction among the book blogs she follows. Instead, the focus is on learning about a variety of different topics and discovering new facts. The challenge will run from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012.

What Counts:
- Books can be any format (bound, ebook, audio) but must be written for adults or young adults.
- Books can cover many different topics, including science, technology, religion, sociology, business, biography, politics, economics, history, food, art/design, etc.
- How-to, self-help and travel books are permitted, as long as you actual read them cover to cover, and don't just use them as a reference.
- Crossovers with other challenges are permitted.

What Does Not Count:
- Reference books, cookbooks and instruction manuals that are not meant to be read cover to cover
- Essays and articles (individual -- bound collections count)
- How-to, self-help or travel books that are not read cover to cover
- Memoirs, journals and autobiographies
- Books written for children
- Re-reads don't count since the point is to learn something new

Levels:

Elementary - 5 nonfiction books
Diploma - 10 nonfiction books
Bachelor's Degree - 15 nonfiction books
Master's Degree -  25 nonfiction books

Details:

See Julie's challenge post.

I signed up for the Diploma level to read 10 books. I thought I read a lot of qualifying books in 2011, but when I go back and look, sure enough, most were memoirs.

MY BOOKS READ AND REVIEWED

Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe. by Thomas Cahill, reviewed here;

The Innocents Abroad, Vol. 1, by Mark Twain, reviewed here; 

What's So Great About Christianity by Dinesh D'Souza, great book but not reviewed;

The World of Herb Caen by  Barnaby Conrad, reviewed here;

On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking, and Entertainments from the American Revolution to the Food Revolution by Michael and Ariane Batterberry, reviewed here;

Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships by Daniel Goleman;

Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil by Tom Mueller, reviewed here;

How To Read and Why by Harold Bloom;

Evolutionaries: Transformational Leadership: The Missing Link in Your Organizational Chart, by business strategists Randy Harrington and Carmen E Voillequé, reviewed here;

Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time by Susan Scott;

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni.

LIST OF POSSIBILITIES

I am going to stick with books on my TBR shelf, to maximize cross-over potential with the Mt. TBR Challenge. Possibilities, in no kind of order, include:

The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Battle Over Food Rights by David E. Gumpert (a Foodie Challenge book)

The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had by S. Wise Bauer

Because He Could by Dick Morris

Roads to Santiago: Detours and Riddles in the Lands and History of Spain by Cees Nooteboom (which could count either as my Spain book or my Holland book for my European Reading Challenge)

Oscar Wilde: A Certain Genius by Barbara Belford (a UK book for my European Reading Challenge)

The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World by Bjørn Lomborg (which I've been meaning to read forever, would count as one of my Chunkster Challenge books, and is another possible Holland book for my European Reading Challenge)

Frank Lloyd Wright by Ada Louise Huxtable

French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasure by Mireille Guiliano (a Foodie Challenge book)

Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: A Political Marriage by Nicholas Wapshott (a possible UK book for my European Reading Challenge)

Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution by Thomas McNamee (a Foodie Challenge book)

How To Read and Why by Harold Bloom

Feng Shui Your Life by Jayme Barrett

Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King (an Italy book for my European Reading Challenge)

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

Working with Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology by Simon Winchester (a UK book for my European Reading Challenge)

Godless: The Church of Liberalism by Ann Coulter

The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects by Lewis Mumford

The Journalist And The Murderer by Janet Malcolm

Voodoo Vintners: Oregon's Astonishing Biodynamic Winegrowers by Katherine Cole (a Foodie Challenge book)

Uncommon Arrangements: Seven Portraits of Married Life in London Literary Circles 1910 - 1939 by Katie Roiphe (a UK book for my European Reading Challenge)

Epicurean Delight: The Life and Times of James Beard by Evan Jones (a Foodie Challenge book)

NOTES

Last updated on December 28, 2012.  I read 11 books, so completed the challenge.

8 Days to Christmas!

9 Days to Christmas!

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Oregon Experiment

Naomi awoke to mint.

-- The Oregon Experiment by Keith Scribner, published by Alfred A. Knopf.  I don't really know what to expect from this new novel, but it looks intriguing. Naomi was a "nose" for perfume makers, but had lost her sense of smell in an accident. So smelling mint is a big deal.

Read the Kirkus Reviews review of The Oregon Experiment.




A Few More Pages hosts Book Beginnings every Friday.  The event is open for the entire week.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Sacred Hunger

 

The ship he meant was the Liverpool Merchant, Captain Saul Thurso, and he had never seen her, though she carried the seeds of all his dreams in her hold.

-- Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth.

This sprawling novel about the British slave trade in the 1700s won the Booker Prize in 1992.

I am reading it as my second Booker winner for the 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version.  It also counts as one of my Chunkster Challenge books.

10 Days to Christmas!

11 Days to Christmas!

12 Days to Christmas!

Teaser Tuesday: The Luminist

He returned to Dimbola to find Catherine in Holland House with Sir John, sipping tepid tea and bemoaning the imperfections in her photographic plates.  White lines had mysteriously appeared across some of the prints.

-- The Luminist by David Rocklin.  This is a really wonderful historic novel set in 19th Century Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). As a bonus, it is one of the beautiful editions with French flaps published by Hawthorne Books.

Rocklin is on tour with this book, in New York this week:

Wednesday, 14 December (check website to confirm time)
192 Books: 192 10th Avenue, at 21st Street, New York

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

Lady Q at Let Them Read Books is hosting in December.  Be sure and visit her terrific blog!

Thanks to Mary Bisbee-Beek, book publicist extraordinaire, I got a timely Christmas book. It is darling!



The Lighthouse Santa by Sara Hoagland Hunter (author) Julia Miner (illustrator).  

13 Days to Christmas!