It turns out that 2011 was the year of the Classics for me. I finished 71 books this year. A lot of these were rereads or YA books. Since I made my little foray back into teaching at the community college, I also reread a lot of short stories and poetry and essays about these short stories and poetry, and remembered why I wish I could just be a perpetual student. These re-reads were definitely the highlight of my reading year. Rereading monuments of British Lit, Jane Eyre and Middlemarch, with the good ladies of Reading for Believers was another joy.
So without further ado, a short “Best of 2011”:
Favorite YA book: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. A moving portrait of unlikely friends and the power of words. But we all got a good laugh out of reading aloud The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
Favorite Nonfiction: I think I’m going to say A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. It was striking – both in the subject matter and in the telling.
Favorite Contemporary Fiction: This is a tough call. Can I include Dorothy Sayers’ Gaudy Night as contemporary fiction? Does Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis fall into this category? Mrs. Mike? Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky was another favorite that doesn’t quite fit “contemporary” – maybe I should call it “Favorite book printed in the last 100 years.” Looking over my list, most of the newer books I read were YA books or nonfiction. Not intentionally, but there you go.
Favorite Classic/Reread: Another tough call. This year was heavy on the classics. As much as I enjoyed revisiting Homer, I have to admit I lean toward the 19th century Brits, Eliot and Bronte, reviewed on Reading for Believers here and here. But I also enjoyed reading Percy and Faulkner again while in their native region.
Best Spiritual: Easier choice: Deep Conversion, Deep Prayer by Thomas Dubay and Light of the World by Benedict XVI. You can’t top the Pope for wisdom. But I was convicted by Dubay’s book. And I stuck with those convictions for about 2 weeks, but I keep remembering them with compunction.
Biggest Waste of Time: One of the first of the year: Nanci Kincaid’s southern chick lit Eat, Drink, and Be from Mississippi, and one of the last: Follet’s Fall of Giants.
2 comments:
I just ran across your site through the link on Flowers Round the Cross and really enjoyed browsing (we're a military household as well). I'm a bookworm as well so I really enjoyed these recommendations. That memoir by a boy soldier has caught my eye every time we stop by the bookstore - might be time to finally get it out of the library and read it!
I always appreciate it when people pass on titles that were not worth the time. I always think I want to say *why* they weren't worthwhile, but I suppose most of the time if they aren't good reading, I shouldn't think they deserve any kind of further effort on my part.
Post a Comment