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Confessions of a Bookaholic: Books Read in 2011

In 2010 I read 60 books, this year I knew I wouldn’t have nearly that many, but I hoped to get in 25. I only read 18 but I still consider that a success, sure, I could spend the next two days cramming my face full of short, fluffy novels to hit my goal of 25, but I have found, of late, that I don’t particularly care for short, fluffy novels. I read more and more non-fiction and am loving the change of pace. I am getting a lot pickier about what I read, I don’t want to bother if it is somehow going to be subpar.

These are listed starting with the ones I liked the best and petering out to the ones I didn’t necessarily love, listed alphabetically by rating because heaven knows I would never be able to get this posted today if I tried to rank them from most favorite to least.

5-STAR READS:

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M., Sam Wasson. This book is about the making of the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which has been my go-to feel-good movie for over a decade. I love Audrey Hepburn, I love the whole premise of Tiffany’s, and I absolutely loved reading about the behind-the-scenes moments and even the production issues of trying to get Truman Capote’s book turned into a film. This isn’t necessarily ground-breaking stuff, but I would definitely read it again.

Half the Sky, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. By far the best book I read in 2011, Half the Sky is about the plight of women around the world, more specifically in the underdeveloped world where women are still very much seen as commodities and treated as such. (The title comes from an old Chinese proverb that says “Women hold up half the sky.”) I was shocked at the stories, the statistics, and the lack of real options to help women. This book changed how I think, it changed what I want to do with my life. It is not a happy book, not by any means, but it is important. Read it.

I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui. Another book about the oppression against women, this one set in the Yemen. This is the true story of young Nujood who was forced to marry a much older man when she was 9 years old, the man raped her, beat her and basically treated her like most men in his country treat their wives. Nujood fought back, she walked into the Supreme Court of Yemen and asked for a divorce. At age 10. Without a father/brother/uncle/husband to speak for her. This story was picked up by the media and a young female Yemeni lawyer decided to fight with Nujood, this is their story.

Superfreakanomics, Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner. Yes, I am an economics nerd. If you read Freakanomics you know how this book goes, Levitt and Dubner pick apart statistics to relate two seemingly unrelated things. They are related by either factual stats, or by both adhering to the same economic processes. Entertaining, and a justification that economics majors can have a sense of humor.

4-STAR READS:

Supernaturally, Kiersten White. The second in the Paranormalcy series and written by my childhood friend. Oh, and it also made the New York Times Bestseller list the week it came out, no biggie. (Translation: It’s a BIG FREAKING BIGGIE!) I don’t usually read YA books, but I have very much enjoyed following Evie’s story and can’t wait for the third installation, set to be published this summer.

The Chosen, Chaim Potok. I don’t know much about the Jewish religion or the Jewish culture (there aren’t a lot of Jews here in Salt Lake City, although we do have one very lovely synagogue.) I loved the way Potok writes, I loved the details about pre- and post-war life for the Jews in America (WWII), and I loved the writing style and voice of the two young men, Daniel and Rueven. I liked this book so much I ordered another by Potok, I can’t wait to start it as well.

The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin. I know this has made the rounds in blogdom and book clubs everywhere, I feel like I was a bit late to the Happiness Project train, and I really think I need to read it again, this time with a notebook and a pen, scribbling notes in the margins and making my own plans to reboot.

The Help, Kathryn Stockett. This is the first audio book I have ever listened to, and it took me over 6 months to finish it. I enjoyed the book, and I loved the character voices on the audio recording, but I don’t know how much I love the idea of listening to a book instead of reading it. Jury is still out on that, I’ll keep you updated. I haven’t seen the movie yet, nor do I feel I need to, but I did love the message that words and books can change things for the better (or worse, I get that too). I loved that all it takes are a few people standing up for something important to change the way a town thinks.

The Male Brain, Louann Brizendine. I read The Female Brain last fall and scribbled in the margins, highlighted entire paragraphs, and felt that Brizendine had sat me down and told me all the reasons that I am the way that I am, and that I was okay this way. I cried a lot. I had a lot of “A ha!” moments. I wished I had been able to read it again the next day. I didn’t have the same emotional reaction to The Male Brain, but I was fascinated by the insights and chemical processes that happen as a young boy matures into a man and then becomes a father.

Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer. This is the most disturbing book I have ever read, and probably not for the reasons that you may think. Yes, it is about the founding of my home state and the beginnings of the Mormon church. No, it is not particularly flattering account on either of those events. That’s not why it was disturbing. I really need to write an entire post on this because I am not exaggerating when I say that I could not sleep for the two days it took me to finish this book, and for weeks afterward I would wake up with nightmares.

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven, Susan Jane Gilman. Gilman and a college friend spent 6 weeks backpacking across China when it very first opened it’s borders to western tourists. This was pre-Tienanmen Square and China was very much soaked in drowning under communist rule. Her insights and thoughts and experiences on the country I love were fascinating, and disheartening, and engaging. And even though China was no block party back in 1986, and Gilman’s writing reflects that, I still cannot wait to visit and explore.

3-STAR READS:

A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole. I have heard a hundred times from friends, bloggers, review boards, and a half-dozen other sources that A Confederacy of Dunces is the most hilarious, amazing book ever written. Respectfully, I total disagree. I did appreciate Toole’s use of language, I love a book where I need to look up words in the dictionary ever few pages, but I hated his main character. Ignatius J. Reilly mostly just pissed me off. It took me months to finish this book, and I kept waiting for it to get better. Nope, it didn’t. I give it 3 stars (instead of 1 or 2) based on the vocabulary alone.

Das Kapital, Karl Marx. I plowed through 1,000 pages of Das Kapital, text and annotations for my Marxist Economics class. Did I enjoy it? No. Did I understand it? I aced my tests, so yes, I did. Do I agree with Marx? Um, no. In theory he has some interesting ideas and I think that many businesses owners would do themselves a favor by reading it, but do I think all his ideas (or even most of them) work in practical application? No. They don’t. The basic tenet of Marxism is that any business owner who makes a profit is exploiting his employees. Even if those employees are making a good, livable wage. Even if they are being paid $100,000 dollars a year. Or $200,000. The idea is that if there is any profit whatsoever the capitalist bastard CEO should burn at the stake. Ok, I may have embelllished the last part of that sentence, but the sentiment is still correct. I know capitalism has it’s problems, but I don’t see how the technological, medical, scientific and anthropological advances of today’s society could ever have been achieved if an entrepreneur didn’t figure out how to make those advances to turn a profit. Boo, Marx.

DIY U, Anya Kamenetz. Kamanentz theory is that traditional higher education is on it’s way out and the only way to education the workforce is to completely reboot the way we learn, the way institutions grant degrees, and the entire education process. She makes some excellent points, and in some respects I agree with her. But I also think there is more to college than churning out degrees, or even devouring knowledge. There is a work ethic, an expansion of the mind, and an exposure to new ideas that are not generated by a social media platform that also focuses on celebrity gossip. Perhaps I’m a snob. Or perhaps my position of working in higher education is showing through a bit and coloring my opinions. Again, Kamanentz has some good points, but about halfway through I decided that I just couldn’t agree with her call for a complete and total overhaul of the post-secondary education system.

Madame Bovary, Gustav Flaubert. Meh. Not awesome. Not even great, really. Again, points (or in this case, an extra star) for vocabulary and sentence structure that I both enjoyed and appreciated, but the story is pretty tedious and the character of Madame Bovary herself is quite wretched. Sure, there are a lot of people like her, slumming/sleeping around for social position and power, but I just am not interested in that sort of thing and her emotional turmoil over her loveless marriage doesn’t really move me. At all.

History of Love, Nicole Krauss. Recommended by a friend this was a quick read and one that I enjoyed. I liked–although sometime was a bit lost by–the weaving story that crossed generations and continents and through various individuals. Honestly, I remember liking the book, but I don’t remember much more about it than that.

2-STAR READS:

Woman, Child for Sale, Gilbert King. I wanted to love this book, I wanted it to move me and change me the way several of the other books I’ve read on the topic of the degradation of women have…and this book failed. It started out strong enough, but quickly devolved into a mess of terrible stories (they are supposed to be terrible, there is nothing light or happy or fluffy about women being sold or kidnapped into sexual slavery) but the author was not a capable enough writer to do them any justice whatsoever. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but after reading Half the Sky this book seems like a footnote in a boring newsletter. Not awesome, please skip.

For the rest of my reading, ranked by star and sorted by year, click here.

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