Donna's Top Reads of 2011

I was a little off my pace from 2010 and finished 26 books in 2011. Here are my favorite 8, in order of when I read them:

Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro
A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman

Rachel's 2011 Top Ten

In alphabetical order by author:

• The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes
• Open City, Teja Cole
• Townie, Andre Dubus IIIA
• Visit From the Goon Squad, Jenifer Egan
• Gun with Occasional Music, Jonathan Letham
• The Leftovers, Tom Perotta
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot
• Super Sad True Love Story, Gary Shteyngart
• My Own Country, Abraham Verghese
• Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson

Books Read in 2011

Here is what book club read together in 2011:

Running the Books by Avi Steinberg (Beth)
Gift of the White Light by James N. Frey (Manda)
Everyone Loves You When You're Dead by Neil Strauss (Wendy)
The Honey Trail by Grace Pundyk (Cynthia)
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (Donna)
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami (Rachel)

Donna's 2010 List

I kept a resolution last year and really amped up my reading and finished 28 books in 2010! Here are my favorite 9 in order:

1. One Day by David Nicholls
2. Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
3. The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris
4. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
6. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
7. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
8. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackosn
9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Beth's Favorite Reads of 2010

2010 was not a big reading year for me so I am just going with my top 8, in no particular order. For 2011, I resolve to keep track of the books I read and the movies that I watch. The books in bold are the ones I would highly recommend to everyone.

1. The Help Kathryn Stockett
2. The Book Thief Marcus Zusak
3. Queen of Whale Cay Kate Summerscale
4. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot
5. *The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean - Susan Casey
6. The Lost City of Z David Grann (I just learned that this is going to be a movie starring Brad Pitt! I can't wait, but it won't be out until 2012.)
7. The Price of Thieves Chuck Hogan - the book was great, the movie was disappointing.
8. Born to Run Christopher McDougall - this book made me think I could run 50 miles barefoot, but then I came to my senses.

2010 Top Ten (per RW)

Here are my top ten books read in 2010 (in alphabetical order by author):

• The Garden of Last Days, Andre Dubus III
• The Widower's Tale, Julia Glass
• A Good Fall, Ha Jin
• Chronic City, Jonathan Letham
• Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann
• Black Swan Green, David Mitchell
• The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell
• Netherland, Joseph O'Neill
• Rules for Old Men Waiting, Peter Pouncey
• The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

Books in 2010

So sad. Our book club blog seems to have been abandoned; no one takes notes and posts our choices. We even missed celebrating our 10 year anniversary in February 2010. For posterity sake, here are the books we read this year:

Eat, Pray, Love--Elizabeth Gilbert (Cynthia)
The Book Thief--Markus Zusak (Wendy)
The Help--Kathryn Sackett (Jen)
To the Lighthouse--Virginia Woolf (Donna)
Orange is the New Black--Piper Kerman (Rachel)
A Good Fall--Ha Jin (Anne)
Murder Must Advertise--Dorothy L. Sayers (Paula)