brenpike reads

Back for a sixth year. . .

January, 2016

1. Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs Sally Mann
2. Breathing Lessons Anne Tyler
3. Sacred Hunger Barry Unsworth
4. Howards End on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home Susan Hill
5. Last Stop on Market Street Matt de la Peña, Christian Robinson
6. Katrina: After the Flood Gary Rivlin
7. Bettyville: A Memoir George Hodgman
8. The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery Agatha Christie
9. A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 James Shapiro
10. Iron & Silk Mark Salzman

February, 2016

11. Charles James: Beyond Fashion Harold Koda
12. The Bird Artist Howard Norman
13. A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories Lucia Berlin
14. Empire Falls Richard Russo
15. Flaubert's Parrot Julian Barnes
16. Gone Crazy in Alabama Rita Williams-Garcia
17. The Murder at the Vicarage Agatha Christie
18. The Turner House Angela Flourney
19. City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi William Dalrymple
20. When Breath Becomes Air Paul Kalanithi
21. The Guest Room Chris Bohjalian
22. A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain Robert Olen Butler
23. Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear Lindsay Mattick, Sophie Blackall
24. Fifth Business Robertson Davies

March, 2016

25. The Singer's Gun Emily St. John Mandel
26. Green Island Shawna Yang Ryan
27. Girl Meets Boy: The Myth of Iphis Ali Smith
28. The House of Twenty Thousand Books Sasha Abramsky
29. Walking the Nile Levison Wood
30. Black Deutschland Darryl Pinkney
31. West of Sunset Stewart O'Nan
32. Anna and the Swallow Man Gavriel Savit
33. Trombone Shorty Troy Andrews/Bryan Collier
34. The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton Jane Smiley
35. The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century Edward Dolnick
36. The High Mountains of Portugal Yann Martel
37. Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life Marta McDowell
38. Lasso the Wind: Away to the New West Timothy Egan

April, 2016

40. My Name is Lucy Barton Elizabeth Strout
41. Where My Heart Used to Beat Sebastian Faulks
42. Native Guard: Poems Natasha Trethewey
43. The War that Saved my Life Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
44. The Lola Quartet Emily St.John Mandel
45. The Last Word Hanif Kureishi
46. The Improbability of Love Hannah Rothschild
47. Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 Adam Hochschild
48. Girl at War Sara Nović
49. Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker
Patricia Hruby Powell/Christian Robinson
50. Pleasantville Attica Locke
51. Rush Oh! Shirley Barrett
52. my grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry Fredrik Backman
53. Academy Street Mary Costello
54. Dept. of Speculation Jenny Offill
55. Our Lady of the Nile Scholastique Mukasonga
56. Diary of the Fall Michel Laub
57. Songs of Unreason Jim Harrison
58. The Relic Master Christopher Buckley

May, 2016

59. A Whole Life Robert Seethaler
60. The End of Days Jenny Erpenbeck
61. Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? Dave Eggers
62. The Excellent Lombards Jane Hamilton
63. In Montmartre:Picasso, Matisse and the Birth of Modernist Art Sue Roe
64. Dancing at the Rascal Fair Ivan Doig
65. The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero Timothy Egan
66. Gaston Kelly DiPucchio, Christian Robinson
67. The Vegetarian Han Kang
68. Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs and Classical Music Blair Tindall
69. Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America T.J. Stiles
70. YOTSUBA&!, Vol 1 Kiyohiko Azuma
71. The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust Edith Hahn Beer
72. The Door Magda Szabo
73. In Pale Battalions Robert Goddard

June, 2016

74. A Life Apart Neel Mukherjee
75. The 6:41 to Paris Jean-Phillipe Blondel
76. Ruby Cynthia Bond
77. The Portable Veblen Elizabeth McKenzie
78. The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen
79. The Glorious Heresies Lisa McInerny
80. Accordion Crimes Annie Proulx
81. The Thing With Feathers: The Surprising Lives of Birds and What They Reveal About Being Human Noah Strycker
82. Family Life Akhil Sharma

July, 2016

83. Signs Preceding the End of the World Yuri Herrera/trans. Lisa Dillman
84. Vanessa and Her Sister Priya Parmar
85. Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work Dave Isay
86. The Hundred-Year Walk: An Armenian Odyssey Dawn Anahid MacKeen
87. City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee Camp Ben Rawlence
88. The Natural Way of Things Charlotte Wood
89. Behold the Dreamers Imbolo Mbue
90. Fastnet, Force 10: The Deadliest Storm in the History of Modern Sailing John Rousmaniere
91. Arctic Summer Damon Galgut
92. Britt-Marie Was Here Fredrik Backman
93. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City Matthew Desmond
94. The Devil's Highway Luis Alberto Urrea
95. Everyone Brave is Forgiven Chris Cleave
96. The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
97. LaRose Louise Erdrich
98. Bully Nation: How the American Establishment Creates a Bullying Society Charles Derber

August, 2016

99. Before the Fall Noah Hawley
100. The Sellout Paul Beatty
101. Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France Caroline Moorehead
102. Eileen Otessa Moshfegh
103. Pax Sara Pennypacker
104. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory Caitlin Doughty
105. Night Prayers Santiago Gamboa, trans. Howard Curtis
106. Work Like Any Other Virginia Reeves
107. I Lock My Door Upon Myself Joyce Carol Oates
108. The Tumbling Turner Sisters Juliette Fay
109. Hitler's Forgotten Children: A True Story of the Lebensborn Program and One Woman's Search for Her Real Identity Ingrid Von Oelhafen & Tim Tate
110. Benazir Bhutto: Favored Daughter Brooke Allen
111. Serious Sweet A.L. Kennedy
112. Do Not Say We Have Nothing Madeleine Thien
113. The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt
114. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies Jared Diamond

September, 2016

115. War Sebastian Junger
116. The Many Wyl Menmuir
117. His Bloody Project Graeme Macrae Burnet
118. Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging Sebastian Junger
119. The Four Books Yan Lianke/tran Carlos Rojas
120. Hystopia David Means
121. The North Water Ian McGuire
122. The Childhood of Jesus J.M. Coetzee
123. The Schooldays of Jesus J.M. Coetzee
124. All That Man Is David Szalay
125. Hot Milk Deborah Levy
126. The Noise of Time Julian Barnes
127. Spill Simmer Falter Wither Sara Baume
128. Another Brooklyn Jacqueline Woodson
129. The Girls Emma Cline
130. Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad M.T. Anderson
131. Homegoing Yaa Gyasi
132. The Underground Railroad Colson Whitehead
133. The God Delusion Richard Dawkins

October, 2016

134. The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts: Murder and Memory in an American City Laura Tillman
135. Sweet Lamb of Heaven Lydia Millet
136. What Belongs to You Garth Greenwell
137. The Throwback Special Chris Bachelder
138. News of the World Paulette Jiles
139. the association of small bombs Karan Mahajan
140. Mischling Affinity Konar
141. The Gustav Sonata Rose Tremain
142. Miss Jane Brad Watson
143. Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape and the Making of Winston Churchill Candice Millard
144. Wolf Hollow Lauren Wolk
145. A Great Reckoning Louise Penny
146. The Fire Next Time James Baldwin

November, 2016

147. The Fire This Time Jesmyn Ward
148. The Story of a Brief Marriage Anuk Arudpragasam
149. Dorothy Parker's New York Kevin Fitzpatrick
150. In a Sacred Manner I Live: Native American Wisdom ed. Neil Philip
151. Among the Living Jonathan Rabb
152. Dear Mr. M Herman Koch
153. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis J.D. Vance
154. To the Bright Edge of the World Eowyn Ivey

December, 2016

155. The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts Joshua Hammer
156. Lily and the Octopus Steven Rowley
157. The Tsar of Love and Techno Anthony Marra
158. A Strangeness in My Mind Orhan Parmuk

On to 2017...

Dropping a star here!

Happy New Year!

Hi Roni. Happy 2016!

Same to ya. Lots of excitement in Lawrence last night!

We missed it. . . We are in Pittsburg (KS) where grandson, Ollie lives :)

Happy New Year, Brenda!

Hi Brenda. I image you are having a wonderful time with Ollie! I hope 2016 brings lots of opportunities to be with your special little guy!

Welcome back!

Hi Darryl, Linda and Jim. Happy New Year all . . .
Thanks for stopping by!
No doubt, Linda, that Ollie will be occupying a large amount of my 2016 :)

Happy New Year, Brenda. I see that Ollie hasn't taken up ALL of your time. I'll be following your list of books for the year with interest. You're off to a good start!

AT least Pittsburg is closer than Ohio!

Hi Donna . . .
Indeed it is Roni :)

Hi Brenda....Finally getting around to stopping by and dropping a star. Look forward to seeing what interesting reads you come up with this year.

Hi Tina. Glad you stopped by. . . I'll be looking for your thread soon :)

Hi Brenda, I don't think I've starred you before, but I clearly need to now - as I must thank you for bringing Hold Still to my attention on TIOLI. I loved the book (just finished it tonight- I couldn't quite finish it by January 31st). So, I am in your debt!

I'm wondering how you liked Last Stop on Market Street. I read it last week and liked it a lot.

>15 lalbro: Hi Liz. Glad you liked Hold Still. I really enjoyed it as well and have thought of it often since completing it last month. Memoirs are a favorite genre for me and I am rarely disappointed in a life story, especially one as interesting and well described as Sally Mann's. I will head over to your thread to check out what you have been reading and enjoying. Thanks for letting me know someone is paying attention to what I post! :)

>16 Whisper1: Hi Linda. I did like Last Stop on Market Street. Loved the story about the grandmother and grandson and their day out. Thought the illustrations were appealing as well. I'm hoping to get to all the 2016 children/young adult prize winners soon. Glad you stopped by. Hope you are well and having a good work week.

Congratulations on blowing past 75 books, Brenda. I guess the new grandson isn't taking up all of your time! I am curious about The Sympathizer. I had it in my hands at The Tattered Cover last night. It still can't decide if it's my kind of book.

Hi Donna. I did a double take when I saw a post on my own thread! Thanks!!
Yes, my reading has slowed down in the past two weeks :), but some of that I blame on the material. The Sympathizer was okay, but not Pulitzer worthy IMHO. The story line was grim and the characters unlikeable and it took a long time to get through. Not sure if it's your kind of book or not - you may want to run it through the Donna Henderson perusal procedure.
I'm also struggling to get through The Glorious Heresies, this year's Bailey's Women's Prize winner. Same reasons - grim plot, unlikeable characters :/
I am going to read The Hundred-Year Walk based on your review. Sounds intriguing and is, historically, a time and place I know little about.
Enjoy the end of your Colorado visit and travel safely home.

I have read some good reviews of The Glorious Heresies here in the group. Hope it picks up for you.

Thanks Roni. . . Me too!

Congrats on 75!

Thanks, Jim :)

>19 brenpike: Haha, the Page 42 Perusal it is. Actually, I'm waffling about several of the new books. When I get home, I'll take my list to the new books section of Barnes & Noble to mak some tough decisions. Thanks for reminding me of my own system!

Have you dried out yet?

>25 ronincats: Huh?

Didn't you comment on one of the other threads that it had been raining a lot there? If not, my bad!

lol - until late last night, things were very dry around here. We got rain last night and today so my yard is happier tonight :)

Dear Friend

Because of you, I learned to appreciate the wonderful world of Maurice Sendack


Today I am thinking of the lovely time we had in Philadelphia. You were the one who steered us to the Rosenbach museum where an entire room was dedicated to Sendack.

Thank you for these wonderful memories. It was such a happy time.

All the best to you~

Thank you, Linda. It WAS wonderful. I have very fond memories of our time together in Philly :)
I can't read, see or think of Maurice Sendak without thinking of you :)

Happy Sunday to you Brenda.

Hi Linda. Hope your Sunday was happy too! My grandsons were here so it was a good day :)
Hope you are feeling well and handling work days without too much pain and stress.

Hi Brenda. It's interesting that you also read Voices From Chernobyl. It is a very powerful book. We share a lot of the same reading selections.

Hi Linda. We do share a lot of reading experiences! I also read Zinky Boys by Alexievich. She writes powerful and provocative books.

Thanks for telling me about Zinky Boys. I will look for that one. I hope you have a lovely day!

Hi Brenda! I see you've been reading award long and short listers too. Such interesting literature out there. What do you think about the newer books?

Hi Lynda. I'm mostly liking the new books I've read lately - a few clunkers, but for the most part, good! The books I liked best on the Man Booker list, His Bloody Project and Eileen are probably too gritty to garner the prize, but Do Not Say we Have Nothing, which I think will likely win, was also very good.
As for the National Book nominees - I'm finishing up the short list with The Association of Small Bombs shortly. Of these finalists, I think I would rank News of the World by Paulette Jiles first.
I noticed you and I are reading a lot of the same books these days. What are your thoughts on the nominees?

Thanks Roni! Hope you had a good Thanksgiving Day :)

Hi Brenda. Just saying hi and giving your thread a little bump. :-)

>40 EBT1002: thanks for the nudge :)

Wouldn't it be nice if 2017 was a year of peace and goodwill.
A year where people set aside their religious and racial differences.
A year where intolerance is given short shrift.
A year where hatred is replaced by, at the very least, respect.
A year where those in need are not looked upon as a burden but as a blessing.
A year where the commonality of man and woman rises up against those who would seek to subvert and divide.
A year without bombs, or shootings, or beheadings, or rape, or abuse, or spite.

2017.

Festive Greetings and a few wishes from Malaysia!

Thank you, Paul. . . And, yes, it would be wonderful!
Happy Holidays from the states to you :)

This is the Christmas tree at the end of the Pacific Beach Pier here in San Diego, a Christmas tradition.

To all my friends here at Library Thing, I want you to know how much I value you and how much I wish you a very happy holiday, whatever one you celebrate, and the very best of New Years!

Merry Christmas from Kansas! Lovely picture of the pier :)

Looking forward to your continued company in 2017.
Happy New Year, Brenda