Dec 21, 2011
It's our last episode of 2011, so before we go, we tell you how we fared with our 2011 reading resolutions. We also each choose our top 5 books of 2011, discuss three books that we wish we had read, and tell you about World Book Night.
At the beginning of the year, we made some reading resolutions. Michael and I report on our successes (or not) in meeting those resolutions. Congratulations, Michael, on reaching your goal of reading 61 books. Many others who joined the challenge have completed or surpassed their +11 in 2011 resolutions, and they are scheming ways to read "12 in 2012". Join the Goodreads thread to check in on them, and to join in with your own challenge. Michael will put up a blog post soon with all the details--watch for it!
It was really difficult to narrow down our favorite books of 2011, but we (sort of) managed. Our individual lists are presented below, in no particular order. Where applicable, links go to the BOTNS episode where we first discussed these books.
Ann's list:
The Cat's Table by Michael
Ondaatje
We the Animals by Justin
Torres
The Illumination by Kevin
Brockmeier
The Last Werewolf by Glen
Duncan
The Upright Piano Player by
David Abbott or Jo Nesbo's The Snowman
I also want to add the winners of 2011's big literary
awards:
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, which won the Man
Booker Prize, and
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn
Ward, which won the National Book Award.
Michael's list:
The Bee Loud Glade by Steve
Himmer
Habibi by Craig
Thompson
Ready Player One by Ernie
Cline
Townie by Andre Dubus
III
The Art of Fielding by Chad
Harbach (not previously discussed on BOTNS)
Michael and I both discovered that the number one book we wish we had read this year is The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
Since we didn't want you to feel cheated, we each chose another book. Michael wishes he had read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.
I chose Ready Player One by Ernie Cline -- Michael and so many of the rest of you have convinced me!
April 23rd is World Book Night, and we hope that you will all participate. I'm sure that publicity will ramp up after the New Year, but it's a great event that will hopefully spread the love of reading far and wide. Volunteers throughout the United States, UK & Ireland (and possibly other countries, I'm not sure) will hand out free books in their communities. We'll be talking about this a lot more in 2012, but if you think you'd like to learn more and maybe participate, please visit the World Book Night website. There's a form there to fill out if you'd like to be a volunteer, or you can just get more details.
Just a reminder: Michael and I are taking next week off to spend Christmas with our families. Happy Holidays to everyone! We will be back with a new episode on January 4th!