Books Read 2008 « So Many Books

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Books Read 2008

Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai
Acts of Worship by Yukio Mishima
The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker
Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett
The Aspern Papers by Henry James
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Lectures and Biographical Sketches by Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Future of Ice by Gretel Ehrlich (abandoned)
The Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham
American Bloomsbury by Susan Cheever
The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce by Paul Torday
Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert
Telephone Ringing in the Labyrinth by Adrienne Rich
Hearts and Minds by Rosy Thornton
Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia
Goldberg : Variations by Gabriel Josipovici
The Door by Margaret Atwood
Miscellanies, Volume XI, The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Books: A Memoir by Larry McMurtry - Abandoned
Flaubert’s Parrot by Julian Barnes
Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel
Mental Sharpening Stones: Manage the Cognitive Challenges of Multiple Sclerosis by Jeffrey N. Gingold
The Histories by Herodotus

5 Responses to “Books Read 2008”

on April 19, 2008 at 7:00 pm1 Sharon Jones

Hi Stefanie,

I just happened to stumble upon your blog…I was actually looking up HBO’s series: John Adams, and somehow ended up here! Anyway…I do have a question that I am sure others have asked you from time to time….
Do you ever sleep? 15 books since the beginning of 08? That is about a book a week! I am very impressed!

I also love to read…my recent favorite genre is historical fiction. Which brings me to my second question:
I noticed that in your list of “reading challenges” you have mentioned Diana Gabaldon’s, “A Breath of Snow and Ashes”…. Have you read this author’s previous 5 books in the series? I have and I highly recommend these books be read in the correct order. Diana is my favorite living author at this time in my life. I have found that after reading her series of historical fiction, it has been hard for me to find any other books that are equal in entertainment value and historical reality, the characters are so real that during times between books I sometimes felt as though I was missing my friends and couldn’t wait to get back to their stories! She has a way of making you feel like you are really there, seeing the landscape, hearing the chatter of birds, smelling the various scents of nature, feeling the cold of winter snow…and feeling the love between two of my favorite characters ever: Jamie and Claire Fraser.
If you have not read the previous books, please do so, you will not be sorry. The first book is called “Outlander” and is still my favorite; enough so, that I have re-read it a number of times.
I am currently reading another series of historical fiction by Sara Donati, while impatiently waiting for the next and 7th installment in the Outlander Series.
I would be interested to hear what you think of the Gabaldon books, if you have already read them!
Thanks,
Happy Reading!
Sharon J
on April 21, 2008 at 6:46 am2 Stefanie

Sharon, I’m glad you managed to end up here Thanks for you nice comment. Regular sleep is a requirement, helps me read more books, so I never skimp

As for Gabaldon, I have indeed read all of the previous books in the series and enjoyed them all. My husband picked up a well-read mass market of Outlander from a free books box outside a library back in 1993 and we both got bit. They are very fun books. The amount of research that Gabaldon puts into them is fantastic. Someday I plan on traveling to the Scotland to see the sights.
on April 21, 2008 at 6:57 pm3 Sharon Jones

Hi Stefanie,

Yes, the research she does is excellent…
I also subscribe to her blog and some of the info she shares there is so very interesting. She talks about how
she researches, all the books she has read, about her recent trip to Scotland…(I would love to go there as well)

Which one of her books did you like the most? Have you read the Lord John books yet? (I have the first one, but have not started it yet)

I found on her web site that they are thinking of making a movie…not sure if it is just Outlander, or the whole series…but it is kind of scary thinking about how Hollywood sometimes makes a mess of an excellent book.

So, you read a book a week, work, have a husband, and keep up with this blog…how in the world is this possible??
I usually read in bed late into the night…when all the house is asleep…(hubby, son and two grandchildren living here with us) Otherwise, I am sure if I read during the day, nothing would get done at all around the house! People would go hungry, naked and wallow in filth!

Have a great evening!
Sharon
on August 11, 2008 at 9:02 pm4 Elizabeth

I have really enjoyed reading your blog. I am always looking for more books to add to my endless “books to be read” list, so I’m interested in seeing what other people have on their “books already read” lists.

I just saw that you read The Raw Shark Texts. I am completely taken by that book and was very disappointed a while ago to learn that Steven Hall had no plans to write another book. Apparently, it took him five years to complete this one!
on August 13, 2008 at 7:15 am5 Stefanie

Thanks Elizabeth. That would really be too bad if he doesn’t write another book. Hopefully he will change his mind!