As a book reviewer for the Providence Journal from 2006-2009, my reading list expanded with books I didn’t manage to read during that time. The book review gig ended when I moved to the Washington, D.C. area. So, in 2010 I played catch-up. Here are the books I’ve read so far. What should I read in 2011?
January
Strength in What Remains
Tracy Kidder
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
Joan DIdion
A Moveable Feast
Ernest Hemingway
February
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
Science as a Contact Sport
Stephen Schneider
Hack the Planet
Eli Kintisch (review copy)
March
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
David Wroblewski
Bobke
Bob Roll (reread)
April
Eat, Pray, Love
Elizabeth Gilbert
Julie and Julia
Julie Powell
May
The Namesake
Jhumpa Lahiri
June
Interpreter of Maladies
Jhumpa Lahiri
July
Pillars of Hercules
Paul Theroux
Dark Star Safari
Paul Theroux
Fresh Air Fiend
Paul Theroux
August
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Ishmael Beah
What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Acheck Deng
Dave Eggers
September
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Life Stories: Profiles from The New Yorker
David Remnick (Ed.)
*Do not miss Travels in Georgia (Carol Ruckdeshel) by John McPhee. It’s brilliant.
The Control of Nature
John McPhee (reread)
October
The Help
Kathryn Stockett
Seasick
Alanna Mitchell
Smile
Raina Telgemeier
November
My Story As Told By Water
David James Duncan
The Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mt. Everest
Conrad Anker and David Roberts
December
A stack of Stieg Larsson books sits on my table. Which one should I read first?
Interesting list. You MUST read The Good Soldiers, nonfiction, by David Finkel, a closeup look at a platoon in Iraq, which is in my 2010 list.
I read a lot..trying to remember them all…some junk (Chasing Harry Winston), the Guernsey book (didn’t love it); As The Crow Flies, a great older book by Canadian writer Ann Marie McDonald; Come, Thou Tortoise, a wonderful/funny/sad novel by a Newfoundland writer, a John LaCarre (not great, one of the newer ones), The End of Overeating by David Kessler. (excellent.) Started but did not finish a biography of Elizabeth I. Started and have not finished a biography of Nureyev.
Plus the 10 books I read Jan-May for background research for my own book, which included the excellent Cheap by Ellen Ruppel Shell; Where am I wearing? by Kelsey Timmerman, The Big Squeeze by Steven Greenhouse (NYT labor reporter) and The Overworked American by Louis Uchitelle (former NYT labor reporter.) Cheap and The Big Squeeze are depressing but very well worth reading — meta-analysis both historical and international.
Great list. Curious to hear how you liked the “Henrietta Lacks” book. That is on my maybe list. I have Conrad Anker’s book on my shelf and have been meaning to get to it.
I just finished and really liked “Freedom” by Jonathan Franzen.
My favorite nonfiction of the year was “The Big Short” by Michael Lewis. Fascinating, and very readable.