2017's Books

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I'm super behind on reviewing books (and, frankly, reading) owing to much more travel than usual.  I love travelling, and my family and friends are scattered across the East Coast, so there are a lot of reasons to leave home.  I am at the same time something of a homebody, and flying to Florida three times in as many months has really cut into my sitting-on-the-couch-and-doing-anything-close-to-relaxing time. 

I always do the 50 Book Challenge, though I never reach 50.  This year, I managed 28, against a goal of 27.  It includes a few re-reads, some selections from Our Shared Shelf (Goodreads' feminist book club), and some new friends.

 1.  Persepolis II, by Marjane Satrapi (OSS read)
2.  The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
3.  The Fellowship of the Ring, by JRR Tolkien (re-read; don't argue with me about the whole "The Lord of the Rings is one book split into three parts for financial reasons" argument.  I don't care.)
4.  The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett (delightful)
5.  Uprooted, by Naomi Novik (if you're looking for a fantasy book with Slavic rather than Celtic roots, this is it)
6.  Mothering Sunday, by Graham Swift 
7.  The Vagina Monologues, by Eve Ensler (OSS read)
8.  Madam Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert
9.  The Stranger, by Albert Camus 
10.  Sword Song, by Bernard Cornwell
11.  Vinegar Girl, by Anne Tyler (part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series; based on The Taming of the Shrew)
12.  Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman
13.  Last Chance to See, by Douglas Adams (especially sad, because some of the animals described in the book are now extinct
14.  Packing for Mars, by Mary Roach (Chris loaded this onto my Kindle after overhearing a friend tell me about it, which was really sweet.  The discussion about pooping in space had me giggling in bed.)
15.  Gilded Age, by Claire McMillan (The House of Mirth, but set in Cleveland)
16.  The Burning Land, by Bernard Cornwell
17.  The Two Towers, by JRR Tolkien (re-read, because I am not a Philistine)
18.  Tess of the d'Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy
19.  A Feast for Crows, by George RR Martin (a re-read, because I foolishly hold out hope that, one day, Winds of Winter will be released)
20. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
21.  Fever Dream, by Samanta Schweblin
22.  Revenge, by Yoko Ogawa
23.  The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving (together with The Raven, an annual October re-read)
24.  Possession, by AS Byatt
25.  The Languages of Tolkien's Middle Earth, by Ruth S. Noel
26.  The Return of the King, by JRR Tolkien (re-read, obviously)
27.  The Beauty Myth, by Naomi Wolf (OSS read)
28.  A Legacy of Spies, by John Le Carré

Currently reading:
Harry Potter: A History of Magic by.... the British Library? IDK, it's the companion to the exhibition at the British Museum, and it's GORGEOUS.  Ok, more of a picture book, but whatever.
Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England, by Alison Weir (OMG, it's so good)
A Dance of Dragons, by George RR Martin.  For stupid reasons previously stated.

Also, I tried to read Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, but I quit after 100 pages because it was terrible.  Terrible.  Like, really awful.

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