2011 Book List

2011 BOOK LIST


1. Angel of Darkness Caleb Carr Terrific thriller set at the turn of the century. (19th to 20th) Cast of characters carried over from “The Alienist” meets evil villainess.

2. The Code of the Woosters P.G. Wodehouse. Good as it gets. Bertie, gets hopelessly entangled with lovers, silver cow creamers, cranky judges and more. Jeeves to the rescue.

3. Lord of Misrule Jaimy Gordon National Book Award Winner about the underbelly of horse racing. Spectacularly well written, fabulous characters.

4. Summer Lightning P.G. Wodehouse I want to live in P.G.’s imagination, a place of gentlemen and ladies where everything turns out well in the end.

5. Just Kids Patti Smith Beautifully written summation of the authors entwined life with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe.

6. The Turn of the Screw Henry James Well crafted, many layered ghost story. A little slow moving for my tastes.

7. Ring For Jeeves P.G. Wodehouse One of my favorite books. Also published as The Return of Jeeves. This was the third time I’ve read it.

8. The Confession John Grisham Anti capital punishment treatise rendered as a thriller. Well done.

9. Help the Poor Struggler Martha Grimes Fast paced mystery. Nothing special, but, nevertheless, entertaining.

10. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter Seth Grahame-Smith Good idea. Strong start, excellent ending, tedious middle.

11. Sally Gives a Party P.G. Wodehouse An engaging heroine, a gentle love story. I liked it.

12. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest Steig Larson Nice Wrap-up of the Lizbeth Salander trilogy. Sorry these books are over and sorry Steig is gone.

13. The Clicking of Cuthbert P.G. Wodhouse Ten great humorous golf stories. Several out loud laughs included.

14. The Coming of Bill P.G. Wodehouse Marriage goes awry over how to raise baby Bill and a sudden influx of riches. All’s well at the end.

15. The Power and the Glory Graham Greene Beautifully written, but otherwise not my cup of tea.

16. Sock Penn Gillette This is a find. A small treasure. Clever. Original. Imaginative. Penn is at least as fine a writer as he is a comedic magician. (Penn and Teller)

17. Hooking Up Tom Wolfe Essays mostly on the state of this and that in the year 2000. Some fascinating, some skimmed.

18. The Informationist Taylor Stevens Big disappointment. More talk than action is not the right formula for an as advertized “thriller.”

19. Damsel in Distress P.G. Wodehouse. Entertaining romp when theatrical music composer saves upper crust woman from a horrible fate…marrying the wrong man.

20. The Pump House Gang Tom Wolfe Interesting, but dated articles from Tom’s time as a magazine writer.

21. Bossy Pants Tina Fey Nothing to shout about. Funny here and there.

22. El Vencedor Esta solo Paulo Coelho (Read in Spanish) Murder and mayhem at the Cannes Film Festival. Does not end well for the good guys.

23. The Mating Season P.G. Wodehouse Bertie and Jeeves come to the rescue of several friends whose love lives have gone astray. Lots of funny stuff along the way.

24. The Help Kathryn Stockett Well done tale of early 1960s Mississippi, told through the eyes of two black maids and an aspiring writer, a young white woman.

25. The Glorious Cause Jeff Shaara Fabulous depiction of how the Revolutionary War was fought and won. Shaara brings all the players to life.

26. War of the Worldviews Deepak Chopra and Leonard Mlodinov Science vs. Spirituality. Seekers of wisdom and truth will find some of each within these pages.

27. Mister Slaughter Robert McCammon Detective series set in colonial times. Well written but didn’t grab me.

28. Let the Great World Spin Colum McCann A spectacular novel. Never a false note struck.

29. Quiet (The Power of Introverts in a world that can’t stop talking.) Susan Cain All about the “quiet” types and how they contribute. Turns out I’m one of them. Whodathunkit?