Comments on Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity: Best of Reading for 2011

*Lisa - Wait--need to go back to Google Rea...

2012-01-06T12:23:43.850-06:00

*Lisa - Wait--need to go back to Google Reader as apparently I missed your answers!

*Lu - Yes, I'm still curious about your beef with Krakauer. ;) Wish I liked Knife of Never Letting Go. Too much hype I guess?

*Joy - Honestly I'm not sure if I'll see the EL&IC movie--can't imagine how it will translate to the big screen. Just need to experience them as two separate things, I guess. And yes, I'm so grateful for the audiobooks. I still have struggles and still have moments when I come to terms with missing a chunk of the story because I've accidentally tuned out, but it's getting better!

*Michelle - Jane Austen isn't one of my favorites. I enjoy her books but am never in a big hurry to get to them.

Trish, I read Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Drac...

2012-01-05T10:05:29.974-06:00

Trish, I read Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Dracula, and A Christmas Carol. I found that I really enjoyed Dickens and plan to read A Tale of Two Cities this year. I am not sure that I really have much desire to read many more from Jane Austen. Not sure why, perhaps time limitations. But, never say never!!

Every time I see a commercial for EL&IC, I thi...

2012-01-03T08:47:36.227-06:00

Every time I see a commercial for EL&IC, I think of you! I hope the movie doesn't disappoint you. I have my husband reading Ready Player One - he's been smirking a lot. Hmmm

And, yay! You included your audio listens on this post! :) I remember telling you that it takes quite some time to "learn-to-listen" but well worth the effort. I'm so glad you are enjoying them so much now! They have been my saving grace for exposing myself to books. Without them (especially this year), I would have missed out on so many books!

I'm SO sad you didn't love The Knife of Ne...

2012-01-01T17:51:58.209-06:00

I'm SO sad you didn't love The Knife of Never Letting Go, since it's one of my favorites :( But I hated Into the Wild, so I guess we are even ;)

Happy New Year, Trish!

ok, been saving this forever! I finally have answe...

2012-01-01T16:56:30.757-06:00

ok, been saving this forever! I finally have answered all these and am posing it tomorrow. It's not so lovely as yours with all the pictures tho.

*Melody - With all the changes you've h...

2011-12-28T13:06:57.052-06:00

*Melody - With all the changes you've had this year, it's OK not to read as much. Soemtimes a little break is good?

*Laura H - Yes, audiobooks have been a huge godsend this year! Sometimes I enjoy them more than actually reading! (shhhhh...don't tell). I read Catch me if you Can a few years ago--bet it would be great on audio!!

*Care - History of Love was great, wasn't it? So glad that I read it this year!

*Teresa - I'm not sure if this Nancy Tillman is new or not but the illustrations are just gorgeous!

*Michelle - I know you read Jane Eyre this year...which other classics did you read? I'd like to read more classics but read too slowly these days. Maybe on audio!

*Stacybuckeye - Maybe once a little time passes after seeing The Help you can read the book. It was really great!

*Marce - The characters in The Help really are fantastic. I enjoyed the movie, too. Thanks for visiting!

You should go watch the movie The Help now. The c...

2011-12-26T16:00:53.221-06:00

You should go watch the movie The Help now. The characters are memorable, I agree.

My survey if interested

http://teawithmarce.blogspot.com/2011/12/end-of-2011-book-survey.html

I really enjoyed The History of Love when I read i...

2011-12-24T22:48:36.714-06:00

I really enjoyed The History of Love when I read it too. It does kind of sneak up one you. I haven't read the Help, but loved the movie.

First of all the pictures you have taken of your b...

2011-12-23T14:11:11.277-06:00

First of all the pictures you have taken of your books are so great. So pretty to look at.

I would have to say that 2011 was my year for classics. I think I read 4. Which is a lot for me. Some I really loved, others not so much.

It looks like we read a couple of the same books this last year. :)

I love the Nancy Tillman books. I haven't seen...

2011-12-23T13:05:52.873-06:00

I love the Nancy Tillman books. I haven't seen that one yet! Thanks for the introduction.

You may not read a ton of books but all of them th...

2011-12-22T11:39:41.308-06:00

You may not read a ton of books but all of them this year were BIG ones! I loved History of Love this year, too.

I am glad you have been converted to audio books. ...

2011-12-22T10:05:18.392-06:00

I am glad you have been converted to audio books. One of my favorites this year was Catch me if you Can. The reader was great.

I enjoyed reading your post, Trish! I need to do a...

2011-12-21T18:18:20.040-06:00

I enjoyed reading your post, Trish! I need to do a wrap up post about the books I read this year soon... Sad to say, I haven't been reading many books this year, but I'm thinking as long as we haven't given up on reading, then all is good! :P

*Natalie - I LOVE that your husband listene...

2011-12-21T12:16:28.838-06:00

*Natalie - I LOVE that your husband listened to the last portion of The Help with you. I tried and tried to get mine to listen but he wouldn't have it. ;)

*Trisha - I think you could go either way with The Help, but I hope you like it.

*Debi - Does that mean that A Monster Calls isn't part of the trilogy? Ok, I'll give it a try. I haven't heard of Two Weeks With the Queen!! Eeep!

*Gnoegnoe - Ha! Don't apologize for the comment--I LOVE long rambling comments. :) I really hope you like The History of Love--it feels very similar in style to Extermely Loud. I think I have Walk in the Woods by Bryson as well. And in terms of Before I Go to Sleep--I listened. My friend read it and said she thought it was poorly written but the audio was great. Hmmm.... Merry Christmas to you, dear.

*Larissa - Absolutely agree about What Mothers Do. Now if I can only find time to finish it! ;) Even months after my daughter's birth I'm finding it helpful.

*Violet - I think you'd like some of these books! Particularly The Namesake and The Painted Veil. Both beautiful literary fiction books.

I feel bad that I haven't read any of these bo...

2011-12-21T10:19:19.723-06:00

I feel bad that I haven't read any of these books. I find it very difficult to do best-of lists. Yours looks great though.

The History of Love is sooo beautiful! It's ha...

2011-12-21T07:40:12.639-06:00

The History of Love is sooo beautiful! It's hard to read but incredibly rewarding indeed.

And What mothers do is a gift for every mother-to-be: it really helps to cope with that difficult time of the first few weeks after the birth when suddenly we're almost abandoned and emotions fly around like a tornado.

Real nice to see your overview, Trish! And I can i...

2011-12-21T06:25:28.653-06:00

Real nice to see your overview, Trish! And I can imagine it's hard to focus on fiction when life itself is being so wonderful!

It's good to hear Nicole Krauss'es book gets a positive 'review' 'cause it's on my wishlist. I read The Help too this year, and liked it, so I'm throwing Looking For Alaska (which I hadn't heard of yet) with the others on the Future Reads Pile.

Must admit I'm a bit curious about the Jon Krakauer book as well. But I already saw the movie and although I know Sean Penn changed the story a lot, there's so much on Mt TBR already that I'll pass on this one. Thankfully I already read Extremely Loud, so I won't need to add that one either! :)

I'm also thrilled to hear that Bryson is a new fav author as I have Walking in the Woods (paper) and something Thunderbolt Kid (audio) waiting for me.

Now I must sayI'm rather surprised so many people put Before I go To Sleep on their Most Unputdownable list.. I liked it, but not *that* much (rated 3/5 stars).

Well, I'm sorry to take up so much comment space -- eeks! :-o I won't be compiling a 2011 list until the year is over but I hope you'll feel free to critisize my list once it's up. ;)

Wishing you a great time for the holidays -- the first with your little princess!

Oh Trish. This: "It was a tough read, but it ...

2011-12-21T06:18:43.896-06:00

Oh Trish. This: "It was a tough read, but it was beautiful, snuck up on me, and hit me hard." Wow, how you've made me want to give this one a try.

I haven't made a favorites list or anything, but the two books that pop immediately to mind are A Monster Calls and Two Weeks With the Queen. I know you weren't thrilled with The Knife of Never Letting Go, but Trish, you should give A Monster Calls a try sometime. It's very different from the Chaos Walking books. Such a beautiful little book.

Okay, I seriously need to read The Help.

2011-12-20T22:13:01.449-06:00

Okay, I seriously need to read The Help.

Man, did I love The Help on audio. It was incredib...

2011-12-20T20:19:36.186-06:00

Man, did I love The Help on audio. It was incredible! Heck, even my husband enjoyed the last six hours on a road trip, and he hadn't even listened to the first twelve! I loved it. Loved.

*Kailana - Sometimes audio doesn't work...

2011-12-20T19:47:27.003-06:00

*Kailana - Sometimes audio doesn't work for me but I'm learning. Has been a blessing this year when picking up a book is at the bottom of my list.

*Les - The History of Love is one of those that could go either way and it wasn't until the end that I fell in love. Hope you enjoy Henrietta Lacks. I found it fascinating!

*Diane - Yes, pick up the Tillman book! So beautiful.

*Amanda - Yup, look forward to more Maugham!

*Anna - I hope you enjoy The Help! I really loved it but would be interested in hearing what you thought reading it after hearing the controversy.

*Rhapsody - Bah!! Series = Bah.

*Bermuda - I hope you like Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Seems people go either way.

*Meg - Yes!! Definitely need to listen to Into the Wild!! And I know what you mean about naked without audiobooks, though sometimes I do miss just listening to the radio.

*Melissa - Did you read the whole Walking Chaos trilogy back to back? I haven't continued on yet...

*Cath - Whatever you do, don't take Painted Veil into the tub with you! ;)

*Andi - Go--go now and read The Help!

*JoAnn - And EL&IC still isn't doing it for you, huh? I found it to be really similar to The History of Love in style. Looking for Alaska deals with a lot of teen themes but I really enjoyed it.

*Heather - 24 audiobooks is fantastic! I hope to listen to more next year as well. :)

HI Trish, Thanks for visiting and entering my croc...

2011-12-20T19:17:30.268-06:00

HI Trish,
Thanks for visiting and entering my crocheted doiughnut contest.

This was a banner year for audio books for me. I listened to about 24 and have another going now. They are so darned convenient.

The number of books you read is pretty amazing con...

2011-12-20T19:16:53.669-06:00

The number of books you read is pretty amazing considering all the other things you had going on this year;-)

So glad you've embraced the world of audiobooks! The History of Love is one of my all-time favorites, so when you're in the mood for a reread that might be the way to go.

I loved all of the other books you listed for most beautifully written, so should probably investigate Looking for Alaska.

Got some excellent recommendations here, Trish! An...

2011-12-20T16:04:36.488-06:00

Got some excellent recommendations here, Trish! And I have yet to read The Help. Ack!

What a great list! I have been meaning to read The...

2011-12-20T14:49:58.466-06:00

What a great list! I have been meaning to read The Painted Veil for some time--thanks for reminding me. I'll definitely get to it in 2012.

We have the same mugs, btw. KINDRED SPIRITS for sure. :)