The Biblio Blogazine

I am not sure why I picked these particular categories other than they interested me the most and I felt it important to figure out my reading habits and preferences as in:

Am I reading more men than women? Or vice versa?
52% Male, 48% Female. Not bad really. I like that fact it was this close without me making any conscious decision to read one over another. Nice.

Am I too harsh or lenient when rating what I read?
Average rating given was 4 Stars, and this is how it broke down:
1 Star Rating = 4%
2 Star Rating = 4%
3 Star Rating = 24%
4 Star Rating = 24%
5 Star Rating = 44%

In looking at this, I’m either lucky in that I usually get very good books to read, or I’m more lenient than I should be. Something I will have to look at next year. However, I must give credit to all the wonderful book bloggers I follow as many of the stories I read were previously reviewed and recommended.

Am I well rounded in my reading, as in American authors versus those from other countries?
52% American
28% Irish/Scottish/British (Most of those were Irish)
12% Canadian
8 % Hispanic

Interesting. I had already planned to read more Latin American and Spanish authors in addition to reading more Canadian writing of course – especially after being introduced to writers such as Alice Munro and Carol Shields.

What genre do I tend to read most?
36% Historical Fiction
24% Short Stories
24% Contemporary Fiction
16% Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Young Adult
00% Non-Fiction

No surprises here. I already knew that Historical Fiction is my favorite. But one of the reasons I made it a point to do this, was to see where I may wish to venture next….to broaden my reading horizons as it were.

I do plan on reading one non-fiction book next year, but unless it gets a heck of a recommendation from someone, I don’t think I will be going out of my way to read more.

I have read some fantasy and found I do like the “darker” side. So I will be reading several books next year about vampires. We’ll see how that goes.

Yes, there are no romances. Not a one. However, there were plenty of love stories: The Time Traveler’s Wife, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, The Shadow of the Wind, Twilight among just a few.

But a true romance novel? Hmm. I have no idea. But I tend never to say never when it comes to reading. I will always be willing to give it a go – but again, only if I get a great recommendation from someone I trust.

Well that’s it. My year in review.

So how did you do? Did you spot a trend? Or was any of the above a consideration to you when chosing books to read?

Either way, I hope you had a great reading year, and may your next be even better!

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Historical Fiction, 304 pages, Advanced Reader’s Edition
Ballantine Books an imprint of Random House Publishing
Available in book stores end of January 2009

I’ve just finished reading this book by Jamie Ford in one sitting. Okay, okay, I did need to make some coffee, grab a nibble, and take care of a couple other necessities. But otherwise my butt was firmly planted into the cushions of my comfy sofa and it never once complained about the hours of inaction or went numb from lack of shifting.

It is that good.

The only negative? Unless you get your hands on an Advanced Readers Edition, you have to wait until the end of January 2009 to read it.

Here is an excerpt you can read on the author’s web site, but I’m not sure if sharing it is beneficial or cruel and unusual punishment as it will leave you wanting more and not being able to get that fix satiated until the book hits the shelves.

It was a roller coaster read; my emotions the only thing that held me back from completing the book sooner. This period in American history holds a special meaning for me as my grandfather was in the war and taken prisoner by the Japanese. For many years he was listed as MIA until his camp was liberated and his name was listed as being among those that survived.

However I’ve never held one iota of ill will toward the Japanese people – ever. It was a different time, a different mindset than one I grew up with, my mother instilling in me a strong sense of acceptance of all peoples regardless of their ethnicity. People were to be judged individually, for themselves and their actions, not ever as a group; that the actions of one do not represent those of the whole.

Reading this novel brings home the fact that how I think now, is not how many others thought then. It was a challenge to stifle my indignation at the actions of our government; but I had to, knowing that Mr. Ford writes about people and events that happened in a time I cannot relate to – not completely.

Thus I cannot judge the characters, only try to understand them as best I can. With a gift of story-telling beyond what I’ve experienced in some time, the author gives us the opportunity to see that mindset, live those experiences, and judge for ourselves the good, the bad, and the ugliness of what occurred during “the war years”.

This is a work of fiction, but one that is infused with the reality of one of the darker moments in American History. One of the passages that affected me most was when after many members of the Japanese community were arrested and taken away, others began to destroy anything that appeared to tie them to Japan, trying desperately to show how American and loyal they were. Clothing, photos, precious mementoes thrown literally upon the fire. And all the time while reading this, I knew these were useless acts. They could no more erase their ethnicity than they could change the color of their skin or the shape of their eyes, because that was how they were perceived and defined.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is so many things: historical fiction, a love story, a coming of age story – all wrapped up in a beautifully told tale, one that is at times sentimental and sweet, but without ever becoming maudlin.

I especially like how the story is told in a “split-narrative” allowing us to see Henry, the main character as he witnesses, then looks back upon, his life and history, dealing with the fall out of those decisions he made, and didn’t make.

To go on (and on as I know I could right now) may mean giving too much away. I would love to quote passages to showcase the beauty of this story and the skill of the author, but cannot due to the fact that this is an advance edition. I would hate to share something that may not be in the final copy, although except for a typo or two and some formatting issues (as the case with ARC’s), I see absolutely nothing wrong with the writing or the story: technically or otherwise.

This is definitely getting a 5 Star Rating, and a place on my TBRR (To Be Re-Read) and SDI (Stranded on a Deserted Island) lists.

Museum of Human Beings by Colin Sargent (2008)
Historical Fiction, 352 pages
McBooks Press, Advance Reader’s Copy

Read for Early Reviewers Group

Synopsis of book as provided by the official web site:
At the turn of the nineteenth century, the young Indian woman Sacagawea leads Lewis and Clark to the Pacific. But what about that tiny infant in the commemorative engraving, perched on Sacagawea’s back? He is her son, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, the youngest member of the Expedition, a child caught between two worlds who grows into a man haunted by the mother he barely knew and the wilderness she betrayed.

Sacagawea is only sixteen when she leads the Expedition and catches the eye of William Clark who finds her exotically appealing. Afterwards, Clark takes in Sacagawea and her child, and raises Baptiste as a foster son. When the teenage Baptiste attracts the notice of the visiting Duke Paul, Prince of Wurttemberg, Clark approves of the duke’s “experiment” to educate the boy at court. A gleeful Duke Paul exhibits Baptiste throughout Europe as a “half gentleman-half animal.” Eventually Jean Baptiste turns his back on the Old World and returns to the New, determined to find his true place there. He travels deep into the heart of the American wilderness, and into the depths of his mother’s soul, on an epic quest for identity that brings sacrifice, loss, and the distant promise of redemption.

This is Colin Sargent’s first novel, but he is by no means new to writing. His experience with poetry and prose shines through in many of the passages of his book. However there are other passages that do not seem to maintain as smooth a transition and flow, hence I found myself reading in spurts, entranced by much of the story, but then needing a break to absorb what I read or to deal with this sense of “roughness”.

I sometimes hate putting these thoughts into a review, because it isn’t something I can always put my finger on. And that is why many times, as I do now, acknowledge that it is perhaps my own little foible or perception – especially when there are so many reviewers who feel this story to much more than I think it is.

In addition, and I am not sure why this has not been touched upon in any review that I’ve come across, are the unsavory incidents of the main characters life. They were uncomfortable to say the least, but considering what was going on, fiction or not, it was difficult at times to take. But this is as it should be when one reads about the subjugation of others, which takes dark and ugly forms, such as rape and blatant hateful bigotry. But that was the times, and even though this is a fictionalized account of a true person’s life, these things must be touched upon, and I must give Mr. Sargent credit for not shying away from them.

I also give him kudos for not being overly graphic about it. There is enough for the reader to know what is going on, but not enough that a bad taste is left in the mouth or that the reader feels it was gratuitous.

I will not relate everything as it will lead to spoilers. I only mention it as I feel an obligation to share this so that you can make a more informed decision before reading this book.

For a first novel, this is good. But in all honesty, I can say that this is an effort I probably will not take the time to read again now that the final copy has hit the stores.

However, I still feel strongly enough to suggest it to those who like to read about American history and in particular how Native American’s were perceived and treated by others.

It seems with me, historical fiction is a hit and miss affair. Either it knocks my socks off or I sit here as I have for the last week or so trying to figure out a way to write a kind review about a book that left me somewhat lukewarm in my response to it.

For this reason, and since it was a book I did put down quite a bit, I am giving it a 3 Star Rating. I must say that in the beginning it was only a 2 Star, but it grew on me.

This is how my day has gone. I slept in this morning as it is Sunday, the day of rest, so that is what I did – rested.

When I finally wrested myself from the covers I vowed I would do just a few chores and then abscond to the couch, plant myself firmly within its comfy confines and prepare my 2009 challenge lists.

It is now 5:00pm my time and I am just now getting it all together.

Did some worm hole open up, suck me in, and then return me after wiping my memory clear of what the heck I’ve been doing for the last 6 hours???? Because I clearly remember getting up, doing some dishes, making lunch, and then logging onto my computer.

I checked e-mails which of course involved answering a few. Then I went through my list of what I currently have on my books shelves and then…wham…it’s 5pm and I am just now getting around to compiling and posting my next years projects.

This all took six hours? Really?

So yeah, best laid plans, they take time to make, manage, and corral into something coherent.

Basically I will be participating in the following:

Dewey’s Books Reading Challenge
The Year of Readers
(A year long charity event. Please check out my chosen charity shown in my sidebar)
9 for 2009
999 Challenge
Read Your Own Books Challenge
Notable Books (perpetual challenge)
Pulitzer Project (perpetual challenge)
1001 Books to Read Before You Die (perpetual challenge)

Like I said, lists to follow and be added to the tab shown at the top of this page. They will. Today, uh, tonight.

[looks around nervously waiting to see if that worm hole comes back...]

Upcoming Reviews

Author	Title	Genre
Baines, Elizabeth	Balancing on the Edge of the World	Anthology
Barnes, Margaret Campbell	The Tudor Rose	Historical Fiction
Casares, Oscar	Amigoland	Fiction
Eugenides, Jeffrey	Middlesex	Fiction
Fuqua, Jonathon Scott	In the Wake of the Boatman	Fiction
Green, George Dawes	Ravens	Crime/Thriller
Grisham & Donaldson	Bedlam South	Historical Fiction
James, Judith	Highland Rebel	Romance
Jones, David H.	Two Brothers	Historical Fiction
Leiknes, Elizabeth	The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns	Fiction
Patterson & DiLallo	Alex Cross’s Trial	Historical Fiction
Schrader, Helena P.	An Obsolete Honor	Historical Fiction
Vida, Nina	The Texicans	Historical Fiction

Books/Stories I’ve Read

Author	Title	Rating
Allende, Isabel	The House of the Spirits	3/5
Barry, Rebecca	Later, at the Bar	5/5
Bennett, Alan	The Uncommon Reader	5/5
Bottoms, Greg	Angelhead	3/5
Brooks, Geraldine	March	4/5
Brooks, Geraldine	Year of Wonders	5/5
Buergenthal, Thomas	A Lucky Child	4/5
Capote, Truman	In Cold Blood	5/5
Carroll, Lewis	Alice In Wonderland	3/5
Carroll, Lewis	Through the Looking Glass	3/5
Cox, Michael	The Glass of Time	4/5
Danticat, Edwidge	"Lélé"	5/5
DeVita, Randy	"Riding the Doghouse"	4/5
Dick, Philip K.	"A Little Something for Us Tempunauts"	4/5
Eugenides, Jeffrey	The Virgin Suicides	4/5
Enright, Anne	The Gathering	5/5
Esquivel, Laura	Like Water for Chocolate	5/5
Follett, Ken	The Pillars of the Earth	4/5
Ford, Jamie	Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet	5/5
Fowles, John	The French Lieutenant’s Woman	2/5
Fuller, David	Sweetsmoke	5/5
Galchen, Rivka	Atmospheric Disturbances	2/5
García, Cristina	Dreaming In Cuban	4/5
George, Margaret	Mary Queen of Scotland	4/5
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins	"The Yellow Wallpaper"	5/5
Hemley, Robin	DO-OVER!	3/5
Hoobler, Dorothy & Thomas	The Crimes of Paris	3/5
Hosseini, Khaled	A Thousand Splendid Suns	4/5
Joyce, James	The Dead	4/5
Julavits, Heidi	"Judge Gladys Parks-Schultz"	3/5
Korelitz, Jean Hanff	Admission	5/5
Lahiri, Jhumpa	Interpreter of Maladies	5/5
Laurence, Margaret	The Stone Angel	3/5
Lee, Harper	To Kill A Mockingbird	5/5
Lee, Steve N.	"What If….?	3/5
Melucci, Gina	I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti	2/5
Meyer, Stephanie	Twilight	5/5
Mitchell, David	"Judith Castle"	4/5
Munro, Alice	“Dimension”	3/5
Niffenegger, Audrey	The Time Traveler’s Wife	5/5
O’Connor, Flannery	"A Good Man Is Hard to Find"	4/5
O’Connor, Flannery	"Good Country People"	5/5
Palahniuk, Chuck	Fight Club	5/5
Plath, Sylvia	The Bell Jar	4/5
Ronco, Dan	Unholy Domain	3/5
Rebenfeld, Jed	The Interpretation of Murder	1/5
Rusch, Kristine Kathryn	"Victims"	5/5
Russo, Richard	"Horseman"	5/5
Sargent, Colin	Museum of Human Beings	3/5
Savage, J. Scott	Farworld: Water Keep	3/5
Scott, Joanna	Follow Me	4/5
See, Lisa	Peony In Love	5/5
See, Lisa	Shanghai Girls	4/5
See, Lisa	Snow Flower and the Secret Fan	5/5
Shakespeare, William	Hamlet	3/5
Shelley, Mary	Frankenstein	3/5
Shields, Carol	The Stone Diaries	3/5
Shreve, Anita	Testimony	5/5
Smiley, Jane	A Thousand Acres	3/5
Stoker, Bram	Dracula	3/5
Thornton, Rosy	Crossed Wires	4/5
Urrea, Luis Alberto	Into The Beautiful North	5/5
Various	Irish Girls About Town	5/5
Whitcomb, Laura	A Certain Slant of Light	4/5
Winterson, Jeanette	Sexing the Cherry	2/5
Zafón, Carlos Ruiz	The Shadow of the Wind	5/5

Books In the Wings

Author	Title	Genre
Ackerman, Diane	The Zookeeper’s Wife	Non-Fiction
Allende, Isabel	Daughter of Fortune	Historical Fiction
Allende, Isabel	Portrait In Sepia	Historical Fiction
Ansay, A. Manette	Blue Water	Fiction
Atwood, Margaret	Alias Grace	Historical Fiction
Atwood, Margaret	The Blind Assassin	Fiction
Austen, Jane	Pride and Prejudice	Fiction
Barnes, Jonathan	The Somnambulist	Historical Fiction
Bellow, Saul	Humboldt’s Gift	Fiction
Bennett, Alan	The Clothes They Stood Up In	Short Story
Binchey, Maeve	Quentins	Fiction
Binchey, Maeve	Tara Road	Fiction
Bradford, Sarah	Lucrezia Borgia	Biography
Brooks, Max	World War Z	Fiction
Buck, Pearl S.	Mandala	Fiction
Buck, Pearl S.	Pavilion of Women	Fiction
Butler, Octavia	Fledgling	Fiction/Horror
Caldwell & Thomason	The Rule of Four	Fiction
Cather, Willa	My Antonia	Fiction
Cather, Willa	One of Ours	Fiction
Chabon, Michael	The Amazing Adventures of…	Fiction
Chabon, Michael	The Yiddish Policeman’s Union	Fiction
Chance, Megan	An Inconvenient Wife	Historical Fiction
Chopin, Kate	The Awakening	Fiction
Coehlo, Paulo	The Alchemist	Fiction/Fantasy
Coehlo, Paulo	Veronika Decides To Die	Fiction
Connolly, John	The Book of Lost Things	Fiction/Fantasy
Cox, Michael	The Meaning of Night	Historical Fiction
Cunningham Michael	The Hours	Fiction
Danticat, Edwidge	The Dew Breaker	Fiction
Díaz, Junot	The Brief Wondrous Life…Oscar Wao	Fiction
Didion, Joan	The Year of Magical Thinking	Memoir
Dillard, Annie	The Maytrees	Fiction
Dineson, Isak	Last Tales	Anthology
Donoghue, Emma	Slammerkin	Historical Fiction
Dreiser, Theodore	Sister Carrie	Fiction
Dunant, Sarah	In the Company of the Courtesan	Historical Fiction
Dunant, Sarah	The Birth of Venus	Historical Fiction
Eco, Umberto	The Name of the Rose	Historical Fiction
Erdrich, Louise	The Plague of Doves	Fiction
Faulkner, William	The Sound and the Fury	Fiction
Flagg, Fannie	Fried Green Tomatoes	Fiction
Ford, Richard	Independence Day	Fiction
Fowler, Karen Joy	The Jane Austen Book Club	Fiction
Frazier, Charles	Cold Mountain	Historical Fiction
Fuqua, Jonathon Scott	Gone and Back Again	YA Fiction
George, Margaret	The Memoirs of Cleopatra	Historical Fiction
Gibbons, Kaye	A Virtuous Woman	Fiction
Gibbons, Kaye	Ellen Foster	Fiction
Golden, Arthur	Memoirs of a Geisha	Historical Fiction
Gruen, Sara	Water For Elephants	Historical Fiction
Guterson, David	East of the Mountains	Fiction
Guterson, David	Our Lady of the Forest	Fiction
Guterson, David	Snow Falling on Cedars	Historical Fiction
Hale, Shannon	Goose Girl	YA Fiction
Hamilton, Jane	A Map of the World	Fiction
Hegi, Ursula	Floating In My Mother’s Palm	Fiction
Hegi, Ursula	Intrusions	Fiction
Hegi, Ursula	Stones From the River	Fiction
Hemingway, Ernest	The Old Man and the Sea	Fiction
Hemingway, Ernest	The Sun Also Rises	Fiction
Hill, Joe	Heart-Shaped Box	Fiction/Thriller
Hoffman, Alice	Here On Earth	Fiction
Hoffman, Alice	Practical Magic	Fiction
Hoffman, Alice	Probable Future	Fiction
Hoffman, Alice	The Ice Queen	Fiction
Hosseini, Khaled	A Thousand Splendid Suns	Fiction
Hurston, Zora Neale	Their Eyes Were Watching God	Fiction
Hwang, Frances	Transparency	Fiction
Jones, Edward P.	The Known World	Historical Fiction
Kesey, Ken	One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest	Fiction
Kidd, Sue Monk	The Mermaid Chair	Fiction
Kincaid, Jamaica	Annie John	Fiction
Kingsolver, Barbara	Animal Dreams	Fiction
Kingsolver, Barbara	Pigs In Heaven	Fiction
Kingsolver, Barbara	Prodigal Summer	Fiction
Kingsolver, Barbara	The Poisonwood Bible	Fiction
Koontz, Dean	Brother Odd	Fiction
Koontz, Dean	Forever Odd	Fiction
Lahiri, Jhumpa	The Namesake	Fiction
Lamb, Wally	I Know This Much is True	Fiction
Lamb, Wally	She’s Come Undone	Fiction
Lee, Jennifer 8.	The Fortune Cookie Chronicles	Documentary
Lee, Min Jin	Free Food For Millionaires	Fiction
Lehane, Dennis	Mystic River	Mystery
Lessing, Doris	The Golden Notebook	Fiction
Llewellyn, Richard	How Green Was My Valley	Historical Fiction
Lurie, Alison	Foreign Affairs	Fiction
Martin, Steve	Shopgirl	Fiction
Márquez, Gabriel García	Love In the Time of Cholera	Fiction
Márquez, Gabriel García	Of Love and Other Demons	Fiction
Márquez, Gabriel García	One Hundred Years of Solitude	Magical Realism
Mayes, Frances	Under The Tuscan Sun	Memoir
McCammon, Robert	The Queen of Bedlam	Historical Fiction
McCarthy, Cormac	The Road	Fiction
McCourt, Frank	Angeles Ashes	Autobiography
McEwan, Ian	Atonement	Historical Fiction
McMurtry, Larry	Lonesome Dove	Western
McMurtry, Larry	Terms of Endearment	Fiction
Messud, Claire	Emperor’s Children	Fiction
Millar, Martin	Lonely Werewolf Girl	YA Fiction
Miller, Sue	Inventing the Abbotts	Fiction
Miller, Sue	The Good Mother	Fiction
Miller, Sue	While I Was Gone	Fiction
Morrison, Toni	Beloved	Historical Fiction
Mullen, Thomas	The Last Town On Earth	Historical Fiction
Munro, Alice	Hateship, Frienship…Marriage	Anthology
Myles, Eileen	Cool For You	Fiction
Oates, Joyce Carol	The Falls	Fiction
Oates, Joyce Carol	The Gravedigger’s Daughter	Fiction
Oates, Joyce Carol	We Were the Mulvaneys	Fiction
Ondaatje, Michael	The English Patient	Historical Fiction
Patchett, Ann	Bel Canto	Fiction
Paton, Alan	Cry, The Beloved Country	Fiction
Penney, Stef	The Tenderness of Wolves	Historical Fiction
Perrotta, Tom	The Abstinence Teacher	Fiction
Proulx, E. Annie	The Shipping News	Fiction
Quindlen, Anna	One True Thing	Fiction
Read, Cornelia	A Field of Darkness	Mystery
Roth, Matthue	Candy In Action	Fiction
Roth, Philip	American Pastoral	Fiction
Roth, Philip	Exit Ghost	Fiction
Roy, Arundhati	The God of Small Things	Fiction
Russo, Richard	Bridge of Sighs	Fiction
Russo, Richard	Empire Falls	Fiction
Sedaris, David	Naked	Memoir
Shaffer and Barrows	The Guernsey Literary and…Society	Historical Fiction
Shields, Jody	The Fig Eater	Historical Fiction
Shreve, Anita	The Weight of Water	Fiction
Smith, Zadie	On Beauty	Fiction
Smith, Zadie	White Teeth	Fiction
Sobel, Dava	Galileo’s Daughter	Biography
Stockett, Kathryn	The Help	Historical Fiction
Sunée, Kim	Trail of Crumbs	Memoir
Tan, Amy	Saving Fish From Drowning	Fiction
Tan, Amy	The Joy Luck Club	Fiction
Taylor, D.J.	Kept: A Victorian Mystery	Mystery
Tsukiyama, Gail	The Samurai’s Garden	Historical Fiction
Tsukiyama, Gail	Women of the Silk	Historical Fiction
Tuck, Lily	The News From Paraguay	Fiction
Updike, John	Rabbit At Rest	Fiction
Updike, John	Rabbit, Run	Fiction
Various	Women of the Night	Anthology
Vinton, Victoria	Jungle Law	Historical Fiction
Walker, Alice	The Color Purple	Fiction
Wall, Paula	Rock Orchard	Fiction
Waugh, Evelyn	Brideshead Revisited	Fiction
Wells, Rebecca	Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood	Fiction
Wells, Rebecca	Little Altars Everywhere	Fiction
Wharton, Edith	The Age of Innocence	Fiction
Wiggins, Marianne	Evidence of Things Unseen	Historical Fiction
Wiggins, Marianne	The Shadow Catcher	Fiction
Wroblewski, David	The Story of Edgar Sawtelle	Fiction
Xingjian, Gao	Soul Mountain	Fiction
Zusak, Markus	The Book Thief	Historical Fiction