Mea culpa...

MI have been a horrible blogger, but I have been reading! And since I have been stuck on the couch thanks to a nasty Boxing Day ankle sprain, it's about time I wrote about it!  Here's a list of the books I read in the last three months of 2010:

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. This book is my Number One, Super-rific, Hallelujah Book of 2010. Set in England just after WWII, it's the story of eleven year old Flavia deLuce, aspiring chemist, detective and foil to her older sisters. Flavia has quickly become one of my favorite characters, and I even named my new Schwinn after her trusty bike, Gladys. If you only read one book in 2011, read this one.


Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon. This is a fantastic travelogue. I started reading it on the flight to Maui, and finished it on one of our post-honeymoon fishing trips.  Got me itching for a good road trip... maybe next weekend when we have our mini trip with the Bakers, Mr.Smith and Ang,   I'll document it, Least Heat Moon style, since we'll be taking one of those Blue Highways up the Peninsula.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.  Oooooohhh, who knew that the Scots could be so sexy?  A little bit of time travel, a smattering of romance, and a whole lot of Scottish history makes for one heck of a novel.  One of the best books I read in 2010,  the story of Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser is really enchanting.  Oh, and did I mention the sex?

Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins.  Just after coming home from Maui, I was missing Ka'anapali and Lahaina so much, I googled books set in Maui.  I was excited to discover that Tom Robbins had a book set in both Seattle and Lahaina; it was like coming full circle.  You can always count on Robbins to write wonderful characters (I can never look at a Can of Beans the same way again), and Woodpecker is no exception.


A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg.  A mishmash of meals and memories, it's an ultimate read for the Seattle Foodie Crowd. The recipes are amazing!!! I made Bouchons au Thon  for Jason, and it has quickly become a family favorite, served with linguine and asparagus.  Check out Molly Wizenberg's blog, if you get a chance.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris.  I wasn't really hip to the whole True Blood craze, but this first book in the Sookie Sackhouse mysteries was so highly recommended by several friends, I had to give it a try.  It is the ultimate in Guilty Pleasure Summer Reading, and I can't wait to start reading the next book in the series.  I'm just waiting for a warm sunny day.  May have to wait awhile.

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry.  So intriguing!!! I don't even know where to begin, and I hate to give too much away.  The story of Towner Whitney and her eccentric family, set in Salem, Massachusetts, is sometimes magical, and sometimes terrifying.  A true mind bender, I couldn't put it down!

Squirrel Meets Chipmunk by David Sedaris.  A modern take on Aesop's Fables, these animal stories are not for the morally superior!  I absolutely ADORE David Sedaris, and this is one of the few books that made it into the Doty Family Book Club.  Although I was far more impressed than Jason by Sedaris' subversive wit, we both chuckled out loud more than once. And the illustrations are delightful. 

Bite Me by Christopher Moore. The third installment of the Bloodsucking Fiends books brings back my favorite vampires, Jody and C. Thomas Flood, but the real reason I heart this series are the pot smoking Safeway night crew nicknamed The Animals.  I worked on a night crew at Safeway in college, and no one believed me about turkey bowling, naps in the cages, and ice skating behind the floor waxer until Christopher Moore introduced us to The Animals.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger.  This book, for me anyways, was like seeing a horrible accident unfold before your eyes, and you are unable to do anything about it.  Elspeth, the main character, passes away after a bout with cancer, and finds herself haunting her London flat.  When her twin nieces move into the flat per Elspeth's will, she finds herself doing everything she can to get their attention.  The book, which is already very dark, has some horrifying twists and turns, and it felt very awkward in some places.  It made me wonder if the author had to edit quite a bit out of the story for publishing, because the end left me quite cold.  But maybe it was supposed to?

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote.  Ashamed to say, I hadn't read Breakfast at Tiffany's before last fall.  I had heard that the book was a bit different than the movie, and I was afraid I would be disappointed by the discrepancies, and would wind up hating either the book or the movie.  I am glad to report that I still love the movie; but the book is so beautifully written, it reads exactly as it should, a love letter to the enigmatic Holly Golightly.  I had always thought, growing up, that if I could have the traits of any fictional character, it would be Scarlett O'Hara, and her fiery will to survive.  But Holly Golightly's survival instincts are much more subtle, and so much more innocent and kind, I think I'd rather be a Holly than a Scarlett.