A Mixed Bag

Item 1: The deadline is quickly approaching for the Indie Lit Awards!  The deadline to nominate your favorite Published in 2010 book (in any category) is December 15th. 

Apart from some ARCs, I think the only 2010 book I read was The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake...did I like it enough to nominate it?  Hmm, yeah, probably...better to have a LONG long list than a short long list, right?  The more options the better?  

Also, check out this post (by You Fight Like Anne Rice!) about the Indie Lit Awards with some great little graphs tallying the nominations in the different categories.  Do you agree with the books in the lead? 

Item 2: I read 9 books this month (titles link to my reviews) in a nice variety of genres and ratings.
99. Thunderstruck, Erik Larson—3.5 stars, Nonfiction
100. The Alchemist, Paul Coelho—1.5 stars, Adult Fiction
101.  Henry Huggins, Beverly Cleary—3.5 stars, Junior Fiction
102.  Tinkers, Paul Harding—4 stars, Pulitzer Prize Winning Adult Fiction
103.  Dubliners, James Joyce—3 stars, Classic Fiction (short stories)
104.  Deconstructing Penguins, Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone—3.5 stars, Nonfiction
105.  The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood—4 stars, Adult Fiction
106. Fitness Illustrated, Brian Sharkey—ARC from LT, 2.5 stars, Nonfiction (LT review here)
107. A Girl From Yamhill, Beverly Cleary—4 stars, Nonfiction


Item 3: I'm afraid it's time to start making some concessions on my Fall In

to Reading Challenge. With only December left, and 9 hefty books still unread, (still only 5 completed) reality is forcing its way in.

IN PROGRESS:
Our Mutual Friend (1/4 done...600 some odd pages to go...I WILL finish this by the end of the year.)

STILL WAITING:
Possession  (looking forward to reading this, though a little nervous it won't live up to my expectations)
The Children's Blizzard (planning on reading this NF over my snowy Christmas break)
Paddy's Lament (another NF, this very well may fall into the 2011 pile)
How Green Was My Valley (looking forward to this re-read from high school)
Independence Day (Pulitzer Prize winner...but 2nd in a trilogy.  Should I read the first one first? Does it matter?)
A Room With a View (oh yeah.  I was going to read this in 2010. might make that 2011.)

GIVING UP:

Rooted in Barbarous Soil (still no progress, who am I kidding? this one's gonna stay on the shelf for a while)

Three Cups of Tea (Is this a necessary read?  I confess I'm not at all interested, but I can get past that if it's worthwhile)

Item 4:  Remember that conversation we were just having about modern or contemporary classics?  I was browsing Everyman's Library collections of books (inspired by Thomas' beautiful collections)  and realized that the more modern books that Everyman's Library publishes are call Contemporary Classics.  I can picture Debbie from ReaderBuzz shaking her head at that.