What's On Your Nightstand? Jan 2011

Hosted by Jennifer at 5 Minutes For Books.

Read in January:

1.Sunset Park****+ by Paul Auster US 2011
2.The Elephant's Journey*** by Jose Saramago Portugal 2010
3.The Typist**** by Michael Knight US 2010
4.Purge**** by Sofi Oksanen Finland 2010
5.The Library of Shadows*** by Mikkel Birkegaard Denmark 2008
6.Stoner**** by John Wiliams US 1965
7.The Cement Garden**** by Ian McEwan UK 1978
8.Sweetness in the Belly***** by Camilla Gibb 2005
9.Chapter 1 of On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry (Aug 2011) which you can read here:
I loved The Secret Scripture.

I will write brief reviews or answer questions about any of these books that interest you. Please just ask. What would you like to know?

Currently reading:

The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards US 2011 because I really liked The Memory Keeper's Daughter. (my review)
Secret Son by Laila Lalami for Orange January (longlist 2010)

Still on the nightstand:

For Black History Month and the Persons of Colour Challenge:

Billy by Albert French US
The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley US
Jazz by Toni Morrison US
Paradise by Toni Morrison (Orange Prize nom 1999) and Nobel author
1959 by Thulani Davis US
The Stillborn by Zaynab Alkali (Nigeria)
So Long a Letter by Miriama Ba (Senegal)
Going Down South by Bonnie Glover (US)
I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali (Yemen)
White Teeth by Zadie Smith (UK)
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (US)
Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji (Iran)
The Seasons of Beento Blackbird by Akosua Busia (Ghana)

Man Asian Prize nominees, shortlist to be announced in February and the winner in March 2011:

Three Sister by Feiyu Bi
Serious Men by Manu Joseph
Dahanu Road by Anosh Irani (also Giller Prize shortlist 2010)
Tiger Hills by Sarita Mandanna

For Canada Reads 2011:

The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou
The Birth House by Ami McKay

For Canadian Literature Challenge 2011:

Cool Water by Diane Warren (Giller Prize Winner 2010)
The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb because I just finished Sweetness in the Belly and loved it.

For Jewish Literature Challenge 2011

The Violin of Auschwitz by Maria Angels Anglada
Homesick by Eshkol Nevo
Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons

Stranger Here Below by Joyce Hinnefeld because I really enjoyed her first novel, In Hovering Flight. (my review)

Isa and May by Margaret Forster because I liked Keeping the World Away**** very much.

Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye

Taroko Gorge by Jacob Ritari

Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill because my library finally purchased it at my request. I've read all 6 of Hill's Detective Serailler series and a few others, including Mrs. De Winter***+.

The Good Psychologist by Noam Shpancer for the Mental Illness Advocacy Challenge.

Buttterfly by Sonya Hartnett for the Aussie Author Challenge. I was really impressed by What the Birds See***** (Of a Boy in Australia).

And something by Iris Murdoch. I've read The Black Prince****The Sea The Sea****, The Italian Girl***+, and The Message to the Planet***+. Which would you recommend?

Opinions, reading recommendations and links to reviews are always welcomed. I'd love to read them.

Costa Award Reading Challenge 2011

An ongoing project to read the Costa Prize fiction winners from1971 when the prize (then called the Whitbread) was established to the present. I will be reading all of the fiction and first novel winners and any shortlist nominees that appeal to me. There are no longlists provided for this prize and shortlists contain only four nominees. 

The 2011 shortlists with winners announced on January 3, 2012:


Costa Novel Award

• Pure**** by Andrew Miller (Winner)
• The Sense of an Ending**** by Julian Barnes
• A Summer of Drowning by John Burnside
• My Dear I Wanted to Tell You by Louisa Young     

Costa First Novel Award

• Tiny Sunbirds Far Away****+ by Christie Watson (Winner)
• City of Bohane by Kevin Barry
• The Last Hundred Days by Patrick McGuinness
• Pao by Kerry Young


Official Costa Award site.

Winners I've read:

2010 Pure**** by Andrew Miller  
2010 Tiny Sunbirds Far Away****+ by Christie Watson

2010 The Hand That First Held Mine**** by Maggie O'Farrell 
2008 The Secret Scripture***** by Sebastian Barry
2008 The Outcast**** by Sadie Jones
2007 What Was Lost***** by Catherine O'Flynn
2007 Day**** by A L Kennedy
2006 The Tenderness of Wolves****+ by Stef Penney
1985 Hawksmoor***** by Peter Ackroyd (read twice)
1972 The Bird of Night**** by  Susan Hill 

Also read, from the shortlists:

2010 The Sense of an Ending**** by Julian Barnes 
2009 The Elephant Keeper****+by Christpher Nicholson (reviewed)
2009 The Music Room**** by William Fiennes (Biography)
2008 The Other Hand***** by Chris Cleave (Little Bee in US) reviewed
2008 Trauma***** by Patrick McGrath
2008 The Behaviour of Moths**** by Poppy Adams
(The Sister in US)
2007 Death of a Murderer***** by Rupert Thomson  reviewed
1983 Flying to Nowhere**** by John Fuller

On my shelves tbr:

2005 The Silk Factory by Tash Aw
2003 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
2000 White Teeth by Zadie Smith
1978 Picture Palace by Paul Theroux
1974 The Sacred & Profane Love Machine by Iris Murdoch

Which have you read and can you recommend them? Feel free to comment, request a brief review, or leave a link if you've written one. I'd love to read them.