Thursday, January 19, 2017

100 Something Books Since February to December 2016






I need to get this out before this year is over and my little list of 2016 is no longer relevant.  Here is what I read, more or less, since last February.  The links will take you to my review:
  1. Hemingway:  the Writer as Artist by Carlos Baker
  2. Rudyard Kipling by Kingsley Amis
  3. History of England by G.M. Trevelyan
  4. A Higher Call by Adam Makos
  5. Joseph Conrad by Norman Sherry
  6. Ezra Pound by Peter Ackroyd
  7. Designa:  Technical Secrets of the Traditional Arts
  8. Dancing On My Grave by Gelsey Kirkland
  9. Douce Apacolypse
  10. The Place of Houses
  11. Tacitus:  Germania, Agricola, Oratory
  12. Paris in the Past and Montmarte
  13. New Grove's Modern Masters
  14. Beethoven Biography by Frederich Schiller
  15. Holding onto Air by Suzanne Farrell
  16. Stoneground Ghost Tales by Ralph B. Swain
  17. Maigret and the Spinster by Georges Simenon
  18. Lew Archer Private Investigator by Ross Macdonald
  19. Beethoven's Letters
  20. House of a Thousand Candles by Meredith Nicholson
  21. Why Call them Back form Heaven by Clifford Simak
  22. A Life in Photographs by Edward Steichen
  23. Knights of the Brush:  The Hudson River School and the Moral Landscape by James F. Cooper
  24. Mozart by Marcia Davenport
  25. The Writer's Art by James J.  Kilpatrick
  26. Beautiful Bibles
  27. The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton
  28. A Composer's World by Paul Hindemith
  29. Agatha Christie:  Five Complete Novels
  30. I Should Be Dead by Bob Beckel
  31. Short Breaks Into Mordor:  Dawns and Departures of a Scribbler's Life by Peter Hitchens
  32. Christianity's Dangerous Idea by Allistair McGrath
  33. Chess:  An Illustrated by Raymond Keene
  34. The Lewis Chessmen Unmasked by David Caldwell
  35. Shirley Jackson:  Novels and Stories (The Lottery, The Haunting of Hill House, We Have Always Lived in the Castle and Complete Short Stories)
  36. Midnight to Siberia by David Greene
  37. Michelango An Art Book
  38. The Zimmerman Telegraph
  39. Mozart: A Cultural Biography by Robert Gutman
  40. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  41. The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
  42. Death in a Prairie House:  Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders by William R. Drennan
  43. The Life of Michelangelo by Ascanio Condivi
  44. Meditating Spaces by Michael Freeman
  45. The Simple Home by Sarah Nettleton
  46. Hanok:  The Korean House by Nani Park and Robert J.  Fouser
  47. C.S.  Lewis:  An Experiment to Criticism
  48. Behold the Glory by Chad Walsh
  49. Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture by Isaac Newton
  50. Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
  51. The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov
  52. A Walk Through the Cloisters by Bonnie Young
  53. The Vatican Collections
  54. Abandoned Places by Kieron Connolly
  55. Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers
  56. The Complete Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway
  57. On Stories to the Essays on Literature by C.S. Lewis
  58. The Quiet American Graham Greene
  59. Robots and Murder by Isaac Asimov
  60. TinTin Le tresor Rackham Le Rouge by Herge
  61. TinTin La Estrella Misteriosa by Herge
  62. Mozart:  a Life by Paul Johnson
  63. The Poetic Wonder of Isaac Watts by Douglas Bond
  64. The Gospel and Epistles of John by F.F. Bruce
  65. A Night on the Moor and Other Tales of Dread by R. Murray Gilchrist
  66. Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers
  67. One of the Few by Jason Ladd
  68. Medieval Monsters by Damien Kempf and Maria L. Gilbert
  69. Ernest Hemingway:  A Life Story by Carlos Baker
  70.  A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
  71. Parrots by Petra Deimer
  72. TinTin L'Etoile Mysterieuse by Herge
  73. Parrots by Batest Bosesabork
  74. Budgerigar Handbook by Ernest L. Hart
  75. African Grey Parrots by Mulawka
  76. Cockatiels by Nancy Curtis
  77. TinTin Au Congo by Herge
  78. Frank Lloyd Wright American Master by Kathryn Smith
  79. The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
  80. Crime Novels:  American Noir 1930s and 40s
  81. World of Ancient Rome by Michael Grant
  82. My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
  83. The Life of Michelangelo by Giorgio Vasari
  84. The Edge of the Chair Edited Joan Kahn
  85. The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield
  86. Classic Tales of Horror Edited by Robin Brockman
  87. Night Flight by Antoine Saint de Exupery
  88. The Iliad by Homer
  89. The Witch of Prague and Other Stories by F. Marion Crawford
  90. Murder in the Gun Room by H.B. Piper
  91. TinTin en Amerique
  92. Classic Ghost Stories Edited by Robin Brockman
  93. Maniac McGee by Jerry Spirelli
  94.  Chilling Horror Stories (Gothic Fantasy) by Dale Townsend
  95. Seven Complete Perry Mason Novels by Erle Stanley Gardner
  96. Asterix the Gladiator by Goscinny and Uderzo
  97. Burmese Days; Keep the Apisdistra Flying and Comping Up for Air by George Orwell
  98. Chilling Ghost Stories by Dale Townsend
  99. Deception by Randy Alcorn
  100. Dr. Doolittle by Hugh Lofting
  101. Henry James on Italy 
  102. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
  103. Coming Up for Air by George Orwell 
  104. Many Masks:  A Biography of Frank Lloyd Wright by Brendan  Gill
  105. The Colosseum by Peter Quenell 
  106. Letters of Mozart 
  107. Photographers:  Andre Kertesz, Lewis Hine, August Sanders, and Nadar
  108. The Thurber Carnival

23 comments:

Barbara said...

Lots of lovely reviews to read, thank you. I’ve read some of these such as the girl on the train, Dr. Doolittle and The ghost stories of Edith Wharton but there are many I’ve not read and some I really must read.

RTD said...

What a great reading year you've had, Sharon. I will browsing through your many links to see what you have to say about your reading. Do you have any specific plans for 2017, or are you an improvisational and impulsive reader (following serendipity fancies wherever they might lead)?

Sharon Wilfong said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sharon Wilfong said...

Hi R.T. I love your questions. I wish I could be orderly because then I would join all those wonderful book challenges that other bloggers participate in.

However I read as my whimsy takes me. Sometimes I'm in the mood for European Victorian literature, other times twentieth century fiction and still other times nonfiction.

To give you an idea I am currently reading The Warden by Trollope; The Little Book of Plagiarism by Richard Posner; Wind Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery and a huge coffee table book about Japanese history in art and culture.

Right now I'm on the chapter about women samurais.

On Goodreads I have ambitiously made a goal to read 200 books by 2018. We'll see how successful I am.

Take care!

Sharon Wilfong said...

HI Barbara! Glad you liked it. Maybe you will share some of your favorites in a future post? (Besides the delightful out of print children books).

Mudpuddle said...

a fine eclectic assortment - congrats! i see you like bios of musicians.. i was one myself with a very short career; as such, said bios look very interesting... the last good one i read a couple of years ago was on Rossini; i'd like to find one on Vivaldi: any advice? many tx...

Anonymous said...

You had the kind of reading year that I strive to have, but have never stuck to as far as the amount of classics that you have read. I read them regularly, but would like to add more. I am getting better, and ended up finally reading several that I wanted to read for a long while just this past year. We have a few 2016 reads in common, BTW.

Carol said...

Impressive! Love the variety here, Sharon.

Brian Joseph said...

That is an impressive list. I wish that I had read as many books in that time period.

Happy reading in 2017!

Sharon Wilfong said...

Hi Mudpuddle. What instrument did you play or were you a vocalist. I am a classical pisnist (that's actually my day job).

I do like reading bios of composers and musicians. I feel it increases my insight in performing their works.

I haven't read a bio on Vivaldi yet, but your question spurred me to look up some bios. Based on reviews, Heller seems to have written the best, but Robbins' and Pincherle's bios look good as well.

Sharon Wilfong said...

Hi Toady! I think you have children at home? I do not. My son's in college and I cut down on my hours performing with singers in order to write more. So I have more time to read, although I never think it nearly enough.

Been really enjoying reading your blog by the way. On my way to comment on a couple of posts: Genesis and one about a girl with a drug addict family, can't think of the title. Take care!

Sharon Wilfong said...

Thanks Carol. Of course you are responsible for my adding to the library with your excellent reviews.

Sharon Wilfong said...

Thanks, Brian. You seem to be getting some quality reading in, however, based on your reviews. Hope you have a good reading year as well!

Mudpuddle said...

tx for the info: i ordered a copy of the Heller and look forward to reading it...

Sharon Wilfong said...

Your welcome Mudpuddle. Let me know if it's any good.

Cleo said...

Wow, I'm blown away, not only by the number of books you were able to read but also the number of reviews you able to write. That's awesome! All the best in your reading for 2017!

Sharon Wilfong said...

Thanks, Cleopatra. Have a wonderful year of reading yourself. I always enjoy your reviews and I anticipate a good year for us both.

Anonymous said...

Yes. I do care for our granddaughter full time as our daughter is in college. She was planning on being a stay at home mother, but things didn't go the way that she planned, so she is plowing her way through a college education and raising a little one. They both lived here with us until just a few weeks ago, but now they are in their won place and our granddaughter is getting dropped off every morning. It gets in the way of some of my reading mojo, but I wouldn't have it any other way. She is already crazy for books though, so I am just at the point in my life where I am reading A LOT of picture books, and looking forward to the day when we can read the Little House Books, Nancy Drew, etc.

I have been enjoying your blog as well. It is a pleasure getting to know you better.

Barbara said...

I will do Sharon. I’m always looking for ideas for blog posts so why not. :-)

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a list! I've not read most of these, although I do enjoy biographies. I'll be checking out more of your reviews. You must be a fast reader, averaging two a week! :)

Sharon Wilfong said...

Hi Marica! Well, actually I read three or four books concurrently so it looks like I'm reading a couple a week when I'm really only finishing up a couple a week. Nonfiction is a faster read because I'm basically gulping down information while literature must be savored and it takes longer.

Sharon Wilfong said...

That'd be great!

Sharon Wilfong said...

That's wonderful time spent with the Grandtoady. Years ago when Derek was that age, I was a functional single mom (and then a single mom) and I was so blessed to have my parents let me live with them for a couple of years. Derek still has a very special relationship with them.

I have the best memories of reading to my son. I still have all his children books because I'm hoping to read them again to either grand kids or adopted children (or both one day!)

And I'm really enjoying your blog. You write in an authentic voice with feeling. You strike me as an outspoken, opinionated person like me. Probably gets you into trouble, at least it gets me in trouble at times, but that's the price when you put yourself out there. Beats saying nothing. Take care!