2011 Book List

I'm starting a 2011 Book List, to share with you the books that I've read in 2011 and what I thought of them. I rate them on a scale of 1 to 5 stars and usually include a small review (no spoilers). I will update the list as more books are read throughout the year.

To see the books I read in 2010 please click here.

1. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger - 3 stars. This was a weird book. I can't say I didn't like it, because I was certainly intrigued by it, but it was just plain old weird. Audrey Niffenegger (author of The Time Traveler's Wife) certainly has quite the imagination and can write beautifully, but the premises of her books are just so out there. I will say, that this is the first book in a long time that left me completely perplexed at the ending...so much so that I immediately logged on to the internet to see how other people interpreted the ending. It wasn't a book that I will gush over and feverishly recommend to friends, but I am glad I read it nonetheless.

2. The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsche - 4 stars. This book is one that I actually downloaded for free off of Amazon one day, without knowing a thing about it. (I'm a sucker for the free downloads....that's also how I discovered Fireflies in December, which ended up being one of my favorite books of all time!) Anyway, I downloaded it, but then just let it sit in my Kindle for a few weeks until I finally started to read it. It sucked me in with the mystery of unexplained murders and accused witchcraft. At times the descriptions were a bit too graphic and made me cringe, but overall I really enjoyed the book.

3. Cartwheels in a Sari by Jayanti Tamm - 4 stars. This is a memoir of a woman's life as she grew up in a cult, governed by an all-powerful "Guru" in Queens, New York. It was fascinating to watch the way the Guru keeps such control over his "disciples" and the brainwashing that went with it. I really enjoyed reading the book and learning about the extremes that people will go to for the approval of the "divine". At times I even found myself overwhelmed with emotion for the choices that Jayanti was facing.