2009 : BOOKS, BOOKS & MORE BOOKS ( + SOME BLOGGING + LOTS OF MOVIES & DRAMAS)

In order to properly close the year, I'd like to list all the books I read in English and reviewed in 2009. They are not so many, don't worry.

Well, actually there is one of these books I re-read in 2009 and, since I don't like cheating, I'm warning you. Can you guess which one it is ? One of my favourites ever... Who follows or reguarly visits my blog may guess. THE ANSWER ... AT THE END OF THIS POST!

I've also read books in Italian like David Grossman 's "A un cerbiatto somiglia il mio amore", Italo Calvino's "Lezioni Americane" , Marco Lodoli's "Il Rosso e il Blu" or Tiziano Scarpa's Stabat Mater.

Reading is an incredible experience and my only regret about it is ... I'd like to read much more. It's that I also love watching movies and period dramas as well as blogging so my little spare time must be divided among the three different activities... Then I also read much to prepare my lessons.Teaching literature, I usually have to study, revise, prepare notes or power point presentations for my classes. I often post this kind of materials on LEARNONLINE, which is my elder online "creature". (Those lovely creatures above on the right are NOT my students, but they are cute, aren't they?)

Now,  I'd like to list the books in this post according to my rating:  from the one I liked least (one of five stars) to the ones I loved (five of five stars) . I'll link them to my reviews on FLY HIGH, if you're interested and have not read them yet.

1. Sanditon Jane Austen's unfinished novel completed by Janette Shapiro, one of my tasks for the EVERYTHING AUSTEN CHALLENGE ( 1 of 5 stars)

 

2. Notes from a Small Island , Bill Bryson humorous travel book by an American living, working and travelling in Britain  (3 of 5 stars)

3. Shirley  , Charlotte Bronte's historical novel . Interesting but not as much as I expected. (3 of 5 stars)

4 . Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler. Lovely, entertaining, not one I'm going to re-read all my life through. (3 of 5 stars)

5. The Professor by Charlotte Bronte. Still working on the review. Again, quite disappointed by one of my favourite writers. (3 of 5 stars). I've read it recently to start the ALL ABOUT THE BRONTES CHALLENGE

6. Jane Harris's The Observations. A humorous mystery story set in the Victorian Age. Unforgettable narrating character. (4 of 5 stars)

7. The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Not my cup of tea but so impressive. Powerfully depressing. (4 of 5 stars)

8 . My beloved Mrs Gaskell. Her corageous novel Ruth was a great summer reading. (4 of 5 stars)

                    

9. Anne Bronte's Agnes Grey. This year I've discovered that the youngest of the Brontes was greatly talented. (4 of 5 stars)

10. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - even better than her Agnes Grey - by Anne Bronte (4 of 5 stars)

11. When I read Nick Hornby I very often happen to laugh out loud. Even his Slam was such fun. (4 of 5 stars)

12. It was my first experience with an audiobook - but first I read the text since the recording was abridged- and my first Heyer's novel, Sylvester. (4 of 5 stars)


13. Jane Austen's Minor Works. I read the two fragments Sanditon and The Watsons as well as Lady Susan (4 of 5 stars)

14. Michelle Moran sent me an autographed copy of her wonderful CLEOPATRA'S DAUGHTER . I won it at Ms Lucy's Enchanted by Josephine and it was such a good reading! I've written about it HERE and HERE and HERE. (5 of 5 stars)

15. Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog. Unusual that I come to love a best-seller!  (5 0f 5 stars)

16. Mrs Gaskell's unfinished masterpiece, Wives and Daughters ( 5 of 5 stars )

17. The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton.  Sad and touching. Unforgetttable. (5 of 5 stars) . N.B. This is not the cover of my book, but that of an audiobook I don't own. I simply love the portrait in it.

18. Jane Austen.The World of Her Novels by Deirdre Le Faye is indispensable on an Austenite's bookshelf. Several of my posts on Fly High are indebted to this incredible rich source.

Being a woman at Jane Austen's Time

Men at Jane Austen's Time

(5 of 5 stars)

19. Jane Greensmith, Intimations of Austen. My latest reading. 9 jewels of poetic prose. (5 of 5 stars)

20. And here is the answer to my question above. Did you guess? North and South by Mrs Gaskell was a re - read.

And now it's time to wish you all a splendid 2010 full of plenty of good books!