Books of 2011

Happy new year!

I did a fair bit of cooking over the holidays and will post some of the results in the coming days. But first, I wanted to look back on 2011 with some of the reading I enjoyed. In no particular order, here are a few highlights.

Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Marriage of a Century – Sam Kashner
A great, gossipy telling of a Hollywood romance in the pre-TMZ days. I didn’t know much about these two before I read this, but it was utterly fascinating, and well written too.

Bossy Pants – Tina Fey
Disconnected stories from Fey’s youth and early career on SNL. Very funny and quick to read.

To Be Sung Underwater – Tom McNeal
Twenty years after they parted, a man and a woman re-connect in Nebraska to re-live and remember their young love.

So Much for That – Lionel Shriver
A man who has worked his whole life so he can retire to an island off the coast of Tanzania, has a wrench thrown into his plans when his wife becomes ill, forcing the nest egg to be used for health-care treatments rather than a hut on the beach.

The Help – Kathryn Stockett
A snapshot of life in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s, with a focus on the divide between the black maids who work for, and raise the children of, white wealthy families. An okay, but not life-changing, read.

Your Voice in My Head – Emma Forrest
A memoir of a young British journalist (and former girlfriend of Colin Farrell) who is set adrift when her trusted psychiatrist suddenly dies.

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand – Helen Simonson
A retired, widowed British major takes up with the local Pakistani shopkeeper, much to the shock and distain of their families and fellow townsfolk.

Paris Wife – Paula McLain
The story of the life of Ernest Hemmingway’s first wife, and their life together in 1920s Paris. Interesting, but a pale comparison to Loving Frank.