Reading List, 2011 and Beyond.

Updated 15 December 2014:

The theme of 2011 was Paris. I think I was in withdrawal.

The theme of 2012 was Paris and baby. Never too early to educate oneself as to how to prepare the body to make a baby.

The theme of 2013 is undecided, but thus far has been books written about rich people in time periods long since passed.

The theme of 2014 is also undecided, just random award winning books.

2011 book count: 13

2012 book count: 14 (17 if you count the fact that I read the Hunger Games trilogy twice)
2013 book count: 22
2014 book count: 26 (the new subway ride helps the reading significantly)
2015 book count: 7

1. Super Sad True Love Story, by Gary Shteyngat (LOVE this guy).

2. Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, by Gabrielle Hamilton (I am a sucker for food books). I'm two chapters away. I really enjoyed this one. Calling Prune to make reservations today!

3. Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand (see title of blog, can you believe I've never read this? neither can I)

4. A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens (because of Oprah - no, not really)

5. The First Tycoon, by T.J. Stiles (because I like wealth, and capitalism (again, see title of blog) and it won a Pulitzer Prize)

6. John Adams, by David McCullough (because it's been sitting on my shelf for too long, and I wimped out and watched the HBO miniseries instead)

7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (I've read the series forwards, I'm now reading it backwards)

8. Some book I saw in a French bookstore about these American sisters who married into nobility (and then divorced and remarried, etc.) (seems scandalous and trashy, yet historic)

9. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell (again, never read it). I've read it now! Kindle + weekend indoors + jury duty = book done!

10. Sweet Valley Confidential, by Francine Pascal. I read all of the Sweet Valley Twins (middle school books) as a kid. I read very few of the Sweet Valley High books and will admit to having read one or two of the Sweet Valley University books. This book sucked. It was terrible.... not even like guilty pleasure good. It took me about 4 hours to read it. Yikes.

11. Elizabeth Street, by Laurie Fabiano (historical fiction re the lower east side). This was great. Historical fiction was a good thing to read after #10.

12. Rememberance of things Paris, by Ruth Reichl. A collection of 60 years of food and wine writing from Gourmet magazine about Paris. Yes, please!

13. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte (I just couldn't get into British female authors in high school for some reason, so I just read the Cliff Notes to this one) Finished just in time to see the new movie!!! (and hate it because I inevitably like the book more)

14. Emma, by Jane Austen (see comment to #12)

15. Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, by Amanda Foreman.

16. Apollo's Angels, by Jennifer Homans. A history of ballet, need I say more?

17. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Inspired by watching Easy A, which was a cute movie. Another one of those books I had little use for in high school, but I really enjoyed this time around.

18. A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway. Inspired by seeing Midnight in Paris while in Maine visiting the husband's family. This book documents Hemingway's time in Paris during the 20s, which is when the movie is set.

19. The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain. This is historical fiction written from the perspective of Hadley Hemingway, Ernest's first wife, set during the same time period as #18 above.

20. The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, by David McCullough. Variations on a theme, you see. Which theme is that?

21. Parisians, by Graham Robb. Yup, there's definitely a theme this year. I just so love this city :)

22. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John Le Carre. Saw the movie... felt I needed to read the book.

23. A visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer.... It won a Pulitzer. It deserved it. Though perhaps it was not a novel.

24. The Hunger Games Trilogy (Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay), by Suzanne Collins. I read them in three days (perhaps 3.5 and have already read them all again.... they are a little addictive).

25. The Fertility Diet, by George E. Chavarro, MD, and Walter C. Willett, MD.

26. What to Expect When You are Expecting.

27. Real Food for Mother and Baby, by Nina Planck.

28. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy. It took a month, but I got through it. This should also count as several books, I think ;)

29. Boomerang, by Michael Lewis.

30. The Visible Man, by Chuck Klostermann.

31. Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin
32. A Clash of Kings, by George R. R. Martin
33. A Storm of Swords, by George R. R. Martin
34. A Feast for Crows, by George R. R. Martin
35. A Dance with Dragons, by George R. R. Martin

2013:

36. Where We Belong, by Emily Giffin. Guilty pleasure read in one return flight from Paris. It sorta sucked, but I'm used to it with her.

37. Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, by Bob Spitz.

38. The Path to Power, by Robert Caro. Have only heard marvelous things about Caro. Perhaps starting with the longest book is not the best move, but I'm diving in. This one is horrible to read on Kindle, because three weeks later, I'm still in the single digit percentage completion.... yikes.

39. Wolf Hall, by Hillary Mantel. I'm not always one for historical fiction, but I love the Tudor period of England, and given that this one the Man Booker Prize, I thought I'd take it for a spin. Instantly hooked.

40. Bringing Up the Bodies, by Hillary Mantel. See above. Can't wait for the third part of the trilogy.

41. The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton. I blame this one on Downton Abbey. Want to see what we Americans were doing while the Dowager Countess inquired about weekends....

42. Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo. Because of the movie, obvs.

43. Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, by U.S. Grant. Supposed to be great!

44. The Constant Gardener, by John le Carre.

45. Team of Rivals. Because of the movie.

46.  The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton.

47.  The Casual Vacancy, by J.K. Rowling.  I thought it was great.

48.  The American Heiress, by Daisy Goodwin.  Historical fiction based (loosely) on the life of Consuelo Vanderbilt.

49.  Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Mother and Daughter in the Gilded Age.  Why not read the real thing?

50.  The Glitter and the Gold, by Consuelo Vanderbilt.

51.  Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times, by Jennifer Worth.  Watched the series... couldn't resist.
52.  Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse, by Jennifer Worth.
53.  Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End, by Jennifer Worth.

54.  The Sweet Life: The Serial, by Francine Pascal.  The WORST, and yet somehow, the best.

55.  Mao's Last Dance, by Li Cunxin.  It's ballet season.  I've seen a ballet a week and watched every ballet movie and documentary ever made in the past month, including the move version of this book.  Both excellent.

56.  The Tao of Martha, by Jen Lancaster.  Cost of book + cost of Martha Stewart Living subscription.  Mrs. Lancaster should receive a commission.

57.  A Room with a View, by E.M. Forster. 

58.  I Wear the Black Hat, by Chuck Klosterman.  Because I read things he writes.

59.  Let's Explore Owls with Diabetes, by David Sedaris.  Because Greenport is far away and Amazon recommended it to me.  Of course 90% of my recommendations from Amazon are for Sweet Valley High Books, but whatever.

60.  The Cuckoo's Calling, by J.K. Rowling (using pseudonym).  I do not always read whodunit books, but when I do.. just kidding, but this one was a page turner and I really enjoyed it.  Cannot wait for the next installment in the adventures of Comororan Strike.

61.  Orange is the New Black, by Piper Kerman. I binged watched the show on Netflix, and wanted to read the book.  Was very good.  Want the second season to start immediately.

62.  Austenland, by Shannon Hale.  This was terrible, as I pretty much expected, but I did finish it.  I wished I had not wasted my time.

63.  The Family Corleone, by NOT Mario Puzo.  I have a feeling I cam going to feel the same way about this one as above.  Apparently, the estate of Mario Puzo is attempting to stop Paramount from making a movie about this book.  I applaud those efforts.

2014:

64.  Snobs, by Julian Fellowes.  Yea, I miss Downton Abbey.

65.  Beyond the Beautiful Forevers, by Katherine Boo.  Ok, so I started reading this because it won the National Book Award, and I figure books that win awards will be good.  After getting halfway through it, I went to its Wikipedia page to discover that it won the prize for NON-fiction.  I didn't think it could be any sadder.  I was wrong.  It was still a lovely book, and she brought out the humanity of the inhabitants of the slum in an incredibly beautiful way.

66. Gone Girl: A Novel, by Gillian Flynn.  Quite entertaining. Excited about the movie.

67. Truth in Advertising:  A Novel, by John Kenney.

68.  We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver.  Maybe I don't want kids.....

69., 70. and 71. The Divergent Series, by Veronica Roth.  Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad reading. Couldn't finish the second book.  Switched to Wikipedia page. Still terrible and horrible.

72. League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions and the Battle for Truth, by Mark Fainaru-Wada.

73. A House in the Sky: A Memoir, by Amanda Lindhout. She shouldn't have gone to Somalia.  That doesn't mean she deserved the horror she was put through.

74. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), by Mindy Kaling. She's a treasure.  I needed this after #73.

75. The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge, by David McCollugh.

76. The White Queen: A Novel (The Cousin's War), by Philippa Gregory.  Haven't finished it - not loving it.

77. The Goldfinch: A Novel, by Donna Tartt.  Because it won the Pulitzer, and apparently I am enticed by "A Novel" as a subtitle.

78.  The Luminaries, by Eleanor Catton.  It won the Man Booker prize.

79. The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith. I'm liking some Cormoran Strike.

80. Everyone Wants to Be Me or Do Me: Tom and Lorenzo's Fabulous and Opinionated Guide to Celebrity Life and Style, by Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez.  I heart these guys so much.

81. Bad Feminist, by Roxanne Gay.

82.  We are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler.

83.  The Rehearsal, by Eleanor Catton.  I so loved The Luminaries, I thought I might like this one as well.

84.   Longbourn, by Jo Baker.  Didn't love it, though it tells the story of Pride and Prejudice through the eyes of the servants in the Bennet's house.

85.  Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, by Thomas Maier.  Watched the series, wanted to read the book.  Quite a good book!

86.  Soccernomics: [Incredibly long title], by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski.

87.  The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family, by Mary S. Lovell.  This was great - what a fascinating group of women.

88.  Wait for Me!: Memoirs, Deborah Mitford, the Duchess of Devonshire.

89.  Five Sisters: The Langhornes of Virginia, by James Fox.  One was Nancy Astor, the first female MP in the UK.

90.  Olive Kitteridge: Fiction, by Elizabeth Strout.  This was excellent.  Short, interwoven, stories and I was so sad when I read the last one and realized it was over.  Hard to gauge progress on the kindle!

2015:

91. Redeployment, by Phil Klay.

92.  The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher: Stories, by Hilary Mantel.  I so love Wolf Hall, that I would read anything she writes.

93.  Euphoria, by Lily King.

94.  The Heir Apparent: A Life of Edward VII, the Playboy Prince.  He was Prince of Wales for a LONG time (during the reign of Queen Victoria).

95.  Department of Speculation, by Jenny Offill.

96.  All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr.  This was so good.  It was a billion pages long and I couldn't put it down.  Not every character was as richly developed as the others, but I just loved it.

97.  The Buccaneers, by Edith Wharton.  Eh, watched the movie, wanted to read the book.  Regretted reading the book.  Can't deal with poor little rich kids.

98.  The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel Brown.

99.  Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, by Lawrence Wright.  Was also great.  Inspired to read it after seeing the HBO documentary.  It's really just fascinating.

100.  Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape, by Jenna Miscavige Hill.

Day 7: San Sebastian, Martin Berasategui, September 2012

On the third day in San Sebastian, we took our coffee by the beach and then toured around some more, stopping in a couple churches which face one another (several) blocks apart.

This day we went to the "secondary", "less awesome" beach, which turned out to be the most awesome of the beaches, as it had lounge chairs you could rent for the day. My guidebook suggested these lounge chairs were a whopping 15 euro a day. My guidebook was wrong - 6 euro TOTAL for two :)  Amazeballs.

The presence of back support made leaving the beach incredibly difficult; however, we left for lunch at La Tagliatella, the Italian restaurant we had been hoping to find in Barcelona. It smelled amazing and the food lived up to the smell, despite its Macaroni Grill style "create your own pasta" menu. We were both super satiated with the meal.  God bless Italian food!

After a couple more hours on the beach, we headed to Martin Berasategui....

Martin Berasategui

Ok folks, I don't have our menu from this one, just pictures. Sorry - this was a taxing three days on the digestive system.

 This was some kind of foie gras cake/terrine/amazing thing

 Our waiter warned us that we had to eat this in one bite and with our mouths closed. Sure enough, when we bit into it, its amazing squid ink filling came pouring out - it would have been the end of Chris's white shirt if our mouths were open!

 This was Chris's first course. It is certainly one of the most beautiful salads I have ever seen.

 Spanish ham. Enough said.

White tuna

 We originally were seated outside on this beautiful patio. The weather was amazing, but we couldn't get past the table of 6 chain smokers (i.e. Europeans) next two us - all of whom literally smoked a cigarette between each of their first four courses. We didn't even have to ask (though in fairness Rachel wasn't shy with her patented malevolent glare) and our waiter just came up and apologized and asked if he could move us inside. Martin B definitely wins the service award.

Again, remind me to start ordering my steak rare in the U.S.

 Flourless chocolate cake with caramel ice cream and salted caramel flakes.

 Deconstructed apple cake.

 9 Michelin stars in 3 days... Must start juice cleanse

Day 6: San Sebastian, Arzak, September 2012

We spent the first full day in San Sebastian at the "primary" beach. Oh, Europe and its beaches. Eighty year old topless women, 300 pound hairy men in speedos. Also, we are the only people who went to the beach in our bathing suits. Everyone else arrives in normal clothes and changes in full view of everyone. Never change, Europe, never change.... except do.

 Chis takes a nap :)

We didn't last long at the beach that day as we only had our towels to lay on, and that starts to get uncomfortable rather quickly. Also, we have no tans to show for our efforts, as they only option of sunblock sold in pharmacies in San Sebastian was SPF 50.

 Forgot to mention, the bed in our hotel room is the biggest bed I have ever seen. It is seriously like two full beds put together. It. was. awesome. Also awesome was our lovely view from the window.

Arzak

San Sebastian dinner number 2 was at Arzak. If we had to recommend one of the three restaurants to visitors, this would be the one. However, we warn you in advance about the curse of the bald man. Whereas Christopher (a man at 6'2") was able to scrape up and digest every last morsel of each dish, Rachel (a hobbit at 5'0") was not. Each dish that Rachel didn't finish was met by a "you didn't like it?" jest from the bald man (a cousin of the blue-lipped guy from the temple in Qarth in Game of Thrones). It ended up being funny, but became a recurring theme for the rest of the trip :)

Marinated sardines and strawberry, gooseberry with coconut

 Chorizo with tonic (literally - do you see the Schwepps can?) and corn, figs and black pudding

Kabraroka pudding with kataifi

(dry ice!)

 Cromlech with onion, coffee and tea

 Hemp's mustard and lobster

(everything edible, including the mustard leaves and little clothespins made with lobster essence)

 Dusted egg and mussel

(mmmmm runny yolk)

 Gooseberry, spelt and monkfish

 Pork fat and physalis

(yes, this was as good as it sounds, and yes, it looks like balls)

 Beef with vegetable screens

(rarest beef (aside from tartare) I have ever eaten - will switch suggested cooking temperature at steakhouses to rare on a going-forward basis)

 Playing Marbles with Chocolate

 Homage to Chillida

(don't remember a thing about this one, but it was probably awesome)

 Golden footprint and ladybugs

 Pistachio and beetroot stone

 Not your typical after dinner chocolates.  

These were as tasty as they were beautiful.

 Goodbye Arzak :(

Day 5: San Sebastian, Akelarre, September 2012

I could write a book about the awesomeness that is San Sebastian, but I'll try and keep it to three posts, one for each of the magical days that we spent there and the amazing restaurants that we visited. We arrived in San Sebastian via a 5 hour train ride from Barcelona. Our room at the beautiful Hotel Maria Cristina was not yet ready, so we headed out on the town in search of a non-tapas lunch.

The old part of town.

 The incredible beach!

The incredible "secondary" beach.

 After lunch on the beach, we headed up the mountain, a perilously steep climb for two tired tourists in sandals, but well worth it. Below is the view from the mountain of the rooftops down below.

 Naturally, when we arrived at the apex, dreaming of the views from the base of the Christ statue, we were informed that Jesus was closed for the day. Advance warning people, please!

Still, the views were none too shabby from our vantage point.

 There was an old castle on top of the hill. I can't imagine any army trying to attack it. The climb alone would kill most of them (ok, maybe I'm slightly exaggerating).

Boys and their guns.

Akelarre

In addition to its pristine beaches, San Sebastian is famous for its food, and boasts three 3-Michelin starred restaurants. Making reservations at each was one of the first things Rachel did when we booked this trip back in November 2011! The first night we went to Akelarre. We would normally have ordered one each of the tasting menus, but the "Bekarki" menu looked so good, we both ordered that. The food was both incredibly tasty, but also very whimsical. See below!

 "Sea Garden"

Everything was edible, including the breadcrumb "Prawn's sand".

(From left to right: Oyster leaf, mussel with "shell", sea urchin sponge, beach pebbles (shallot and corn), codium seaweed coral (goose barnacles tempura))

 Xangurro in Essence, its Coral Blini and "Gurullos"

(The crustacean's meat is reinforced by its juice. Accompanied by pasta that looks like rice grains)

 Razor Shell with Veal Shank

(Razor Shell with veal and cauliflower mushroom)

 Sauteed Fresh Foie Gras with "Salt Flakes and Grain Pepper"

(The salt was sugar shavings and the pepper was puffed black rice made to look like peppercorns - something the waiter did not disclose until after the course, leading to some delicious cognitive dissonance of the taste buds punctuated by a big "aha" and a sheepish "knew it at along -- NOT".  This turned out to be one of (if not THE) favorite dish of three days of fantastic restaurants)

 Turbot with its "Kokotxa" (eh.... I forgot a picture).

"Desalted" Cod Box with Shavings

(Crystallized cod presented in a fish box, over edible shavings and cod tripes in tomato water - again - this is just so whimsical - this is actually how salt cod is packed and shipped!)

 Carved Beef, Tail Cake "Potatoes and Peppers"

(aka, Chris should have gone with the beef)

 Milk and Grape, Cheese and Wine in Parallel Evolution

(From left to right: grapevine, curded sheep milk and walnut, powdered fresh cream with chive and grapes, quark cheese with nutmeg and pink pepper aroma, must of tapioca and tomato, idiazabal semi-matured with quince jelly and wine dust, brandy syrup with gorgonzola cheese ice cream, torta of Caesar's grape with raisins soaked in Pedro Ximenez.)

 Layered Strawberry and Cream

(a reconstructed strawberry. basil seeds game. - this was as delicious as it was beautiful - I loved the gorgeous plate the restaurant had made to suggest fresh cream)

 Stuffed and ready for bed :)