Posting for the first time.  I'm interested to see how many books I read in a one-year period.  I'll set my start date as 12/1/07.  I do not typically read six books in a month, but several were quick reads and I was able to sneak in more reading time over the holidays.

1. The Road by Cormac McCarthy - This book was recommended by a friend whose taste in books I trust immensely.  I was skeptical about reading it, given the horrid subject matter.  I was also not in the mood to read another post-apocalyptic subject book given that I had recently finished Oryx & Crake.  All that said, I loved this book and could not put it down.  A man and his child struggle to survive and keep away from the "bad guys".  Disturbing, yes, but more than thought provoking.  Now I am on a quest to read all by Cormac McCarthy.

2.  Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - Disturbing, to the say the least, but I enjoyed Nabokov's writing.  The first and last part of the book were terrific, the middle part was slow and hard to get through (the bits where they are traveling around the country from hotel to hotel).  I'm glad I read it and will seek out more Nabokov.

3.  Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - this was one of our book club selections and I really enjoyed it.  It took me awhile to figure out why the Havisham students from a private school in the English countryside are so "special" (and I won't be a spoiler by saying more), and was entranced once the mystery was revealed.  The story is told from the perspective of one of the students later in life looking back at her time before and after Havisham and the relationships formed with fellow students.  Very well done.

4.  Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood - Atwood is one of my favorite authors and did not disappoint with this one.  The book opens in a world where the narrator may be the only human left on earth and the story jumps around between times leading up to and after the event that appears to have destroyed the remainder of humanity.  This one took me a bit of time to get into but, once it got going, I was hooked. 

5.  After This by Alice McDermott - Good, but not my favorite read this month.  The story of an Irish Catholic family in Long Island from after WWII through the Vietnam War.  Each chapter skips from character to character depicting seemingly every day life episodes from that character's life.  I enjoyed McDermott's writing style and the way she painted every day life scenes, but I felt a bit let down and wanting more when I finished the book.

6.  My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk - This one was excruciating to get through.  I almost set it aside several times and just ended up laboring through it.  I don't even have the energy to try to describe it.  A let down particularly as I enjoyed Snow by Pamuck.  This one was not for me.

Hope to post more soon.