The Very Still North

Kyle’s original goal for the year was to read 20,000 pages. When he had surpassed that early this fall he upped it to 26,000 pages. As you can see at the bottom of this chart he finished a whopping 30,000 pages in 2011!

Title Author Pages
1 Eragon Christopher Paolini 497
2 Eldest Christopher Paolini 668
3 Brisingr Christopher Paolini 763
4 Ship Breaker Paolo Bagiculpi 323
5 Unbroken Laura Hillenbrand 398
6 The Mountain Between Us Charles Martin 329
7 Fire Kristin Cashore 461
8 Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett 973
9 World Without End Ken Follett 1023
10 The Golden Compass Philip Pullman 296
11 The Subtle Knife Philip Pullman 243
12 The Amber Spyglass Philip Pullman 394
13 Bloodhound Tamora Pierce 406
14 Terrier Tamora Pierce 563
15 Mockingjay Suzanne Collins 390
16 Catching Fire Suzanne Collins 391
17 Seabiscuit Laura Hillenbrand 399
18 Matterhorn Karl Marlantes 566
19 The Road Cormac McCarthy 287
20 Hope Was Here Joan Bauer 186
21 Much Ado About Nothing William Shakespeare 179
22 The Contender Robert Lipsyte 240
23 The Dangerous Days of Daniel X James Patterson 247
24 The Grizzly Maze Nick Jans 251
25 Ender’s Game Orson Scott Card 357
26 A Game of Thrones George R.R. Martin 835
27 A Clash of Kings George R.R. Martin 1009
28 A Storm of Swords George R.R. Martin 1177
29 A Feast of Crows George R.R. Martin 1084
30 The Man in the Rockefeller Suit Mark Seal 298
31 Against All Enemies Tom Clancy 511
32 The Quantum Thief Jammu Rajamiemi 261
33 Oryx and Crake Margaret Atwood 277
34 The Hypnotist Lars Kepler and Ann Long 477
35 Dog Sense: How the New Science of Dog Behavior Can Make You a Batter Friend to Your Pet John Bradshaw 301
36 The Blind Assassin Margaret Atwood 554
37 The Forever War Joe Haldeman 254
38 Merle’s Door Ted Kerasote 361
39 Uglies Scott Westerfeld 425
40 Pretties Scott Westerfeld 370
41 Specials Scott Westerfeld 372
42 Extras Scott Westerfeld 417
43 Leviathan Scott Westerfeld 440
44 Behemoth Scott Westerfeld 277
45 The Strange Case of Origami Yoda Tom Angleberger 141
46 Heroes of the Valley Jonathan Stroud 483
47 Goliath Scott Westerfield 367
48 Peeps Scott Westerfield 32
49 A Dance with Dragons George RR Martin 1100
50 The Secret Hour Scott Westerfield 297
51 Touching Darkness Scott Westerfield 439
52 Blue Moon Scott Westerfield 505
53 Gifts Ursula K. Le Guin 286
54 The Year of the Flood Margaret Atwood 434
55 Starvation Lake Bryan Grulet 370
56 Lullaby Chuck Palahniuk 260
57 Darth Paper Strikes Back Tom Angleberger 159
58 All Hands Down Kenneth Sewell 328
59 Shanghai Girls Lisa See 309
60 Green Angel Alice Hoffman 116
61 Cosmic Frank Cottrell Boyce 313
62 Inheritance Christopher Paolini 860
63 Super-Freakonomics Levitt & Dubner 216
64 North to the Future Dermot Cole 198
65 Steve Jobs Walter Isaacson 630
66 The Maze Runner James Dashner 378
67 The Scorch Trials James Dashner 360
68 The Death Cure James Dashner 337
69 Mastiff Tamora Pierce 581
70 Matched Ally Condle 366
71 Across the Universe Beth Revis 398
72 Zoo City Lauren Beukes 383
73 Every Thing On It Shel Silverstein 195

Total Pages: 31371

Erika’s Books Read in 2011

After reading 60 books in 2010 (5 per month) I decided to up the ante and set a goal to read 100 books in 2011. As the list below shows, I happily met my goal! The titles in bold are books written for an adult audience, while the others are written for kids.

January
1. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
2. Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
3. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
4. The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim
5. The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin
6. Percy Jackson: Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
7. Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes
8. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
9. Story of Rome
10. Greek Myths for Children
February
11. Percy Jackson: The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan
12. The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller
13. Tangerine by Edward Bloor
14. Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman
15. So You Want to be President by Judith St. George
16. Healthy Living  by Jackie Warner
17. Percy Jackson: The Battle of Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
18. Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers by Gary Paulsen
19. Percy  Jackson: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
20. Guts by Gary Paulsen
March
21. Live your Best Life by Bob Greene
22. Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
23. Among the Imposters by Margaret Peterson Haddix
24. Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix
25. Among the Betrayed by Margaret Peterson Haddix
26. Among the Barons by Margaret Peterson Haddix
27. Among the Brave by Margaret Peterson Haddix
28. Among the Enemy by Margaret Peterson Haddix
29. To Dance by Siegel
30. Among the Free by Margaret Peterson Haddix
31. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
32. Ghostopolis by Doug Tennapel
33. Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix
34. City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction by David Macaulay
35. Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan
36. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
37. When you Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
38. Augustus by Anthony Everitt
39. Amulet by Kibuishi
40. The Mixed of Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
41. Ship Breaker by Paulo Bacigalupi
42. The Spark by Chris Downie
43. Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks
44. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
45. The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo
April
46. Grizzly Maze by Nick Jans
47. There’s a Girl in my Hammerlock by Jerry Spinelli
48. Elephant’s Magician by Kate DiCamillo
49. The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen by Geraldine McCaughrean
50. Eldest by Christopher Paolini
51. Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
52. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
53. Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo
54. Henry and Risby by Beverly Cleary
55. Brisinger by Christopher Paolini
May
56. Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest by Steve Jenkins
57. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
58. Shipwrecked: The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy by Rhoda Blumberg
59. Avalon High by Meg Cabot
60. Getting Stoned With Savages by J. Maarten Troost
June
61. Sh*t My Dad Says
62. The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost
63. Bossypants by Tina Fey
64. Dead Man’s Walk by Larry McMurty
65. Small Steps by louis Sachar
66. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
67. What is the What by Dave Eggers
68. Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
69. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt
70.Stir It Up by Ramin Ganeshram
July
71. The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler
72. Until Tuesday
73. The Man in the Rockefeller Suit by Mark Seal
74. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
75. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
76. Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
77. Lost in ShangriLa by Mitchell Zuckoff
August
78. How Angel Peterson Got His Name by Gary Paulsen
79. Merle’s Door by Ted Kerasote 
September
80. The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
81. Rules by Cynthia Lord
82. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Andersom
83. Escape Velocity
84. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
85. Specials by Scott Westerfeld
86. Extras by Scott Westerfeld
87. The strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
88. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
89. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
90. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
October
91. Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
92. Mirror, Mirror by Marilyn Singer
93. Baseball, Snakes, and Summer Squash by Donald Graves
94. No More Homework, No More Tests by Bruce Lansky
95. Amulet Book Two by Kazu Kibuishi
96. The Hundred Dresses by Elenor Estes
97. Sold by Patricia McCormick
98. The Watsons Go To Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
99. Dexter the Tough by Margaret Peterson Haddix
100. The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
101. Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
November
102. The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
103. The Year Of The Flood by Margaret Atwood 
104. A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck
105. Monarch and Milkweed by Helen Frost
106. Blood and Roses by Helen Castor 
107. The Sign of the beaver
108. Just Kids by Patti Smith
109. The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen
110. Darth Paper Strikes Back by Tom Angleberger
111. My Name Is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson
112. Superfreakonomics
113. Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
December
114. The Arrival by Shaun Tan
115. Lunch Money by Andrew Clements
116. Manhunt by James L. Swanson
117. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
118. Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Patterson
119. My Family For The War
120. Moon Over Manifest by Claire Vanderpool
121. Peak by Roland Smith
122. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
123. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
124. Anna and the French Kiss by Sarah Dessen
125. Scorched by James Dashner
126. the Death Cure by James Dashner
127. Looking For Alaska by John Green
128. Matched by Ally Condie
129. Across the Universe by Beth Revis
130. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
131. Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose
132. Everything On It by Shel Silverstein

Just a quick snapshot of our Christmas day!

The Christmas card you get from us will be quite special, Toes inspected and approved each one during the printing process!

Thunder knows what snowpants mean. Whenever he sees me put them on he thinks, “Oooh, it’s time to go out! I’ll go wait by the door.” Snowpants usually mean that we’re about to go out for a walk or a ski, so he gets pretty excited when he notices that I’ve got them on.

This past weekend was no exception. As soon as I put snowpants on Thunder came to the door wagging his tail, excited to go outside. However, when we got outside Thunder immediately bolted for the door to come back inside.

“No Thunder. You need to go to the bathroom, you can’t go inside yet,” I told him.

When he looked at me, it’s as if he said, “You want me to go outside and do my business in this weather? You’ve got to be kidding me! We were in the middle of the

our second (maybe even third, I’ve lost count…) winter storm warning of the season. Snow was blowing like crazy, reducing visibility to less than ¼ of a mile. The wind was plopping the fluffy snow down into drifts that were taller than Thunder. All Thunder wanted to do was go back inside and curl up on his bed next to his toys, but knowing that he hadn’t been out in hours I lead him for a short walk around the building.

As we walked around the building we went towards Thunder’s yard. Thunder was sniffing the ground and looking around far more than he usually does. At one point he even refused to keep walking and turned around to drag me away.

“What’s up Thunder?” I asked (BTW- Totally normal to talk to a dog out loud)

Then I lifted my head, faced the wind blowing in my eyes, and saw why he was so confused.

“Oh, your house is missing.That explains why you are acting odd.” I told him. “It’s ok Thunder, it’s just buried by some snow drifts, we’ll dig it out for you.”  I tried to reassure him.

I don’t think my assurances did much, he was still pulling to get back inside. However, when the storm abated and Kyle dug out his house Thunder was quite happy being back outside!