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

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

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!

I could go on an on about the benefits of working out at home: not having to drive or walk to a gym saves time, the equipment you want to use is always available, you can listen to your own music as loudly as you want, you don’t have to worry about what other people think of you, etc. However, I need to point out the one major downside of working out at home: the presence of pets!

For some reason, memories of the past few Thanksgivings we have had together have blended together in my mind and become indistinguishable for each other. So, for the record, highlights of this Thanksgiving:

• The most moist turkey we have ever made (Possible reason, giving it lots of time to defrost in fridge)
• Stuffing. The Sage stuffing was far better than the Chicken flavored stuffing we’ve had to use in the past.
• Super smooth creamy sweet potatoes
• The flakiest homemade pie crust ever- thank you Mark Bittman!
• The most delicious Pumpkin Pie filling we’ve ever had- thank you Mark Bittman once again! Way better than the recipe on the can!

Self sufficiency. Those two words summarize a major skill that I have gained by living in bush Alaska.

“What, you mean there’s only WonderBread at the store and it’s $5? I guess I’ll learn to bake bread.”

“What, you mean there’s a hare on my table and I need to get it put away? I guess I’ll learn to butcher a hare.”

“What, you mean there’s no one to cut hair? I guess I’ll learn to cut hair.”

While I readily admit that the amount of self-sufficiency needed to live in bush Alaska now is miniscule compared to what it was twenty, fifty, one hundred years ago more self sufficiency is required here than in most places in the lower 48.

At first, I tried to avoid and deny the need to be self-sufficient, at least when it came to cutting hair. I had absolutely no desire to cut Kyle’s hair. In fact, dread might be the best word to describe how I felt about the prospect of having to cut his hair. So, when Kyle first moved to Koyuk we had another teacher cut his hair. When she stopped cutting hair I switched tactics, “Oh, it’s only a little while more until you go into town, you can just wait until then.” This tactic didn’t work out so well as it left Kyle’s thick, curly hair unkempt for prolonged periods of time in between trips to town.  Finally, last year I realized that I needed to bite the bullet and cut his hair myself.

The results, surprisingly, were fairly successful. I was able to use the shaver to decrease the length of his hair. I was even able to get it to be fairly even most of the time. [Not the time that Kyle decided it would be best if he got his hair wet before cutting it- that was a disaster!] Still, the job wasn’t fun. In fact, it was slow and tedious. Fortunately, this all changed recently!

On his most recent trip back from Anchorage Kyle brought back a hair cutting kit.

Puzzled, I asked “I thought we had a way to cut your hair?”

“Oh, well actually we’ve been using a beard trimmer. It was on sale when I bought it and I figured it would work out well for hair too,” he replied.

“Hmm, well we’ll see how this new stuff works.” I said.

Well, I’m happy to report that it is far easier to cut hair with hair cutting equipment than with beard cutting equipment! Kyle’s most recent haircut took me all of five minutes, compared to the thirty it used to take trying to make things even. The haircutting kit even came with a trimmer to be used around the ears, so now the hair around his ear has a nice rounded shape rather than a choppy, straight one.

Now, haircutting is still not my favorite thing in the world to do. But I would dare to say that I am competent at it. Hooray for self-sufficiency!

One day, a few weeks ago, I was sitting in my classroom finishing some last paperwork before heading home for the evening. I was utterly exhausted, it had been a particularly challenging day of teaching. I was so tired that when I finished one piece of paperwork I didn’t even want to stand up and walk the ten feet to return it to my file cabinet.

As I was sitting there, our wonderful kindergarden teacher Emily walked in. “Erika,” she said, “the mail just got brought in. There’s a red bag for you down in the office.”

I am not exagerting when I say I jumped up out of my chair and ran down to the office.

I retrieved the red bag, and then crossed paths with Emily in the hall, “Thank you so much for letting me know! Wahoo! It’s like Christmas!”

Emily replied, “You’re welcome. I was looking closely at it because I thought it might be mine, but this one was for you guys.”

“Oh, I’m sure yours will come soon,” I assured her. With that, we parted ways and I enthusiastically brought the bag back down to my classroom.

I thought about waiting until I was at home to open the bag up, but I just couldn’t wait to see what the librarians had sent us. You see, the sturdy red bag was from the Fairbanks Library. They have a Regional Services division that mails out books to people in rural villages.  While it may be an exagertion to say that this service is a life-saver, it is no exageration to say that it is a budget saver. Last year, without access to a functioning library, Kyle and I spent a ridiculous amount of money ordering books for ourselves.  We couldn’t give up reading, so we searched for a more economical solution.

As I opened up the bag and looked at the twenty books they sent us my smile just kept getting bigger and bigger. We had filled out profiles about the books we like to read and the librarians there had really figured us out. They sent me Patti Smith’s Just Kids, which had been on my to-read list since Lee told me about it over a year ago. They sent Kyle The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, which he loved.  Nearly all the books in the pile were ones that we were interested in reading.

I sent Kyle a text and a picture of the stack of books, as he was in Anchorage for a conference. His reply to me, “Wow, that’s a lot of great books! How long do we have to read all those books?”

Looking at the letter that came in the bag I replied, “We keep them until the next bag shows up, they say it’ll probably be about 10-11 weeks.”

So this has been our project for the last few weeks, working on reading the library books. We have ordered some other new books for ourselves (new releases like Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance, the Steve Jobs biogprahy, and a book by a Barrow author that was nominated for the National Book Award) but are focusing on reading the stack of library books before we have to send them back.  Now that it’s completely dark by about 5pm, it’s certainly nice to have these books to read in the evenings.

“Hey, you’re back from Mexico, how was the honeymoon? What did you do on your vacation?” many friends have asked in the past few days.

“Well, umm,” I stammer, looking for a good answer, “we relaxed…”

I know, I know, usually when we travel we return with stories of corn palaces, parasailing, and adventurous hikes, etc. Not so much on this trip. But, ahhh, what a relief that was. While the wedding was not stressful, thanks mostly to all the work mom put in ahead of time and the work Kyle’s family + bridal party did the days right before, it was busy. Here’s how busy we were- for the month preceding the wedding Kyle and I each only read one book!

So it was wonderful to arrive at our all inclusive resort and just be able to plop down by the pool and read! One answer to the question of what we did on vacation could be that we read…a lot. Thus, I present to you our book lists from our trip to Mexico.

Kyle
Dog Sense by John Bradshaw
The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler
The Man In the Rockefeller Suit by Mark Seal
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi
Against All Enemies by Tom Clancy

Erika
Until Tuesday by Luis Carlos Montalvan
The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler
The Man In the Rockefeller Suit by Mark Seal
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab*
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff

*This is a young adult novel…I read an easy book while Kyle read the 500-page Tom Clancy novel