Like everyone else, one of my resolutions this year was to read at least 100 books outside of classes. This is just my way of keeping myself accountable and possibly to give other people suggestions of books they might enjoy. I also write lame mini-reviews which you are welcome to giggle at.

1) Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: A Novel by Dai Sijie.

A lovestory (of words and people) set in a rural village in China during the Cultural Revolution. It heightens one's understanding of the horrors of Mao's plans for "re-education" and goals for China. Despite the injustice and the potential for anger, this story is charming and gentle, choosing to focus instead on making do with reality and finding an escape in language. Absolutely beautiful, a wonderful way to start out the year.

2) The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus by Margaret Atwood.

Margaret Atwood does it again! As a reader, I've often wondered about the backstory of popular myths and what Penelope was REALLY like has always been up there in my mind, especially as I find her so much more interesting than Helen. The language is, as always, devastatingly beautiful and honest without being blunt.

3) Life Before Man by Margaret Atwood.

I'd never even heard of this particular Atwood work and, at the end of it, I can understand why. It must have been more shocking when it was originally written, but for me, the swingers were uninteresting because they seemed so normal. Lasje, however, with her dinosaur-fascination did manage to hold my attention to the end. If you're an Atwood fan, it's worth a read but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone just starting to explore her work.

4) Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson.

This is a lovely, quick read that I could have spent a month on. Silver's story woven in with Tristan and Isolde is absolutely breathtaking. The wonderful thing about Winterson is that she manages to write what feels truthful in a way that it is different upon every reread. Her honesty is multifaceted and prone to slipping away under scrutiny.

5) Willful Creatures: Stories by Aimee Bender.

A quirky collection of short stories from the author of The Girl in the Flammable Skirt. I can't possibly describe them without using the words "surreal" and "bizarre". With characters from a big man who keeps a little man as a pet to an insomniac with an iron for a head, these stories will either draw you in or leave you out in the cold.

6) Piranha to Scurfy: Stories by Ruth Rendell.

This collection of Rendell's short stories definitely has its weak points, but the first and last story (introducing Ribbon the literary snob and Ben who stumbles into a relationship in a village where everything works... differently) make up for it. Rendell's background as a mystery writer shines through as these stories are full of questions and waiting with baited breath for whatever comes next.

7) Eleven Minutes: A Novel by Paulo Coelho.

Maria is a girl who, at a young age, determines that love will not come to her. By the time she is 19, she is working as a prostitute in Switzerland. The title comes from her realization that sex takes only eleven minutes to complete and yet people are obsessed with it, a theme that she will continue to wonder about through the whole book. Her trials and triumphs are sometimes fascinating, sometimes bordering on idiotic. All in all, worth the read but nowhere near Coelho's best.

8) The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.

I'd actually read this before, but it was one of the books that I read when I was 8 and trying to prove that I could. It didn't mean much to me then but this time, I'm awestruck. I love the poetry and the songs, the dialogue between the characters. It reminds me that I really need to go back and reread the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Silmarillon.