Virtually travelled to:
Countries: 19 real, 3 fictional, plus several nautical voyages throughout the world, a submarine trip at the bottom of most of the major oceans and contiguous seas, a spelunking journey into the interior of the earth, as well as starship voyages to two alien planets, and visits to Heaven, Eden, and Hell
Provinces/Territories in Canada: 4
Centuries: 9 (from the 14th century to the 23rd century), plus the creation of the world in Christian myth, and a scientific journey from the real dawn of life approximately 4 billion years ago until the neolithic revolution approximately 10 000 years ago (with 41 stops along the way).

Canadian Challenge Books of 2010:
Antoinette de Mirecourt by Rosanna Leprohon
They Shall Inherit the Earth by Morley Callaghan
Armand Durand by Rosanna Leprohon
Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies
The Village of Viger by Duncan Campbell Scott
Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
The Man From Glengarry by Ralph Connor
Glengarry School Days by Ralph Connor

Top Books of 2010:
War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Paradise Lost by John Milton
H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O’Brian
If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino
The Armageddon Factor by Marci McDonald
The Ancestor’s Tale by Richard Dawkins
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

Other Books I Enjoyed in 2010:
The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
Antoinette de Mirecourt by Rosanna Leprohon
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Shakespeare by Bill Bryson
Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carré
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
A Pinch of Snuff by Reginald Hill
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare
Armand Durand by Rosanna Leprohon
Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies
The Village of Viger by Duncan Campbell Scott
The Man From Glengarry by Ralph Connor
Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
Glengarry School Days by Ralph Connor

Worst Books of 2010:
This year, I didn’t have any books that, as a whole, I disliked. But several of my top picks and runners up had considerable portions that I did not enjoy. Preachiness and the evils of religion were to the forefront in Paradise Lost and Connor’s Glengarry books. Cruelty to animals outweighed the nice animal stories of Wild Animals I Have Known. Glad I read Scar Tissue for the insight it gave into Michael Ignatieff, but I generally can’t stand books about sickness and dying and this one wasn’t much different in that respect.

Complete List of Books Read in 2010:

1. The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
2. Antoinette de Mirecourt by Rosanna Leprohon
3. The Austere Academy by Lemony Snickett
4. War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
5. The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket
6. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
7. Possession by A. S. Byatt
8. They Shall Inherit the Earth by Morley Callaghan
9. Candide by Voltaire
10. 20 000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
11. Scar Tissue by Michael Ignatieff
12. From the Depths by Victor Milan
13. O is for Outlaw by Sue Grafton
14. An April Shroud by Reginald Hill
15. Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
16. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
17. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
18. Bliss & Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield
19. Shakespeare by Bill Bryson
20. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
21. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
22. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carré
23. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
24. The Winter Garden Mystery by Carola Dunn
25. Paradise Lost by John Milton
26. Requiem for A Mezzo by Carola Dunn
27. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
28. A Pinch of Snuff by Reginald Hill
29. Double Falsehood by William Shakespeare et al.
30. “P” is for Peril by Sue Grafton
31. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
32. H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O’Brian
33. All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare
34. The Vile Village by Lemony Snickett
35. If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino
36. Armand Durand by Rosanna Leprohon
37. Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies
38. The Armageddon Factor by Marci McDonald
39. The Village of Viger by Duncan Campbell Scott
40. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
41. Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton
42. Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie
43. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
44. The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snickett
45. A Killing Kindness by Reginald Hill
46. The Ancestor’s Tale by Richard Dawkins
47. King John by William Shakespeare
48. Firestorm by L. A. Graf
49. The Garden Party & Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield
50. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
51. Billy Budd by Herman Melville
52. Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
53. The Man From Glengarry by Ralph Connor
54. Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
55. Glengarry School Days by Ralph Connor

Virtually travelled to:
Countries: 9 real, 2 fictional (plus a few asteroids)
Provinces/Territories in Canada: 6
Centuries: 5 (from the 13th century BCE to the 21st century)

Canadian Challenge Books of 2009:
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler
Life in the Clearings versus the Bush by Susanna Moodie

Top Books of 2009:
The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant by Michel Tremblay
Fifteen Days by Christie Blatchford (hate her politics, but gotta give her kudos for this one)
Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin
Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden
Erewhon by Samuel Butler
Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare
The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins
Clara Vaughan by R. D. Blackmore
On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

Other Books I Enjoyed in 2009:
Vaudeville! by Gaétan Soucy
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Past Caring by Robert Goddard
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler
The Leopard by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa
Life in the Clearings versus the Bush by Susanna Moodie
Reason and Revelation in the Middle Ages by Etienne Gilson
Only A Theory by Kenneth R. Miller

Worst Books of 2009:
(neither were actually bad per se, only I had high expectations and was disappointed because I didn’t thoroughly enjoy them)
The Outlander by Gil Adamson
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Complete List of Books Read in 2009:

1. Vaudeville! by Gaétan Soucy
2. The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
3. The Outlander by Gil Adamson
4. The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant by Michel Tremblay
5. Fruit by Brian Francis
6. Fifteen Days by Christie Blatchford
7. “M” is for Malice by Sue Grafton
8. Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards
9. “N” is for Noose by Sue Grafton
10. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
11. Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin
12. Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden
13. Past Caring by Robert Goddard
14. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
15. Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery
16. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler
17. The Leopard by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa
18. Erewhon by Samuel Butler
19. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
20. Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare
21. Reason and Revelation in the Middle Ages by Etienne Gilson
22. Life in the Clearings versus the Bush by Susanna Moodie
23. Only A Theory by Kenneth R. Miller
24. The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins
25. Selected Stories from the Canadian Magazine
26. Clara Vaughan by R. D. Blackmore
27. On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
28. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

Canadian Challenge Books of 2008:
Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley
From the Fifteenth District by Mavis Gallant
Winter Studies and Summer Rambles by Anna Brownell Jameson
As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie

Top Books of 2008:
Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley
I’ve Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad by Karolyn Smardz Frost
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Winter Studies and Summer Rambles by Anna Brownell Jameson
Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore
The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman
Cymbeline by William Shakespeare
Lucrece by William Shakespeare
Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie

Other Books I Enjoyed in 2008:
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
King Leary by Paul Quarrington
Icefields by Thomas Wharton
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross
Meteorologica by Aristotle
Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare
Roman Literature and Society by R. M. Ogilvie
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
Ruling Passion by Reginald Hill

Worst Books of 2008:
(neither were actually bad per se, only I had very, very high expectations and was disappointed because I didn’t thoroughly enjoy them)
From the Fifteenth District by Mavis Gallant
Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje

Complete List of Books Read in 2008:

1. Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
2. The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman
3. Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley
4. I’ve Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad by Karolyn Smardz Frost
5. I am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert
6. The Labours of Hercules by Agatha Christie
7. King Leary by Paul Quarrington
8. 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
9. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
10. From the Fifteenth District by Mavis Gallant
11. Icefields by Thomas Wharton
12. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
13. Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
14. Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
15. Lucrece by William Shakespeare
16. “I” is for Innocent by Sue Grafton
17. Winter Studies and Summer Rambles by Anna Brownell Jameson
18. The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snickett
19. The Passionate Pilgrim by William Shakespeare
20. The Phoenix and the Turtle by William Shakespeare
21. As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross
22. The Penalty Box by Deirdre Martin
23. Chasing Stanley by Deirdre Martin
24. One For the Money by Janet Evanovich
25. Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore
26. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
27. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
28. Meteorologica (Meteorology) by Aristotle
29. Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare
30. Roman Literature and Society by R.M. Ogilvie
31. Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson
32. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
33. Snobbery with Violence by Marion Chesney
34. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
35. “J” is for Judgment by Sue Grafton
36. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
37. Ruling Passion by Reginald Hill
38. Cymbeline by William Shakespeare
39. Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich
40. “K” is for Killer by Sue Grafton
41. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
42. “L” is for Lawless by Sue Grafton
43. The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
44. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
45. The Athenian Constitution by Aristotle
46. Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie

Canadian Challenge Books of 2007:
The Tommorow-Tamer by Margaret Laurence
Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
The Fire-Dwellers by Margaret Laurence
Wacousta by John Richardson
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
St. Urbain’s Horseman by Mordecai Richler
The Clockmaker by Thomas Chandler Haliburton
The Manticore by Robertson Davies
The Backwoods of Canada by Catharine Parr Traill
World of Wonders by Robertson Davies

Top Books of 2007:
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser
Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
Richard III by William Shakespeare
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Wacousta by John Richardson
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
The Manticore by Robertson Davies
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: Volume I, The Pox Party by M. T. Anderson
The Backwoods of Canada by Catharine Parr Traill
World of Wonders by Robertson Davies

Other Books I Enjoyed in 2007:
The Tommorow-Tamer by Margaret Laurence
The Fire-Dwellers by Margaret Laurence
Mrs.Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman
Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock
Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Café by Fannie Flagg
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Richard II by William Shakespeare
Sonnets of William Shakespeare
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
Physica (Physics) by Aristotle
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
St. Urbain’s Horseman by Mordecai Richler
The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
Post Captain by Patrick O’Brian
Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond

Worst Books of 2007:
(none of which were too bad this year)
Talon by Paulette Dubé
Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

Complete List of Books Read in 2007:

1. The Tommorow-Tamer by Margaret Laurence
2. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
3. In the King’s Service by Katherine Kurtz
4. The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum
5. The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser
6. Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
7. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
8. Talon by Paulette Dubé
9. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
10. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
11. The Fire-Dwellers by Margaret Laurence
12. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
13. Mrs.Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman
14. Richard III by William Shakespeare
15. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
16. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
17. Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn
18. Wacousta by John Richardson
19. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
20. Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian
21. Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock
22. Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
23. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
24. The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
25. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
26. The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
27. The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
28. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
29. Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare
30. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
31. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Café by Fannie Flagg
32. The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
33. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
34. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
35. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
36. Weight by Jeanette Winterson
37. The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie
38. Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith
39. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
40. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
41. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
42. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
43. Richard II by William Shakespeare
44. Sonnets of William Shakespeare
45. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
46. A Lover’s Complaint by William Shakespeare
47. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
48. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
49. Summer Crossing by Truman Capote
50. Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey
51. Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare
52. “B” is for Burglar by Sue Grafton
53. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
54. Physica (Physics) by Aristotle
55. Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman
56. An Advancement of Learning by Reginald Hill
57. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
58. Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson
59. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
60. Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
61. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
62. “C” is for Corpse by Sue Grafton
63. St. Urbain’s Horseman by Mordecai Richler
64. The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
65. The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
66. Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie
67. The Clockmaker by Thomas Chandler Haliburton
68. The Manticore by Robertson Davies
69. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
70. Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
71. Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
72. De Caelo (On the Heavens) by Aristotle
73. “D” is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton
74. Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
75. Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
76. Post Captain by Patrick O’Brian
77. “E” is for Evidence by Sue Grafton
78. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
79. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: Volume I, The Pox Party by M. T. Anderson
80. Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond
81. Othello by William Shakespeare
82. The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears
83. “F” is for Fugitive by Sue Grafton
84. “G” is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton
85. De Generatione et Corruptione (On Generation and Corruption) by Aristotle
86. The Backwoods of Canada by Catharine Parr Traill
87. “H” is for Homicide by Sue Grafton
88. World of Wonders by Robertson Davies

1. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
2. Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov
3. The Faerie Queene, Books I-III by Edmund Spenser
4. The World of Odysseus by M. I. Finley
5. Ulysses by James Joyce
6. The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds
7. Timaeus by Plato (re-read)
8. Critias by Plato (re-read)
9. The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler (re-read)
10. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (re-read)
11. The Seville Communion by Arturo Perez-Reverte
12. Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie
13. Parmenides by Plato
14. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
15. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
16. The Tale of the Unknown Island by José Saramago
17. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
18. Theaetetus by Plato
19. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
20. The Sophist by Plato
21. The Geographer’s Library by Jon Fasman
22. What the Body Remembers by Shauna Singh Baldwin
23. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
24. The Statesman by Plato
25. Mount Appetite by Bill Gaston
26. Notable Historical Trials, Volume III edited by Justin Lovill
27. Philebus by Plato
28. Rescue Ferrets at Sea by Richard Bach
29. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
30. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
31. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
32. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
33. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
34. Déjà Dead by Kathy Reichs
35. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
36. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
37. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
38. Laws by Plato
39. The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat
40. Barometer Rising by Hugh MacLennan
41. The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
42. Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
43. Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs
44. Categoriae (Categories) by Aristotle
45. Such is My Beloved by Morley Callaghan
46. Complete Short Stories, Volume 1 by Ernest Hemingway (on audio)
47. “A” is for Alibi by Sue Grafton (on audio/re-read)
48. De Interpretatione (On Interpretation) by Aristotle
49. Children of My Heart by Gabrielle Roy
50. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
51. The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
52. The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (re-read)
53. Wilderness Tips by Margaret Atwood
54. The Hours by Michael Cunningham