A Year of Books

"Chatting" with an old friend from middle school/high school about a year ago on Facebook revealed a couple of things I didn't know about her. One, she is a rabid Jane Austen fan. Two, she tries to read 50 books per year. I thought that seemed like a good idea (50 books per year, not Jane Austen rabidity), so I have kept a running list of all the books I read this year. I only made it through 30, but I figured that was pretty good. Here's my tally (* means reread for the 2nd time):

1. Netherland by: Joseph O'Neill (great NYC setting with cricket. love cricket.)

2. Unaccustomed Earth by: Jhumpa Lahiri (my fave of hers so far)

3. Pride & Prejudice by: Jane Austen (such a great soap opera of a novel)

4. Made in America: Immigrant Students in our Public Schools by: Laurie Olsen (a decent read for an academic book)

5. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by: Haruki Murakami (LOVED this book. not sure why, but it was beautiful.)

6. The Road by: Cormac McCarthy (horrifying and realistic)

7. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close* by: Jonathan Safron Foer (best 9/11 novel; best child protagonist)

8. Sister of My Heart by: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (started slow, good middle, blah end)

9. The Blue Sweater by: Jacqueline Novogratz (see review here)

10. A Saint on Death Row by: Thomas Cahill (Texas: you suck)

11. My Antonia by: Willa Cather (don't think I could have been a pioneer, but those who were were bad a**es)

12. A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League by: Ron Suskind (amazing and illuminating)

13. The Ventriloquist's Tale* by: Pauline Melville (second read didn't like as much)

14. The Robber Bride by: Margaret Atwood (don't like her stuff unless it's about the end of the world and decided that during this novel)

15. Oral History by: Lee Smith (gothic and creepy and love the South!)

16. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by: Beverly Tatum (transformative stuff on racial identity formation)

17. Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born* by: Tina Cassidy (fascinating and amazing anthropological and historical look at birth)

18. My Brother by: Jamaica Kincaid (oh jamaica, we have the same family issues...)

19. The Skin I'm In by: Sharon Flake (Young Adult--YA--book)(not bad, abrupt end)

20. Monster by: Walter Dean Myers (YA book)(liked a lot, actually)

21. Annie John* by: Jamaica Kincaid (didn't like as much 2nd time)

22. Prospect Park West by: Amy Sohn (trashy book about Park Slope, my 'hood. fun read.)

23. The Outsiders by: S.E. Hinton (had never read before!)

24. Farenheit 451 by: Ray Bradbury (loved it)

25. Angela's Ashes by: Frank McCourt (wowza, wish this guy had taught me)

26. Flowers for Algernon by: Daniel Keyes (weird book, man.)

27. The Joy Luck Club by: Amy Tan (meh--didn't like)

28. The Year of the Flood by: Margaret Atwood (great, not excellent)

29. Oryx and Crake* by: Margaret Atwood (both books are better together)

30. Eclipse* by: Stephenie Meyer (after seeing New Moon I couldn't remember what happened next so I reread Eclipse. the writing is awful, but so much fun)

31. Every Time A Rainbow Dies by: Rita Williams-Garcia (YA book) (good)

32. Sisters on the Homefront by: Rita Williams-Garcia (YA book) (better)

33. Nurture Shock: New Thinking About Children by: Po Bronsen and Ashley Merryman (I think the writing is pretty awful, but good/interesting ideas)