Reading List 2013
Every end of December I post the list of what I have read that year. Most titles have corresponding reviews here on my blog. Some do not.
Obviously I read a lot of books out loud to my child. The ones I have included on the list are the chapter books. Our daily dose of picture books are left unlisted because that would just get ridiculous, although they take up a huge chunk of my day. (Note: The Magic Tree House & Reading Guide listings are two separate MTH books that correspond in subject. Because they are such short children’s books, I make them share a number. It takes me about four hours to read each pair out loud.)
1. The Prominence League – C. David Cannon (January)
2. If These Walls Had Ears – James Morgan (January)
3. March – Geraldine Brooks (January)
4. Magic Tree House & Reading Guide: Dinosaurs – Osborne (January)
5. Magic Tree House & Reading Guide: Knights – Osborne (January)
6. Magic Tree House & Reading Guide: Mummies – Osborne (January)
7. The Small Room – May Sarton (February)
8. Magic Tree House & Reading Guide: Pirates – Osborne (February)
9. Lords of Finance – Liaquat Ahamed (March)
10. The Secret of Lost Things – Sheridan Hay (March)
11. God’s Love – Calvert Tynes (March)
12. Eden’s Outcasts – John Matteson (March)
13. Inheritance – Louisa May Alcott (March)
14. The Wild Girls – Pat Murphy (March)
15. Fizz & Peppers – M.G. King (March)
16. On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan (April)
17. Magic Tree House: Ninjas & MTH: Rainforests – Osborne (April)
18. Lunch in Paris – Elizabeth Bard (April)
19. Magic Tree House & Reading Guide: Sabertooths – Osborne (April)
20. The History of the Ancient World – Bauer (April)
21. Magic Tree House & Reading Guide: Moon & Space – Osborne (April)
22. Lessons Learned – Andrea Schwartz (April)
23. Bitch Factor – Chris Rogers (April)
24. Teres – Gershom Wetzel (April)
25. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers (May)
26. Magic Tree House & Reading Guide: Dolphins & Sharks – Osborne (May)
27. The Hunger Games – Collins (May)
28. Catching Fire – Collins (May)
29. Mockingjay – Collins (May)
30. Don’t Die By Your Own Hands – Holmes (May)
31. Slice of Life – Chris Rogers (May)
32. Magic Tree Houses: Ghost Towns/ Lions – Osborne (May)
33. The Princess Bride – Goldman (June)
34. Magic Tree House & Reading Guide: Polar Bears – Osborne (June)
35. Born to Run – Christopher McDougall (June)
36. Storybound – Marissa Burt (June)
37. The Prominence League II – Canon (June)
38. The Distant Hours – Kate Morton (June)
39. John Adams – John McCullough (July)
40. Magic Tree House & Reading Guide: Pompeii & Rome – Osborne (July)
& Magic School Bus: Volcanoes
41. Spindown – George Padgett (July)
42. The Cry of the Icemark – Stuart Hill (July)
43. The Color Purple – Alice Walker (July)
Magic Tree House: Day of the Dragon King – Osborne (July)
44. A Passage to India – E.M. Forster (August)
45. Letters to the Granddaughter – Schubert (August)
46. Over Sea, Under Stone – Cooper (August)
47. The Gospel According to Starbucks – Sweet (August)
48. Aphrodesia – John Oehler (August)
49. The Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan (August)
50. My Antonia – Willa Cather (September)
51. Magic Tree House & Reading Guides – Osborne (September)
52. Surprised by Joy – C.S. Lewis (September)
53. Love is a Choice – Minirth (September)
54. Thomas Jefferson: Art of Power – Meacham (October)
55. Going Native: Biodiversity (October)
56. Just One Evil Act – Elizabeth George (October)
57. The Year of Magical Thinking – Joan Didion (October)
58. The Evolution of Jane – Cathleen Schine (October)
59. The Immortal Class – T.H. Culley (October)
60. Aspects of the Novel – E. M. Forster (October)
61. Death Without Cause – Pamela Triolo (November)
62. Player Piano – Vonnegut (November)
63. Seed Savers: Heirloom – S. Smith (November)
64. The Bookshop Hotel – A.K. Klemm [yes, I re-read my own book as I’m currently writing the sequel] (November)
65. The Sparrow – Mary Doria Russell (December)
66. Harbinger of Evil – Meb Bryant (December)
67. Confessions – Saint Augustine (All Year)
68. Been There, Done That, Really! – Paulette Camnetar Meeks (December)
69. The Secret Keeper – Kate Morton (December)
“Can’t believe I didn’t hit 70 this year. I’ve been slacking!” I lamented. Then, when I went to grab the next Magic Tree House selection, I realized I never documented The Titanic Unit.
70. MTH #17 & Research Guide: Titanic – Osborne (some time in the Fall 2013)
– Books Piled Around My House Unfinished –
I am notorious for starting books and leaving them willy nilly somewhere until the mood strikes me to pick it up again. So where it is not uncommon for me to read a book in one sitting, it is also not uncommon for a book I like to take months or even years for me to finish reading because I’m waiting for that right moment to dive in. Like a real-life vacation, sometimes you want to be in a cabin in the mountains and sometimes you want to be on the beach in Fiji. It doesn’t mean you don’t like mountains and it doesn’t mean the beach is awful, it just means that: if you’re in the mood for mountains why would you go to the beach? Because I have reached that point in my life as a reader that if I hate it, I won’t bother setting it aside… I’ll just get rid of it.
My goal for the New Year is to polish off more of these before starting (and temporarily abandoning) too many others. Because these are books I actually really like, I’m just waiting for those magical moments when I know I’ll enjoy them best to return. What’s ridiculous about the books on this list is that I am about halfway through all of these books.
* If On A Winter’s Night a Traveler – Italo Calvino
* Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell – Clarke
* Freddy and Fredericka – Helprin
* The Path Between the Seas – David McCullough
* Storyteller – Sturrock (this one is actually amazing! I started reading it in November and I’m still picking my way through it)
* The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (still reading this aloud to the kiddo every night before bed)
* The Lacuna – Kingsolver (reading this for the January Half Price Books Humble Book Club meeting, should be done by the end of the week)
Books I Read in 2012
Book Love Art
Every year I post a list of the books I read. It helps me wrap my brain around the year that has passed and put in my mind what I’d like the next year to look like, and it gives people an idea as to what books were reviewed and discussed when. Kids picture books are not included on this list this year as we read so many (usually a minimum of 7-10 new titles a week) the list would have become ridiculous, young adult/teen titles are included.
1. How to Buy a Love of Reading – Tanya Egan Gibson (January)
2. Mysterious Affairs at Styles – Agatha Christie (January)
3. House of Mirth – Edith Wharton (January)
4. The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald (January)
5. Murder on the Links – Agatha Christie (January)
6. Swan Thieves – Elizabeth Kostova (January)
7. Human Happiness – Blaise Pascal (January)
8. Holiday Grind – Cleo Coyle (January)
9. Inhale – Kendall Grey (February)
10. Poirot Investigates – Agatha Christie (February)
11. Tales from the Jazz Age – F. Scott Fitzgerald (February)
12. Murder of Roger Ackroyd – Agatha Christie (March)
13. Roast Mortem – Cleo Coyle (March)
14. The Big Four – Agatha Christie (March)
15. Stonehenge – Aubrey Burl (March)
16. House at Riverton – Kate Morton (March)
17. The Mystery of the Blue Train – Agatha Christie (March)
18. The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco (April)
19. The Key to the Name of the Rose (April)
20. Peril at End House – Agatha Christie (April)
21. Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen (April)
22. Birds of Selborne – Gilbert White (April)
23. Dragonfly in Amber – Diana Gabaldon (April)
24. Voice of Conscience – Behcet Kaya (April)
25. Lord Edgeware Dies – Agatha Christie (April)
26. Napoleon’s Wars – Charles Esdaile (May)
27. The Trial – Franz Kafka (May)
28. Seed Savers: Treasure – S. Smith (June)
29. The Map of Time – Felix J. Palma (June)
30. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck (June)
31. Three Act Tragedy – Agatha Christie (June)
32. The Planets – Dava Sobel (June)
33. The Stranger – Albert Camus (June)
34. Clockwork Angel – Cassandra Clare (July)
35. City of Bones – Cassandra Clare (July)
36. City of Ashes – Cassandra Clare (July)
37. City of Glass – Cassandra Clare (July)
38. The Naked Olympics – Tony Perrottet (July)
39. Clockwork Prince – Cassandra Clare (July)
40. For Women Only – London Tracy (July)
41. City of Fallen Angels – Cassandra Clare (July)
42. The Book of Lilith – Koltuv (July)
43. Ruling Planets – Renstrom (July)
44. Working Days – John Steinbeck (August)
45. Animal Farm – George Orwell (August)
46. Through a Glass Darkly – Karleen Koen (August)
47. Number the Stars – Lois Lowry (August)
48. City of Lost Souls – Cassandra Clare (September)
49. Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison (September)
50. The Bookaholic’s Guide to Book Blogs (September)
51. The Symposium – Plato (September)
52. Emma The Twice-Crowned Queen – Isabella Strachon (September)
53. The Lost Continent – Bill Bryson (September)
54. The Customs of the Kingdoms of India – Marco Polo (October)
55. Parnassus on Wheels – Christopher Morley (October)
56. Possession – A.S. Byatt (November)
57. So Many Books, So Little Time – Sara Nelson (November)
58. Rich Fabric Anthology – Melinda McGuire (November)
59. Flatland – Edwin A. Abbott (November)
60. Unrecounted – Sebald & Tripp (November)
61. The Lit Report – Sarah N. Harvey (November)
62. Pippi Longstocking – Astrid Lindgren (November)
63. The Magician’s Elephant -Kate DiCamillo (November)
64. Kenny & the Dragon – Tony DiTerlizzi (November)
65. Seed Savers: Lily – S. Smith (November)
66. Collected Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay (All Year)
67. The Old Curiosity Shop – Charles Dickens (December)
68. Julie & Julia – Julie Powell (December)
69. Gone – Michael Grant (December)
**. All Our Worldly Goods – Irene Nemirovsky (did not finish)
70. A Homemade Life – Molly Wizenberg (December)
71. The Case for Astrology – John Anthony West (July -December)
72. Franny and Zooey – J.D. Salinger (December)
73. Les Miserables – Victor Hugo (All Year)
74. An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination – Elizabeth McCracken (December)
Visit Books I Read in 2011.
Click to purchase from Amazon.com.
*This post is subject to change until December 31st, 2012.*
Books I Read in 2011
Found on Pinterest via herlibraryadventures.blogspot.com
Once a year I pass on my completed list for the year before. Kind of a little “Hey world, this is what I read!” – as if I didn’t keep you posted on that year round anyway as reviews for most are available somewhere on my blog. You’ll notice I included a lot of kid’s titles, as I have one now. For other parents, I hope my kid’s reviews are helpful; for those of you who don’t have children, I hope they inspire you to revisit your childhood.
BOOKS I READ IN 2011 (in order of completion date)
- Christians and the Fall of Rome – Edward Gibb (January)
- McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern Issue #1 (January)
- The Laughing Cavalier – Baroness Orczy (January)
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle (all the time, repeatedly)
- Legends of the Fall – Jim Harrison (January)
- The Portrait of a Lady – Henry James (January)
- When Elephants Weep – Masson and McCarthy (January)
- Red Badge of Courage – Stephen Crane (February)
- Humphrey’s Bedtime and Humphrey’s Playtime – Sally Hunter (Feb.)
- Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire – Amanda Foreman (February)
- The Catwings Collection – Ursula LeGuin (February)
- The Professor and the Madman – Simon Winchester (February)
- High Marks for Murder – Rebecca Kent (February)
- Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad (March)
- Finished Off – Rebecca Kent (March)
- How the Irish Saved Civilization – Thomas Cahill (March)
- Humphrey’s Mealtime – Sally Hunter (March)
- The Clumsy Click Beetle – Eric Carle (all the time!)
- From Head to Toe – Eric Carle (March)
- Her Little Majesty: the Life of Queen Victoria – Carolly Erickson (April)
- Murder Has No Class – Rebecca Kent (April)
- Drood – Dan Simmons (May)
- Dead and Gone – Charlaine Harris (May)
- Dead in the Family – Charlaine Harris (May)
- Bella Tuscany – Frances Mayes (June)
- Mary Poppins – P.L. Tavers (June)
- The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street – Helene Hanff (July)
- The Woodlanders – Thomas Hardy (July)
- The Rainbow Fish books – Marcus Pfister (all the time!)
- Punctuation Celebration – Elsie Knight (all the time!)
- Lots of Brian P. Cleary Books (repeatedly – we are collecting all the titles)
- Gossie and Friends Collection – Olivier Dunrea (July)
- The Crack in the Edge of the World – Simon Winchester (July)
- The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield (July)
- Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson (July)
- The Forgotten Garden – Kate Morton (August)
- Eat Pray Love – Elizabeth Gilbert (August)
- Outlander – Diana Gabaldon (August)
- Queen Isabella – Alison Weir (September)
- Sociopath Next Door – Stout (October)
- Homicide in Hardcover – Carlisle (October)
- Vampire Diaries Vol. 1 & 2 (Books 1-4) – L.J. Smith (November)
- The Brownie and the Princess – Louisa May Alcott (December)
- On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft – Stephen King (December)
For the record, in the last few months, I didn’t stop reading to my kid, we just kept reading all the same titles over and over again (as you will do with board and picture books). The titles place in line on the list represent the first time she heard the story.
I’d love to discuss anything I’ve already read with you if you are interested.
Buy From Amazon.com
Every year I make plans for what I will read and goals for things to accomplish in my literary life. This year I hope to double the number of adult books I get a chance to read, now that I am a stay at home mom I’m able to make a bit more time for that (Ayla just gets a bit more adult lit read to her than I think she bargained for at birth).
2010 List can be found here:
https://anakalianwhims.wordpress.com/2010/12/11/books-i-read-in-2010/
Authors & Publishers: I’d love to receive review copies. In the past, I have been very punctual in my reading and in posting a review. I aim to be honest, but kind. I am a dedicated bibliophile that happens to hold a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing; being an emotional yet studious reader, I’d like to think I’m good at creating buzz.
Books I Read in 2010
(in order of completion date)
- A Separate Peace – John Knowles (Jan.)
- Get a Grip on Evolution – David Burnie (Jan.)
- Her Fearful Symmetry – Audrey Niffenegger (Jan.)
- The Origin – Irving Stone (Jan.)
- Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut (Feb.)
- Darwin’s Black Box- Michael J. Behe (Feb.)
- The Templars – Piers Paul Read (Feb.)
- Forget About It – Caprice Crane (Feb.)
- The Girl from the Fiction Department: A Portrait of Sonia Orwell – Hilary Spurling (April)
- Crime and Punishment – Dostoevsky (April)
- Guinevere, Queen of the Summer Country – Rosalind Miles (April)
- A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson (April)
- The Angel’s Game – Carlos Ruiz Zafon (May)
- Ramses: Son of Light – Christian Jacq (May)
- Ramses: The Eternal Temple – Christian Jacq (May)
- Conspicuous Consumption – Vebler (June)
- Three Men in a Boat – Jerome K. Jerome (June)
- Anna Karenina – Tolstoy (June)
- Ramses: The Battle of Kadesh – Christian Jacq (June)
- The Return of the Native – Thomas Hardy (July)
- Daniel Deronda – George Eliot (July)
- Reading Lolita in Tehran – Azar Nafisi (July)
- The Ghost and the Dead Deb – Alice Kimberly (August)
- The Ghost and the Dead Man’s Library – Alice Kimberly (August)
- The Book Thief – Markus Zusak (August)
- Whose Body? – Dorothy Sayers (August)
- Espresso Shot – Cleo Coyle (August)
- Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie (August)
- A Pair of Blue Eyes – Thomas Hardy (September)
- The Sweet Far Thing – Libba Bray (October)
- Well Enough Alone – Jennifer Traig (October)
- The Monk – Matthew Lewis (November)
- Family Affair – Caprice Crane (November)
- The Pleasures of God – John Piper (November)
- The Diaries of Adam and Eve – Mark Twain (November)
- Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez (November)
- Finding Darwin’s God – Kenneth Miller (December)
- Tuesdays With Morrie – Mitch Albom (December)
- 84, Charing Cross Road – Helene Hanff (December)
- Where I Lived and What I Lived For – Henry David Thoreau (December)
- The Brief History of the Dead – Kevin Brockmeier (December)
- The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame (December)
For my 2009 list: https://anakalianwhims.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/2009-book-list/
2009 Book List
I’m a big nerd that keeps lists. Here’s the list of my completed books (so far) for 2009. Keep in mind, I am also a bookseller and don’t just read what I like, but also what my customers like, to have opinions and comparisons to offer those customers. All reviews can be found on my shelfari.com account.
1. Pilgrim’s Progress – Bunyan (Jan.)
2. Sense & Sensibility – Austen (Jan.)
3. Gulliver’s Travels – Swift (Jan.)
4. Pride & Prejudice – Austen (Jan.)
5. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict – Rigler (Feb.)
6. Suite Francaise – Nemirovsky (Feb.)
7. Oliver Twist – Dickens (Feb.)
8. Up the Down Staircase – Kaufman (Feb.)
9. Jane Eyre – Bronte (Feb.)
10. The Scarlet Letter – Hawthorne (March)
11. Mary Queen of Scots – George (March)
12. East of Eden – Steinbeck (March)
13. Little Chapel on the River – Bounds (March)
14. Banvard’s Folly – Collins (March)
15. Stupid & Contagious – Crane (March)
16. Decaffeinated Corpse – Coyle (March)
17. Series of Unfortunate Events #12 – Snicket (April)
18. Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Adams (April)
19. Empire of Darkness – Jacq (April)
20. Kilmeny of the Orchard – Montgomery (April)
21. Blackbird – Lauk (May)
22. The War of the Crowns – Jacq (May)
23. The Castle – Kafka (May)
24. Lover’s Vows – Inchbald (May)
25. Amsterdam – McEwan (May)
26. Egyptian Magic – Budge (May)
27. Mansfield Park – Austen (May)
28. The Flaming Sword – Jacq (May)
29. Moby Dick – Melville (May)
30. Watermelon – Keyes (June)
31. A Wizard of Earthsea – Le Guine (June)
32. On Basilisk Station – Weber (June)
33. Nefertiti – Moran (July)
34. Zenith Rising – Goodell (July)
35. Coffee & Coffeehouses – Hattox (July)
36. Living Dead in Dallas – Harris (July)
37. French Pressed – Coyle (July)
38. City of Dreaming Books – Moers (July)
39. Time Was Soft There – Mercer (July)
40. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Fitzgerald (July)
41. Out of the Silent Planet – Lewis (July)
42. The Twelfth Transforming – Gedge (Aug.)
43. Far From the Madding Crowd – Hardy (Aug.)
44. At Home in Mitford – Karon (Aug.)
45. The Search for Nefertiti – Fletcher (Aug.)
46. A Great and Terrible Beauty – Bray (Aug.)
47. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies – Austen and Grahame-Smith (Aug.)
48. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Scamander (Aug.)
49. Cathy’s Key (Aug.)
50. Founding Brothers – Ellis (Sept.)
51. Sunshine – McKinley (Sept.)
52. Club Dead – Harris (Sept.)
53. Hunger’s Brides – Anderson (Sept.)
54. Dead to the World – Harris (Sept.)
55. The Shadow of the Wind – Ruiz Zafon (Sept.)
56. Dead as a Doornail – Harris (Sept.)
57. Definitely Dead – Harris (Sept.)
58. Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass – Carroll (Sept.)
59. Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Stowe (Sept.)
60. Foucault’s Pendulum – Eco (Sept.)
61. Flying Colors – Forester (Oct.)
62. Commander Hornblower – Forester (Oct.)
63. The Heretic Queen – Moran (Oct.)
64. The Communist Manifesto – Marx (Oct.)
65. The Fountainhead – Rand (Nov.)
66. On Art and Life – Ruskin (Nov.)
67. All Together Dead – Harris (Nov.)
68. From Dead to Worse – Harris (Nov.)
69. The Piano Tuner – Mason (Nov.)
70. The Ghost and Mrs. McClure – Kimberly (Nov.)
71. Lady Susan – Austen (Dec.)
72. Jumper: Griffin’s Story – Steven Gould (Dec.)
73. Madame Bovary – Gustav Flaubert (Dec.)
74. Unclean Spirits – M.L.N. Hanover (Dec.)
75. The Reader – Bernhard Schlink (Dec.)
76. Rebel Angels – Libba Bray (Dec.)
77. Stardust – Neil Gaiman (Dec.)
78. The Looking Glass Wars – Frank Beddor (Dec.)
79. Seeing Redd – Frank Beddor (Dec.)
What have you read this year?
Anakalian Whims 