Saturday, January 2, 2010

2009: A Year in Books

My reading goal this year was simple, read more than I did in 2008.  In 2008 I read 74 books.  I did not meet this goal as I only read 68 books in 2009.  I’m not disappointed though – 68 is a respectable number of books! :-)

I did finish off a few authors I’d been working through, discovered a few new series and new authors, as well as read new books from old favorite authors.  I didn’t have as much grad school reading because I completed my last class in Feb 2009! :-) 

Also in Spring of 2009 I acquired the Kindle App on my iPhone – which will never replace reading paper books, but enables me to read while stuck in traffic and always have a book handy!

Here’s the complete list of what I read in 2009, in no real order:

Fiction

Carl Hiaasen: Strip Tease, Skin Tight, Double Whammy – none were as good as some of the 1st novels I read by him.  I think I have 2 or 3 more novels of his to read, I’ll finish them off in 2009.

Nevada Barr: A Superior Death, Deep South, Track of the CatIll Wind, Borderline, – This wraps up the Anna Pigeon series of mysteries set in National Parks.  Lucky for me Nevada is still writing these!

Bittersweet – this is Nevada’s 1st novel written 10 years before the Anna Pigeon novels – I thought it was fabulous, although some of the writing was rather “clunky”

13 1/2 – Nevada Barr’s latest – a stand alone mystery/thriller.  It was very good – kept me guessing until the last page, even though I had figured it out!

Chris Bohjalian: The Trans-Sister Radio, Before You Know Kindness, Skeletons at the Feast, The Buffalo Soldier, The Law of Similars, Water Witches

Charlene Ann Baumbich: Dearest Dorothy Series: Are We There Yet?, Slow Down You’re Wearing Us Out, If Not Now, When?, Merry Everything!, Who Would Have Ever Thought?, Help! I’ve Lost Myself

Marian Keyes: Watermelon, The Other Side of the Story: A Novel

Janet Evanovich: Plum Spooky, Finger Lickin’ Fifteen

Ann B. Ross: Miss Julia Paints the Town, Miss Julia Delivers the Goods 

Deborah Crombie: A Share in Death, All Shall be Well

Alice Hoffman: The Story Sisters, Horsefly

A Gracious Plenty – Sheri Reynolds

The Amateur Marriage – Anne Tyler

Made in the U.S.A – Billie Letts

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Anne Shaffer

The Boleyn Inheritance – Philippa Gregory

The Stepmother – Carrie Adams

The Leisure Seeker: A Novel – Michael Zadoorian

Very Valentine – Adriana Trigiani

The Lost Symbol – Dan Brown

That Camden Summer – LaVyrle Spencer

The Inn at Lake Devine – Elinor Lipman

Gods in Alabama – Joshilyn Jackson

The Help – Kathryn Stockett

Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson

The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0 – Christopher Moore

Non-Fiction/Memoir

Laurie Notaro: We thought You Would Be PrettierThe Idiot Girls Action-Adventure Club, The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death, I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies)

John McDonald: Down the Road a Piece: A Storyteller’s Guide to Maine, A Moose and a Lobster Walk into a Bar

Paula Denton: Learning Through Academic Choice, The Power of Our Words: Teacher Language that Helps Children Learn

Fat Girl: A True Story – Judith Moore

Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp – Stephanie Klein

Under the Duvet: Shoes, Reviews, Having the Blues, Builders, Babies, Families and Other Calamities – Marian Keyes

Idyll Banter: Weekly Excursions to a Very Small Town – Chris Bohjalian

The Maine Woods – Henry David Thoreau

Narrow Dog to Indian River – Terry Darlington

Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work – Richard DuFour

I Love You, Miss Huddleston: And Other Inappropriate Longings of My Indiana Childhood – Phillip Gulley

The Daily 5: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades – Gail Boushey

Queen of the Road: The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband and a Bus with a Will of it’s Own – Doreen Orion

A Friend Like Henry – Nuala Gardner

Prairie Tale: A Memoir – Melissa Gilbert

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