I’ve been keeping track of the books I’ve read since January 1, 2012, and have only listed ones I’ve finished and actually read (somehow, usually books on CD haven’t “counted”). I’ll update this list as I finish something new and you can access if, if you choose, but clicking on “2012 Books” under LABELS (to your left).
44. Grace (eventually) : thoughts on faith / Lamott, Anne. Kind of a follow-up to #32 on the list. I find her very worth reading.
43. Mothers who think : tales of real-life parenthood. A wonderful collection of essays about all aspects of motherhood—and adulthood—that are varied and all extremely well-written. I got to walk a few miles in other mother’s moccasins.
42.All new people : a novel / Lamott, Anne. I tried reading a few of her novels until I could get through this one, but I’m just going to stick with Lamott’s memoirs for now on.
41.Let's pretend this never happened : (a mostly true memoir) / Lawson, Jenny. Funny, funny, funny with a lot of other "f” words.
40.Operating instructions : a journal of my son's first year / Lamott, Anne. Very worth reading, especially for parents and liberals. I try so hard to follow other political views, but , ahhhh, it feels so good to read someone whose political views are unabashedly similar to mine. And is still a Christian.
39. The Language of Flowers / Diffenbaugh, Vanessa. The author, who is a foster mother, wrote this novel about a young woman aging out of foster care. She is as screwy as any system can make you, but it’s ultimately a story of….redemption. Or close enough.
38. A Gift of Thought / Sarah Wyndes (Kindle publication only). A sequel to #21 on this list, but not quite as fun.
(#24.) The Case of the Missing Marquess, by Nancy Springer
(#25). The Case of the Left-Handed Lady
37. The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets
36. The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan
35. The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline
34. The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye
A fictional detective has a much younger fictional sister, who at 14, is very clever, very resourceful, and very alone (spell her first name backwards). I listened to the first four Enola Holmes books on CD and read the last two. The series is marketed to young adults, and I thought they were great—especially amidst my current Sherlock obsession—and I can’t wait for my kids to read them when they are older. Like Victoria Thompson (#31), this author is really good about incorporating interesting and dreadful details of living in old London.
33. The Enchanted Wood / Enid Blyton. Any book over 200 pages I have to read aloud to the kids counts on this list. A huge kid pleaser, it’s a bit annoying for adults. Okay, this adult.
32. Traveling Mercies / Anne Lamott. I can’t believe I’ve lived this long without reading Lamott. This is memoir within a collection of short essays about how an unconventional woman becomes and unconventional Christian. I have 20 passages marked in the first 80 pages for discussion at our next book group. This author will be showing up on this list again.
31. Murder on Sisters’ Row / Victoria Thompson. This is the latest in the “A Gaslight Mystery” series. It takes place in ninteenth century New York City and is well-researched to include details of class, corruption, social ills and niceties, and Teddy Roosevelt, all within the context of a good old fashioned murder mystery.
30. The Housekeeper the Professor / Yoko Ogawa. Neither my good reading friend, Karin, nor I remember why we both had this on hold at the library. Perhaps we both read the same review or heard about it on NPR. The story is beautifully told and somehow restful to read.
29. This I Believe. Compilation of 75 essays from NPR’s popular “This I Believe” personal essay series.
28. This I Believe II. The obvious sequel with an insightful introduction.
27. The Sense of an Ending / Julian Barnes. 2011 Man Booker Prize winner. I can’t articulate quite why this short book obsessed me so, but I felt hopeful and melancholy when I finished it and had to ease back into the real world.
26. Dead end in Norvelt / / Gantos, Jack.
25. The Case of the Left-Handed Lady / Springer, Nancy.
24. The case of the missing marquess / Springer, Nancy.
23.Half the sky : / Kristof, Nicholas D.,
22. The Reading Promise / Alice Ozam
21. A Gift of Ghosts / Sarah Wynde This is a debut novel from my favorite writer of Fan Fiction (short stories about shows/characters written by talented--or not--fans). Sarah is talented and this novel was the perfect four-hour summer fling.
20. The Fault in Our Stars / John Green
19. The Hound of the Baskervilles / Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
18. Girl Land / Caitlin Flanagan
17. Mighty be our powers : / Gbowee, Leymah
16. One small boat : the story of a little girl, lost then found / Kathy Harrison
15. I speak for this child : the true stories of a child advocate / Gay Courter
14. Radical : taking back your faith from the American Dream / David Platt
13. Another place at the table : a story of shattered childhoods redeemed by love / Kathy Harrison
12. Outlander / Gabaldon, Diana.
11. An abundance of Katherines / John Green
10. To hell with all that : loving and loathing our inner housewife / Caitlin Flanagan
9. A Matter of Class / Mary Balogh
8. Justice: What's the Right Thing To Do? / Michael J Sandel
7. Wench / Dolen Perkins-Valdez
6. Clockwork Angel / Clare, Cassandra
5. Think : straight talk for women to stay smart in a dumbed-down world / Lisa Bloom
4. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk / David Sedaris
3. Drive : the surprising truth about what motivates us / Daniel H. Pink
2. I'm Half Sick of Shadows/ Alan Bradley
1. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother/ Amy Chua
[Red denotes non-fiction. My New Year’s Resolution was to read one non-fiction book each month.]
1 comment:
We just read "Lessons from a Sheep Dog" by W. Phillip Keller - a sweet little nonfiction book - in book club. I keep trying to convince them to read "The Forgotten Garden" by Kate Morton, but they always balk at the length.
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