A friend recently suggested that I blog about the books I’ve read this year. I’ve been short on blogging impetus (impetuses? impeti?) recently and decided to take her up on it. I’m including audiobooks, though we could debate whether I should, and have decided to keep all the books on the list, even the handful that are so lowbrow I’m loathe to admit I read them.
My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
How To Eat Like a Hot Chick by Jodi Lipper and Cerina Vincent
Family Planning by Karan Mahajan
Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcon
The Descendants by Kaui Hemmings
A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
Last Night At The Lobster by Stuart O’Nan
Anonymous Lawyer by Jeremy Blachman
Sway by Rom Bravman and Ori Bravman
The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perotta
The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechtel
Sway by Nick Hornby
No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July
Blue Shoe by Ann Lamott
A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You by Amy Bloom
That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo
Normal by Amy Bloom
Book of Illusions by Paul Auster
The Good Wife by Stuart O’Nan
Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney
God Says No by James Hannaham
The Enthusiast by Charlie Haas
Though I don’t include them here, my handwritten list also notes the date I finished each book. January and November were dry spells; no books are listed under either month. This doesn’t necessarily mean I didn’t read during either of those months, only that I didn’t finish anything; thus, it is probably not an especially useful statistic.
The authors I am most pleased to have discovered this year are Stuart O’Nan (thanks to Adam Johnson and Tom Kealey for this) and Amy Bloom. Miranda July’s short story collection was also stirring and gorgeous, and Paul Auster’s Book of Illusions stayed with me for days afterward.
All in all, a good reading year. I may finish another book or two in the next few days, and if I do, will update the list.
I read part of Nick Hornby’s The Polysyllabic Spree, in which every month, he noted which books he’d bought and which he’d read. Would it interest any of you, dear handful of loyal readers, if I did a similar monthly entry? Books bought/books started/books read?
December 30, 2009 at 8:26 am
I’d be interested in a list of the books you started reading but did not finish (and probably never will). What prompted you to open the book in the first place, and what prompted you to close it before you had gotten to the end? What were your expectations for the book, and in what ways did the book disappoint expectations?
Denuded lists, unadorned by explanations, can be interesting, but annotated lists are even more thought-provoking.
December 30, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I like what Jay said. I like anything you write!
December 31, 2009 at 10:05 pm
I never thought to keep track of what I read — what a great idea! Since I haven’t kept track this year, here are just a few of the recent reads I can remember, plus several in the “queue.”
Recently Read
Just How Stupid Are We by Rick Shenkman
The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Paper Daughter: A Memoir by M. Elaine Mar
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
God Says No by James Hannaham
In Progress
What is the What by Dave Eggers
The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, From Edison to Google by Nicholas Carr
The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins
In the Queue (in no particular order)
No one belongs here more than you. by Miranda July
The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford
The Ministry of Pain by Dubravka Ugresic
We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch
White Noise b Don DeLillo
The White Album by Joan Didion
Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters by Jessica Valenti
Blood Done Sign My Name: A True Story by Timothy B. Tyson
January 1, 2010 at 12:19 am
[...] good friend posted a list of the books she read this past year, and I thought that I would do the same. Since I didn’t actually keep track throughout the [...]
January 1, 2010 at 12:57 am
[...] good friend posted a list of the books she read this past year, and I thought that I would do the same. Since I didn’t actually keep track throughout the [...]
May 4, 2011 at 9:03 pm
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