Tuesday, January 03, 2006
books this year
This year, my goal was to read a total of at least 30 books by the end of the year. And yeah, I did it! The only problem is that I did so mainly due to all my subway time in New York City, which I don’t have anymore in the middle of Indiana where I have to drive myself to work. So next year, I may be looking at a goal of 20 books. Of course, I also have a pile of at least 20 books on my self that need to be read. I guess this will be another year of not needing a library card. The big “problem” came at Christmas when I got a huge pile of new books—The Plot Against America, 740 Park, Mike Wallace’s memoir, and a U2 book.
So without further discussion, here is my 2005 List of Books Read:
1. Great Fortune - Daniel Okrect
2. St. Maybe - Anne Tyler [ick]
3. Devil in the Details - Jennifer Traig
4. The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
5. America the Book - Jon Stewart
6. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
7. A Century of Subways - Brian Cudahy [ick]
8. The Dante Club - Matthew Pearl
9. The Curious Incident of the Dog - Mark Haddon [great!]
10. Curious New York - NY Times
11. The Bone Woman - Clea Koff [great!]
12. Bono in Conversation - Mishka Assayas
13. Candy Freak - Steve Almond [great! it’s nice to know there are other freaks out there.]
14. Straight Talking - Jane Green [ick, chick lit]
15. Devil in the White City - Erik Larson [great! awesome non-fiction]
16. War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells [great classic!]
17. Contact Zero - David Wolstencroft
18. Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling
19. Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling [cannot say enough good things about this one! best of the year!]
20. Fictions - various [this was a collection of short stories and the selection included:
The Lesson - Toni Cade Bambara
The Author - Donald Barthelme
An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge - Ambrose Bierce
The Demon Lover - Elizabeth Bowen
Paul’s Case - Willa Cather
The Swimmer- John Cheever
The Lady with the Dog - Anton Chekhov
King of the Bingo Game - Ralph Ellison
Barn Burning - William Faulkner
Babylon Revisited - F. Scott Fitzgerald]
21. Everybody into the Pool - Beth Lisick
22. I Do, I Did, Now What - Jenny Lee
23. Little Earthquakes - Jennifer Weiner [ick, chick lit]
24. We Thought You Would be Prettier - Laurie Notaro [great!]
25. Dare to Hope - Jason West
26. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis [great!]
27. Prince Caspian - C.S. Lewis
28. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C.S. Lewis
29. The Silver Chair - C.S. Lewis
30. A Million Little Pieces - James Frey [great!]
31. The Horse and His Boy - C.S. Lewis
32. Saints and Sinners - Eamon Duffy
Great list!
I was curious what you thought of Dante Club. I’ve seen it, but can’t bring myself to pick it up yet
Posted by tanya on 01/04 at 09:04 AMImpressive list, Jenny. My reading has gone way down, too, since leaving NYC. I need to pick that back up.
“Barn Burning” by Faulkner (which I haven’t read) reminds me of a “Barn Burning” that I did read— a short story called Barn Burning by Haruki Murakami. It’s in a great collection of short stories called “The Elephant Vanishes.” Just a suggestion to anyone who’s looking for something to read.
One more thing: I watched a slightly cheesy tv movie version of Saint Maybe a couple of weeks ago. Blythe Danner played Bee and there was an all-too-brief appearance by Melina Kanakaredes (had to look up how that was spelled) as Rita, Ian’s eventual wife (they kind of had to rush the end of it, so that part doesn’t get its full attention). I know you thought it was ick, but I thought it was a pretty good book.
Posted by Cousin David on 01/04 at 10:39 AMDante Club was a good read but you do have to know a little about history and Dante’s Inferno to really make it good. Very much a mystery kind of book.
Posted by jenny on 01/04 at 10:58 AMGreat list! I’m especially glad to see I’m not the only one who still reads The Chronicles of Narnia in order of publication.
You can’t even find them in stores in that order anymore.
Posted by Joan on 01/04 at 09:19 PMIndeed! I have the all in one volume, which starts off with Magician’s Nephew, but I’m reading in pub order.
Posted by jenny on 01/05 at 09:50 AMWell, if knowing a little about history and Dante’s Inferno to make it good is all I need, then I’m probably all set.
-The History Grad Student, who once did a seminar that focused on Dante’s Purgatory and made us read Inferno, too.
Posted by tanya on 01/05 at 10:13 AMWow! Impressed my friend. I miss reading on the train. I read so many classics when I lived in DC, Boston and Chicago. It was acutally so much fun sometimes I didn’t want to get off the train.
Oh some suggestions for next year if you haven’t already read...A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, Moneyball by Michael Lewis, The Mommy Myth by Susan Douglas and Sex & Power by Susan Estrinch. Just some ideas.
I have a reading list for this year...I just hope I can get through half of it having to drive in the D all the time and on Sunday I can barely get through the Times by the end of the night.
Posted by Michelle on 01/06 at 11:07 AM