Reading List: 2009 Edition

[alexiscartwheel]

In 2009, for the second year running, I kept track of every book I read. This year's list is significantly shorter than last year's, due to factors like, I dunno, full time grad school, and my job, spring internship, loss of Metro reading time, and the television obsession that led me to devour full series of How I Met Your Mother, 30 Rock, The Office, Merlin, and Mad Men. On the up side, I still averaged just over one book each week. (Close to 1.23 actually. Look! I did math!)

In summary: I mostly read fiction this year because I needed the escapism like whoa. The few non-fiction titles on the list were mostly for class--though not all class books are included, because mostly I don't read those in their entirety, though in my defense the whole thing usually isn't assigned--which really means they're mostly from History of the Book, a.k.a. the best library school class ever. There's a lot of YA fiction, some fantasy, literary fiction that I mostly wasn't up to, and that one Christian romance that too my surprise I kind of liked. The list does not include countless boring "scholarly" journal articles, blog posts, fanfic, or that one weekend I spent reading the entire archive of Questionable Content.

1. Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer
2. White Teeth by Zadie Smith
3. Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson
4. Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
5. Thursday Next: First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde
6. The Scholar Adventurers by Richard Altick
7. The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding
8. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennet
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
10. My Freshman Year by Rebekah Nathan
11. Déjà Dead by Kathy Reichs
12. Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood
13. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
14. The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
15. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
16. My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
17. The Homeward Bounders by Diana Wynne Jones
18. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
19. First Test by Tamora Pierce
20. Page by Tamora Pierce
21. Squire by Tamora Pierce
22. Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce
23. Dear Julia by Amy Bronwen Zemser
24. The Time Thief by Linda Buckley-Archer
25. The Host by Stephenie Meyer
26. Lamb by Christopher Moore
27. His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
28. The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie
29. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
30. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
31. A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
32. The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig
33. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
34. North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
35. Cat Among the Pigeons by Julia Golding
36. Den of Thieves by Julia Golding
37. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
38. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
39. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
40. The Incident Report by Martha Baillie
41. ABC for Book Collectors John Carter
42. Mudie’s Circulating Library and the Victorian Novel by Guinevere L Griest
43. Doctor Who: Amorality Tale by David Bishop
44. Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery
45. Five Hundred Years of Printing by S.H. Steinberg
46. The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley
47. Books as History: The Importance of Books Beyond Their Texts by David Pearson
48. How to Identify Prints by Bamber Gascoigne
49. The Warden by Anthony Trollope
50. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
51. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
52. Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
53. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
54. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
55. Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
56. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
57. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
58. A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson
59. Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley
60. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
61. Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell
62. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
63. Soulless by Gail Carriger
64. Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire

I've linked to the review for each book, if such a thing exists. Unfortunately, it usually doesn't. I generally meant to review lots of these... but then time would pass and it didn't happen and I'd just give up. If there's a title on the list that you're curious about, don't be afraid to ask "Hey, that one book you read, did it suck much?" I have thoughts and I would be happy to share!

Comments

[sagacious-c.livejournal.com]

How was the Hugh Laurie book?

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed it... it was a random buy when I needed a book to read on a flight home from Kansas City that turned out well. It's a spoof spy thriller. The plot is a bit crazy and the humor is very droll.

[mysticalchild_isis]

How was The Outlaws of Sherwood? I vaguely remember reading it when I first got into McKinley long ago, but I don't remember being particularly into it. Is it worth a re-read?

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

I love The Outlaws of Sherwood, perhaps unreasonably so. It's a big comfort read, and I've lost track of how many times I've read it since middle school. It's not really one of Robin McKinley's more popular books though.

One of the big things I enjoy about this version of Robin Hood is that Robin is much more normal than in other versions of the legend--he's a poor archer and a reluctant outlaw leader. There are also lots of interesting secondary characters, including several kick-ass women. There are definitely some uneven spots in the narrative, but overall I think it's a great story.

[carrotgirl.livejournal.com]

How can you remember everything you read for the whole year? Or do you write them down as you go? I still have to read Catching Fire... You have some great books on this list! And that is still way more than I managed to read during my second year in library school, so I'm impressed.

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

I remember everything! Okay, not really. I keep a word doc on my desktop and add books to the list as I finish them.

Catching Fire was not at all what I expected, but still very good.

[lib-chick42.livejournal.com]

For the first time in a long time, I didn't keep a reading list this year... I wish I had, cuz I read some great books.

I just finished Catching Fire. I agree that it wasn't what I was expecting- but I really liked it, and I can't wait for the next one to come out (don't know when that will be)

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

I checked on Amazon, and the next Hunger Games book is supposed to be published in August this year. There's not even a title yet, but you can already pre-order!

[d4ni.livejournal.com]

Give me your opinions on two of these:

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow and Soulless by Gail Carriger

I've heard of both through various podcasts and blogs so I'm curious.

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

Both are good!

Oh, did you want more than that? I like a good dystopia, and Little Brother was very cool. There's a lot of interesting stuff about technology and civil liberties, and even though it was a bit info-dumpy at times, it was pretty compelling.

Soulless walks the line between urban fantasy, steampunk,and paranormal romance. The main character is a half-Italian spinster who has no soul and beats people up with her parasol. And it's just overall funny and fun.

[d4ni.livejournal.com]

The main character is a half-Italian spinster who has no soul and beats people up with her parasol.

I must read this! ::adds to To Read list::

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

Cool beans.

And speaking of things I've recommended... how's the Bones watching going?

[d4ni.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha I'm totally texting basically the answer to this to you right now. But I'll answer anyways so the whole world knows: I'm so obsessed! Damn it!

But really, how could I not love David Boreanz? And of course Brennan kicks ass way more than I thought she would, so Emily Deschanel is pretty sweet, too.

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

That's crazy! Welcome to the dark side. The banter and the hawtness just suck you right in.

Brennan is way kickass, both intellectually and physically. She's my fave. :) I also think she develops the most of any of the characters over the course of the show.

[d4ni.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm surprised how much I like her. The random snippets or episodes I'd seen just made her seem kinda cold and aloof. Which she sorta is, but she's also adorably awkward and geeky!

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I've recently convinced another friend that she needs to watch BSG too. (Apparently she and her husband never watched because it looked too not cheesy.)

And yes, Jamie Bamber makes some fine, fine eye candy.