A Year of Reading - In Review

Since 2005, the only New Year's resolution I've made is to read 50 new (to me) books. To make any other resolutions is an exercise on futility because I am a weak-willed individual. :P Besides that, the average American adult only reads five books a year, and I figure that I should do my part to up the score. ;)

2005 was the first year I kept track of what I read and when I read it, and I was surprised to see when December 31st rolled around that I had only read 19 new books! It actually wasn't until last year that I reached the goal, with book #50 (Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry) being finished on New Year's Eve. So how'd I do in 2008?? (Starred items denote non-fiction works)

January
The Hundred Dresses – Eleanor Estes
The Penderwicks – Jeanne Birdsall
Emma-Jean Lazarus Feel Out of a Tree – Lauren Tarshis
*Mosaic – Amy Grant
*America (The Book) – Jon Stewart
*The General Book of Ignorance – John Lloyd and John Mitchinson
Rebekah – Orson Scott Card
Charlie All Night – Jennifer Crusie
Shotgun Wedding – Maggie Osborne
*Life Artist – Ali Edwards
Pollyanna – Eleanor H. Porter
Princess on the Brink (#8) – Meg Cabot

February
*Imagined London – Anna Quindlen
Because of Winn-Dixie – Kate DiCamillo
The Man of My Dreams – Curtis Sittenfield
*Team Moon – Catherine Thimmesh
*A Walk Through the Woods – Bill Bryson
Size 14 Is Not Fat Either – Meg Cabot
Big Boned – Meg Cabot
Outlander – Diana Gabaldon
*Made From Scratch – Sandra Lee

March
Avalon High: Coronation #1: The Merlin Prophecy – Meg Cabot
Princess Mia – Meg Cabot
*Anchored in Love – John Carter Cash
Queen of Babble in the Big City – Meg Cabot
*Baseball As America – National Geographic
The Truth About Forever – Sarah Dessen
*Feasting on Asphalt – Alton Brown
Just Listen – Sarah Dessen
Beware a Scot’s Revenge – Sabrina Jeffries
*The Sound of Music Companion – Laurence Maslon

April
Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat – Bill Watterson
Pardon My French – Cathy Hapka
That Summer – Sarah Dessen
To Wed a Wicked Prince – Jane Feather
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street – Jeanne Birdsall
Bride of Lochbarr – Margaret Moore
*Looking Back – Lois Lowry
*Secret Lives of Great Authors – Robert Schnakenberg

May
*Lives of Extraordinary Women – Kathleen Krull
*For Laci – Sharon Rocha
*Wonderful Tonight – Pattie Boyd
*Why We Read What We Read – Lisa Adams and John Heath
*101 Things You didn’t Know About Jane Austen – Patrice Hannon
*Where To Go When – DK Publishing

June
Lock and Key – Sarah Dessen
The Pleasure King’s Bride – Emma Darcy
Gabriel’s Gift – Cait London
Molly McGinty Has a Really Good Day – Gary Paulsen
Tall, Dark & Western – Anne Marie Winston
This Is Just to Say – Joyce Sidman
*House of a Million Pets – Ann Hodgman
*Good Dog. Stay. – Anna Quindlen
The Willoughbys – Lois Lowry
The Cattle King’s Mistress – Emma Darcy
The Bridal Bargain – Emma Darcy
*Condensed Knowledge – mental_floss

July
Practically Perfect – Katie Fforde
*A la Cart – Hillary Carlip
United Tates of America – Paula Danziger
*Born Standing Up – Steve Martin
Dairy Queen – Catherine Gilbert Murdock
The Off Season – Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Girls In Trucks – Katie Crouch
*A Pocketful of History – Jim Noles
*Summer at Tiffany – Marjorie Hart
Queen of Babble Gets Hitched – Meg Cabot
The Pleasure of Her Kiss – Linda Needham
Only a Duke Will Do – Sabrina Jeffries

August
Breaking Dawn – Stephenie Meyer
*Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art – Eric Carle
Morning Glory – LaVyrle Spencer
Be My Valentine – Debbie Macomber
*The Four Seasons of Marriage – Gary Chapman
Gossip Girl – Cecily von Ziegesar
To Be a Princess - Hugh Brewster
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! – Laura Amy Schlink
*What To Do About Alice? – Barbara Kerley
*Lucy Maud Montgomery – Alexandra Wallner
*United Tweets of America – Hudson Talbott
*King George: What Was His Problem? – Steven Sheinkin
Forever Rose – Hilary McKay

September
Keeping the Moon – Sarah Dessen
Love Walked In – Marisa de los Santos
Avalon High: Coronation #2 Homecoming – Meg Cabot
*Two Miserable Presidents – Steve Sheinkin
*Unforgettable Fire – Eamon Dunphy
This Lullaby – Sarah Dessen
The Princess and the Hound – Mette Ivie Harrison
*Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography – William Anderson
Getting Rid of Bradley – Jennifer Crusie

October
*U2 at the End of the World – Bill Flanagan
Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls: Moving Day – Meg Cabot
The Rich Man’s Virgin – Lindsay Armstrong
Rapunzel’s Revenge – Shannon and Dean Hale
*Harry, A History – Melissa Anelli
*Bloody Confused – Chuck Culpepper

November
The Complete James Bond Encyclopedia
*I Saw Mommy Kicking Santa Claus – Ann Hodgman
*Milk Eggs Vodka – Bill Keaggy
Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls: The New Girl – Meg Cabot
Dead Until Dark – Charlaine Harris
Living Dead in Dallas – Charlaine Harris
*Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer – Warren St. John
Club Dead – Charlaine Harris
Dead to the World – Charlaine Harris

December
Dead as a Doornail – Charlaine Harris
Definitely Dead – Charlaine Harris
All Together Dead – Charlaine Harris
From Dead to Worse – Charlaine Harris
The Tales of Beedle the Bard – J.K. Rowling
*French Milk - Lucy Knisley
*No Limits: The Will to Succeed – Michael Phelps
*Witness: For the Prosecution of Scott Peterson – Amber Frey
*Home: A Memoir of My Early Years – Julie Andrews
*What’s the Difference? – Editors at mental_floss

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pleased with my accomplishment this year- 120 books. How I managed to blow by fifty this year when the past three years I've struggled to just get close is beyond me. I certainly didn't have anymore "free" time!!

On the whole I enjoyed most of the books I read. Although, there were a few clunkers:

Girls in Trucks: This book was terrible. It was so bad I couldn't believe how bad it was!! Do not be seduced by the charming book cover and clever title!!!

Made From Scratch- This was Sandra Lee's "autobiography". I admit I read it purely for the snark value, so in that respect it wasn't disappointing! ;) But even with the aid of a ghost writer, this book is a lot like her show on TV- disjointed, confusing and filled with booze.

For 2009, I'll make the same resolution- to read 50 new books. Why mess with something that works???