Books Read in 2009

I'll do a separate "Reading Year in Review" post, in which I talk about favorites and such. This is mainly for record-keeping. In 2009, I read a grand total of 202 books - by far the most books I've ever read during the time I've kept track.

January
1. 84 Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff
2. I Choose to be Happy - Missy Jenkins
3. We're in This Boat Together - Camille F. Bishop, Ph.D.
4. A Civil General - Stinebeck and Gill
5. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - Kate DiCamillo
6. Flight, Vol. 1 (graphic novel) - various/anthology
7. Daylight Runner - Oisin McGann
8. Austenland - Shannon Hale
9. Alpine Americas - Olaf Soot & Don Mellor
10. Recovering Me, Discovering Joy - Vivian Eisenecher
11. Never Say Diet - Chantel Hobbs
12. Grace for the Afflicted - Matthew S. Stanford
13. Katie & Kimble - Linda Thieman
14. Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall - Bill Willingham
15. American Born Chinese - Gene Luen Yang
16. Written in Blood - Sheila Lowe
17. The Feast of Love - Charles Baxter
18. No Experts Needed - Louise Lewis
19. The Porcupine Year - Louise Ercrich

February
20. A Lovely Little War - Angus M. Lorenzen
21. Lessons from San Quentin - Bill Dallas
22. When God & Grief Meet - Lynn Eib
23. Houston, We Have a Problema - Gwendolyn Zepeda
24. The Giggler Treatment - Roddy Doyle
25. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - Winifred Watson
26. For Women Only - Shaunti Feldhahn
27. The Book of Unholy Mischief - Elle Newmark
28. Out of Time - Paul McCusker
29. For Men Only - Shaunti & Jeff Feldhahn
30. Surviving Financial Meltdown - Ron Blue & Jeremy White
31. Hate that Cat - Sharon Creech
32. A Reliable Wife - Robert Goolrick
33. I Do Again - C & J Scruggs
34. Word Gets Around - Lisa Wingate

March
35. Haunted Encounters: Ghost Stories from Around the World (anthology) - various
36. Zig-Zagging: Loving Madly, Losing Badly - Tom Wilson
37. It's a Green Thing - Melody Carlson
38. Throw Out 50 Things - Gail Blanke
39. The Musician's Daughter - Susanne Dunlap
40. Sometimes My Heart Pushes My Ribs - Ellen Kennedy
41. As Shadows Fade - Colleen Gleason
42. Mrs. Meyer's Clean Home - Thelma Meyers
43. Ghost Cats of the South - Randy Russell
44. Images of Madison County - Stephen Kirkpatrick
45. An Offer You Can't Refuse - Jill Mansell
46. Love Begins in Winter - Simon Van Booy
47. 10 Things I Hate About Christianity - Jason T. Berggren
48. Yesterday's Embers - Deborah Raney
49. Agent to the Stars - John Scalzi
50. Who by Fire - Diana Spechler
51. The Ever-After Bird - Ann Rinaldi
52. The Girl She Used to Be - David Cristofano
53. Otto Grows Down - Michael Sussman, illus. by Scott Magoon
54. Monkey, Monkey, Monkey - Cathy MacLennan

April
55. SLOB - Ellen Potter
56. The King with Horse's Ears - Batt Burns
57. How I Got to be Whoever it is I Am - Charles Grodin
58. Go Back and Be Happy - Julie Papievas
59. Real Solutions for Busy Moms - Kathy Ireland
60. Spiced - Dalia Jurgensen
61. The Lost Hours - Karen White
62. So Not Happening - Jenny B. Jones
63. . So Long Status Quo - Suzy Flory
64. The Blood of Lambs - Kamal Saleem
65. Living Fossils: The Grand Experiment, Vol. 2 - Dr. Carl Verner
66. Fire Me - Libby Malin
67. Stop the Traffik - Steve Chalke

May 2009
68. The House in Grosvenor Square - Linore Rose Burkard
69. The Wonder Singer - George Rabasa
70. I Am the Central Park Jogger - Trisha Melli
71. No Touch Monkey - Ayun Halliday
72. Memory's Gate - Paul McCusker
73. I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti - Giulia Melucci
74. A Girl's Guide to Modern European Philosophy - Charlotte Greif
75. On the Run - Bill Myers
76. Love Begins in Winter (reread) - Simon Van Booy
77. The Dead and the Gone - Susan Beth Pfeffer
78. A Lucky Child - Thomas Buergenthal
79. The Non-Runners' Marathron Guide for Women - Dawn Dais
80. Gossamer - Lois Lowry
81. Evolution: The Grand Experiment - Dr. Carl Werner
82. The Nonesuch - Georgette Heyer
83. Olivia Kidney - Ellen Potter
84. Holly's Inbox - Holly Denham
85. Last Night in Montreal - Emily St. John Mandel

June
86. If your kid eats this book everything will still be okay - Dr. Laura Zibners
87. Crazy for the Storm - Norman Ollestad
88. Don't Call Me a Crook - Bob Moore
89. The Lone Ranger & Tonto Fistfight in Heaven - Sherman Alexie
90. Nothing but Trouble - Susan May Warren
91. The King's Legacy - Jim Stovall
92. Scared - Tom Davis
93. In the Sanctuary of Outcasts - Neil White
94. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane - Katherine Howe
95. Rubber Side Down: The Biker Poet Anthology, ed. by Jose Gouveia
96. The Unit - Ninni Holmqvist
97. The Corinthian - Georgette Heyer
98. Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr
99. A Summer Affair - Elin Hilderbrand

July
100. Cousin Kate - Georgette Heyer
101. Valley of the Shadow - Tom Pawlik
102. The Castaways - Elin Hilderbrand
103. During My Nervous Breakdown I Want to Have a Biographer Present - Brandon S. Gorrell
104. Through the Fire - Shawn Grady
105. Shimmer - Eric Barnes
106. The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children - Stormie O'Martian
107. Overheard in New York - Morgan Friedman & Michael Malice
108. The Sword and the Flute - Mike Hamel
109. The Myrtles Plantation - Frances Kermeen
110. The Mysterious Benedict Society - Trenton Lee Stewart
111. The Imposter's Daughter - Laurie Sandell
112. God*Stories - Andrew Wilson
113. The Plight of the Darcy Brothers - Marsha Altman
114. Sweetwater Run - Jan Watson
115. Offworld - Robin Parrish

August
116. The Missionary - Carmichael & Lambert
117. Ex Libris - Anne Fadiman
118. Paper Towns - John Green
119. June Bug - Chris Fabry
120. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (promo book)
121. Evernight - Claudia Gray
122. The Daddy Longlegs Blues - Mike Ornstein, illus. by Lisa Kopelke
123. All the World - Liz Garton Scanlon; illus. by Marla Frazee
124. Chicken Dance - Tammi Sauer; illus. by Dan Santat
125. Mr. Darcy, Vampyre - Amanda Grange
126. Hugh & Bess - Susan Higginbotham
127. The Woodstock Story Book - Linanne Sackett and Barry Levine
128. TSI: The Gabon Virus - Paul McCusker
129. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
130. Christianish - Mark Steele
131. New Tricks - David Rosenfelt
132. Don't Shoot! We're Republicans! - Jack Owens
133. Darling Jim - Christian Moerk
134. Secret Society - Tom Dolby
135. Godmother - Carolyn Turgeon
136. The Eternal Smile - Gene Luen Yang
137. Enthusiasm - Polly Shulman
138. Visions of America - Joseph Sohm

September
139. Vanishing - Candida Lawrence
140. The Greatest Knight - Elizabeth Chadwick
141. Abide with Me - John H. Parker
142. Bundle of Trouble - Diana Orgain
143. House of Dark Shadows - Robert Liparulo
144. Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same - Mattox Roesch
145. 31 Hours - Masha Hamilton
146. The Treasures of Venice - Loucinda McGary
147. Pale Phoenix - Kathryn Reiss

October
148. The Unlikely Disciple - Kevin Roose
149. Breaking the Bank - Yona Zeldis McDonough
150. To Serve Them All My Days - R. F. Delderfield
151. Day by Day Armageddon - J. L. Bourne
152. Crossing Myself - Greg Garrett
153. The Maze Runner - James Dashner
154. Cheating Death - Sanjay Gupta
155. Uglies - Scott Westerfeld
156. Not Becoming My Mother - Ruth Reichl
157. The Sneeze - Anton Chekov
158. Bone, Vol. 1: Out from Boneville - Jeff Smith
159. Bone, Vol. 2: The Great Cow Race - Jeff Smith
160. Bone, Vol. 3: Eyes of the Storm - Jeff Smith
161. Psmith in the City - P. G. Wodehouse
162. Cross My Heart & Hope to Spy - Ally Carter
163. No Idea - Greg Garrett
164. Bone, Vol. 4: Dragonslayer - Jeff Smith
165. Christian the Lion - Anthony Bourke and John Rendall
166. The Bible Salesman - Clyde Edgerton
167. Constance & Tiny - Pierre Le Gall
168. Constance & the Great Escape - Pierre Le Gall

November
169. Pretties - Scott Westerfeld
170. A Climate for Change - Hayhoe & Farley
171. Found - Margaret Peterson Haddix
172. $20 Per Gallon - Christopher Steiner
173. Among the Hidden - Margaret Peterson Haddix
174. The Church of Facebook - Jesse Rice
175. Bone, Vol. 5: Rock Jaw, Master of the Eastern Border - Jeff Smith
176. The Blue Umbrella - Mike Mason
177. Into the Wild - Sarah Beth Durst
178. Against Medical Advice - Patterson & Friedman
179. The Foundling - Georgette Heyer
180. How to Lower your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Cooking - Chef Alain Braux
181. The Wizard of Oz (condensed) - L. Frank Baum; illus. by Charles Santore
182. Letters to Darcy - Tracy Ramos
183. How to Roast a Lamb - Michael Psilakis
184. Logan's Run - William F. Nolan & Geo. Clayton Johnson

December
185. Tickle Tut's Toes - Julie Appel & Amy Guglielmo
186. Catch Picasso's Rooster - Julie Appel & Amy Guglielmo
187. One Simple Act - Debbie Macomber
188. Specials - Scott Westerfeld
189. The Christmas Secret - Donna Van Liere
190. Life After Genius - M. Ann Jacoby
191. Schooled - Gordon Korman
192. Mass Casualties - Spc. Michael Anthony
193. Terror in the Towers - Adrian Kerson
194. Beyond the Night - Joss Ware
195. The Reptile Room - Lemony Snicket
196. The Sum of His Syndromes - K. B. Dixon
197. Among the Hidden - Margaret Peterson Haddix
198. A Circle of Souls - Preetham Grandhi
199. Those Christmas Angels - Debbie Macomber
200. How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
201. Spellbinder - Helen Stringer
202. Look Who's Laughing Now (collection) - selected by Ann Spangler

Whew! I'll come back and add links if I ever have the strength. What a year!

April Reads in Review (a tad late)

I haven't read the book you see, at left. I just thought the title was fitting. Where do the days go? I can't believe it's already the 23rd of May and I'm just now getting around to posting a summary of my April reads. I had a slightly lesser month because of our week of vacation in April, but I still think it was a good one. Links lead to my reviews, if applicable.

Abbreviations:

YA - Young Adult

CH - Children's

NF - Non-fiction

Bookfool's April Reads in Review:

1. SLOB by Ellen Kennedy (YA/Ages 9-12) - A brilliant, overweight boy tries to unravel the mystery of who has stolen his cookies whilst working on an invention that he hopes will help him see into the past. Funny, poignant, great characters -- just an all-around terrific book.

2. The King with Horse's Ears by Batt Burns; Illus. by Igor Oleynikov (CH) - Irish folktales with stunning illustrations. My favorite is not a traditional tale, but a new one written by the author.

3. How I Got to be Whoever it is I Am by Charles Grodin (NF) - The actor/journalist talks about his youth and how he became an actor then segued into journalistic presentation.

4. Go Back and Be Happy by Julie Papievis (NF) - The memoir of a woman who claims to have died & gone to heaven (briefly), where she met her grandmothers and was told, "Go back and be happy." She then emerged from a coma. Doctors had expected her to die of the severe brain stem injury she received in an automobile accident.

5. Real Solutions for Busy Moms by Kathy Ireland (NF) - Just what it sounds like, practical solutions for making life as a mother more tolerable. Some of the book is written in question/answer format.

6. Spiced by Dalia Jergensen (NF) - (link leads to a mini review below that of Real Solutions) -Wow, I read a lot of non-fiction in April, didn't I? Another memoir, this time from the kitchen as Dalia describes how she turned her love of cooking into a career as a pastry chef. I thought this was really a fun read, apart from the bits about her sex life.

7. The Lost Hours by Karen White - A horse-riding accident left Piper in pain and took away her greatest joy but her grandfather's death, a charm & some scrapbook pages send Piper on a search that will change how she views her past and future.

8. So Not Happening by Jenny B. Jones (YA) - When her mother remarries and her father decides he's not the best parent for her to live with, Bella goes from privileged lifestyle in the big city to life on a farm in rural Oklahoma. This book actually had me laughing out loud and became an instant favorite. I can't wait to read the next in this new series.

9. So Long Status Quo by Susy Flory (NF) - And, I'm not even done listing the memoirs. Part memoir, part inspirational, the story of how one woman decided to get up off the couch and start making a difference.

10. The Blood of Lambs by Kamal Saleem (NF) - Seriously, I had no idea I read so many memoirs in April. The Blood of Lambs was my favorite because it's beautifully written & gripping. Saleem tells about his childhood in Lebanon and how he became a terrorist for the PLO at 7 years of age.

11. Living Fossils - Evolution: The Grand Experiment, Vol. 2 by Dr. Carl Werner (NF) - I haven't reviewed this book, yet, but it's scheduled for review the first week of June. Dr. Verner was challenged to prove the theory of evolution, while still in medical school (he's an ER doctor). This book tells about the challenge and how he went about trying to prove evolution by disproving it -- and why he chose that method. I just read the first book and will review it at the same time.

12. Fire Me by Libby Malin - Anne is tired of her job and on the verge of resigning when her boss announces a layoff and informs everyone that the person who loses his or her job will receive an attractive severance package. Slapstick chick lit ensues as Anne tries to get herself fired.

13. Stop the Traffik by Steve Chalke (NF) - A shocking expose about the widespread problem of human trafficking. Interesting side note: Chocolate producers didn't like what I had to say about the slave boys working on cocoa farms in that region, along with my assertion that I will only buy Fair Trade chocolate (they haven't changed my mind).

That's it! Just 13 books finished in April. Two years ago, that would have been a record-breaker. Not so, now, but I'm satisfied.

Just to pretty up this post a bit, a "nom, nom" photo from Costa Rica:

May Reads in Review

I think the clerk was a little suspicious when I whipped out my camera in Borders, so I acted all nonchalant ("Dum, dum de dum") and then snapped this photo while he was busy shelving books. Ah, the joy of those wonderful club chairs!

At least I'm not quite so late wrapping up, this time around. It's only 9 days into June! Pretty good, for me.

Abbreviations:
YA - Young Adult (MR-YA means Middle Readers or YA, meaning I'm unsure which but probably both age levels would enjoy it)
M - Memoir
NF - Non-fiction

Bookfool's May Reads in Review (links to reviews, if applicable):

68. The House in Grosvenor Square by Linore Rose Burkard - A sweet Regency romance with a little slapstick caused by a couple of bumbling, would-be kidnappers. Loved this one and really appreciated the glossary of Regency terms.

69. The Wonder Singer by George Rabasa - An opera star chooses a nobody to write her memoirs, but her untimely death means he has to race to finish the book and hide the interview tapes or a well-known hack will steal his glory. Great writing.

70. I Am the Central Park Jogger by Trisha Meili (NF/M)- I would not have read this if not for the recommendation someone gave me in a memoir drawing post. Very good & I was relieved that she remembered absolutely nothing from her attack.

71. No Touch Monkey! by Ayun Halliday - An American hippie chick's adventures in places I'll look at in books but would never dream of going. Hilarious and frequently disgusting.

72. Memory's Gate by Paul McCusker (YA) - Something strange is going on at the retirement center and it has to do with a creepy man and a time fault.

73. I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci (NF/M) - A memoir about a woman who loves to cook, including recipes.

74. A Girl's Guide to Modern European Philosophy by Charlotte Greig - The fictional tale of a girl who sleeps with two guys, gets pregnant, and turns to her study of philosophy to decide what to do. I raced through this one; loved the setting in 70's England.

75. On the Run by Bill Myers (YA) - A young boy with healing powers is chased by bumbling henchmen while the devilish bad guy hisses at his parents. Adventurous, but annoyingly heavy on the archetypes.

76. Love Begins in Winter by Simon Van Booy (short stories) - The one book I'd shove into your hands if you were standing next to me. I absolutely love Simon's writing. This was a reread, although it was just recently published.

77. The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer (YA) - An asteroid hits the moon, leading to tidal waves, volcanoes, climate change, death, violence, mayhem. This time told by a devout Catholic boy trying to keep himself and his sisters alive; second in the series.

78. A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal (NF/M) - The Holocaust memoir of a man who was imprisoned in concentration camps as a young boy and now devotes his life to working for the protection of human rights via international law.

79. The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women by Dawn Dais (NF/M) - One woman's hilarious tale of how she went from couch potato to marathon runner, including journal entries and training schedules.

80. Gossamer by Lois Lowry (MR -YA) - The little creatures who imbue humans with dreams work to save a young boy, an older woman and a young woman from the nasty nightmare-makers. A very sweet story with a dark side.

81. Evolution: The Grand Experiment by Dr. Carl Werner (NF) - The author's analysis of evolution, focusing on the quantity of fossils and the evidence he finds lacking to link various creatures in the evolutionary chain.

82. The Nonesuch by Georgette Heyer - A wealthy confirmed bachelor inherits a crumbling estate and plans to turn the home into an orphanage after repairs, but he does not intend to fall in love with a teacher who chaperones a bratty teenaged beauty. I love Heyer.

83. Olivia Kidney by Ellen Potter (MR-YA) - Young Olivia Kidney moves into a new apartment building and finds surreal adventure with her neighbors, including a ghost, an old lady with an apartment made of glass, a pirate and a princess. Funny & poignant.

84. Holly's Inbox by Holly Denham - A book written entirely in email format, but with a surprisingly well-rounded cast of characters. Sucks you in like a black hole, but be forewarned - lots of sex talk. I could not put this one down.

85. Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel - A young woman who has spent her life disappearing find that she doesn't know how to stop. Excellent debut; wonderful theme about plunging in and living your life instead of skating around the edges.

18 books read - obviously a bit of a Middle Reader/Young Adult Binge month and lots of memoirs. 4878 pages, total.

This was a month chock full of good reads and I really enjoyed almost all of my reading, but I always love Simon Van Booy's so Love Begins in Winter was definitely my top read. The Nonesuch was beautifully plotted and romantic, The House in Grosvenor Square was charming, The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide was hilarious. Gossamer was sweet, Olivia Kidney convinced me I really do need to read everything Ellen Potter has ever written. Last Night in Montreal is a stunning first novel. Holly's Inbox was a hoot. A Lucky Child is an amazing Holocaust tale. No Touch Monkey! was both side-splitting and totally gross. The Dead and the Gone was okay -- not as exciting as expected.

On the Run pissed me off (too short, too "We're trying to hook your kid into buying a series"), although it was certainly adventurous. I Loved, I Lost is the one book I think I'd un-read, if I could. Upon reflection, it was kind of a sex, drugs and whine book but I did enjoy it while I was reading it. Funny how I feel negative about it, now. I liked it at the time, but I think maybe that had to do Mother's Day and feeling the pang of being an orphan a little more strongly, last month. I'm trying to ignore the Father's Day ads.

Next up will be a sneak peek into a book I'm going to start reading, tonight, so I can't say anything about it, yet. This past weekend, I spent most of my time shopping in the Big City (two days in a row) and a few hours at my son's swim meet. I didn't read much, but I'm on the verge of finishing Don't Call Me a Crook by Bob Moore, which I'm finding both horrifying and hilarious. More on that, soon. There may be a couple of sneak peeks without reviews, before I review Don't Call Me a Crook, depending on whether or not I can get myself to read. I'm a little bent on house-cleaning, today.

Just walked in:

Gifts of War by Mackenzie Ford (ARC from Random House -- probably via Shelf Awareness?)

The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer (from Paperback Swap)

During my nervous breakdown I want to have a biographer present by Brandon Scott Gorrell (from Muumuu House), and

The Big Steal by Emyl Jenkins (from Algonquin Books)

How was your weekend? Mine was lovely. I bought books. I'm in the mood to go on a trip by myself -- kind of tired of seeing the husband off (he's in Germany), so I bought two Insight Guides: Ireland and Utah. Don't ask why Ireland and Utah. I guess they both look like good places to walk. I want to take a walking/sightseeing/writing journey. And, I ordered a book on road-tripping across the U.S.

Off to read and fold laundry (always a perennial favorite, that laundry-folding job),

Bookfool with piles of clean stuff