One of my goals for 2009 was to read at least 25 books. While there is no way on earth I will accomplish some of my other goals (write book…ahem…moving along) I did manage to read a solid thirty books, and will most likely finish my current read I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, by Thursday evening. I think for 2010 my goal will be to read 40 books. Ambitious? Yes. Impossible? Absolutely not. I’m excited, actually; and I’m taking recommendations.
(Editor’s Note: I have tried to put these in order about 47 different ways; chronological, alphabetical, alphabetical by author, favorite to least favorite, longest to shortest, dewey decimal, pig latin, morse code, best cover art…nothing looks right or flows the way I want it to. So, because we all know I’m far to OCD to have a hodge-podge list hanging out on my blog…I’m going back to alphabetical by title, except for all the books that being with “The”–yeah, those are going right in line using their second word. No one wants to skim through 16 “The ________” titles, it gets boring. So, without further ado…here’s my list, re-reads have an asterisk and all books have a ranking, zero to five stars.)
Books Read in 2009
1434, Gavin Menzies
Sequel to 1421, which I loved, and is about a massive Chinese sailing fleet in the 15th century, commanded by Admiral Zheng and full of all sorts of historical awesomeness regarding the Italian Renaissance and Western/European Explorers. Love. (Also, I’m a nerd.) ****4 Stars
A Passage to India, E. M. Forester
I read this because it’s a “classic”…wasn’t terribly impressed, really. *1 Star
*A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
One of my favorites, led review for the Very Bookish book club experiment. If you have not yet read this book–you should. If you are female and have not yet read this book–you must. *****5 Stars
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison
British coming-of-age comedy, absolutely hilarious! Georgia is fourteen, looking for a boyfriend, and down-right hilarious. Seriously, you’ll laugh out loud. ***3 Stars
Anthem, Ayn Rand
At 100-ish pages, this is a good intro to Rand and her style. Try it. If you like it, I have several additional suggestions. ****4 Stars
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Why did no one make me read this earlier? I loved this book! It has the same feel as Farenheit 451, and 1984; our lives are taken over by gadgets and government and programs and we have lost real human contact and communication completely. (Of course, I am recommending this to hundreds of strangers I have never and will never meet via The Internet…it’s ironic, I’m aware, just go with it.) *****5 Stars
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
I didn’t love this one as much as The Hunger Games, to be honest; hope the third is better. Kat started to grate on my nerves, and she’s remarkably slow-witted for a leading lady in a tough situation, and I hate how she always needs to be rescued and have things explained to her…and I don’t like Peeta. I’m absolutely on Team Gale. ***3 Stars
*Confessions of a Shopaholic, Sophie Kinsella
Sigh–I love this book. Sometimes, I’m super girly I guess. (Confession: I have yet to see the movie because I’m afraid I will not like it was much as I like the book.) ***3 Stars
Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
I hated this book, and I don’t use that phrase lightly. Ugh. –No Stars
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery
This was a little tricky to get into, but I loved it. Also part of Very Bookish. This is the story of the inhabitants of a Parisian apartment house, their lives, their hopes, their fears. ***3 Stars
Empress Orchid, Anchee Min
The story of the last Empress of China and how she came to rule. Fascinating. This has a similar style and feel to Memoirs of a Geisha. I am dying to read the next book about the last Empress of China and her 40-year reign that ended last century. ****4 Stars
The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom
This made me think differently about heaven, and the afterlife. It’s religious in a way, without mentioning God, and it’s philosophical and psychological…it’s wonderful. Read it. ****4 Stars
The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
Fascinating, thought-provoking, irritating at times, fabulous. But not a favorite. I found the main characters obnoxiously stubborn and there was far too much time spent on the truly heinous one (and not enough time spent describing buildings, which is why I read it in the first place). ****3 Stars
Getting Stoned with Savages, J. Maarten Troost
Hilarious book detailing 2 year the author spent living in Fiji and Vanuatu. He drinks a lot of kava, he tries to interview a real-life cannibal, and gets himself in all sorts of hilarious situations. ***3 Stars
Gourmet Rhapsody, Muriel Barbery
A follow-up to The Elegance of the Hedgehog; equally quirky, but delightful. This is kind of like Citizen Kane in feel–dying man trying to recapture his childhood. Only he’s a food critic, so all his memories revolve around food. Yes, quite delightful. ****4 Stars
Henry V, Shakespeare
Read in preparation for the Shakespeare Festival, I love this text. Love. Henry V has some of the most moving speeches ever written and some of the most inspiring lines regarding honor (only they spell it honour), country, God and duty. It’s fabulous. Read it with a red pen; underline and make notes in the margins. Seriously. *****5 Stars
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
I devoured this book–it’s horrifying and fascinating and gripping. It’s like Gladiator combined with The Truman Show, with a side of Survivor thrown in for good measure. Two dozen teenagers are expected to kill each other to remain alive, while the country watches the whole thing 24-7 for entertainment. Horrifying. Fascinating. Gripping. (Also, I feel this will become a reality somewhere in the next 100 years of bad TV. For realsies.) ****4 Stars
In the Defense of Food, Michael Pollan
A very interesting read, you will rethink everything you eat and teach you what your grandparents knew and your parents forgot–whole foods are better, eat smaller portions. In some ways this justified by own eating habits, and in others it made me want to throw everything away and start over completely. ****4 Stars
The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
I have no idea why it took me so long to read this book, it is absolutely fabulous. I loved the culture references, the fact that it takes place in San Francisco, the traditions, the struggles…it’s fabulous. I watched the movie years ago in a Mandarin Chinese class (in Chinese…I missed a lot of it) and I am so glad that I took the time to get the whole story, I loved it. ***3 Stars
The Mermaid Chair, Sue Monk Kidd
A great read, but sometimes a bit too “out there” for me to really buy into. I’m not really a mystic-mythical-monastary type of person. A little to New Agey for me. **2 Stars
My Life in France, Julia Child
I absolutely adored this book, it made me want to bake like crazy and cook and invest in a lot of butter. I have not read Julie & Julia, although I did see the movie and enjoyed it. I have been cooking a lot more this year and this book snowballed that hobby. Just thinking about it makes me want to bake something. ****4 Stars
The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan
One of my favorite books read all year; this completely changed the way I view food (I read this first and In Defense of Food as a follow-up). I have started to clear out freezer space for an 1/8th of a cow that I will be purchasing from a local farm with Polyface Farm practices (that’s a good thing, btw) and will be joining a vegetable co-op next year. *****5 Stars
The Pursuit of Happyness, Christopher Gardner
The movie was excellent, the book is better. I initially read this book to inspire me in my sales job, but ended up being more inspired by the hard work and determination of one man–regardless of his profession. ****4 Stars
The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
I loved this book; I laughed and I cried. I identified so much with Lily, with her longing for relationship that mattered, for someone who cared for her, for a strong mother figure. My heart ached with the women in the pink house–how could you see such a miserable child and not want to hold her and tell her everything would be okay. Goodness, what a wonderful book–definitely being added to my “Favorites” list. *****5 Stars
The Secret of Lost Things, Sheridan Hay
I liked this book, but the ending seemed too contrived for me to really love it, which is a shame because the entire book takes place inside a massive used bookstore. What’s not to love? The Herman Melville manuscript subplot is tedious and loosy-goosy at best. The albino character is too quirky and odd to be believable. And I never really bought into the whole main character. **2 Stars
Shakespeare: The World as Stage, Bill Bryson
A biography-of-sorts of Shakespeare. Interesting, but so much is here-say it’s hard to stay focused. There is really so little on Shakespeare’s life–we have his plays and that is about it. This book spends 300 pages trying to concoct minute details of his life based on a handful of remaining documents. It’s exhausting to read. Not recommended. *1 Star
Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut
I wish someone had introduced me to this book earlier, what a great piece of literature. This could possibly be described as a “WWII book”…but it’s not. It deals with the bombing of Dresden, and while there are many powerful passages regarding that topic, the book itself is about psychology and memories and fear and interpretation. I have a feeling I will be cleaning out the Vonnegut section of Barnes & Noble on my next trip. ****4 Stars
Paris to the Moon, Adam Gopnik
American in Paris, only he’s a writer, not a mushy romantic. This is kind of a travel-book type of concept, and kind of a memoir-ish concept. Some of the chapters (specifically, the ones on government, bureaucracy, and paperwork) can get really tedious. The chapter about French gyms is hilarious, however. ***3 Stars
Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie
I had always heard this was a dirty book…it’s not, by the way. It’s fantastical. Between Hook and Finding Neverland, I had already heard about 80 percent of the text from this book, but I still absolutely loved reading the whole thing. Peter Pan is arrogant and selfish, but he’s not crass. I was always told there is swearing all over the place (there isn’t) and that Pan was a dirty, dirty boy. Yeah…those who told me that (ahem, mother, ahem), you ought to be ashamed. This book was lovely. ***4 Stars
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Huston
Great story about a very strong woman. This book, while not long, took me quite a while to read–relatively speaking–due to the incredible voice. The bulk of the story is written in dialogue…specifically, Southern drawl. A really really Southern drawl. I had to read most of it out loud to myself in whispers so I could figure out what on earth was going on. ***3 Stars
These is My Words, Nancy Turner
Love. Love-love-love. Read this book, right now, seriously. The story is of Sarah and begins when she is a teenager living in the Arizona Territory in the late 1800′s. Sarah is a frontier woman; she must learn to live, to hunt, to farm, to find water, to shoot, to survive, to love, to mother…and this is her diary. It is absolutely beautiful. Read it. Now. *****5 Stars
Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare
Shakespeare’s account of the Trojan War complete with your regular characters; Helen of Troy, Menelaus, Achilles, Hector, Paris, and then the legendary lovers Troilus and Cressida. The language is tricky, and it is not Shakespeare’s best play, in my opinion. But hey, I read it, so it counts…right? ***3 Stars
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Thirty-two books finished, one pending. Not too shabby. I am taking recommendations for next year. What book(s) would you like me to read? What book(s) do you love? What book(s) changed your life? I’m on a Book Reconnaissance Mission, my To-Read pile is dwindling quickly.
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Many of your favorite finds of the year are mine too, e.g. These Is My Words, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Hunger Games. Some suggestions for next year (I’m imagine that you’ve already read a couple of these): The Poisonwood Bible, Cry The Beloved Country, Crossing to Safety and/or Angle of Repose, All the Pretty Horses, Watership Down, The Geography of Bliss, Dracula, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Antonia Fraser’s biography of Marie Antoinette.
Comment by Melanie 2009 December 30 @ 8:19 amLove this post! I’ve started “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn” before, but I had to return it to the library before I could finish…now I’m going to pick up a copy and read the whole thing! As far as recommendations, I don’t know what your threshold is for objectionable material, but I REALLY liked “Water For Elephants.” (And I know how much you love elephants! …well, the baby ones…) I also enjoyed the book “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” but it’s a little rough around the edges. If you can handle that, go for it! And don’t feel bad for hating either one of these books.
Comment by Annie 2009 December 30 @ 8:22 amYou have no idea who I am, but I can never pass up commenting on book posts:
Comment by JBird 2009 December 30 @ 9:01 am-Funny Travel: “A Walk in the Woods” and “In A Sunburned Country”, both by Bill Bryson.
-Epic End of the World: Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”
-Interesting take on the Politics surrounding WWII: “Animal Farm”, George Orwell
-Mystery: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s (Sherlock Holmes), “The Hound of the Baskervilles”
-”Somewhat Edgy” Fiction”: “Angels of Destruction”, Keith Donohue
-YA Nerd Sci-Fi/Harry Potter “Killer”: “The Bartimeus Trilogy”, Jonathan Stroud. I have more, but want to leave space for other’s recommendations. BTW, great blog.
If you like cultural books, read “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides and “The Namesake” by by Jhumpa Lahiri. Two of my all-time favorites. Another favorite: “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson. You will HAVE to visit Chicago after reading that one.
Comment by betterthanasoap 2009 December 30 @ 9:32 amHey Heidi I’ve this year or previously most on your list. I’ll have to check out some of your others. Thanks for posting.
Comment by the riddle 2009 December 30 @ 10:06 amI highly recommend A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Moorland, Indiana by Haven Kimmel (hilarious, laugh-out-loud book–but it is also very touching). And, if you haven’t read it already, you will love Wild Swans by Jung Chang (a fascinating memoir of a Chinese woman and her family. She is also the author of the book Mao the Unknown Story).
Comment by J 2009 December 30 @ 10:36 amI can agree with you on: Hunger Games & Catching Fire (she’s starting to remind me of Bella; ugh!), Secret Life of Bees (Love!) A tree grows in Brooklyn. I tried to read The Secret of Lost things, but it didn’t keep my interest. I want to read a bunch of the other, particularly Slaughterhouse Five and I know why the caged bird sings. They have been on my (mental) lists for a while now.
Sounds like you had a great reading year!!
Comment by Becky 2009 December 30 @ 10:55 amNow I also hated Eat, Pray, Love, but I adored Bryson’s “Shakespeare.” Maybe it’s because I listened to it on CD? Or maybe because I’m a former theatre geek, and a perpetual lover of all things Bryson.
Comment by Noelle 2009 December 30 @ 11:20 amI’ve only read a couple of the books you had on the list: Anthem, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Secret Life of Bees. I just bought the Elegance of the Hedgehog and am excited to start reading it.
Comment by Joey 2009 December 30 @ 11:21 amHere are a couple of my suggestions (books I love!): The Remains of the Day (Kazuo Ishiguro), Watership Down, Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier), Jane Eyre, I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith), Persuasion (Austen). The Remains of the Day takes a bit to get into and one might think it would be boring (about a butler), but I loved it!
What a GREAT post. I loved These Is My Words. So glad you did too!
Comment by Janssen 2009 December 30 @ 12:08 pmWay to go girl! Many of these books are among my favs as well… and some of my NOT favs. We seem to have similar taste. After seeing Julie and Julia I now want to read My Life in France. I only wish I had more time to read. I did manage to read 9 books this summer though. I am currently reading the Brief and Wondorous Life of Oscar Wao. So far so good.
Comment by Lindz 2009 December 30 @ 1:22 pmI’m impressed! The only Vonnegut book I have read (so far), but which I adored, is Cat’s Cradle. I can also recommend Richard Feynman’s The Pleasure of Finding Things Out. Feynman was a physicist who worked, among other things, on engineering the atomic bomb. But he was one of those geniuses who was simply very curious about life, and who is able to explain things simply. He made a hobby out of picking locks, and his stories of that are quite funny. It’s a great read.
Comment by Sra 2009 December 30 @ 2:47 pmOh, and I’m going to have to second Richard Adams’ Watership Down. Still one of my favorite books. It’s told from the perspective of rabbits, but the culture Adams creates is really quite fascinating. They have their own lore and stuff. It’s kind of nerdy, but cool.
Comment by Sra 2009 December 30 @ 2:50 pm1. Felt the same about Passage to India and kinda just slogged through to the end. 2. Hated Brave New World but maybe my ‘non-high school brain’ should give it another go? Naw. 3. Agreed with Eat Pray Love – stop whinning 4. Will read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (you’ve read the Bell Jar right? Cause… all womens hould read the Bell Jar). Good list!
Comment by Andrea 2009 December 30 @ 3:07 pmIt looks like we’ve got very similar taste in books. I’ve got a few new books to add to my ever growing “to read” list. Thanks! I would definitely add “The Nazi Officer’s Wife” to your list for next year. It’s a memoir about a Jewish woman that married a member of the Nazi party during WWII. It’s very very good.
Comment by Kelly 2009 December 30 @ 6:58 pmMy book list for the year topped out at about 100. My Favorite books are crime novels since I am working on my degree in Criminal Justice, I enjoy reading about it too. By far the two best authors are J.D. Robb with the “in Death” series, 38 books in all (so far) and I read all of them this year, and Janet Evanovich with “The Stefanie Plum” series. Both authors are great writers, they know when to have sex, drama, and comedy…
Comment by The Perfectly Imperfect One 2009 December 30 @ 8:05 pmDo not see Confessions of a shopaholic the movie. I read all the books in the series and LOVED them and the movie ruined it all.
I also LOVED “Those who save us” by Jenna Blum although a very tough read..
Loved “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen
Comment by Jaime 2009 December 31 @ 8:45 amThis is an excellent list.
My suggestions:
Comment by Amy 2009 December 31 @ 9:11 amThis Much I Know is True by Wally Lamb
Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella
Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence
Addition by Toni Jordan
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Confessions of a Shopaholic movie is NOTHING like the book! Well, a little, but there are definitely a lot of changes.
LOVE The Secret Life of Bees.
Comment by Swishy 2010 January 1 @ 7:13 pmWhat does it say about me that the only one of these I’ve read is “Angus, Thongs, and Full-frontal Snogging”??
Seriously though, lovely, detailed list!
Comment by Alyssa Goodnight 2010 January 1 @ 10:38 pmI put off reading Their Eyes Were Watching Were God for so long, and I finally finally read it this year and I loved it so so so much. Did I mention I loved it so much? And then I just read an essay by Zadie Smith about it, and it made me love it even more. And that’s the best I can do, from all the way here in Zurich, on a few hours sleep, and all kinds of jet lag. Happy 2010! Here’s to many more bookish adventures.
Comment by Gwen 2010 January 2 @ 1:37 pmYou had a good number of classics on this list. Bravo! As for 2010, I can tell you what NOT to read based on my recent cruise: My Horizontal Life (Chelsea Handler), Cleaving (Julie Powell), Pretty in Plaid (Jen Lancaster), It Sucked and Then I Cried (Heather B. Armstrong). The bloggers let me down this year!
Comment by thecoconutdiaries 2010 January 3 @ 2:07 amI love your book posts Heidi! I’ve been meaning to read a few of these and now I really want to read them. I just adored Brave New World; I’m glad you loved it too!
As for books you should read…
The Nine, Time Traveler’s Wife, American on Purpose, Dogs of Babel, & The Adventures of Kavelier and Clay
Comment by Jennie 2010 January 4 @ 8:28 amnice job! i will definitely be checking out some of your recommendations that i didn’t already read. love it. woo for reading!
Comment by katelin 2010 January 4 @ 2:37 pmLoved A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Secret Life of Bees and These is My Words as well. I’m excited to check out some of your recommendations–I’m looking for a few to spend some Barnes and Noble gift cards on, how fun! Don’t see the movie “Confessions…” it’s awful.
Comment by Jessica 2010 January 5 @ 10:57 amOne that I’ve read recently and loved is the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Crazy title, but good read.
Oh man Heidi, I’m not sure I should even get started on this whole book discussion. I.LOVE.BOOKS. I’ve added some of the ones you mentioned to my list of “to-be-reads” and I’ll definitely read them now. It may be a while though, since my list is now 94 books strong. I too have a reading goal for 2010 and I’m already on my 3rd book (this may sound impressive, but I had an 18 hour road trip followed by a 7 hour flight starting on Jan. 1). I’m not sure if you’ve already read “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch (I loved it) or “Actual Innocence” by Scheck, Neufeld & Dwyer (It’s about innocent people sent to prison, I got it from Kathleen and it’s an interesting read. Just a couple suggestions. I’ll have to share my list with you sometime to see if you’ve read any that are on there.
Comment by Laura 2010 January 5 @ 4:01 pm