Well, another good year of reading has passed, and I wanted to review the books I have read.  My goal was to read 50 books, and alas, I ended the year 4 books short.  I blame my iPhone which was purchased in November (and the Words with Friends app- argh, so addictive)!

Here’s a run-down of my most memorable books this year:  The Grapes of Wrath was one I’d wanted to read but never had… and while it was depressing and gloomy, it was great to read a classic.  People of the Book was intriguing- lots of fascinating stories from different corners of history as the narration follows a prayer book passed down through the centuries.  American Band- I identified with this book so much as it reminded me of the intense focus and determination of my high school band.  I cried when that book ended, and sorely missed it when it was over.  The House at Sugar Beach was an amazing and fascinating depiction of growing up in Liberia in the 70’s and 80’s.  Finally, The Help was my favorite book that I read all year- a tremendous story of courage in Jackson, Mississippi before the Civil Rights movement- an amazing book.

  1. Running: Getting Started by Jeff Galloway
  2. The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer
  3. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
  4. In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan
  5. I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert
  6. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
  7. Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar
  8. The 100: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own by Nina Garcia
  9. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
  10. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
  11. Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
  12. American Band by Kristen Laine
  13. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
  14. The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper
  15. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
  16. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
  17. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
  18. When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
  19. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
  20. It Sucked and Then I Cried by Heather Armstrong
  21. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney
  22. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
  23. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
  24. Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman
  25. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
  26. What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel
  27. The Year of Living Biblically by A J Jacobs
  28. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
  29. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
  30. The Book of Bright Ideas by Sandra Kring
  31. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
  32. Lucky by Alice Sebold
  33. Your Best Birth by Ricki Lake, Abby Epstein, and Jacques Moritz
  34. When the Heart Cries by Cindy Woodsmall
  35. When the Morning Comes by Cindy Woodsmall
  36. When the Soul Mends by Cindy Woodsmall
  37. Baby Bargains by Denise Folds
  38. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
  39. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
  40. Husband Coached Childbirth by Robert Bradley
  41. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
  42. Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
  43. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
  44. I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci
  45. The Landry News by Andrew Clements
  46. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League International

While I did not reach my goal for the 2nd year in a row, I realized tonight that I beat last year’s count by 8 books.  Woo-hoo!  I am ready to give this goal of 50 books another shot for 2010!

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