Reading Lists 2010-2012


READING LIST 2010

The good, the bad, and the totally trashy.  Much of my reading this year has been guided by what my wonderful little library has available.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells Great read.
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
You: On A Diet by Mehmet Oz
The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks It would've been fine without the Dad-drama subplot. Much more satisfying as a teen romance.
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh Great read.
Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm Holy vocab primer! (See note.)
Kaaterskill Falls by Allegra Goodman Fascinating.
The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan Super-quick read.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett Good read.
The 19th Wife: A Novel by David Ebershoff Also fascinating.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith How did I make it to age 34 without ever having read this?!
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L. Carter

Note: Zuleika Dobson made me wish I had an e-reader with a dictionary in it; not sure if I'll be able to use any of the new words I learned in casual convo, but at least my inner (okay, outer) geek was able to gorge herself on fancy words.

Last Updated: December 13, 2010.

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READING LIST 2011

I started a million books this year, but these are the only ones I finished. Craziness. When have I ever read so few books? I know I did a lot of reading, but I guess it was mostly blogs and magazines and crap.

Here are the actual titles I managed to finish in 2011.

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
I Was A Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids by Trisha Ashworth and Amy Nobile
Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson
Blindsided by a Diaper by Dana Bedford Hilmer

Last Updated: December 30, 2011.

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My Plum Tree 2012
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
Devotion by Dani Shapiro -- read in 2014
The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card -- read in 2013
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Katherine by Anya Seton
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
The House of Niccolo by Dorothy Dunnett
World Without End by Ken Follett

What I've Actually Read in 2012
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (recommended)
Savannah from Savannah by Denise Hildreth Jones (fluff)
The Doctor's Wife by Elizabeth Brundage
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua (recommended)
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (A must read--how did I make it this far in life without having read it?)
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell (recommended)
Atonement by Ian McEwan (Loved it. McEwan is a writer's writer.)
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom (recommended)
The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons (devoured it)
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (amazing story)
The Violets of March by Sarah Jio
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (totally fascinating)
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (recommended)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (recommended)
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (recommended)
Praying for Sheetrock by Melissa Fay Greene (also totally fascinating)
Cleopatra by Stacy Stiff