Sunday, January 03, 2010

2009 Reading Review

The year is over and it's time to look back at the great books I read or listened to.  I reached a grand total of 113 books read with 36,340 pages and 14 audio books listened to.  Woohoo.  I finished the following challenges: 
Book Awards Challenge
Canadian Challenge
Book Around the States Challenge

While I have enjoyed challenges in the past, I did not enter any new challenges in 2009.  I don't plan on entering any this year either except for one personal challenge (I'll discuss that on another post.).   At the start of the year, my TBR list was close to 500 books which I have whittled down to an astonishing 472 books of which I own 356.  For the first time in years, I've actually read more books than I've added to the list.  That deserves another big WOOHOO.  Here's a list of my favorite books read from the past year:

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
Still Life by Louise Penny
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
Animal Dream by Barbara Kingsolver
North River by Pete Hamil
West with the Night by Beryl Markham
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Peak by Roland Smith
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Stargazing:  Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper by Peter Hill
A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C S Lewis
The Silver Chair by C S Lewis
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

There were a lot of other books read this year that I really enjoyed almost as much.  In fact, only two books got tossed aside and a mere handful received ratings below a 3. (5 being the highest)  Right now, I have an audio book on the Walkman that I have been trying to finish since October.  There are only a few chapters left but I keep forgetting to put the earphones on.  I'm also reading Time and Again by Jack Finney.  I've been working on that since the 20th.  It's pretty interesting but not in a I-can't-put-this-down-until-I-finish-it kind of way.  True, there's been a lot going on in my life the last two weeks; but this is a long time for me to spend on one book.  Hopefully, I will post reviews on both books in the next week.  I hope you all read some great books in 2009 and here's wishing you all a Happy New Year filled with health, happiness, and great literature.

4 comments:

  1. Broken For You is such a good book as is The Kite Runner. I hope to read Still Life by Louise Penny this year as I've heard such great things about her series. I am glad you like her books.

    I hope you have a wonderful New Year!

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  2. Wow! 113 books is quite a few! It's my goal to read more this year! You're an ispiration!

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  3. I have a question for you. When you count pages read, do you include how many pages are in the paper version of the audio book you're listening to? I plan to keep track of pages read this year but I'm stuck on this point.

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  4. Barbara Kingsolver is speaking at a writers' conference Mexico in February 2010. Does anyone know anything about it? Someone mentioned in a reading group that she is going to speak and lead workshops at a conference. Does anyone know anything about it? Thanks. I want to go!

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