There's a
list on GoodReads as well
52 books read. Pretty good for someone that usually reads about 20 titles a year.
My read of the year is Catherynne M. Valente’s
The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden. This was a wonderful read. I had a hard time believing it was so good because I had very high expectations for the book based on what I had read about it. It exceeded all those expectations. I’m not sure Catherynne’s writing would work with all types of fiction, but in these interwoven folktales, it is a perfect match. A must read for anyone who loves folktales. I’m confident in saying this three months prior to the end of the year, because it is that good.
If you have kids you should read
Playful Parenting which has been the most practical and useful parenting book I've read. I'll also add that if you find searching on the Web frustrating or have any interests in how we categorize and find things then you should read
Ambient Findability. Finally, I'm giving huge accolades to Steven Galloway's
The Cellist of Sarajevo. Just a wonderful read. Oh well, happy reading and hopefully next year I can manage half as much reading as I did this year. Thanks to e-books and to the MobileRead forums for all the entertainment.
The Chronomological List of Books
Spoiler:
1. 8p.p Howard Kunstler, The Geography of Nowhere (non-fiction)
2. 6p.p David Weinberger, Everything is Miscellaneous (non-fiction)
3. 9p.p Peter Morville, Ambient Findability (non-fiction)
4. 7p.p Peter Morville & Louis Rosenfeld, Information Architecture for the WWW (non-fiction)
5. 8e.g H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds (science fiction)
6. 5e.a Terry Brooks, The Scions of Shannara (fantasy)
7. 8p.p Douglas Coupland, Generation A (fiction)
8. 6e.a Terry Brooks, The Druid of Shannara (fantasy)
9. 6e.g H.G. Wells, The Time Machine
10. 6e.a Terry Brooks, The Elf Queen of Shannara (fantasy)
11. 5e.a Terry Brooks, The Talismans of Shannara (fantasy)
12. 9p.p Lawrence J. Cohen, Playful Parenting (non-fiction)
13. 6e.g Jules Verne, A Journey to the Center of the Earth (science fiction)
14. 8e.g Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis (fiction, short)
15: 3e.g Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (fiction)
16. 1e.g Jules Verne, Around the World in 80 Days (fiction)
17. 7e.a Terry Pratchett, Thud! (fantasy)
18. 6p.p Stephen James & David Thomas, Wild Things (non-fiction)
19. 4e.a Bill Allen, How to Slay a Dragon (fantasy)
20. 7e.a Scarlett Thomas, Our Tragic Universe (fiction)
21. 7e.o Natsume Soseki, Kokoro (fiction)
22. 7e.a Stanley Elkin, The Franchiser (fiction)
23. 6e.a Mo Yan, Life and Death are Wearing Me Out (fiction)
24. 7e.a Leslie Haskin, Escape from the World Trade Center (non-fiction, short)
25. 7e.g James Joyce, Ulysses (fiction)
26. 5e.a David P. Clarke, Germs, Genes and Civilization (non-fiction)
27. 6e.a Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan (science fiction)
28. 6p.l Robert van Gulik, The Chinese Maze Murders (fiction)
29. 8p.p Steve Krug, Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (non-fiction)
30. 7e.g H.G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau (fiction)
31. 9p.p Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (fantasy)
32. 5p.p Gary Chapman, The Five Love Languages (non-fiction)
33. 5e.g H.G. Wells, Tono-Bungay (fiction)
34. 9p.p Catherynne M. Valente, The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden (fantasy)
35. 7p.l Neil Gaiman, Coraline (fantasy, short)
36. 7p.l Yann Martel, What is Stephen Harper Reading? (non-fiction)
37. 7p.l Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book (fantasy)
38. 9p.l Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo (fiction)
39. 6p.l Neil Gaiman, M is for Magic (fantasy)
40. 7p.p Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (fiction)
41. 7e.g Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (fiction, short)
42. 5e.g Natsume Soseki, Botchan (fiction)
43. 8p.l Catherynne M. Valente, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (fantasy)
44. 5p.l Edward Riche, The Nine Planets (fiction)
45. 7p.l Haruki Murakami, Sputnick Sweetheart (fiction)
46. 6e.g Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (fiction)
47. 5e.a Chris Priestley, Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror (fiction)
48. 7e.g Agatha Christie, The Secret Adversary (fiction)
49. 2p.p Jeanne Duprau, The Prophet of Yonwood (fiction)
50. 6e.a Stanley Elkin, The Dick Gibson Show (fiction)
51. 7e.g Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (fiction)
52. 6e.g Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land that Time Forgot (fantasy)
Rating and Abbreviation Guide