2009 Books

Last year I tracked the books I read like the movies I watched. I was quite disappointed by the total, I have to say. I have resolved to do better, and that's probably a resolution I can keep (much to the chagrin of TLomL). Not only did I not read as much as I thought I should, I wrote about what I read far less than I should've. I make no promises in that regard--time will tell.

Going over the list this morning I had a really bad moment, I absolutely couldn't recognize book #4 on the list (Sacred Cows by Karen E. Olson). I had to go to a couple of different websites before the thing clicked with me--worse yet, once I remembered the book, I recalled enjoying it. And there are 3 sequels! I actually feel guilty about not reading more of Ms. Olson's work (and forgetting that which I did read). I'll fix that as soon as I can.

Anyway, if you're interested, here's the list.

I had a hard time coming up with "best of" lists, my instinct was to go for the "most literary" or whatever, but that ended up leaving off most of the books that I enjoyed most, had the biggest impact on me, etc. So instead, I went with the books I most wanted to write about (one I actually did), most of which I at least have a draft post about.

Non-fiction:
3. Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog - John Grogan
22. Confessions of a She-Fan: The Course of True Love with the New York Yankees - Jane Heller
29. John Calvin--A Biography - T. H. L. Parker
49. In Living Color: Images of Christ and the Means of Grace - Danny R. Hyde
56. Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse - Thomas E. Woods Jr.
88. Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing - Elmore Leonard

Fiction:
26. Turn Coat - Jim Butcher
50. Spook Country - William Gibson
51. Dog on It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery - Spencer Quinn
55. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
69. This is Where I Leave You - Jonathan Tropper
75. The Sleeping God - Violette Malan
103. The Magicians - Lev Grossman

As far as the worst go...well, there's the handful of books I didn't bother finishing (poorly written, just offensive, couldn't hold my interest...tho' to be fair, some of those should get another shot from me) and then these, which for some reason I just finished.

20. Stalking the Unicorn - Mike Resnick
47. Chasing the Bear - Robert B. Parker
67. An Underachiever's Diary - Benjamin Anastas 8/18/2009

104. Is This a Great Game, or What?: From A-Rod's Heart to Zim's Head--My 25 Years in Baseball - Tim Kurkjian (this was a fun read, just not a good book--a fine collection of brief anecdotes)
110. Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America - Barbara Ehrenreich