Well, I didn't manage fifty books last year, but here's what I did read...
Fiction:
1. Noel, Katharine. Halfway House.
2. Nicholson, Joel. Bleeding London.
3. McCrea, Barry. The First Verse.
4. Eriksonn, Kjell. The Princess of Burundi.
5. Orwell, George. Burmese Days.
6. Isherwood, Christopher. A Single Man.
7. Beattie, Ann. Follies.
8. Rankin, Ian. The Naming of the Dead.
9. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
10. Fielding, Helen. Bridget Jones's Diary.
11. Crowther, Yasmin. The Saffron Kitchen.
12. Amis, Martin. House of Meetings.
13. Rendell, Ruth. End in Tears.
14. Hambly, Barbara. Renfield: Slave of Dracula.
15. Berne, Suzanne. The Ghost at the Table.
16. Campbell, Rebecca. The Marriage Diaries.
17. Eugenides, Jeffrey. The Virgin Suicides.
18. Le Carré, John. The Mission Song.
19. Muir, Kate. Left Bank.
20. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
21. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
22. Jelinek, Elfriede. The Piano Teacher.
23. George, Elizabeth. What Came Before He Shot Her.
24. McEwan, Ian. Atonement.
25. Edwards, Kim. The Memory Keeper's Daughter.
26. Atwood, Margaret. Bodily Harm.
27. Kostova, Elizabeth. The Historian.
28. Fossum, Karin. He Who Fears the Wolf.
29. Lively, Penelope. The Photograph.
30. Blythe, Carolita. The Cricket's Serenade.
31. Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials Book I
32. Highsmith, Patricia. The Blunderer.
Non-Fiction / Memoirs:
1. Ali, Ayaan Hirsi. Infidel.
2. Mayles, Peter. A Year in Provence.
3. Jamison, Kay Redfield. An Unquiet Mind.
4. Turow, Scott. One L. (Reread)
5. Sarton, May. Plant Dreaming Deep. (Reread)
6. Klinkenborg, Verlyn. The Rural Life.
1. Noel, Katharine. Halfway House.
2. Nicholson, Joel. Bleeding London.
3. McCrea, Barry. The First Verse.
4. Eriksonn, Kjell. The Princess of Burundi.
5. Orwell, George. Burmese Days.
6. Isherwood, Christopher. A Single Man.
7. Beattie, Ann. Follies.
8. Rankin, Ian. The Naming of the Dead.
9. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
10. Fielding, Helen. Bridget Jones's Diary.
11. Crowther, Yasmin. The Saffron Kitchen.
12. Amis, Martin. House of Meetings.
13. Rendell, Ruth. End in Tears.
14. Hambly, Barbara. Renfield: Slave of Dracula.
15. Berne, Suzanne. The Ghost at the Table.
16. Campbell, Rebecca. The Marriage Diaries.
17. Eugenides, Jeffrey. The Virgin Suicides.
18. Le Carré, John. The Mission Song.
19. Muir, Kate. Left Bank.
20. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
21. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
22. Jelinek, Elfriede. The Piano Teacher.
23. George, Elizabeth. What Came Before He Shot Her.
24. McEwan, Ian. Atonement.
25. Edwards, Kim. The Memory Keeper's Daughter.
26. Atwood, Margaret. Bodily Harm.
27. Kostova, Elizabeth. The Historian.
28. Fossum, Karin. He Who Fears the Wolf.
29. Lively, Penelope. The Photograph.
30. Blythe, Carolita. The Cricket's Serenade.
31. Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials Book I
32. Highsmith, Patricia. The Blunderer.
Non-Fiction / Memoirs:
1. Ali, Ayaan Hirsi. Infidel.
2. Mayles, Peter. A Year in Provence.
3. Jamison, Kay Redfield. An Unquiet Mind.
4. Turow, Scott. One L. (Reread)
5. Sarton, May. Plant Dreaming Deep. (Reread)
6. Klinkenborg, Verlyn. The Rural Life.
- Current Mood:
accomplished
Comments
If you want something light and entertaining, then Left Bank or Bridget Jones's Diary are good choices. Bridget the novel is much better than Bridget the film.
If you're a mystery fan, the Rankin novel is very good. You might also like Ruth Rendell. The book on the list is one of her Inspector Wexford novels. (See the comment I left below for
The "literary" novels on the list would be Atonement and The Historian. Atonement is easier to get into; Kostova's book has three separate overlapping timelines and three separate narrators (a daughter, her father, and her father's mentor). Once you get into the story it's fine, but initially it's a little confusing.
If none of these fill the bill, then I'd also recommend The Memory Keeper's Daughter, or Renfield.
Happy reading!
Edited at 2008-01-22 02:28 am (UTC)
I have read The Historian, of course, one of my all time favorite books. And while I haven't read The Virgin Suicides, I did read Eugenides' Middlesex this year, which was just wonderful, too.
I'm also a big Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine fan; she's one of the few authors whose books I buy in hardback (Elizabeth George is another one). The Inspector Wexford novels don't do that much for me, which is why I'll just check those out of the library instead of buying them, but the psychological ones written both in her own name and in the Vine pseudonym live very happily on my bookshelves.
I haven't read Middlesex; will have to take a look at it.
You're right, I think I did recommend "The Historian" to you. What an amazing book. And I'd read so many reviews of Middlesex, but I just never got around to reading it. I saw it on the library shelf last fall, and I thought, what the hell, I'll check it out. It was very strange, to say the least, but very compelling, too.
What you might do is just take all the loose change out of your wallet/purse once a week and put it in the bank. Do that for a whole year, and you'll be surprised how much "extra" money you'll end up with. I did it last year, and had almost $300.00!
I have a long commute (2.5 - 3 hours in total each day), and since I take a commuter bus instead of driving, I use the travel time to read. If not for that, my list of books would be much shorter.