Friday, February 25, 2011

Narcissistic Reading Reflections of 2010

Before I abandoned my blog like a red-headed stepchild, I used to keep record of the books I read. Well, lest you think I stopped reading as of July 2010, I in all gravitas must inform you - I just stopped recording them. Already I regret this decision, because as I reviewed the list of books I kept from 2009, I found it interesting. For one thing, I was surprised at some of the titles I had zero memory of reading. Were they good books? Bad ones? No, probably just boring ones - but not too boring, just meh. So I'm glad I kept a list, so I can go and boggle at my own reading history. I also enjoyed seeing some actual classics and "good" books - I think when I know I'm writing what I read down, I make better reading decisions. Yes, I'm like Narcissus, fascinated with observing my own reflection - but instead of my physical reflection, it's my literary one. For someone so Narcissistic, I really ought to work on some more literary output to stare at - the old blog posts are getting, so to speak, old.

Without further ado, here is my tragically shortened 2010 list, so I can clear away the old cobwebs, and begin anew to record the life changing, momentous, and definitely more intellectual and thought-provoking books that I'm reading, and you are not. Books like young adult fantasy's Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero. (Which, if you must know, I thoroughly enjoyed.)

  • The Five Love Languages, Gary D. Chapman
  • JULY
  • The National Geographic Field Guide to Photography, Peter K. Burian, Robert Caputo
  • The Zone System of Photography
  • Fire Study, Maria Snyder
  • Magic Study, Maria Snyder
  • Poison Study, Maria Snyder
  • The Mislaid Magician or Ten Years After, Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
  • The Grand Tour, Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
  • The Arabian Nights, translated by Sir Richard Burton
  • Sorcery and Cecilia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
  • Handle With Care, Jody Picoult
  • Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech
  • September, Rosamunde Pilcher
  • Space Cadet, Robert Heinlein
  • The Door into Summer, Robert Heinlein
  • The Positronic Man, Isaac Asimov and Peter Silverberg
  • JUNE
  • The Ordinary Princess, M.M. Kaye
  • Howard's End, E. M. Forster
  • The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
  • The Red Pyramid, Rick Riordan
  • MAY
  • Lord Valentine's Castle, Robert Silverberg
  • The Host, Stephenie Meyer
  • The Lace Reader, Brunonia Barry
  • Princess Academy, Shannon Hale
  • APRIL
  • Potter Barn: Home
  • Essays, Francis Bacon
  • The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
  • MARCH
  • The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
  • The Great Trek, Deseret Book
  • FEBRUARY
  • Fairie-ality: The Fashion Collection from the House of Ellwand
  • Cake Wrecks, Jen Yates
  • That's What She Said, edited by Rayna Green
  • JANUARY
  • The Last Olympian, Rick Riordan
  • The Battle of the Labrynth, Rick Riordan
  • The Titan's Curse, Rick Riordan
  • The Sea of Monsters, Rick Riordan
  • The Geurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
  • The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli
  • The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan
I don't remember most of what I read for the rest of the year, but I'll throw out some titles I do remember.

The Wheel of Time, volumes 1-4, by Robert Jordan; The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn, The Shadow Rising
Towers of Midnight, The Wheel of Time, volume 13, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

New Spring, Robert Jordan
Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson
Magic Street, Orson Scott Card

With Lydia in the evenings (starting in the fall):
The Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

5 comments:

  1. I am listening to Roots as a book on tape. I see now why it had such an impact. It is extremely well written and, I believe, an important book to read. Few books fall into that category. I remember one other book I categorized that way: The Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn. That book may be significant or important but it wasn't enjoyable in the same way Roots is. It was oppressive.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cara Thora il tuo blog è molto molto bello, sono un nuovo lettore fisso. Ho molti hobby il primo è di scrittore, quindi il tuo blog mi piace molto, fare l'elenco dei libri già letti o da leggere è sempre utile. Con amicizia Giovanni.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is Cake Wrecks based on that blog? I have laughed so hard I cried several times over that blog.

    I loved Poisonwood Bible and the 5 Love Languages. You are such a prolific reader. Way to go!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It crosses my mind that of all my acquaintances you might actually enjoy reading the longest book in the English language (Clarissa by Samuel Richardson which really should never be compared to Pamela because C is superior in every way). I find our reading tastes to be very similar. Not surprisingly, I like the majority of your list and am intrigued by the rest.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You should get on Goodreads or something. If you do, let me know so I can friend you. (Goodreads is a quick and easy place to make note of what you read and if you like rate and review it, plus you can follow others and occasionally win free ARCs of new books.)

    ReplyDelete