A Good Year

I just finished my 50th book of the year, which is huge for me, especially considering it's just the end of October. Usually, I'm lucky to finish 50 by the end of the year. To celebrate, I'm going to list the books I've read this year thus far. I'll probably add to this post as I finish books, so I'll have a nice comprehensive list of books read in 2007, but as of first writing, it's just those original fifty. The links are mostly to my BookCrossing journal entries (I'm yourotherleft over there, for the record). While, for the most part, I wasn't doing much in the way of comprehensive reviews, the entries usually share my thoughts on the books in general. If the link is to Amazon, that's because I had a rather slackerish mid-year period where I wasn't saying anything much about the books that I was reading because I was all busy living my life in Boston (and because my internet connection in my apartment there was virtually worthless). It's sure been a great year for reading so far!

1. Sing Down the Moon - Scott O'Dell
2. The Fifth of March - Ann Rinaldi
*3. Truth & Beauty - Ann Patchett
*4. The Reluctant God - Pamela Service
5. The Best Place to Be - Lesley Dormen
*6. Black & White - Dani Shapiro
7. Angelica - Arthur Phillips
8. Disobedience - Naomi Alderman
9. A Place Called Ugly - Avi
10. The Dream Giver - Bruce Wilkinson
11. The Law of Dreams - Peter Behrens
*12. Away - Jane Urquhart
13. Dovey Coe - Frances O'Roark Dowell
*14. There Is No Me Without You - Melissa Fay Greene
15. The Circus in Winter - Cathy Day
16. The Man of My Dreams - Curtis Sittenfeld
17. Briar Rose - Jane Yolen
18. The Rich Part of Life - Jim Kokoris
19. One Mississippi - Mark Childress
20. Razzle - Ellen Wittlinger
21. Kira Kira - Cynthia Kadohta
*22. Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
23. Castaways of the Flying Dutchman - Brian Jacques
*24. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
25. The Descendants - Kaui Hart Hemmings
*26. Shout Down the Moon - Lisa Tucker
27. Sloppy Firsts - Megan McCafferty
28. Seventh Son - Orson Scott Card
29. Echo - Francesca Lia Block
30. How To Be Lost - Amanda Eyre Ward
*31. The Other Side of You - Sally Vickers
32. Gingerbread - Rachel Cohn
*33. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
34. Ana's Story - Jenna Bush
35. The Disciplines of a Godly Woman - Barbara Hughes
36. The Rest of Her Life - Laura Moriarty
37. Song of the Magdalene - Donna Jo Napoli
38. Bound - Donna Jo Napoli
39. The Phantom Tollboth - Norton Juster
40. Women of the Silk - Gail Tsukiyama
41. When Madeline Was Young - Jane Hamilton
42. Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz
*43. Small Island - Andrea Levy
44. A Three Dog Life - Abigail Thomas
45. No Great Mischief - Alistair Macleod
*46. Hard Love - Ellen Wittlinger
47. From Ashes to Life - Lucille Eichengreen
48. Even the Stars Look Lonesome - Maya Angelou
49. The Thief Lord - Cornelia Funke
*50. Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson
51. Sleep Toward Heaven - Amanda Eyre Ward
*52. A Northern Light - Jennifer Donnelly
53. The Spare Wife - Alex Witchel
54. The Wentworths - Katie Arnoldi
55. Willing - Scott Spencer
56. Boy Meets Girl - Meg Cabot
57. After You'd Gone - Maggie O'Farrell

Now a side note of reflection...

Having completed this project and thus reflected on my writings about the books I've read so far this year, I do proclaim that I will resist the urge to use the phrase "brings to life" or any form of the word "engage" in any and all future book reviews as my overuse of them thus far rather makes me ill. Every book's review or comment after about the 24th I approached with trepidation wondering whether I'd found the book "engaging" or whether "the author really brough the characters/situations/plots to life." I'm pretty sure I've dishonored at least two-thirds of these great books with my bizarrely redundant writing. Ugh! Should you catch me in the act of using these terms rigorously in my book reviews, kindly leave me a derisive comment or travel to north-eastern PA and give me a good kick in the head.

That being said, in the process of completing this project, I also noticed (with some glee) that of the 50 books I've read this year, I'd marked 13 as favorites on the list on my BookCrossing bookshelf. Hmmmm...wonder what you'll see in my blog tomorrow?

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