Challenge: 50 Books discussion

I finished my first for the year!

1. Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan

Here's to everyone's goals, reading or otherwise, in 2009!

2. The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński

I'm not quite on my goal of a book per week, but I'm reading two short ones right now that I'll hopefully finish this week to help my average.

3. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

4. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Walk in the Woods was a re-read for me. I usually read it in spring or summer to get excited for the hiking season. But I skipped it last year and decided to read it now since I'm getting ready for a big trek -- Kilimanjaro in two weeks!

5. Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith

5. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

6. The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich

7. Inventing Public Diplomacy by Wilson P Jr Dizard

I'll be spending a lot of time studying and reading for work this year. If I don't count my "work" books, my count won't get very high.

8. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

9. The Ugly American by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick

10. Congo by Michael Crichton

I really enjoyed Congo...I read it about 14 years ago...congrats on your first ten!

Mary Todd wrote: "I really enjoyed Congo...I read it about 14 years ago...congrats on your first ten!"

Thanks! I'm a slow reader, but I'm plodding through. Congo was a quick read. I didn't love it but it was enjoyable.

same with me...I didn't love it but it was fun

11. The World According to Garp by John Irving

12. The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowel

13. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

14. Shakespeare: World as Stage by Bill Bryson

15. The Day the Bubble Burst by Gordon Thomas

16. The Middle East for Dummies by Craig S. Davis

17. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Middle East for Dummies was not worth the paper it's printed on. There are typos and the maps are inaccurate. And I know I'm not a scholar on the topic, but I'm not exactly an idiot in general... I found the writing style to be condescending.

I loved The Scarlet Letter! I don't know how I made it through a BA in Literature without ever having to read it.

18. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

This was a reread for me. My book club is reading it for July in honor of the new movie coming out. You can read my thoughts on this and many others at my new book blog: Confessions of a Book Addict. (Thanks for allowing this small, shameless promotion!)

19. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

And I wrote about it here.

Yikes! It's been so long since I updated. I hope I remember everything I've read since then...

20. The Coffee Trader by David Liss

21. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

22. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

23. Essentials of World History by Smith Smith

24. Realities of Foreign Service Life by Patricia Linderman

25. Realities of Foreign Service Life volume 2 by Patricia Linderman

It feels like I've read more than that. I'll have to scour my real-life bookshelves before adding to my virtual ones.

I knew there were more! Plus I mis-numbered some. In a review of my read2009 bookshelf, I've found a couple more and I'm fixing the numbers, as of now.

27. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex

28. The Time Traveler's Wife

29. Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work

30. The Elements of Style

31. The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States

32. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the U.S. Constitution

Phew. I'm glad I made it at least past the halfway mark.

33. Emergency Sex And Other Desperate Measures

34. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

35. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

This was a reread of one of my most favorite books of all time. I just needed something familiar over the weekend.

36. India Culture Smart by Nicki Grihault

We're moving to India next year! So, a whole new subject I have to start reading about!

37. At Play in the Fields of the Lord by Peter Matthiesson

38. The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost

I really liked this; thought it was very funny.

39. Night by Elie Wiesel

40. Reading the OED by Ammon Shea

It doesn't look like I'll quite make it to 50 this year, but I've read more than last year. I had some long and some intense books on my list.