I had a quest to read 50 books in 2008- I made it to 39. Not a failure, says I, because in the process I discovered the intensity of Jose Saramago, whose Blindness ranked among my favorites of the year, Steve Martin, whose acting efforts have always left me lukewarm, but whose Shopgirl was an unexpected pleasure, and Sarah Vowell, whose Assassination Vacation made me interested in US history for maybe the first time ever. (Books I'd recommend are marked with asterisks below.)
#1- My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
#2- Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham
#3- Beasts by Joyce Carol Oates
#4- The Snapper by Roddy Doyle*
#5- Shopgirl by Steve Martin*
#6- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers*
#7- The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor
#8- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
#9- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
#10- Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
#11- Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
#12- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
#13- The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
#14 - The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
#15 - The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
#16 - The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
#17 - The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
#18 - Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
#19- I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles*
#20- Little Birds by Anais Nin
#21- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
#22 - New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
#23 - Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
#24 - Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
#25 - The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
#26 - When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
#27 - Blindness by Jose Saramago*
#28 - Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
#29 - Persuasion by Jane Austen*
#30 - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
#31 - The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
#32 - The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
#33 - Northanger Abbey by Jane Austin
#34 - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
#35 - Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell*
#36 - The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
#37 - Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
#38 - Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
#39 - The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
#1- My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
#2- Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham
#3- Beasts by Joyce Carol Oates
#4- The Snapper by Roddy Doyle*
#5- Shopgirl by Steve Martin*
#6- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers*
#7- The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor
#8- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
#9- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
#10- Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
#11- Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
#12- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
#13- The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
#14 - The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
#15 - The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
#16 - The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
#17 - The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
#18 - Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
#19- I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles*
#20- Little Birds by Anais Nin
#21- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
#22 - New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
#23 - Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
#24 - Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
#25 - The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
#26 - When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
#27 - Blindness by Jose Saramago*
#28 - Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
#29 - Persuasion by Jane Austen*
#30 - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
#31 - The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
#32 - The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
#33 - Northanger Abbey by Jane Austin
#34 - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
#35 - Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell*
#36 - The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
#37 - Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
#38 - Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
#39 - The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
Luckily, the coldest winter in recent history has me well on my way to 50 in 2009.
“The mind can weave itself warmly in the cocoon of its own thoughts, and dwell a hermit anywhere.”
-James Russell Lowell
