My Favorite Reads of 2011

Here you are! The list for 2011! (NOTE: it is still being written! 1/4/12.)

The criteria - that the title was new to me and read by me for the first time during 2011.(I have read only about 75 titles that were new-to-me this year . . . not counting board and picture books.) The books can be in audio format, ebook format, etc. The titles will be listed here in alphabetical order by title and include the year of publication in parentheses.

The List:

By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead

Cinderella: Ninja Warrior

The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth by Alexandra Robbins(2011)
This book is about the "Cafeteria Fringes" and the author's "Quirk Theory" that those who are kind of on the outside in high school ultimately do better in life than the "populars" who tend to conform and not form their own opinions. (Nonfiction)

Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern (YA Fiction)

The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly (Fiction)

Never Sit Down in a Hoopskirt and Other Things I Learned in Southern Belle Hell by Crickett Rumley (2011)
(YA Fiction)

Notes From an Accidental Band Geek by Erin Dionne (2011)

I just read this book. Wow! I stayed up to finish it one night recently. It is about a high school girl who needs to join a school music group in order to strengthen her application to a premier music program - she plays french horn and plans to get into the Boston Symphony Orchestra someday. However, she suddenly finds herself playing mellophone and learning drill for marching band . . . maybe she likes it more than she thinks she would? (YA Fiction)

One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde (2011)
This is the latest installment of the Thursday Next series (which began with The Eyre Affair back in 2002 or so.) This book is actually about the fictional Thursday of book world having to left her book to go find the real Thursday. . . well, if you've read the previous books, you'll get it. This one was highly enjoyable! (Adult Fiction)

Run Like a Girl: How Strong Women Make Happy Lives by Mina Samuels (2011)

The entire book celebrates how sports and activities can make women very happy. (Nonfiction)

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (2007)

I just read this book - starting late in the year - on December 24, 2011. I "won" this book in a white elephant game. Excellent book! It makes my list this year. In summary, an American journalist in Paris is covering the 60th anniversary of the Vel d'Hiv roundup . . . and discovers a personal connection through her husband's family. It is a very emotional story. (Fiction)

Saving Henry: A Mother's Journey by Laurie Strongen (2010) (Nonfiction/Memoir)

Unbearble Lightness by Portia de Rossi (Nonfiction/Memoir)


The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown (2011) (Adult Fiction)

Where She Went by Gayle Forman (2011)

This is the sequel to "If I Stay"

(YA fiction)

The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure (2011) (Nonfiction and vaguely memoir)

2007 Favorite Reads List

Same criteria as the 2006 list, of course. . . see yesterday's blog entry!

2007 Favorite Reads:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian: A Novel by Sherman Alexie (2007)

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb (2005)

First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde (2007)

The Gallery of Regrettable Food by James Lileks (2001)

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls (2005)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling (2007)

Marley and Me by John Grogan (2005)

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (2007)

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (2005)

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon (2007)

The Story of my Life by Farah Ahmedi (2005)

Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald (2006)

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs (2007)

2006 Favorite Reads List

(Remember, the criteria includes that I must have read the book for the first time during that year - rereads of favorites don't count! Also, they don't have to be new books. . . just new to me. Year of publication is included. The list is in alphabetical order by title.)

- Cell: A Novel by Stephen King (2006)
- A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore (2006)

- Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman (2003)

- Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas (2003)

- Garlic and Sapphire: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl (2005)
- The Gilded Chamber: A Novel of Queen Esther by Rebecca Kohn (2004)

- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner: Celebrating Interethnic, Interfaith, and Interracial Relationships by Brenda Lane Richardson (2000)
- The Joy of Doing Things Badly: A Girl's Guide to Love, Life and Foolish Bravery by Veronica Chambers (2006)

- Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (2006)

- Ludie's Life by Cynthia Rylant (2006)
- Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz (2003)

- Remember Me: A Lively Tour of the New American Way of Death by Lisa Takeuchi Cullen (2006)

- Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish by Tom Shachtman (2006)

- Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss and the Musical Rent by Anthony Rapp (2006)

That year, I read more than 100 titles, so to pare it down to this list was difficult. Tomorrow, I'll post the list from 2007.

2011

So . . . it is actually the middle of December, and I haven't really had the time to update this blog in months.

What I intend to do in the next week is post my 2011 Favorite Reads list. If I do so, it will be the tenth year that I will have compiled my annual Favorite Reads list . . . but the first year, in 2002, I just sent it to a few people because I was nervous about it.

I am not sure if I still have a copy of the 2002 list (although it might be on a floppy disk somewhere), but we'll see. I would like to at least list all of the titles so far that have made my lists to this point, here on this blog, and see if I would revise those lists today. Most of my lists contained 12 to 15 titles and the reasons why I liked each title.

Usually I have printed my list with my holiday letter to family and friends, but alas, I have been too busy lately! In addition, I am still reading some books that I could consider for the list. I just finished one last night that I could not put down!

So . . . stay tuned for my 2011 list!