The Year in Reading

I finished 2009 with 119 total books read, one less than I read in 2008. A lot of people seem impressed with reading over 100 books a year, but they shouldn't be. I know a lot of people who read many more than I do, some over 200. And consider that many of these books (over one third) were audiobooks.

A few breakdowns:

Fiction = 89
Non-Fiction = 39

Male authors = 86
Female authors = 36

Translated works = 5

And the breakdown by Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction, YA and J-Fiction: (It makes a nice little peace sign if you turn it upside down.)



Enough with the stats and graphs! Here's everything that I read in 2009:

JANUARY

Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America (NF 2008) - Thomas L. Friedman * * * *
Last Evenings on Earth: Stories (2006 translation) - Roberto Bolano * * * * 1/2
Mansfield Park (1814) - Jane Austen * * * * *
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death (2009) - Charlie Huston * * * *
The Hour I First Believed (2008) - Wally Lamb * * * 1/2
Ernest Hemingway on Writing (NF 1984) - Larry W. Phillips, ed. * * * *
The Truth About Celia (2003) - Kevin Brockmeier * * * * *
Indemnity Only (1982) - Sara Paretsky * * *
Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1964) - Philip K. Dick * * * *
What I Saw and How I Lied (YA 2008) - Judy Blundell * * * * *
The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (YA 2007) - Sherman Alexie * * * * *

FEBRUARY

Killshot (1989) - Elmore Leonard * * * *
Looking for Alaska (YA 2005) - John Green * * * * 1/2
The Hunger Games (YA 2008) - Suzanne Collins * * * * 1/2
Logged On and Tuned Out: A Nontechie’s Guide to Parenting a Tech-Savvy Generation (NF 2007) - Vicki Courtney * * * 1/2
Deadville (YA 2008) - Ron Koertge * * * * *
The Final Solution (2004) - Michael Chabon * * * 1/2
The 39 Clues, Book 1: The Maze of Bones (J-Fic 2008) - Rick Riordan * * 1/2
Bog Child (YA 2008) - Siobhan Dowd * * * * *
Little Brother (YA 2008) - Cory Doctorow * * *

MARCH

Me, the Missing, and the Dead (YA 2008) - Jenny Valentine * * * * 1/2
The Adoration of Jenna Fox (YA 2008) - Mary E. Pearson * * * 1/2
The Little Sleep (2009) - Paul Tremblay * * * *
Newes from the Dead (YA 2008) - Mary Hooper * * * 1/2
The Castle (1922) - Franz Kafka * * * *
Outliers: The Story of Success (NF 2008) - Malcolm Gladwell * * * * 1/2
Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life (NF 2008) - Colin Duriez * * * 1/2
Snow Falling in Spring: Coming of Age in China During the Cultural Revolution (YA NF 2008) - Moying Li * * *
Faceless Killers (1991/2003) - Henning Mankell * * * 1/2
The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment (NF 2007) - Tim Challies * * * * *
No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row (YA NF 2008) - Susan Kuklin * * * 1/2

APRIL

Ubik (1969) - Philip K. Dick * * * *
Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex is Affecting Our Children (NF 2008) - Joe S. McIlhaney, Jr., MD and Freda McKissic Bush, MD * * * * 1/2
Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters (2008) - John Langan * * * *
The Manual of Detection (2009) - Jedediah Berry * * *
Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else (NF 2008) - Colvin Geoff * * * *
Castle (2009) - J. Robert Lennon * * * * *
Feathers (J-Fic 2007) - Jacqueline Woodson * * *
Knots and Crosses (1987) - Ian Rankin * * * * 1/2
My Teacher is an Alien (J-Fic 1989) - Bruce Coville * * * 1/2
An Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland (NF 2003) - Michael Dirda * * * *

MAY

The Grifters (1963) - Jim Thompson * * * * *
The Neddiad (J-Fic 2007) - Daniel Pinkwater * * * *
Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose (NF 1969) - Flannery O’Connor * * * * *
The House with a Clock in Its Walls (J-Fic 1973) - John Bellairs * * * 1/2 (2nd x)
Private Midnight (2009) - Kris Saknussemm * * * * 1/2
Making Movies (NF 1995) - Sidney Lumet * * * * *
Hide and Seek (1990) - Ian Rankin * * * *

JUNE

Pretty Monsters (YA 2008) - Kelly Link * * * * *
Why We’re Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be) - (NF 2008) - Kevin DeYoung and
Ted Kluck * * * * *
No Right to Remain Silent: The Tragedy at Virginia Tech (NF 2009) - Lucinda Roy * * * *
Hostage (2001) - Robert Crais * * * 1/2
Wait Till Helen Comes (J-Fic 1986) - Mary Dowling Hahn * * 1/2
The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (NF 2008) - Tim Keller * * * * *
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (J-Fic 1968) - E.L. Konigsburg * * * *
The Impossible Bird (2002) - Patrick O’Leary * * * 1/2
Ignore Everybody and 39 Others Keys to Creativity (NF 2009) - Hugh MacLeod * * * *
Tooth and Nail (1992) - Ian Rankin * * *

JULY

Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town (NF 2009) - Warren St. John * * * * 1/2
Dead Until Dark (2001) - Charlaine Harris * * * 1/2
The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book 1 (J-Fic 2006) - Rick Riordan * * * 1/2
Intent to Kill (2009) - James Grippando * * 1/2

AUGUST

The Scarecrow (2009) - Michael Connelly * * * *
Strange Telescopes: Following the Apocalypse from Moscow to Siberia (NF 2009) - Daniel Kalder * * * * 1/2
Simplexity: Why Simple Things Become Complex (and How Complex Things Can Be Made Simple) (NF 2008) - Jeffrey Kluger * * *
The Girl Who Played with Fire (2006/2009) - Stieg Larsson * * * * *
The Thin Book of Naming Elephants: How to surface Undiscussables for Greater Organizational Success (NF 2004) - Sue Annis Hammond & Andrea B. Mayfield * * * *
Same Kind of Different As Me (NF 2006) - Ron Hall & Denver Moore w/Lynn Vincent * * * *
Illyria (2007) - Elizabeth Hand * * * * 1/2
White Sands, Red Menace (J-Fic 2008) - Ellen Klages * * * *
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations...One School at a Time (NF 2006) - Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin * *
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates * * * *

SEPTEMBER

The Long Goodbye (1953) - Raymond Chandler * * * * *
Life As We Knew It (YA 2008) - Susan Beth Pfeffer (Books For The Beast) * * *
The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership (NF 2009) - Bill Walsh with Steve Jamison and Craig Walsh * * * * 1/2
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (NF 2005) - Malcolm Gladwell * * * * 1/2 (2x)
World of Faith and Freedom: Why International Religious Liberty is Vital to American National Security (NF 2008) - Thomas F. Farr * * * * 1/2
The Siege (2009) - Stephen White * * * *
Ravens (2009) - George Dawes Green * * * * *
Unwind (YA 2007) - Neal Shusterman (BFTB) * * * * 1/2
Farewell, My Lovely (1940) - Raymond Chandler * * * * 1/2
Slammer (2009) - Allan Guthrie * * * *
Wake (YA 2008) - Lisa McCann (BFTB) * * *
The Sacredness of Questioning Everything (NF 2009) - David Dark * * * * *

OCTOBER

Confessions - St. Augustine (trans. Henry Chadwick) * * * * *
Wise Blood (1952) - Flannery O’Connor * * * *
Marked (YA 2007) - P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast (BFTB) * *
Graceling (YA 2008) - Kristin Cashore (BFTB) * * * *
The Concrete Blonde (1994) - Michael Connelly * * * *
The Restless Dead: Ten Original Stories of the Supernatural (YA 2007) - Deborah Noyes, ed. (BFTB) * * *
Isis (2006) - Douglas Clegg * * * * 1/2
Columbine (NF 2009) - Dave Cullen * * * * *
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God (NF 2008) - Francis Chan with Danae Yankoski * * * * *
Her Fearful Symmetry (2009) - Audrey Niffenegger * * * *

NOVEMBER

The Space Between: A Parent’s Guide to Teenage Development (NF 2009) - Walt Mueller * * * *
Audrey’s Door (2009) - Sarah Langan * * *
As I Lay Dying (1930) - William Faulkner * * * * *
Await Your Reply (2009) - Dan Chaon * * * * *
This is For the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America’s Most Violent Gang (NF 2009) - Samuel Logan * * 1/2
Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That
Matters (NF 2009) - Timothy Keller * * * * *
Odd and the Frost Giants (J-Fic 2009) - Neil Gaiman * * * *
Stormbreaker (YA 2001) - Anthony Horowitz * * * *
Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye (J-Fic 2004) - Geronimo Stilton * * * 1/2
The Film Club (NF 2008) - David Gilmour * * * 1/2
Good People (2008) - Marcus Sakey * * * *
Pobby and Dingan (2000) - Ben Rice * * * * 1/2
Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity (NF 2006) - David Lynch
* * * 1/2

DECEMBER

The Real Festivus; The True Story Behind America’s Favorite Made-up Holiday (NF 2005) - Dan O’Keefe * * * 1/2
The Fine Line: Re-envisioning the Gap Between Christ and Culture (NF 2008) - Kary
Oberbrunner * * * * *
Rogue Male (1939) - Geoffrey Household * * * * 1/2
9 Dragons (2009) - Michael Connelly * * * * 1/2
Break (YA 2009) - Hannah Moskowitz * * * *
Peace Like a River (2001) - Leif Enger * * * * 1/2
Secret Lives (2008) - Jeff VanderMeer * * * * *
The Giant-Slayer (J-Fic 2009) - Iain Lawrence * * * *
Red Shift (1973) - Alan Garner * * * * 1/2
unChristian: What a New Generation Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters (NF 2007) -
David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons * * * * 1/2
Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall (2009) - Kazuo Ishiguro * * * 1/2
Leviathan (YA 2009) - Scott Westerfeld * * * * 1/2

Okay. Now go and read something.