Wednesday, December 31, 2008

LIST: Books Read in 2008

Here's the numbers and the lists. (Last year's totals are in parenthesis, I'm remarkably consistent!)



Titles in green were my favorite reads.

total books: 132 -I'm not including some very short books, including some graphic novels, or the book I didn't finish, but sometimes they get included in other stats (131 )
average per month: 10.9 (10.9)



Fiction: 115 (117)
Nonfiction: 20 (14)
books for Around the World in 80 books: 17 (24)
books for Booking the 50 States: 7 (11)
Pulitzers: 2 this year + 8 previous = 10
Bookers: 6 this year + 5 previous = 11
Canadian: 18
new to me authors: 100 (76)
short story collections: 3 (7)
mystery: 16 (17)
young adult/children: 21(22)

Challenges Completed: I completed 38 challenges and didn't get 2 finished at all. Here's my list of them:
Year of Reading Dangerously - on haitus
It's the End of the World - DNF
decades challenge - done
Winter Holiday Reading Challenge - done
Japanese Literature Challenge - done
What an Animal! - done
A - Zed Author and Titles Challenge - done
888 Challenge - done
A Well-Rounded Challenge - done
2nds Challenge - done
RIP III - done
Books to Movies - done
Science Book Challenge - done
Nonfiction Five 2008 - done
mini-challenges 2008 done
African Reading Challenge - done
Cardathon Challenge - done
Orbis Terrarum Challenge - done
Graphics Novel Challenge - done
notable books 2007 - done
July Book Blowout - done
in their shoes - done
342745 Ways to Herd Cats - done
chunkster challenge 2 - done
Southern Reading Challenge 2008 - done
Heard It Through the Grapevine - done
In the Pub - done
Once Upon a Time II -done
novellas challenge - done
Canadian Book Challenge - done
Series Challenge - done
Man Booker Challenge - done
Book Award Challenge - done
What's in a Name? - done
Austen Mini-Challenge - done
YAC books - done
Themed Reading Challenge - done
Hometown Challenge -done
The Eponymous Challenge - done

The Book List:
132. Lisey's Story - Stephen King
131. Ukridge - PG Wodehouse
130. Voices - Arnaldur Indridason
The Christmas Shoes - Donna Van Liere
129. After Dark - Haruki Murakami
128. The Camel Bookmobile - Masha Hamilton
Weetzie Bat - Francesca Lia Block
127. Heart and Soul - Maeve Binchy
126. The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories - ed by Alberto Manguel SS
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston DNF
125. Montmorency - Eleanor Updale
124. Gentlemen of the Road - Michael Chabon
123. The Secret Scripture - Sebastian Barry
122. The Xibalba Murders - Lyn Hamilton
121. Too Close to Home - Linwood Barclay
The Scream - Rohinton Mistry
120. Drive Like Hell - Dallas Hudgens
119. All She Was Worth - Miyuki Miyabe
The Borden Tragedy - Rick Geary (graphic novel) NF
118. Life As We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer
117. The Night Country - Stewart O'Nan
116. People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks
115. High Spirits - Robertson Davies SS
114. Shiloh - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
113. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
112. When Will There Be Good News? - Kate Atkinson
111. Miss Julia Hits the Road - Ann B Ross
110. Who Killed Palomino Molero? - Mario Vargas Llosa
109. A Complicated Kindness - Miriam Toews
108. Child 44 - Tom Rob Smith
107. A Pale View of Hills - Kazou Ishiguro
106. The Trouble with Physics - Lee Smolin NF
105. Creepers - Joanne Dahme
104. Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
103. The View from Saturday - EL Konisburg
102. Last Orders - Graham Swift
101. Exit Lines - Joan Barfoot
100. The Plague - Albert Camus
99. Rain Song - Alice J. Wisler
98. Flying Too High - Kerry Greenwood
97. The Stone Angel - Margaret Laurence
96. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict - Laurie Viera Rigler
95. The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga
94. The Stone Diaries - Carol Shields
93. Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
92. Out Stealing Horses - Per Petterson
91. Mama Makes Up Her Mind - Bailey White NF
90. Before Green Gables - Budge Wilson
Pedro and Me - Judd Winick NF
89. The Birth House - Ami MacKay
88. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
87. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher - Kate Summerscale NF
86. Pretties - Scott Westerfeld
85. A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz
84. Maus I and II - Art Spiegelman NF
83. The Planets - Dava Sobel NF
82. Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs NF
81. The Princess Diaries - Meg Cabot
80. Crow Lake - Mary Lawson
79. The Night Watch - Sarah Waters
78. The Snack Thief - Andrea Camilleri
77. Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
76. Miss Julia Throws a Wedding - Ann B Ross
75. Hotel du Lac - Anita Brookner
74. Heart-Shaped Box - Joe Hill
American Born Chinese - Gene Luen Yang
73. Mudbound - Hillary Jordan
72. A Case of Exploding Mangoes - Mohammed Hanif
71. A Long Way Gone - Ishmael Beah NF
The Complete Fairy Tales - Oscar Wilde
70. The Awakening - Kate Chopin
69. The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway
68. Shadow Family - Miyuki Miyabe
67. The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
66. How to be a Canadian - Will and Ian Ferguson NF
65. The Kalahari Typing School for Men - Alexander McCall Smith
64. The Interloper - Antoine Wilson
63. In the Country of Men - Hisham Matar
62. A Lesson Before Dying - Ernest J Gaines
61. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson NF
60. The Call of the Wild - Jack London
59. 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa - Stephanie Nolen NF
58. The Jane Austen Book Club - Karen Joy Fowler
57. The Goose Girl - Shannon Hale
56. Gods Behaving Badly - Marie Phillips
55. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
54. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
53. The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier
52. The Outcast - Sadie Jones
51. The Gathering - Anne Enright
50. Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones
49. The Chatham School Affair - Thomas H Cook
48. This Blinding Absence of Light - Tahar Ben Jelloun
47. Stardust - Neil Gaiman
46. The Ravine - Paul Quarrington
45. Latitudes of Melt - Joan Clark
44. Beauty - Robin McKinley
43. Miss Julia Takes Over - Ann B Ross
42. Maniac Magee - Jerry Spinelli
41. Yellowknife - Steve Zipp
40. Zel - Donna Jo Napoli
39. The Bleeding Dusk - Colleen Gleason
38. Vegan Virgin Valentine - Carolyn Mackler
37. Lost in a Good Book - Jasper Fforde
36. Princess Academy - Shannon Hale
35. Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
34. Shopaholic and Baby - Sophie Kinsella
33. The Terra-Cotta Dog - Andrea Camilleri
32. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - Rachel Cohn
31. Life and Times of Michael K - JM Coetzee
30. The End of East - Jen Sookfong Lee
29. Angry Housewives Eating Bonbons - Lorna Landvik
28. Black Swan Green - David Mitchell
27. The Quirks and Quarks Guide to Space - Jim Lebans NF
26. Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella
25. Silence of the Grave - Arnaldur Indridason
24. All in Together Girls - Kate Sutherland SS
23. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things - Carolyn Mackler
22. Atonement - Ian McEwan
21. So Long, Jackie Robinson - Nancy Russell
20. Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi NF
19. Never Have Your Dog Stuffed - Alan Alda NF
18. Lorelei - Lori Derby Bingley
17. Shakespeare's Counselor - Charlaine Harris
16. Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O'Dell
15. Booked to Die - John Dunning
14. Persepolis 1,and 2 - Marjane Satrapi NF
13. Ex Libris - Anne Fadiman NF
12. House of Meetings - Martin Amis
11. The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde
10. Eleanor Rigby - Douglas Coupland
9. The Case of the Missing Books - Ian Sansom
8. Shakespeare's Trollop - Charlaine Harris
7. The Remains of the Day - Kazou Ishiguro
6. 84, Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff NF
5. The Book Thief - Marcus Zusak
4. Housekeeping vs The Dirt - Nick Hornby NF
3. Brainiac - Ken Jennings NF
2. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler - E.L. Konisburg
1. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz - Mordecai Richler

15 comments:

  1. Congratulations and Happy New Year!
    Lezlie

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  2. Geez Louise! That's a lotta books!!! (and as I blogged, I like those letters - this one is glesswe!)

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  3. You read an amazing amount of books, Elizabeth! And look at all those challenges you completed! Congratulations! I was lucky to complete the four I did. I plan to do better this next year. Hopefully.

    Have a Happy New Year!

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  4. Hey, I read 131 this year, too! Although, I did count graphic novels and juvenile fiction in my list, so you actually read more than me. I set me challenge for 2009 at 135 - we'll see...

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  5. lezlie -you too!

    nan - thanks Nan.

    wendy - I didn't get into the ARE or ARCs at all this year, so my reading stayed pretty much like last years, and I still had fun with the challenges.
    Happy New Year!

    Carrie - that's neat! I didn't add many others, just a few short stories and a few graphic novels weren't counted.

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  6. You had quite the successful reading year! Hopefully 2009 will be moreso! Happy New Year!

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  7. Wow, congrats on all your challenges! And what a great list - some of your favorites are on my 2009 list. :-)

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  8. The Saturday Review at Semicolon this Saturday is dedicated to book lists. You’re invited to share a link to yours on Saturday.

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  9. Wow, 38 challenges and 131 books?! I am agog. I think maybe I completed 20 books this past year. Sigh. Well, back on track in 2009. Good job!

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  10. kailana - I hope you are all shovelled out. Happy New Year to you too.

    joanna - I hope you enjoy them as well, it will be interesting to see if you like them too.

    sherry - I'll try to remember to come and link on Saturday

    lexi - I used to read 45 books a year, then I got focussed on reading. I also used to run/jog when I read less, so you can imagine the trade off I have made for reading more.

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  11. Wow! That is a great year of reading and it looks like you read some really great books! I'm impressed. Hope you have a great and happy year of reading in 2009.

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  12. Wow I think that's the most challenges I've seen completed yet! Great job!

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  13. You are my hero! I can't believe how many books and challenges you completed in one year! Way to go! I hope you have a great reading year in 2009 as well!

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  14. What a great list! I loved many of the same books as you. Happy New Year!

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  15. Wow. I bow to you. Queen of Reading!!! and completing Challenges!! And you teach and raise kids! Happy New Year, and wow, I look forward to seeing your list and reviews this year!

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Thanks for commenting, so nice of you to visit.

(I'll try without the letters for a while - so please dont be a spammer! Let's try no anonymous users)