Books Read & Listened To, 2008
Last year's: http://lola-leviathan.livejournal.com/370013.html
I decided this year to combine printed books and audiobooks because I aim to record not the accomplishment of the physical/optical task of reading, but the words and ideas I ingest. Ergo: (asterisks=favorites)
JANUARY
1.Umberto Eco, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
2.Richard Ellis, The Search for the Giant Squid
FEBRUARY
3.Philip K. Dick, The Man in the High Castle*
4.Philip K. Dick, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
5.Shelley Jackson, Half-Life (reread)
MARCH
6.Christopher Priest, The Prestige (audio)
7.George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia*
8.George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London*
9.Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go (reread)*
10.V.S. Ramachandran, A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness
APRIL
11.L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
12.Sarah Vowell, Assassination Vacation (audio)*
13.Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods (audio)
14.Natalie Angier, The Canon (audio)
15.Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red
16.Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem
MAY
17.Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon (reread)*
18.Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls*
19.Erik Larson, Thunderstruck (audio)
20.David Rakoff, Don't Get Too Comfortable (Audio)
21.David Hajdu, The Ten-Cent Plague
JUNE
22.Laton McCartney, The Teapot Dome Scandal (Audio)
23.David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas*
24.Henning Mankell, Faceless Killers (audio)
25.Joyce Carol Oates, them
26.Bart Ehrman, God's Problem*
JULY
27.Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Shadow of the Wind
28.Shalom Auslander, Foreskin's Lament (audio)
29.Louise Rennison, Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging
30.Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk*
31.Etgar Keret, The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God
32.Louise Rennison, On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God
33.Joyce Carol Oates, Expensive People
34.Asa Larsson, The Blood Spilt (audio)
35.David Czuchlewski, The Muse Asylum (reread)
AUGUST
36.Ken Jennings, Brainiac
37.J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
38.J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
SEPTEMBER
39.J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*
40.Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*
41.Henning Mankell, The Dogs of Riga (audio)
42.J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
43.Judy R. Smith, Yellowbird
OCTOBER
44.Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves (reread)*
45.Hillary Rodham Clinton, Living History (audio)
46.J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince*
47.Mary Roach, Stiff (audio)
48.J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*
49.Henning Mankell, The White Lioness (audio)
NOVEMBER
50.Tana French, In the Woods (audio)
51.David Mitchell, Black Swan Green
52.D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover (audio)
53.Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
54.Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower (audio)*
55.Ian McEwan, Atonement (audio)*
56.Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
DECEMBER
57.Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle
58.Toni Morrison, A Mercy
(well, I also loved these two, but I just finished them yesterday, so of course I love them)
I decided this year to combine printed books and audiobooks because I aim to record not the accomplishment of the physical/optical task of reading, but the words and ideas I ingest. Ergo: (asterisks=favorites)
JANUARY
1.Umberto Eco, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
2.Richard Ellis, The Search for the Giant Squid
FEBRUARY
3.Philip K. Dick, The Man in the High Castle*
4.Philip K. Dick, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
5.Shelley Jackson, Half-Life (reread)
MARCH
6.Christopher Priest, The Prestige (audio)
7.George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia*
8.George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London*
9.Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go (reread)*
10.V.S. Ramachandran, A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness
APRIL
11.L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
12.Sarah Vowell, Assassination Vacation (audio)*
13.Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods (audio)
14.Natalie Angier, The Canon (audio)
15.Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red
16.Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem
MAY
17.Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon (reread)*
18.Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls*
19.Erik Larson, Thunderstruck (audio)
20.David Rakoff, Don't Get Too Comfortable (Audio)
21.David Hajdu, The Ten-Cent Plague
JUNE
22.Laton McCartney, The Teapot Dome Scandal (Audio)
23.David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas*
24.Henning Mankell, Faceless Killers (audio)
25.Joyce Carol Oates, them
26.Bart Ehrman, God's Problem*
JULY
27.Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Shadow of the Wind
28.Shalom Auslander, Foreskin's Lament (audio)
29.Louise Rennison, Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging
30.Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk*
31.Etgar Keret, The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God
32.Louise Rennison, On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God
33.Joyce Carol Oates, Expensive People
34.Asa Larsson, The Blood Spilt (audio)
35.David Czuchlewski, The Muse Asylum (reread)
AUGUST
36.Ken Jennings, Brainiac
37.J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
38.J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
SEPTEMBER
39.J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*
40.Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*
41.Henning Mankell, The Dogs of Riga (audio)
42.J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
43.Judy R. Smith, Yellowbird
OCTOBER
44.Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves (reread)*
45.Hillary Rodham Clinton, Living History (audio)
46.J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince*
47.Mary Roach, Stiff (audio)
48.J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*
49.Henning Mankell, The White Lioness (audio)
NOVEMBER
50.Tana French, In the Woods (audio)
51.David Mitchell, Black Swan Green
52.D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover (audio)
53.Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
54.Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower (audio)*
55.Ian McEwan, Atonement (audio)*
56.Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
DECEMBER
57.Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle
58.Toni Morrison, A Mercy
(well, I also loved these two, but I just finished them yesterday, so of course I love them)