books of 2009
January
Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim by David Sedaris [always funny, but not as good as Me Talk Pretty One Day]
Educating Esme by Esme Raji Cordell [really loved it; can't wait to teach]
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray [why yes, I do cry every time a read this]
Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris [a few funny portions, both surprisingly an overall eh]
February
Fugitives and Refugees by Chuck Palahniuk [a few interesting things about my home town]
Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus [funny. very funny.]
Only Yesterday
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
Self-Reliance by Emerson
March
Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw [love it]
Slapstick by Kurt Vonngut [so, yeah. weird.]
The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera [not really that impressed]
Last Session by Jim Brochu [meh]
April
The Fifities [super interesting]
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan [not as good as Atonement]
Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield [very wonderful]
May
All Shook Up: How Rock & Roll Changed America by Auschuler
Paul: His life and teaching by John McRay
Better Off by Eric Brende [awesome. seriously awesome]
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke [rather lovely, though definitely a kid's book]
1000 Tattoos by Taschen [interesting history]
High Voltage Tattoo by Kat von D [best part was her tattoos]
Last Light by Terri Blackstock [reread]
June
May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson [cute kids book]
[others that I can't remember--I forgot to post about 'em]
July
The Shack [made me do some thinking]
Junie B., First Grader: Boo...and I mean it! by Barbara Park [cute as always]
Junie B., First Grader: Shipwrecked by Barbara Park
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee [a new favorite]
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
Everything Nice by Ellen Shanman [chick lit, but I dug the rebel protagonist]
August
How to Buy a Love of Reading [another new fave]
When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris [another quite amusing one]
Bachelor Girls: 100 Years of Breaking the Rules... by Betsey Israel [very interesting; esp. first several chapters]
After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance [good, albeit somewhat shallow]
The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey [love love love love love love love]
September
Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake [some really beautiful stuff]
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch [liked both this and the actual lecture]
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke [enjoyed, but, y'know, predictable]
October
Follow Me to Freedom by Shane Claiborne and John M. Perkins [fantastic. truly.]
Going Bovine by Libba Bray [clearly it's been awhile since I've read YA lit that doesn't function on a late-nineteenth century social more because woah lots of sex]
Emergency Neil Strauss [helpful for writing some of my novels]
Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut [who tears pages out of library books?]
Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper by SARK
Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli [buying 2 copies; one for me, one for sisterchick]
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
Gossamer by Lois Lowry [not my fave of hers, but great ideas]
November
The Silent Boy by Lois Lowry [all right]
Dress Your Family in Courderoy and Denim [listened this time; Sedaris' voice not what I expected]
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers [I don't remember Julie Andrews being quite so vain]
Rules for My Unborn Son by Walker Lamond [this is good stuff]
Postsecret: Confessions on life, death, and God
December
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt [an over all enjoy]
War Is... edited by Marc Aronson and Patty Campbell [wasn't that impressed overall]
Pedro and Me by Judd Winick [fantastic]
A Positive Life by Multiple Authors [worth the five bucks at Powell's]
The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall [would never have finished it had I not seen the movie]
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott [I think she wrote my heart]
The Novelist Notebook by Laurie Henry [some beneficial things, others not so much]
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers [a reread; still as beautiful as I remember]
The Martian Child by David Gerrold [enjoyed]
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan [a good read aloud some day]
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Girl, Interrupted [Reminds me a lot of Remuda time]
The Reader [good, but also a bit disconcerting]