Monday, December 31, 2007

2007 Reads

    2007 YEAR IN REVIEW!!

I can't believe this year is over with already! Of course, it does seem like a long long time ago that I was reading those first dozen novels on the list below. 2007 was my best year for reading, which in many ways is a little ironic to me since I'm not in school reading 3 books a week anymore.

I finished 58 books, participated in 8 reading challenges, knocked 39 books off the TBR pile (books I owned prior to Jan 1, 2007), and found the world of blogging and all the wonderful bookbloggers.

Here is my 2007 List (links will take you to my thoughts on the book--books in RED are some of my favorites for the year--which doesn't discredit the rest...):

  1. The Pilot's Wife - Anita Shreve

  2. Kissing in Manhattan - David Schickler
  3. Gilead - Marilynne Robinson

  4. Night - Elie Wiesel

  5. The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards

  6. Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man - Fannie Flagg

  7. Nature Girl - Carl Hiaasen

  8. Talk Before Sleep - Elizabeth Berg
  9. The Widow of the South - Robert Hicks

  10. Vinager Hill - A. Manette Ansay

  11. Sideways - Rex Pickett
  12. The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood

  13. Rich in Love - Josephine Humphreys

  14. Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding (re-read)

  15. Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult
  16. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

  17. A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway
  18. Fall On Your Knees - Anne-Marie MacDonald

  19. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - Anne Tyler

  20. Ireland - Frank Delaney

  21. The Awakening - Kate Chopin

  22. The Portrait of a Lady - Henry James

  23. The Tenth Circle - Jodi Picoult

  24. Thunderstruck - Erik Larson
  25. Nickel and Dimed - Barbara Ehrenreich

  26. No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy

  27. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

  28. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

  29. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides

  30. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling (re-read)

  31. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling

  32. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

  33. The City of Falling Angels - John Berendt

  34. Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood

  35. The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Emmuska Orczy

  36. Keeping Faith - Jodi Picoult

  37. Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquirel

  38. Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson

  39. His Excellency: George Washington - Joseph J. Ellis

  40. Big Fish - Daniel Wallace

  41. The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

  42. Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi

  43. Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

  44. Travels With Charley - John Steinbeck

  45. Howards End - EM Forster

  46. As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner

  47. High Fidelity - Nick Hornby

  48. The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien

  49. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

  50. The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton

  51. The Tales of Edgar Allan Poe - Edgar Allan Poe

  52. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

  53. Flesh and Blood - Michael Cunningham

  54. Sea Glass - Anita Shreve

  55. The World According to Garp - John Irving

  56. Snow - Orhan Pamuk

  57. Johnny Tremain - Esther Forbes

  58. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

In 2008 my reading goals are slimmed down a little bit to take off some pressure (not really sure where the pressure is coming from!!). My goal is to read 36 books by December 31, 2008. I will enter challenges at my own risk and may not even formally participate but just keep personal tallies. I also vow to keep my read/unread ratio to at least 60/40% (in other words, keep the book buying to a minimum!). And last but not least, enjoy enjoy enjoy.

10 comments:

Petunia said...

Did you know that Edith Wharton and Henry James were very close friends? Now think about Portrait and a Lady and Age of Innocence. I think Countess Olenska is Isabel Archer. Olenska's love interest is Newland Archer. Interesting huh?

Literary Feline said...

Many of your favorites are books I want to read! :-)

I avoided making any statements about the possibility of curtailing my book intake. I do that and I'm doomed.

Anonymous said...

You are an inspiration to me. What an impressive list of books! No wonder you're so smart. Love, Mom

1morechapter said...

'Enjoy' is the right attitude! Have a great 2008.

http://1morechapter.com

Ana S. said...

yay for knocking 39 books off the TBR shelf! That's something I want to do this year.

You read a lot of books in 2007 that I hope to read in 2008 - and in some cases, your reviews are to blame!

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

*Petunia - sweet information! I was reminded a little of Portrait when I was reading Age of Innocence, but I definitely preferred Wharton's story.

*Literary Feline - Its so hard for me to say that I will limit my goals, but I started to get too worked up about reading near the end of the year--which takes all the fun and pleasure out of it! I hope you enjoy the ones that I did!

*Mom - I love you! Thanks for coming by--not like my beastly sister.

*3M - yes! Above all enjoy enjoy enjoy. Otherwise I might as well go back to school and throw in all the yucky papers.

*Nymeth - It was a little hard to count so the number might be off a little, but that will be another one of my goals for this year--get those pesky books that have been haunting me read!

Nan said...

I just loved reading this post. I so enjoy your organization, and the thoughtfulness you put into your reading.

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

*Nan - Thanks! I do a lot of thinking about reading, so I appreciate your comment. :)

Ramya said...

lol.. looks like you did way more than what you estimated for 08..:) and quite a few challenges too, i must say!:)

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

Ramya - Ya, I must have been crazy when I made that post. :) I have been less stressed this year, though and I've been good at managing my challenges. So, I don't feel so bad.