2009 Reading Wrap-Up

[Ruby]

Great reading year for me 126 books this year! 12 non-fiction and 4 what I consider classics (Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The House of the Seven Gabels, and The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernell)

Best Fiction:

King Solomon's Mines - H. Rider Haggard - this was so much better than I thought it would be when I decided to read it - and suprisingly easy to read, given the time period in which it was written.
The Eight - Katherine Neville - this took me awhile to get into but it was worth the struggle at the beginning
The City of Ember - Jeanne Duprau
The Heretic Queen - Michelle Moran - set in ancient Egypt - a sequal to Nefertiti
The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett - it was huge, but don't let the size make you shy away from reading it - it was really an easy read and very good. Sn book
The Last Queen - C.W. Gortner - about Queen Juana of Spain -sad, but good.
Black Ships - Jo Graham about the remnants of Troy and the saving of those Trojans that were taken as slaves
The Tea Rose - Jennifer Donnelly - SN book May 07

Best Series:

Winds of the Forelands Series - David B Coe - 5 books - a fantasy series - very good!
The Genghis books - Conn Iggulden - this was a series that I never would have picked up on my own, but I won the first book, Birth of an Empire, and it was so good that I got the rest of the series from the library.
The Sookie Stackhouse Series - Charlaine Harris - so glad I found these!!
Mistress of the Art of Death series by Ariana Franklin - a female CSI in the 12th century
The Pendergast series - Preston and Child - I only read #9 (Cemetery Dance) this year - I caught up with the authors and now have to wait until they write new one - they are such good books and I am so very glad thay I found them - I've now read all the books that the co-authored and most of their solo works as well

Best Non-Fiction:

One Tattered Angle - Blaine M Yorgason - This is a true story of a little girl, Charity Yorgason, who was born without a brain, and the impact she had on the family who adopted her. The Yorgason's were told that she would never experience emotions, never smile, never love, and would not live past two years. This story takes you through the almost 8 years of her all too short life, sharing her experiences, her pain, and the lessons of love that she taught through her smile and her eyes.
Stiff:The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach - what an interesting read!
The Year of Living Biblically - A.J. Jacobs - so interesting - made me want to read the Old Testament again

Disappointments: (If the book is really bad/uninteresting I don't finish it - so these books weren't awful, just not the best)

Heart in the Right Place - Carolyn Jourdan - this just didn't flow for me and I found all of the people confusing - just not brought to life for me.
The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman I was prepared to love this because I had loved Stardust ,but it was quite the disappointment
Dragon Bones - Lisa See again I wanted to love it because I loved her other books, but this was a modern detective book - it was okay, just not what I was anticipating.
The Zoo Keeper's Wife - Diane Ackerman - non-fiction about a woman who helped to hide Jews in her zoo - just wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be.

[carissanboys]

Tami - I'm glad to see someone else with The Tea Rose on their favorites list!