My 2010 Reading List:
January 2010
The World Is Flat – Thomas Friedman
*Baby Catcher – Peggy Vincent
People of the Book – Geraldine Brooks
The Year of Magical Thinking – Joan Didion
The Republic of East L.A. – Luis Rodriguez
**Walk Two Moons – Sharon Creech (Audio Book, with Sean)
February 2010
****My Story As Told By Water – David James Duncan
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – J. K. Rowling (Audio Book)
A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
*The Noonday Demon – Andrew Solomon
Spiritual Midwifery – Ina May Gaskin (First half of book: Birth Stories, 218 pages)
A Circle of Quiet – Madeleine L’Engle; 246 pages
A Wind in the Door – Madeleine L’Engle; 240 pages
March 2010
The Summer of the Great Grandmother – Madeleine L’Engle; 246 pages
Giving Birth – Catherine Taylor; 300 pages
A Swiftly Tilting Planet – Madeleine L’Engle; 256 pages
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J. K. Rowling (Audio Book)
The Midwife – Jennifer Worth; 319 pages
Lady’s Hands, Lion’s Heart – Carol Leonard; 354 pages
Many Waters – Madeleine L’Engle; 310 pages
A Perfect Mess – Eric Abrahamson & David Freedman (Audio Book)
The Irrational Season – Madeleine L’Engle; 215 pages
April 2010
Committed – Elizabeth Gilbert; 285 pages
Things I’ve Been Silent About – Azar Nafisi; 314 pages
Till We Have Faces – C.S. Lewis; 309 pages
Castle Corona – Sharon Creech; Audio Book
Two Part Invention – Madeleine L’Engle; 232 pages
Beautiful Stories of Life – Cynthia Rylant; Audio Book
The Metamorphoses: Books 1 & 2 – Ovid; 50 pages
Shards of Honor – Lois McMaster Bujold; 313 pages
***The Whale Rider – Witi Ihimaera; Audio Book
Barrayar – Lois McMaster Bujold; 386 pages
An Acceptable Time – Madeleine L’Engle; 367 pages
May 2010
The Fabric of This World – Lee Hardy; 185 pages
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J.K. Rowling; Audio Book
The Warrior’s Apprentice – Lois McMaster Bujold; 315 pages
Acedia & me – Kathleen Norris; 329 pages
Anne of Green Gables – Lucy Maud Montgomery; Audio Book
June 2010
I GOT MARRIED!!!!!
July 2010
Fellowship of the Ring – J. R. R. Tolkien; Audio Book
Tinkers – Paul Harding
The Outsiders – S. E. Hinton
*The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexander Dumas; Audio Book
The Cloister Walk – Kathleen Norris
August 2010
Anne of Avonlea – Lucy Maud Montgomery; Audio Book
*****The Brothers K – David James Duncan; 645 pages
Anne of the Island – Lucy Maud Montgomery; Audio Book
The Two Towers – J. R. R. Tolkien; Audio Book
Dakota – Kathleen Norris; 220 pages
The Maytrees – Annie Dillard; 216 pages
Travels with Charley – John Steinbeck; Audio Book
*A Mother’s Rule – Holly Pierlot; 200 pages
September 2010
Housekeeping – Marilynne Robinson; Audio Book
The Quotidian Mysteries – Kathleen Norris; 88 pages
Life of Antony & Letter to Marcinellus – Athanasius; 129 pages
The Rule of St. Benedict – St. Benedict; 70 pages
A Thousand Acres – Jane Smiley; Audio Book; 13 discs
Around the World in 80 Days – Jules Verne; Audio Book; 7 discs
October 2010
Church History in Plain Language – Bruce L. Shelley; 495 pages
Funny in Farsi – Firoozeh Dumas; 198 pages
The Nanny Diaries – Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus; 306 pages
Invisible Cities – Italo Calvino; 165 pages
Unmasking L.A. – edited by Deepak Narang Sawhney; 260 pages
You’ll Never Nanny in this Town Again – Suzanne Hansen; 286 pages
And Nanny Makes Three – Jessika Auerbach; 272 pages
Nicholas Nickleby – Charles Dickens; 25 discs
November 2010
The Perfect Stranger – Lucy Kaylin; 228 pages
Flipped – Wendelin Van Draanen; 6 discs
*Searching for Mary Poppins – edited by Susan Davis and Gina Hyams; 275 pages
Just Like Family – Tasha Blaine; 319 pages
Global Woman – Edited by: Babara Ehrenreich and Arlie Hochschild; 284 pages
December 2010
White House Nannies – Barbara Kline; 234 pages
The Year of Living Biblically – A. J. Jacobs; 332 pages
Where I Was From – Joan Didion; 226 pages
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J. K. Rowling; 17 discs
*******Crunchy Cons – Rod Dreher; 250 pages
Total: 74 Books
It's been a wonderful year for reading books! I started out the year devouring midwifery literature and ended the year pouring over nanny-literature. In between, and all throughout, I revisited books that are old friends ( the Anne of Green Gables series), read my favorites over and over again (Harry Potter), made wonderful memories (I'll never forget sitting in the sands of Waimea Bay at sunset and watching Sean body surf in the cresting waves while I read Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking or driving through the green mountains of Oregon on our honeymoon listening to Fellowship of the Ring), and discovered delightful new authors like Kathleen Norris (thought-provoking), A.J. Jacobs (hilarious), and Rod Dreher (life-changing). I finally read an extensive portion of Madeleine L'Engle's work (but by no means all of it) and explored topics such as depression and Church History more thoroughly than I ever have before. And there was no lacking in adventure: I journeyed through outer space with Miles Vorkosigan and swam with whales in the wild waters off the shores of New Zealand. I battled Voldemorte alongside Harry, Ron, and Hermione, exacted a breathtaking revenge with Edmond Dantes, and traveled around the world (in 80 days!) with Phileas Fogg. I delivered babies with Berkeley's best midwife, trekked to Mount Doom with Frodo and Sam, and roamed the streets of East L.A. with Luis Rodriguez. The worst book I read this year was A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley. Do yourself a favor and never read it. Do yourself a favor and read Crunchy Conservatives by Rod Dreher, which wins for being by far the most life-changing book I read this year. I familiarized myself with some classics--including The Count of Monte Cristo and Nicholas Nickleby (both of which are brilliant and amazing books!). The best book I read this year was--hands down--The Brothers K by David James Duncan. This was my second time reading it, and I loved it even more--if possible--than the first time I read it. This is probably the most rich and heart-warming/breaking, loving and funny story of a family that anyone will ever read. I also reread Annie Dillard's The Maytrees, which--after visiting Megan in Massachusetts this Spring, took on new meaning and beauty for me. To read books is to associate with the Great: St. Benedict, John Steinbeck, and C.S. Lewis--to name a few. The adventure of reading books is second only to the greater adventure of living life, and I hope--by God's grace--to do much more of both in 2011.
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