What books have you read in 2008?

[ewomack]

As the twilight of another year beckons, so share your reading lists and thoughts.

My list (so far):

43. Vox by Nicholson Baker
42. Complete Peanuts 1969-1970 by Schulz
41. The US-Mexican War by Christensen
40. Heidegger's Being and Time by William Large
39. East, West by Salman Rushdie
38. Krazy and Ignatz, 1943-1944 by Herriman
37. Heidegger: A Guide For the Perplexed by Cerbone
36. Checkpoint by Nicholson Baker
35. Cosmology: A Very Short Introduction by Coles
34. Kant by Walker
33. The World According To Mister Rogers by Fred Rogers
32. Ayer by Hanfling
31. Salman Rushdie: A Beginner's Guide by Blake
30. Hume by Quinton
29. Shinto: Origins, Rituals, Festivals, Spirits, Sacred Places by Littleton
28. Popper by Raphael
27. A Rulebook for Arguments by Weston
26. Plato by Williams
25. The Wizard of Oz by Salman Rushdie
24. Socrates by Gottlieb
23. Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Garcia Marquez
22. Pascal by Rogers
21. The Overspent American by Juliet Schor
20. Berkeley by Berman
19. How To Move To Canada: A Primer For Americans by Loeb Kreuzer
18. Imaginary Homelands by Salman Rushdie
17. The Pursuit of Attention: Power and Ego in Everyday Life by Derber
16. Slaughterhouse-Five by Vonnegut
15. The Complete Peanuts 1967-1968 by Schulz
14. The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations by Fagan
13. The Cartoon History of the Universe III: From the Rise of Arabia to the Renaissance by Larry Gonick
12. Husserl: A Guide for the Perplexed by Matheson Russell
11. Points in Time by Paul Bowles
10. Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization by Nicholson Baker
9. Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World by Bill Clinton
8. Experimental Phenomenology: An Introduction by Don Ihde
7. Krazy & Ignatz, 1941-1942: "A Ragout of Raspberries" by George Herriman
6. The Bible: A Biography by Karen Armstrong
5. Introduction to Phenomenology by Robert Sokolowski
4. Marx's Das Kapital: A Biography by Francis Wheen
3. Popeye Vol. 2: "Well Blow Me Down!" by E. C. Segar
2. How to Read Nietzsche by Keith Ansell Pearson
1. Black Like You: Blackface, Whiteface, Insult & Imitation in American Popular Culture by John Strausbaugh

 

[Wells83]

Maybe I'll list them all when the year is actually over. Right now I'm too busy.

They are all listed in my blog though, with reviews. So far this year I've read 101 books.
Book & Reader Forums - Wells83's Blog

 

[Landslide]

Maybe I'll list them all when the year is actually over. Right now I'm too busy.

I think I'll do that too. I plan on reading more till the end of the year...

 

[dollymixture]

Christmas is prime reading time for me! I too shall wait until the year is up. Impressive list though

 

[dude]

The Darling - Russell Banks
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Bastard out of Carolina - Dorothy Allison
Cavedweller - Dorothy Allison
Paris Trout - Pete Dexter
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (again) - Betty Smith

:whistling:

 

[Serena]

This is all of what I can recall, I am sure there are many I am forgetting from earlier this year.



-The Five Ages of the Universe: Inside the Physics of Eternity-Fred C. Adams and Greg Laughlin
-Origins -Neil Degrasse Tyson
-Time Traveler: A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality-Ronald L. Mallett
-What's Science Ever Done For Us: What the Simpsons Can Teach Us About Physics, Robots, Life, and the Universe-Paul Halpern
-Time Travel in Einstein's Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel Through Time-J. Richard Gott
-The Backyard Astronomer's Guide-Dickinson and Dyer
-Astronomy for Dummies-Stephen P. Maran
-Being Vegetarian for Dummies-Suzanne Havala
-The Artist's Way-Julia Cameron
-How to Solve It-G. Polya
-On the Origin of Species-Charles Darwin
-Understanding Thermodynamics-H.C. Van Ness
-8 Minute Meditation-Victor Davich
-The Intelligent Memory-Barry Gordon
-Uncertainty-David Lindley
-The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe-C.S. Lewis
-The Silver Chair-C.S. Lewis
-Prince Caspian-C.S. Lewis
-The Voyage of the Dawn Treader-C.S. Lewis
-The Last Battle-C.S.Lewis
-The Hobbit-J.R.R Tolkin
-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets-J.K. Rowling
-A Horse and His Boy-C.S. Lewis
-The Magician's Nephew-C.S.Lewis
-Censoring Science-Mark Bowen
-The Joy of Chemistry-Cathy Cobb/Monty R. Fetterolf
-Darwinism and Its Discontents-Michael Ruse
-Only a Theory-Kenneth R. Miller
-Wonderful Tonight-Patty Boyd
-Physics for Future Presidents-Richard R. Muller
-The Logic of Life-Tim Harford
-The Mozart Myths-William Stafford
-The Varieties of Scientific Experiences-Carl Sagan
-New Theories of Everything-John D. Barrow
-This is Your Brain on Music-David J. Levitin
-Endless Universe Beyond the Big Bang-Paul J. Steinhardt/Neil Turok
-God the Fail Hypothesis-Victor Stenger
-The God Delusion-Richard Dawkins
-Secrets of Mental Math-Benjamin Sherman
-Unweaving the Rainbow-Richard Dawkins
-An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism -Gordon Stein
-An Incomplete Education-Judy Jones/William Wilson
-Meditation for Dummies-Stephan Bodian
-British History for Dummies-Sean Lang
-The Last Thousand Days of the British Empire-Peter Clarke
-The Physics of Consciousness-Evan Harris Walker
-Solving Stonehenge-Anthony Johnson
-Quantum Physics-Alister I.M. Rae
-The Selfish Gene-Richard Dawkins
-Barbarians to Angels-Peter S. Wells
-Great Tales from English History-Robert Lacey
-What is Life?-Ed Regis
-A History of the English Speaking People:The Birth of Britain-Winston S. Churchill
-Gandhi and Churchill-Arthur Herman

 

[Stewart]

December
075. They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Horace McCoy
074. In Praise Of Masturbation, Philippe Brenot
074. And Then There Was No One, Gilbert Adair
073. Pedro Páramo, Juan Rulfo
072. Terra Amata, J.M.G. Le Clézio
071. Artificial Snow, Florian Zeller

November
070. The Armies, Evelio Rosero
069. The Catcher In The Rye, J.D. Salinger
068. The Black Sheep and Other Fables, Augusto Monterroso
067. Bonsai, Alejandro Zambra
066. The Postman Always Rings Twice, James M. Cain
065. 1933 Was A Bad Year, John Fante

October
064. Home And Exile, Chinua Achebe
063. The Fire Gospel, Michel Faber
062. The Other Hand, Chris Cleave
061. Exercises In Style, Raymond Queneau
060. Nobody's Home, Dubravka Ugresic

September
059. The Key Of The Tower, Gilbert Adair
058. Monsieur, Jean-Philippe Toussaint
057. Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk, Nikolai Leskov
056. The Story Of Mr Sommer, Patrick Süskind
055. The Mirror In The Well, Micheline Aharonian Marcom

August
054. The Death Of The Author, Gilbert Adair
053. Oscar And The Lady In Pink, Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt
052. The Clothes On Their Backs, Linda Grant
051. Netherland, Joseph O'Neill
050. Child 44, Tom Rob Smith
049. The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga
048. Stick Out Your Tongue, Ma Jian

July
047. Julien Parme, Florian Zeller
046. The Spare Room, Helen Garner
045. The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz
044. Trauma, Patrick McGrath
043. Girl Meets Boy, Ali Smith
042. The Diving Pool, Yoko Ogawa
041. A Clockwork Apple, Belinda Webb
040. The End Of Sleep, Rowan Somerville

June
039. The Changeling, Robin Jenkins
038. Jamelia, Chingiz Aitmatov
037. Alphabet Of The Night, Jean-Euphèle Milcé

May
036. Metropole, Ferenc Karinthy
035. Badenheim, 1939, Aharon Appelfeld
034. Mary, Vladimir Nabokov

April
033. Lobster, Guillaume Lescable
032. Sulphuric Acid, Amélie Nothomb
031. With Borges, Albert Manguel
030. A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess

March
029. Born Yesterday: The News As A Novel, Gordon Burn
028. Goodbye, Columbus, Philip Roth
027. Envy, Alain Elkann
026. Clean: An Unsanitised History Of Washing, Katherine Ashenburg
025. We Are Now Beginning Our Descent, James Meek
024. Becoming Abigail, Chris Abani
023. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
022. Silk, Alessandro Baricco
021. Night Train, Martin Amis

February
020. The Book Of Words, Jenny Erpenbeck
019. A Man Without A Country, Kurt Vonnegut
018. Doctor Glas, Hjalmar Söderberg
017. Black Dirt, Nell Layshon
016. The Hour Of The Star, Clarice Lispector
015. Snakes & Earrings, Hitomi Kanehara
014. Agamemnon's Daughter, Ismail Kadare
013. The Moon Opera, Bi Feiyu

January
012. A Matter Of Death And Life, Andrey Kurkov
011. The Woman Who Waited, Andreï Makine
010. The Dreamers, Gilbert Adair
009. No One Writes To The Colonel, Gabriel García Márquez
008. Continent, Jim Crace
007. Gentlemen Of The Road, Michael Chabon
006. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
005. Secret, Philippe Grimbert
004. The Invention Of Morel, Adolfo Bioy Casares
003. Plain Girl, Arthur Miller
002. The Pilgrim Hawk, Glenway Wescott
001. Piercing, Ryu Murakami

 

[saliotthomas]

2008

August-

Humain love-Andrei makine
a country doctor's notebook-Buglakov
Esther Inheritance-Sandor Marai
The roof of voyaging-Garry Kilworth
Alien earth-Megan Lindholm 1/2
The pyramide-Ismael Kadare


September

What's so funny-Donald E Westlake
A stranger came to the farm-Mika Waltari
House of meetings-Martin Amis
Metamorphosis of a wedding-Sandor Marai
A purple place for dying-John McDonald
A partisans daughter-Bouis de Bernières
Silk -Alessandro Baricco
The Bal-Irene Nemirovsky
Foucaults pendulum-Umberto Eco
The elephant of the vizir-Ivo Andric
The falcon/Asters-Jun Ishikawa
Golden deserts-Hectore Biancotti -gave up after 60pages
The haunting of hill house-Shirley Jackson
After dark-Haruki Murakami -

Octobre

My name is red-Orhan Pamuk 160 p lost
The handle-Donald Westlake
Music of a life-Andrei makine
Blanche te Marie-Per orlov Enquist put to rest for the time
Mondo-J M LeCleziot
Austerlitz-Sebald, W. G
The Painter of Battles-Arturo Perez-Reverte -
Mishima-the sailor who fell from grace with thr sea
Driss chraibi-mother of spring
Chinua Achebe-things fall apart
Luis Sepulveda-An old man who read love novels
Benjamin Black-Christine falls
Ernesto Sabato-Alejandra-on wait

November

Colin thubron-Shadow of the silk road
John Wyndham-the kraken wakes
Muriel Babery- the elegance of the hedgehog
Bernard Cornwell-Sword song
Nevil Shute-On the beach
Aris Fakinos-Tale of lost times
Graham Green-travel with my aunt
Manil Suri - The Death of Vishnu-on wait
Jose saramago-History of the siege of lisbon-gave up 30 pages from the end
Magnus mills-The restrain of beats

December

Ismail Kadare-la niche de la honte
Allen steele-Coyote rising
Alan Lightman-Ghost
Sandor marai-A dog of charateres
Nadine Gordimer-Beethoven was one sixteenth black
Chinghiz Aitmatov-Djamilia
David Hajdu-Positivly 4th street
Antonio Tabucchi-Nocturne Indien
Eric Maria Remarque-The night in Lisbon
Andrei Makine-The earth and sky of Jacques Dorme +
Ribonson Mistry-Family matters
Yasushi Inoue-Takeda's sabre

 

[abecedarian]

January:
001. The Devil in the Flesh-Raymond Radiguet
002. The Lost Continent-Bill Bryson
003. The Fortunes of Wangrin-Amadou Hampate Ba(Mali)
004. Miss Smilla's Sense of Snow-Peter Hoeg
005. I, the Divine- Rabih Alameddine
006. The Rape of Sita-Lindsey Collen
007. Beyond Earth and Sky-A Journey into Bhutan-Jamie Zeppa
008. History and Hunger in West Africa-Laura Bigman(Guinea-Bissau)

February:

009. The Bone Collector-Jeffery Deaver
010. Jude the Obscure-Thomas Hardy
011. Women Writing Africa:Eastern Region-ed by Amandina Lihamba (Zambia)
012. Women Writing Africa: West Africa and the Sahel-ed. Esi Sutherland Addy (Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Niger)
013. A Writer at War-Vassily Grossman (Russia)
014. I am Legend-Richard Matheson
015. An African In Greenland-Tete Michel Kpomassie (Togo)
016. St. Vincent and the Grenadines: A Plural Country- Dana Jinkins
018. Lonely Planet: Mauritius, Reunion, & Seychelles

March:
018. Lonely Planet: Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar
019. Secrets of the Seven Smallest States of Europe-Thomas Eccard(Malta, Liechtenstein, Luxemborg, San Marino, Monaco)
020. History of Brunei-Graham E. Saunders
21. The Winter King- Bernard Cornwell
22.The Telephone Gambit-Seth Shulman
23. Madame Bovary- Gustave Flaubert
24. Three Days to Never-Tim Powers
25. Sacred Horses:Memoirs of a Turkmen Cowboy-Jonathan Maslow

April:
26.Adventures in Africa-Gianni Calati
27. Insight Guides:Oman and the UAE
28.Mister Pip- Lloyd Jones
29. Ali and Nino- Kurban Said
30. Traveller's Survival Kit: Madagascar. Comoros & Myote-James
Penrith
31. East Timor:Island in Conflict- Taro McGuinn
32. Dekok and the Begging Death-A.C. Baantje
33. Creation in Death-JD Robb


May:
34. Sweet Revenge-Diane Mott Davidson
35.Christine Falls-Benjamin Black
36.The Beekeeper's Apprentice-Laurie R. King
37.The Bounty-Derek Walcott
38. Adventure Guide:Virgin Islands-Lyn M. Sullivan
39. Adventure Guide:Cayman Islands-Petra Permenter
40.Snapshots of Belize- edited by Michael Plillips

June:
41.Menopause and the Mind-Claire Warga
42. Double Play: The Story of An Amazing World Record-Frank M. Arion
43. A Stranger's Supper: An Oral History of Centenarian Women in
Montenegro-Zorka Milich
44. Winter Study-Nevada Barr
45. Hong Kong Collage-ed. Martha P.Y. Cheung
46. The Fire of Origins-Emmauel Dongala

July:
47 The Joys of Motherhood- Buchi Emecheta

September:
48.Hormone Balance: A Matter of Life and Health-Kristine Klitzke
49. A Voyage Long and Strange-Tony Horowitz

October:
50. The Snow Queen-Mercedes Lackey
51. Secret of Ron Mor Skerry-Rosalie Fry
52. A Meeting at Corvalis-S.M. Sterling

November:
53. The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian-Sherman Alexie
54. The Prestige-Christopher Priest
55. Enchiladas, Rice, and Beans-Daniel Reveles
56. Enslaved: The New British Slavery- Rahila Gupta

December:
57. Fearless Fourteen-Janet Evanovitch
58. Damage Control-J.A. Jance
59. Little Heathens: Hard Times & High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the
Great Depression-Mildred Armstrong Kalish
60. A Walk in the Woods-Bill Bryson

Honestly, I don't know what happened to August..Did we even HAVE August this year?!?

 

[FourTonMantis]

And I thought I read a lot....



January
Last of the Breed by Louis L’Amour (377 pages)
Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke (212 pages)
1984 by George Orwell (326 pages)
Adoniram Judson by Janet and Geoff Benge (230 pages)

Total pages: 1,145
Total books read: 4

February
Baa Baa Black Sheep by Gregory Boyington (350 pages)
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? By Philip K. Dick (216 pages)
The Light Of Other Days by Arthur C. Clarke (316 pages)
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (265 pages)

Total pages: 1,147
Total books read: 4

March
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke (297 pages)
2010: Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke (332 pages)

Total pages: 629
Total books read: 2

April
2061: Odyssey Three by Arthur C. Clarke (276 pages)
3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke (274 pages)
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (131 pages)
The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman (639 pages)

Total pages: 1,320
Total books read: 4

May
The Minority Report and Other Classic Stories by Philip K. Dick (380 pages)
The Machineries of Joy by Ray Bradbury (213 pages)
One Hell of a Gamble by Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali (355 pages)

Total pages: 948
Total books read: 3

June
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (231 pages)
Brave New World Revisited by Aldous Huxley (109 pages)
The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick (191 pages)
All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (297 pages)

Total pages: 828
Total books read: 4

July
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (643 pages)
The Man In The High Castle by Philip K. Dick (259 pages)
Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell (392 pages)
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick (231 pages)
Time Out Of Joint by Philip K. Dick (255 pages)

Total pages: 1,780
Total books read: 5


August
The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas (508 pages)
Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger (214 pages)
The Day We Bombed Utah by John G. Fuller (262 pages)

Total pages: 984
Total books read: 3

September
Valis by Philip K. Dick (242 pages)

Total pages: 242
Total books read: 1

October
Apostles of Disunion by Charles B. Dew (103 pages)
The Complete Stories by Franz Kafka (460 pages)

Total pages: 563
Total books read: 2

November
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (639 pages)
Burmese Days by George Orwell (287 pages)

Total pages: 926
Total books read: 2

December
The American Journey by David Goldfield et. al. (913 pages)
Oil! by Upton Sinclair (549 pages)
Masters of Doom by David Kushner (306 pages)
Beowulf (121 pages)
Paycheck and Other Classic Stories by Philip K. Dick (404 pages)
Nelson's NKJV Study Bible (2202 pages)

Total pages: 4,495
Total books read: 6

Total pages read: 15,007
Total books read: 40

I don't feel so bad though...most people I know don't read that many books in their lives.

 

[abecedarian]

Nelson's NKJV Study Bible (2202 pages)

You read the whole Bible in one month?!?:blink:

 

[beer good]

Here.

84 books from 31 countries. Best: Revolutionary Road. Worst: The Alchemist.

 

[FourTonMantis]

You read the whole Bible in one month?!?:blink:

Hah no. I recorded when I finished the books. Not extremely accurate, I know, but the point is that I read all of those books this year. Maybe I'll do something different for 2009.

 

[abecedarian]

Hah no. I recorded when I finished the books. Not extremely accurate, I know, but the point is that I read all of those books this year. Maybe I'll do something different for 2009.

Ok, Gotcha! That makes sense. I was thinking how happy most people are to get through the Bible in a year....oh, you DID! I'm thinking of doing the same myself.

 

[FourTonMantis]

Ok, Gotcha! That makes sense. I was thinking how happy most people are to get through the Bible in a year....oh, you DID! I'm thinking of doing the same myself.

It's not a bad idea. I got this reading plan from the youth pastor at my church that has you read the Old Testament every day and the New Testament every other day. It's at least 2-3 chapters per day and 4-7 chapters every other day, so you get the entire Bible. I see a lot of year reading plans that, if followed, don't equal the whole of the Bible, just a lot of general concepts.

If you guys really want to track your progress for next year (which is the whole reason I'm doing this, anyway), I'd advise keeping track of your page count as well. That's what really counts in my opinion. You could read a hundred 50 page books and say "I read 100 books!", or read thirty to forty 250-500 page books and get a lot more content.

 

[angerball]

The Skin God - Richard Montanari
Special Topics in Calamity Physics - Marisha Pessl
Out - Natsuo Kirino
Stuck in Neutral - Terry Trueman
The Perks of Being A Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
Duma Key - Stephen King
Six Feet Over - Mary Roach
Broken Angels - Richard Montanari
The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
The Testament of Gideon Mack - James Robertson
Saturday - Ian McEwan
The Poe Shadow - Matthew Pearl
The Almost Moon - Alice Sebold
The World Jones Made - Phillip K Dick
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
If you can walk, you can dance - Marion Molteno
Blindness - Jose Saramago
The Outsiders - SE Hinton
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Small Island - Andrea Levy
The Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
The Woods - Harlen Coben
Never Far From Nowhere - Andrea Levy
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
The Other Boleyn Girl - Phillipa Gregory
Fight Club - Chuck Palhaniuk
Unholy Domain - Dan Ronco
To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Naive Super - Erlend Loe
Bonk - Mary Roach

 

[beer good]

If you guys really want to track your progress for next year (which is the whole reason I'm doing this, anyway), I'd advise keeping track of your page count as well. That's what really counts in my opinion. You could read a hundred 50 page books and say "I read 100 books!", or read thirty to forty 250-500 page books and get a lot more content.

I'm going to have to disagree. Of course, if the only purpose of reading is to maximize the quantity of pages, then sure. But if we're talking quality, it would take a lot of 800-page Stephen King novels to outweigh... for instance, Jesus' Son (111 pages), Cutting it Short (120 pages), or The Story of Mister Han (124 pages) to mention a few I've read this year.

 

[Stewart]

Not to mention that different books come with different type sizes, making any point in page counts redundant.

 

[beer good]

Not to mention that different books come with different type sizes, making any point in page counts redundant.

Good point. I just checked my copy of The Bible, and it's only about 1500 pages. So did I read 700 pages less than FourTonMantis when I read it, despite it being the same book (albeit in a different language)?

 

[abecedarian]

It's not a bad idea. I got this reading plan from the youth pastor at my church that has you read the Old Testament every day and the New Testament every other day. It's at least 2-3 chapters per day and 4-7 chapters every other day, so you get the entire Bible. I see a lot of year reading plans that, if followed, don't equal the whole of the Bible, just a lot of general concepts.

If you guys really want to track your progress for next year (which is the whole reason I'm doing this, anyway), I'd advise keeping track of your page count as well. That's what really counts in my opinion. You could read a hundred 50 page books and say "I read 100 books!", or read thirty to forty 250-500 page books and get a lot more content.

I kept track of pages the first year I diligently kept a reading list, but decided after that not to worry about it.

As for the Bible In a Year Plans, you're right about those 'bits' plans. I checked in both my Bibles and each had yearlong Parts plans. Drat! I've read the whole Bible before, I kinda like those bits they're leaving out. Years ago, I had one from Moody Monthly that was excellent; arranged by days, not attached to a calendar, in a check list format. Of course, that magazine has folded and I can't find that plan now.