100 Books Read in 2010

For the last two years, I've been keeping track of all the books I read. I can't believe that I've never done it before in my life, since I've always been a voracious reader. Here is my 2008 List and my 2009 List.

I really like keeping track of what I've read because people are always asking me for book recommendations and I can never seem to think of anything off the top of my head when they ask me. I keep the lists in a Google Doc and so they're accessible from my phone - now I have three years' worth of reading at my fingertips!

So, without further ado, here is the list of books I read in 2010: (* indicates that it was a library book)

1. This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
2. The Same Phrase Describes My Marriage and My Breasts: Before the Kids, They Used to Be Such a Cute Couple (Notes While They Nap) by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
4. Twitterville by Shel Israel*
5. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann*
6. Claim to Fame by Margaret Petersen Haddix*
7. The Facebook Era by Clara Chung-wai Shih*
8. Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff*
9. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde*
10. Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlan and Nicola Kraus*
11. Incantation by Alice Hoffman*
12. Living Oprah by Robyn Okrant
13. Tales of the Ten Lost Tribes by Tamar Yellin*
14. Tropical Secrets by Margarita Engle*
15. Genizah at the House of Shepher by Tamar Yellin
16. Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah*
17. The Poet Slave of Cuba by Margarita Engle*
18. The Importance of Wings by Robin Friedman*
19. Lost by Jacqueline Davies*
20. Naomi's Song by Selma Silverberg*
21. The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle*
22. The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf by Mohja Kahf*
23. Hidden Empire by Orson Scott Card*
24. Maybe Yes, Maybe No, Maybe Maybe by Susan Patron*
25. Freedom (TM) by Daniel Suarez*
26. Gaia Girls Enter the Earth by Lee Welles*
27. The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein*
28. A Quilter's Holiday by Jennifer Chiaverini*
29. Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
30. Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian
31. Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht*
32. One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni*
33. The Fruit of Her Hands: The Story of Shira of Ashkenaz by Michelle Cameron*
34. One Second After by William R. Forstchen
35. Hand Wash Cold by Karen Maezen Miller
36. The Aloha Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini*
37. 36 Arguments for the Existence of God by Rebecca Goldberger*
38. Get Lucky by Katherine Center*
39. Except the Queen by Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder*
40. Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez*
41. Exodus by Leon Uris
42. The 188th Crybaby Brigade by Joel Chasnoff
43. Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
44. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
45. Crashing Through by Robert Kurson
46. I am Nujood by Nujood Ali*
47. The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow*
48. Looking for Alaska by John Green*
49. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan*
50. The Glass Room by Simon Mawer*
51. Green Angel by Alice Hoffman*
52. Green Witch by Alice Hoffman*
53. House Rules by Jodi Picoult*
54. Start Over Finish Rich 2010 by David Bach
55. Stations West by Allison Amend
56. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen*
57. The End of the Jews by Adam Mansbach
58. The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen*
59. Food Rules by Michael Pollan*
60. The Charm School by Nelson DeMille
61. By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan
62. The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva
63. Makers by Cory Doctorow*
64. For the Win by Cory Doctorow*
65. The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman
66. My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares*
67. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
68. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
69. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
70. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
71. Displaced Persons by Ghita Schwartz*
72. Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex
73. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake*
74. The Stormchasers by Jenna Blum*
75. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
76. Heroic Measures by Jill Ciment*
77. The Red Thread by Ann Hood*
78. The Typist by Michael Knight*
79. Annexed by Sharon Dogar
80. Dragongirl by Todd McCaffrey*
81. A Novel Bookstore by Lawrence Cosse*
82. Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons*
83. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead*
84. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson*
85. The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orrington*
86. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible! by Jonathan Goldstein
87. The Violin of Auschwitz by Maria Angels Anglada*
88. Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix*
89. Impossible by Nancy Werlin*
90. Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin*
91. The Tenth Song by Naomi Ragen
92. The Mourning Wars by Karen Steinmetz*
93. Insatiable by Meg Cabot*
94. (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a re-read)
95. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
96. The Networked Non-Profit by Beth Kanter et al*
97. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (kindle)
98. The Zero Game by Brad Meltzer (kindle)
99. The Ritual Bath by Faye Kellerman (kindle)
100. The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch (kindle)

As you can see, I started reading hard-core on the Kindle near the end of the year. In fact, all of the Kindle books were read since the baby was born. It's so easy to pick up my Blackberry and read with one hand - it's been really great. I don't plan to stop using the library, but at this particular juncture, the Kindle is working great for me.

I like to keep track of how many library books I read - this year it was 64. I think I get my money's worth out of my public library, don't you think? I often read books for discussions that I'm leading at the synagogue - those are usually the books that I end up buying. Also, I often borrow books from friends, that makes up the rest of the non-library books.

Okay, so what did I like best? This is always the hardest part for me. I really enjoyed reading the end of the Hunger Games trilogy, and I was caught up in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series for a whole weekend. Books I find myself recommending a lot are: Mudbound, Winter Garden, The Invisible Wall, A Novel Bookstore and Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English. My Name is Memory was also a notable one for the year, it seemed so different from Ann Brasheres' other books (namely the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, of course). Most of the books I enjoyed, I try not to read too many books that I don't like! Oh, and the award for best titled book I read this year goes to: The Same Phrase Describes My Marriage and My Breasts: Before the Kids, They Used to Be Such a Cute Couple (Notes While They Nap) by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Don't you agree???

Do I have goals for next year? Lots of book bloggers make reading resolutions. I think the one thing that I'd like to do is read more non-fiction. There's so much of it out there that is interesting and engaging and I notice that I read mostly fiction. So I'm going to try to read a few more non-fiction books this year.

I was about to try to make a list of books that I'm interesting in reading in 2011, but as I looked over last year's list in which I made those suggestions to myself, I actually only read one of those books! So I think I'll leave my options open. What do YOU think I should read in this year? (Oh, and if you're a book publisher or PR person, YES, I would love to read and review your books. Thanks!)


In case you want to follow along for 2011, the list is over on the left-hand sidebar of my blog. I keep a regular list going over there. You can see that I've already started!