Books Read in 2017 #MyYearInBooks

This is my tenth annual book post! Before 2008, I never kept track of the books I read. I wish I had a whole list of every book I've ever read...wow, wouldn't that be amazing? It all got much easier when I started keeping track online. It seems to me that there are more and better books all the time -- I love the way that social media allows me to share in what others are reading all the time. I love the recommendations of friends' reading choices (there are a few friends who, when they post about a book, I immediately rush to get that one).

the view from the aforementioned hammock

I love looking over this list because often each book inspires memories of where I was while reading. Several were consumed from my hammock at camp...ahh....

So here is this year's list...

1. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
2. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
3. It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
4. El Deafo by Cece Bell
5. Swing Time by Zadie Smith
6. Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
7. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
8. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
9. My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me by Jennifer Teege
10. The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva
11. Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon
12. Run You Down by Julia Dahl
13. Conviction by Julia Dahl
14. The Girls by Emma Cline
15. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
16. The Houseguest by Kim Brookis
17. Norwegian by Night by Derek Miller
18. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (can you believe I'd never read it?) by John Boyne
19. Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
20. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
21. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
22. Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea
23. A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline
24. Option B by Sheryl Sandberg
25. Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan by Ruth Gilligan
26. The Widow of Wall Street by Randy Susan Meyers
27. All the Rivers by Dorit Rabinyan
28. The Arrangement by Sarah Dunn
29. Heirlooms: Stories by Rachel Hall
30. Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
31. The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict
32. Secondborn by Amy Bartol
33. And After the Fire by Lauren Belfer
34. House of Spies by Daniel Silva
35. Enchanted Islands by Allison Amend
36. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal
37. The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz
38. The Extra by AB Yehoshua
39. Now by Morris Gleitzman
40. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons for the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
41. The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo
42. Becoming a Soulful Educator by Aryeh Ben David
43. The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild
44. The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan
45. Real Friends by Shannon Hale
46. Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging by Brene Brown
47. Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli
48. If All The Seas were Ink by Ilana Kurshan
49. Children of the Fleet by Orson Scott Card
50. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
51. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
52. Tell Tale: Short Stories by Jeffrey Archer
53. The Cuban Affair by Nelson DeMille
54. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
55. Ronit and Jamil by Pamela Laskin
56. Waking Lions by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
57. Boys are Dogs by Leslie Margolis
58. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
59. The Power by Naomi Alderman
60. This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel
61. Fish in a Tree by Linda Mullaly Hunt
62. A Replacement Life by Boris Fishman
63. Pax by Sara Pennypacker
64. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

My favorites this year?
Homegoing and A Gentleman in Moscow definitely topped the list. Chilbury Ladies' Choir and Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk are also on my list of favorites. I was tickled by Tell Tale - I'm not usually a short story fan, but these were delightful. I also recommend This Is How It Always Is and Little Fires Everywhere, and Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk. The Hate U Give was really quite remarkable and powerful, and This is How it Always Is was so thought-provoking. (I'm really terrible at the "favorites" thing, as evidenced by my "favorite" Torah portion and my "favorite" child.)

I read quite a few books in tandem with Yael - we checked out two copies from the library, and I highly recommend Fish in a Tree and El Deafo (even though I usually don't love the graphic novel thing)!

My "to read" list for 2018, so far:

• Lincoln in the Bardo (this has topped a bunch of lists, but I didn't like last year's "best" book so....who knows)
• The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
• Pachinko
• The Leavers
• The Resurrection of Joan Ashby
• Very Jane Young
• The Weight of Ink

(I like these aggregate "best of" lists (one here and one here) - it's so hard to know which ones really are "the best" isn't it?)

For 2018, I'm also considering this challenge from Book Riot - it's called "Read Harder" and gives an interesting list of book categories. I'm not sure that I have the wherewithal to read "harder" but I do love the idea of stretching and reading books I might never have chosen otherwise. Are my book choices diverse? I'm not even sure! But "a book of genre fiction in translation"? Hmm....I think I might need some help with some of these categories. Are you interested in joining me in this challenge?

What else do you think I should read in 2018?

What are you going to read? What was the best book you read in 2017?
I keep track of my books on Goodreads - follow me there.

And previous years' book lists are here:

Books Read in 2016
Books Read in 2015
Books Read in 2014
Books Read in 2013
Books Read in 2012
Books Read in 2011
Books Read in 2010 (this year I read 100 -- a big highlight!)
Books Read in 2009
Books Read in 2008

Seriously!? One more book?

Just after I posted my "Books of 2011" list, I had a thought that perhaps I had forgotten a book or two. After all, that happened to me last year too.

And then I read Leah's post of the books she read (check out her cool graphic) and I exclaimed "Wait, I read that one too!"

So I really read one more book last year. Argh...I don't like incomplete lists. I wonder if I forgot any others.

Do any of you remember me reading anything else!? Thanks for your help.

Oh, the additional book was The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma.

My Annual Book Post - 2011 List

Welcome to my fourth annual Books I Read in the Last Year post.
Here's the books from 2008, from 2009, and from 2010.

Since 2008, I've been keeping a list of the books I read. It's actually helpful since I can't remember anything and so when someone asks me what I've read lately...I have nothing to say. Which is so silly since I have definitely read something lately. So now I keep the list in this post yearly, but also in Google Docs so I can access it from my phone. I have a few friends who share the Doc with me...which I suppose is my own version of GoodReads, which I fail to update regularly ever.

I'm trying not to get hung up on the fact that I only read 68 books this year. (I'm actually in the middle of what would be both 68 and 69 but the pressure got to be too much, so they will be 1 and 2 for 2012, I guess!) I had a busy patch in the fall when I didn't read many books...there was also a nursing baby who didn't let me get much sleep...

And now, onto the list. The books I read in 2011:
(K = Kindle, *=Library Book, YA=young adult)

1.Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford (K)
2.The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa*
3.Debt Free for Life by David Bach
4.Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (K)
5.One is Not a Lonely Number by Evelyn Krieger (young adult)
6.Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos*
7.Term Limits by Vince Flynn*
8.Someone Called Eva by Joan M. Wolf* (Young adult)
9.A Time to Love by Barbara Cameron (K)
10.Hush by Eishes Chayil (K) (young adult)
11.Spousonomics by Paula Szuchman and Jenny Anderson (K)
12.Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua (K)
13.A Scattered Life by Karen McQuestion (K)
14.Favorite by Karen McQuestion (K)
15.Life on Hold by Karen McQuestion (K)
16.Her Perfect Revenge by Anna Mara (K)
17.Community by Peter Block
18.Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy*
19.A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness*
20.Lies I Told My Children by Karen McQuestion (K)
21.Travels with My Aunt by Graham Greene*
22.The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane (K)
23.The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen*
24.Light Fell by Evan Fallenberg*
25.The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom*
26.The High King of Montival by S. M. Stirling*
27.Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein*
28.Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano*
29.Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
30.Never Let Me Go by Kazuro Ishiguro (k) (I guess this is young adult)
31.The Lost Art of Reading by David Ulin*
32.Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares (k)
33.Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (k)
34.Portrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva
35.State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (k)
36.The Safe-Keeper's Secret by Sharon Shinn* (YA)
37.Divergent by Veronica Roth (k) (YA)
38.The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (k)
39.The Truth-Keeper's Tale by Sharon Shinn* (YA)
40.Night Road by Kristin Hannah (k)
41.The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman*
42.The Dream Maker's Magic by Sharon Shinn*
43.Gateway by Sharon Shinn*
44.Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (K)
45.Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn (k)
46.Bumped by Megan McCarthy (k) (YA)
47.Possession by Elana Johnson* (YA)
48.Suddenly in the Depths of the Forest by Amos Oz*
49.Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson (K)
50.A Long Vacation by Jules Verne*
51.Take Me With You by Carolyn Marsden*
52.Kindred Spirits by Sarah Strohmayer*
53.In the Garden of the Beasts by Eric Larson (k)
54.Luminous by Dawn Metcalf* (YA)
55.Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh (k)
56.Shine by Lauren Myracle*
57.Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson (k)
58.Delirium by Lauren Oliver (k)
59.Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (K)
60.Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater*
61.The Wedding Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini*
62.Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
63.Blessings and Baby Steps by Ilana Grinblat
64.1000 Mitzvahs by Linda Cohen
65.Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper
66.The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card
67.Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
68. The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma

I have stopped making predictions of what I hope to read in the future, because it seems like when I say that I'm planning to read a book...I manage not to do so. Therefore, I'll just tell you what I'm in the middle of - 11/22/68 by Stephen King and also A Matter of Magic by Patricia Wrede.

So, what did I like this year? It was a pretty good year for reading! Two of my favorites were right at the beginning - House at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet as well as The Housekeeper and the Professor. I definitely recommend both of those! I liked A Discovery of Witches and I'm waiting patiently for the sequel (I think it comes out in July). Sarah Addison Allen is one of my favorite authors, and she is usually good for a book each year. The Peach Keeper did not disappoint me. Now that I read back over the list, I almost have to tell you which books I didn't like rather than ones that I did, because I really enjoyed so many of them. Language of Flowers, Unbroken, The Red Garden, Night Road, Divergent....I say it again, it was a good year for reading.

So what's on your bedside table? What do you think I should read in 2012 that I haven't read?

If you want to follow along, I track the books over in the left-hand sidebar of my blog throughout the year. I'm also on GoodReads but, like I said, I seldom rarely never update it.

What I'm Reading Lately...

How to use Google Wave (anyone really get this stuff?)

Quiche in a Loaf

The Reason Social Media Matters for our Kids

S'mores Kits (I am the geekiest person cuz I bookmarked this with "mishloach manot")

What are you reading lately?

81 in 2008 and a Reading Plan for 09

In 2008, I began to keep track of all the books I read. I've always wanted to do this, and I've never done it before. As you can see, I read a lot...and I always felt like I had to "go backwards" and catch up the list...and I knew that was just impossible. So I finally decided to just plunge in. And here it is, the completed list of books I read in 2008:
*YA = Young Adult

1. Deadline by Chris Crutcher YA
2. Hatred for Tulips by Richard Lourie
3. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld YA
4. Specials by Scott Westerfeld YA
5. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale YA
6. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin YA
7. Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs
8. Extras by Scott Westerfeld YA
9. The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
   
10. Away by Amy Bloom
11. Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy YA
12. The Game by Diana Wynne Jones YA
13. Unwind by Neal Schusterman YA
14. Sao Tome by Paul D. Cohn
15. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
16. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
17. Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling
18. Airman by Eoin Colfer YA
    
19. My Enemy's Cradle by Sara Young
20. Mademoiselle Boleyn by Robin Maxwell
21. Dragon Harper by Anne & Todd McCaffrey
22. The Protector's War by S.M. Stirling
23. Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos
24. Meeting at Corvallis by S.M. Stirling
25. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer YA
26. The Sisters Grimm (Book #1) by Michael Buckley (kids)
27. The Seems: A Glitch in Sleep by Hulme and Wexler (kids)
28. The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
29. The Sunrise Lands by S.M. Stirling
30. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
31. The Rabbi of 84th Street by Warren Kozak
32. Winding Ways Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini
33. The Peshawar Lancers by S.M. Stirling
34. The Secret Scroll by Ronald Cutler
35. The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
36. Not Me by Michael Lavigne
37. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
38. Chairman-X by Rami Loya
39. The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center
40. The Host by Stephanie Meyer
41. The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff
42. Anytime Playdate by Dade Hayes
43. Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
44. Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day by J. Hertzberg and Z. Francois
45. Posh by Lucy Jackson
46. Change of Heart by Jodi Piccoult
47. Day of Small Beginnings by Lisa Pearl Rosenbaum
48. Something to Blog About by Shana Norris(YA)
49. The Spinster Sisters
50. By the Rivers of Babylon by Nelson DeMille
51. Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
52. Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva
53. The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry
54. We Plan, God Laughs by Sherre Hirsch
55. Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
56. I Will Not Be Broken by Jerry White
57. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
58. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
59. Address Unknown by Katherine Kressman Taylor
60. Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout
61. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
62. The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
63. The President's Daughter by Ellen Emerson White YA
    
64. White House Autumn by Ellen Emerson White YA
    
65. Long Live the Queen by Ellen Emerson White YA
    
66. Long May She Reign by Ellen Emerson White YA
    
67. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow YA
    
68. The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
69. The Scourge of God by S.M. Stirling
70. The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory
71. The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
72. Quilter's Kitchen by Jennifer Chiaverini
73. Pale of Settlement by Margot Singer
74. The Search Committee by Marc Angel
75. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
76. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
77. Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card
78. Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
79. The German Bride by Joanna Hershon
80. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling
81. Dragonsblood by Todd McCaffrey

Let's break it down....okay, let's not. Eighty-one is a pretty long list. I'm not even sure I could choose a favorite book this year! Some of my favorites were...The People of the Book, definitely, and Airman, and The Search Committee...and, okay I can't choose! I really enjoyed Stirling's Change series. I read the whole set this year. I also read the Uglies/Pretties Series, the Twilight Series, the President's Daughter series (although technically the first 2 or 3 were a re-read), and a couple of Dragon books from the McCaffreys. There was a new Daniel Silva, a new Artemis Fowl, 2 Chiaverini Quilt books (!) and a new Ender book. I only read one book that I thought was so bad I almost didn't put it on the list (it was for a book group that I ended up bailing on, partly because I didn't like the book!) and the rest were all pretty enjoyable. Looking back over hte list is like revisiting a year's worth of friends. And that's a good feeling.

So....What am I going to read in 2009?

After reading Beedle the Bard's stories, I'm definitely going to re-read Harry Potter, Book 7. Plus the 6th movie is coming out, so I'm bound to re-read Book 6 too. On my bedside table right now: Girl from Foreign, The American Wife (hey you lurking....I promise to read it!), The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey, Growing up Digital, Breakfast with Buddha, Shadow Divers, My Holocaust, and Fieldwork: A Novel. (That was mostly from memory, so I might have missed one or two that have been living there a while.)

My book group is doing Hungry Tide, so I'll read that, and I'm leading discussions on As A Driven Leaf and Day of Small Beginnings, so I'll probably re-read both of those as well.

I'm going to take part in two challenges:
2009 Young Adult Book Challenge - Read 12 Young Adult Books
Support Your Local Library Challenge - Read 25 books from the library

and I'm still trying to get organized enough to try reading the Printz Award Challenge. (The Printz Award is for Young Adult literature)

I think it's the organization that trips me up in the reading challenge department. I just like to read and I'm not always very organized about when and what and how. There does seem to be a lot of talk lately about what we're all reading, so I thought I'd put in my 2 shekels too.


What are YOU planning to read in 2009? Any good suggestions for me to add to the list?

All About Motherhood

I participated in MamaBlogga's September Group Writing Project.
Spreading the "link-love" here are all the entries...check 'em out! I've read almost all of them and I must say I was impressed!

• Motherhood is… by Papaya Mom


• Motherhood by Jo Hemmant


• Motherhood is… by Melissa Buker


• Motherhood Is by Elaine


• Motherhood Is… by Summer


• Dichotomy by Robin


• A mother’s brain cracked open by Shawn


• Motherhood is Fulfilling by Amber(homeschooldiva)


• in da ‘hood by stephanie


• Nothing prepared me for what motherhood is by Jen


• What Does Motherhood Mean to Me? by Neena


• My two jobs by Deb - Mom of 3 Girls


• Mother of Many by Donetta


• Motherhood- It’s not what you think by boogiemum


• Nostalgiancholy by swirlingnotions


• Mommy-ing by Phyllis Sommer


• Motherhood is a 10 Letter Word by warillever


• Motherhood Is. . . by Jennifer (JenuineJen)


• Motherhood Is/Means… by Amanda Regan (madamspud169)


• Motherhood - A To Z by Mama Zen


• Group Writing Project: What is Motherhood by Ursula


• The Top Ten Definitions of Motherhood by Kate


• Journey Into the Unknown by bellevelma


• If sweating gets rid of my impurities… by Jenn


• Motherhood Is… by Kymberlyn Steel-Fannin


• Motherhood is . . . by Christy


• Motherhood is an Emotional Rollercoaster by Believer in Balance


• Heaven In Her Smile by Michelle


• “Perfect” versus “Imperfect” by Michelle (beartwinsmom)


• Motherhood is a Marathon, Not a Sprint by Sunny


• The Many Faces of Motherhood by Lynnae


• Motherhood isn’t . . . by Jordan (MamaBlogga). Oh, wait, ME!


• Motherhood Is…Much Funnier After A Nap by Jenner


• I’ve Learnt So Much by Tiffany*


• My Definition by Dawn


• A Mother, Found and Filled by SingForHim


• “I Don’t Have Time For This!” by Lucy


• [late] Motherhood is. . .NOT about me! by Janean

Thursday Thirteen...13 Before the Chagim Come

Here are thirteen things I have to do before Rosh haShanah

1. Find a babysitter for Erev Rosh HaShanah, Rosh HaShanah, Erev Yom Kippur and Yom Kippur (all day). Does this count as one thing or 4?
2. Make sure all my children have clothes to wear to the Family Services on Rosh HaShanah.
3. Work on Sermon...oh wait, start sermons.
4. Pick stories for Family Services, Alternative Services, and the other Family Services.
5. Mark up the Family Service prayerbooks for my new songleader.
6. Decide if I'm going to bake apple cakes for the whole world again. People do love them. I do love making them. How many should I make? It definitely falls into the "I don't know how she does it" category. But do I care about that category?
7. Make sure I have clothes to wear for each service.
8. Schedule a manicure.
9. Take some time to self-prepare for the holidays. My own teshuvah always seems to get neglected. I start with such good intentions.
10. Decide what we're going to do about decorating our sukkah.
11. Plan, if we want to, a Sukkah Open House. I think we'll do it on the day of the Sukkah Trolley Ride, since we are a stop...and we won't have to ride the trolley except to our house and then we can be done! I think this is a great plan. Guess I should check with my hubby...
12. Convince the baby to sleep through the night.
13. Get over whatever bug is making me sick right now. Sore throat, headache....feels like strep but the rapid test was negative. I know this too shall pass. But look at this list!!!!!

I do love the High Holy Days. But the lists always seem to creep up on me! I thought Thursday Thirteen was a great idea for today's post. See more Thursday Thirteen here...

a To Do List

1. Clean the basement


2. Organize David's closet (put away old clothes)


3. Sort through the clothes I acquired at the rummage sale


4. Go to the gym


5. Start thinking about the High Holy Days


6. Start freaking out about the High Holy Days


7. Find a babysitter for Labor Day Weekend


8. Find a babysitter for Hebrew School Wednesdays


9. Buy Harry's camera for graduation


10. Finish Rashi's Daughters: Book 2


11. Sleep more.


12. Go to the gym


13. Did I mention go to the gym?


14. Stop blogging and start doing!

Haven't disappeared

I'm still here.

I promise to:

1. blog this week.
2. go to the gym.
3. get ready for camp.
4. do all the other things on my to-do list!

Yeah, right.

I love Mam Pacis!

Why? Because FINALLY, finally!!!! Yael is taking a paci, and it's the Mam variety. This is good good good because ...

1. It helps her to soothe herself.
2. It keeps her sleeping longer/quieter.
3. It helps her get to sleep easier.
4. It looks different from Sam's pacifiers!

What a lovely list.

Oh thank goodness for pacifiers.