2010 in Books :-)

I did it! I set out in last January to read one hundred books this year, and I read one hundred and four.

Of course, I read fifteen of those books in December to make it all possible, but hey - better late than never, right?

Books in bold are favs. Books both big and bold are the favs that I know for sure I'm gonna re-read. :-)

Here we go, without further ado, the books I read in 2010:

1. The Horse and His Boy, by C. S. Lewis*
2. Prince Caspian, by C. S. Lewis*
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C. S. Lewis* (no, I haven't seen the movie yet.)
4. The Silver Chair, by C. S. Lewis*
5. The Last Battle, by C. S. Lewis*
6. When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead
7. How I Became A Popular Novelist, by Steve Hely
8. The Amaranth Enchantment, by Julie Berry
9. The Magician's Elephant, by Kate DiCamillo
10. Committed, by Elizabeth Gilbert
11. Warriors 1: Into the Wild, by Erin Hunter
12. Warriors 2: Fire & Ice, by Erin Hunter
13. Warriors 3: Forest of Secrets, by Erin Hunter
14. Warriors 4: Rising Storm, by Erin Hunter
15. Warriors 5: A Dangerous Path, by Erin Hunter
16. Warriors 6: The Darkest Hour, by Erin Hunter
17. Bras and Broomsticks, by Sarah Mlynowski
18. Seekers 1: The Quest Begins, by Erin Hunter
19. Impossible, by Nancy Werlin
20. The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein
21. The Good Dog, by Avi*
22. The Thirteenth Princess, by Diane Zahler*
23. Deerskin, by Robin McKinley*
24. The Wolf Almanac, by Robert H. Busch
25. The Voice of the Coyote, by J. Frank Doble
26. Fox, by Martin Wallen
27. Kushiel's Dart, by Jacqueline Carey
28. The Books of Umber: Happenstance Found, by P.W. Catanese
29. Eric Rex: The Dragon Eye, by Kaza Knightley
30. Falling In, by Frances O’Roark Dowell
31. Atherton: House of Power, by Patrick Carman
32. Fablehaven 1, by Brandon Mull*
33. Calamity Jack (graphic novel galley), by Hale, Hale, Hale
34. The Hidden Life of Dogs, by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
35. Girl Meets Boy, by Meg Cabot*
36. Brightly Woven, by Alexandra Bracken
37. A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray, by Ann Martin
38. The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruis Zafon
39. Bridget Jones' Diary, by Helen Fielding
40. Bridget Jones' Diary: The Edge of Reason, by Helen Fielding
41. The Social Life of Dogs, by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
42. Escaping into the Open: The Art of Writing True, by Elizabeth Berg
43. On Writing, by Stephen King
44. The DUFF, by Kody Keplinger
45. The Monsters of Templeton, by Lauren Groff
46. The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan
47. Letters to a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke*
48. The Two Princess of Bamarre, by Gail Carson Levine*
49. Fairest, by Gail Carson Levine*
50. Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine*
51. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, by Katherine Howe
52. Peter Pan in Scarlet, by Geraldine McCaugheran
53. The Zahir, by Paulo Coelho
54. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, by Avi*
55. The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls
56. Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater
57. InCarceron, by Catherine Fisher
58. Fablehaven 2: Rise of the Evening Star, by Brandon Mull
59. Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman
60. The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows*
61. Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
62. Absolutely Normal Chaos, by Sharon Creech*
63. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins*
64. Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins*
65. Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling*
66. Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling*
67. The Magicians, by Lev Grossman
68. The Books of Elsewhere 1: The Shadows, by Jacqueline West
69. Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
70. The Thirteenth Child, by Patricia Wrede
71. Mistwood, by Leah Cypress
72. Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld
73. A Tale Dark and Grimm (galley), by Adam Gitdwitz
74. Matched (galley), by Ally Condie
75. Thirteen Treasures, by Michelle Harrison
76. Tempestuous (galley), by Leslie Livingston
77. Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women, by Harriet Reisen
78. Jellicoe Road, by Melina Marchetta
79. Delirium (galley), by Lauren Oliver
80. Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother & Daughter Journey to the Sacred Places of Greece, Turkey, and France, by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kid Taylor
81. The Cleft, by Doris Lessing
82. The Professor & the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, by Simon Winchestor
83. Iron John, by Robert Bly
84. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, by Helen Simonson
85. Catherine the Great: Love, Sex, & Power, by Virginia Rounding
86. Fablehaven 3: Grip of the Shadow Plague, by Brandon Mull
87. Fablehaven 4: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary, by Brandon Mull
88. Fablehaven 5: Keys to the Demon Prison, by Brandon Mull
89. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling* (but I read it after seeing the movie.)
90. Finnikin of the Rock, by Melina Marchetta
91. Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg*
92. Crown Duel, by Sherwood Smith*
93. The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan
94. Books of Bayern: The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale*
95. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, by Neil Postman
96. Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling*
97. My Name is Memory, by Ann Brashares
98. The Genius Files #1: Mission Unstoppable, by Dan Gutman
99. A Vintage Affair, by Isabel Wolff
100. Deception: A Haunting Emma Novel, by Lee Nichols
101. Keeper, by Kathi Appelt
102. The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd
103. The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family, by Mary S. Lovell
104. The Lace Makers of Glenmara, by Heather Barbiera

*Confession: these are the books that I re-read. Yes, of course that counts. Don't be silly. *looks away guiltily* But most of them are already favs, so I'm not bolding them.

Happy New Years, everyone!

Operation: Reading Like a Reader - Accomplished!

 There is something deeply satisfying about re-reading something you wrote long ago.

I'm not trying to brag. This novel from college isn't great literature. For as many moments where I went Wow, that was actually good, there was a bit of dialogue that made me cringe. The satisfaction I'm talking about isn't the same that I feel when reading or re-reading something like Nicole Krauss's The History of Love or Markus Zusak's The Book Thief.

It's more about reading something uniquely and completely suited to me. It feels much like when you're pulling on a pair of your favorite jeans - the kind that fit just perfectly, the ones that you know you'll need to abandon soon, since they're fraying in all the wrong places.

Anyway, I finished it. All 197K words (am suddenly shocked that it's that long).

I had the same trouble that I had with the Twilight saga. I couldn't make myself go to bed. It obviously didn't have anything to do with finding out the ending. For one, it's a retelling of Pride and Prejudice; it's not really going to deviate from a plot I've watched a million times on BBC.

For two, I wrote it. You might say that would obligate me to remember.

But actually, it was funnier than I remembered. I didn't recall all the dialogue I put in there, nor all the romantic moments between Lizzy Bennett and Will Darcy. I kept stumbling over favorite passages that I had no recollection of.

For example, here's one of my favorite non-funny parts, right before Lizzy finds out about Lydia and Wickham, and a scene before Will arrives to comfort her:

There are moments in life when someone needs someone else, and Lizzy had structured her life against these moments. She’d fortified herself from them. To be independent, she’d navigated herself around their onslaught. But sadly, no plan is fool-proof, and this world is too crowded for anyone to be alone forever.

!!!!

That part's a little more Eliot than Austen, but still! I completely forgot that I ever had that thought in my head, and I am incredibly impressed with my nineteen year old self.

I look forward to re-reading the works that I am writing now and the works that I will write someday. That sounds terrible - like arrogance. But I mention it, because I have a vague memory in my head: In middle school, an author came to speak to the students - it might have been Ann Rinaldi. I don't remember much of the speech, but I remember her saying that she couldn't ever re-read any of her books (and Ann Rinaldi has written a lot, forty at least). She said that she couldn't stand it, because she always thought of how she could write it better.

I find that tragic. Toni Morrison is often quoted to say, "If there's a book you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” I hope everyone can aspire to become their own first reader. After all, at the very least, you'll have to read and re-read it during the revision process. At the very most, there is a story that you are aching to read, and the only way to accomplish it is to bring that story into the world.

(P.S. Did you notice how faux-19th C. British my prose got? I'm quite impressionable.)