My goal for 2008 was to read 50 books. If I finish Bleak House in the next 2 days (hah! I'm at about 375 out of 900 pages), I will have read 81 books -- 28575 pages. It was nice to get back to reading this year. Z's time in preschool and the fact that he turned 4 and is much more self-entertaining both helped a bunch. Here are the books that I finished this year with links to my reviews if I wrote one --
Sleeping Murder - Agatha Christie
The Ladies of Grace Adieu - Susanna Clarke
The Quincunx - Charles Palliser
Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
The Dream Stealer - Gregory Maguire
The Observations - Jane Harris
Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog - Boris Akunin
Miss or Mrs., The Haunted Hotel, The Guilty River - Wilkie Collins
The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole
Kept - D.J. Taylor
Double Sin and other stories - Agatha Christie
The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar … - Daniel Stashower
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling (re-read)
Armadale - Wilkie Collins
Special Assignments: The Further Adventures of Erast Fandorin - Boris Akunin
The Sun Over Breda - Arturo Perez-Reverte
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul - Douglas Adams (re-read)
The Blackest Bird - Joel Rose
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Volume I - Diana Wynne Jones
The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear - Walter Moers
No Name - Wilkie Collins
The Restaurant at the End of the World - Douglas Adams (re-read)
Life, the Universe and Everything - Douglas Adams (re-read)
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (re-read)
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Volume II - Diana Wynne Jones
The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories - Agatha Christie
The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Volume III - Diana Wynne Jones
The Secret Adversary - Agatha Christie
The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Winter Queen - Boris Akunin (re-read)
The Interpretation of Murder - Jed Rubenfeld
The Club Dumas - Arturo Perez-Reverte (re-read)
Partners in Crime - Agatha Christie
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas - Jules Verne
N or M? - Agatha Christie
Aurora Floyd - Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Dumb Witness - Agatha Christie
Murder in the Museum of Man - Alfred Acorn (re-read)
Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories - Various (14) (re-read)
Murder in the Mews - Agatha Christie
Murder on the Leviathan - Boris Akunin (re-read)
Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones (re-read)
The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman
The Story of Lucy Gault - William Trevor
Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman
Mixed Magics - Diana Wynne Jones
The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Brian Selznick
The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman
We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson
Memento Mori - Muriel Spark
Creepers - Joanne Dahme
Dark Lord of Derkholm - Diana Wynne Jones
The Glass of Time - Michael Cox
The Mysterious Benedict Society - Trenton Lee Stewart
Dissolution - C.J. Sansom
Year of the Griffin - Diana Wynne Jones
Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie
84, Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff
The Sister - Poppy Adams
A Vengeful Longing - R. N. Morris
House of Many Ways - Diana Wynne Jones
The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett
Coraline - Neil Gaiman
False Colours - Georgette Heyer
The Dark Lantern - Gerri Brightwell
The Ghost Writer - John Harwood
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle
Murder on the Eiffel Tower - Claude Izner
Righting the Mother Tongue: From Olde English to Email … - David Wolman
A Death in Vienna - Frank Tallis
Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
The Spiritualist - Megan Chance
Conan Doyle's Wallet: The Secrets Within - Patrick McNamara
What-the-Dickens - Gregory Maguire
Simon the Coldheart - Georgette Heyer
A Beautiful Blue Death - Charles Finch
Kiki's Delivery Service - Eiko Kadono
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street - Helene Hanff
Bleak House - Charles Dickens (in progress)
Some of my favorite new-to-me authors of this year were Neil Gaiman, Helene Hanff and Georgette Heyer. The books I enjoyed the most were Armadale, The Glass of Time, the His Dark Materials trilogy and Good Omens. In the coming year, I look forward to reading all of my new Christmas books, some ARCs that I have received and a few sequels to books I read this year.
Wishing you a happy New Year!
K
Kristen, I'm new to your blog. Came over from A READER'S JOURNAL. Great list for 2008. Many books that I would like to read and some that I already have. I'll be stopping by to see what you're up to.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous year. I've spent a little time looking over your list but I'm going to have to come back when I have more time. I want to add some to my list.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy a wonderful year, Kristen. I sure appreciate you leaving a comment on my blog so I could add you to my list and I can come visiting more often.