Wednesday, July 27, 2011

remember that book...?

I'm the manager of a bookstore/cafe during the day and often get asked the following questions: 1) Can you recommend a good book for me to read?, 2) What are you reading now?, 3)Do you read a lot?, and 4)Do you sell lottery tickets here? (The last one gets asked more than you'd believe.)

Anyhow, by the nature of my job, I come in contact with more books than anyone could ever read or even remember seeing. I read fairly regularly and usually have a book or two (or three) I'm in the middle of. I am not, however, good at remembering all the books I have read. So I decided to make a list of the books I have read (so far) in 2011. Of course, I didn't officially start keeping track until March, so I may have already forgotten a book or two.

This isn't for really any purpose other than just my personal knowledge of what I've read this year. I don't have any book goals or a certain number of books that I'm aiming for, I just wanted to see what types of books I usually read.

I'd say by looking at the list below, if you know me, these titles seem like things I'd read. If you have any interest in seeing my progress, I've included a "Book" tab at the top of the blog. I'll continue to update books I read on that page. Also, I'll include some of my favorite craft and cooking books I've come across lately.
So....
Books I've Read in 2011 (as of July 27th):

1- The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride- Daniel James Brown
2- The Coast of Maine – Louise Rich Dickinson
3- The Orchard: A Memoir – Adele Crockett Robertson
4- From Off Island – Dionis Coffin Riggs
5- How Did You Get This Number – Sloane Crosley
6- The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family – Jim Minick
7- The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love – Kristin Kimball
8- Mary: A Flesh and Blood Biography of the Virgin Mary – Lesley Hazleton
9- Hay Fever: How Chasing a Dream on a Vermont Farm Changed My Life – Angela Miller
10- Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide – Brett McCracken
11- Spencer’s Mountain – Earl Hamner (reread)
12- Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout
13- Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World –Suzanna Woods Fisher
14- Growing A Farmer –Kurt Timmermeister
15- The Salt House – Cynthia Huntington
16- Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World – Mark Frauenfelder
17- Mirror Mirror- Gregory Maguire
18- We Took To the Woods – Louise Rich Dickinson
19- That Summer on Catalpa Street – Louise Pliss
20- Adventures With Hal – Gladys Baker Bond
21- Lemon Jelly Cake- Madeline Babcock Smith

2 comments:

Hilary said...

I did this last year! This is a comprehensive list of all the books I read in 2010. Most were read on the train as I commuted to and from work. I kept a running list in the notepad on my iphone.

------1Q------
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
By Barbara Kingsolver

Girls Against Girls
By Bonnie Burton

Uglies
By Scott Westerfeld

The Ambassadors
By Henry James

Fortune Cookie Chronicles
By Jennifer Lee

You Were Always Moms Favorite: Sisters in Conversation Throughout Their Lives
By Deborah Tannen

What Makes Sammy Run
By Budd Schulberg

Time Traveler's Wife
By Audrey Niffenegger

Moral Disorder
By Margaret Atwood

Growing a Girl
By Barbara Mackoff

Franny and Zooey
By JD Salinger

------2Q------
Swann's Way
By Marcel Proust

Clothes For a Summer Hotel
By Tennessee Williams

Pretties
By Scott Westerfeld

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress
By Rhoda Janzen

Capital I
By Karl Marx

Specials
By Scott Westerfeld

Same Kind of Different as Me
By Ron Hall and Denver Moore

Running With Scissors
By Augusten Burroughs

Summer Sisters
By Judy Blume

New Year's Quilt
By Jennifer Chiaverini

Aloha Quilt
By Jennifer Chiaverini

Death Comes to the Archbishop
By Willa Cather

Prodigal Summer
By Barbara Kingsolver

The Collected Works of Flannery O'Connor
By Flannery O'Connor

The Red Rose Crew
By Daniel Boyne

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
By Stieg Larsson

Plain Secrets: An Outsider Among the Amish
By Joe Mackall

-------3Q--------
The Trial
By Franz Kafka

Black Water Rising
By Attica Locke

Nine Stories
By J.D. Salinger

The Waves
By Virginia Woolf

A Gate at the Stairs
By Lorrie Moore

The Imperfectionists
By Tom Rachman

Sex With the Queen
By Eleanor Herman

----------4Q----------
Night and Day
By Virginia Woolf

Every Man Dies Alone
By Hans Fallada

Shades of Grey
By Jasper Fforde

Severed Wasp
By Madeleine L'Engle

Tributary said...

Quite a complete list! I've only read 3.5 books on your 2010 list: 1- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle 2- Mennonite in a Little Black Dress 3-Summer Sisters and 3.5 - Plain Secrets (I just read half, and then the book was due/requested and I forgot about getting it out again.)