Talk Healthy

Anyone care to share what they read (if you track this, of course)? Here's mine, with the 5-point scale I stole from Rowan:

1. The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten (NF) 3.5
2. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris 2.5
3. Room by Emma Donoghue 4
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 4.5
5. What to Eat by Marion Nestle (NF) 5
6. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood 3
7. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger 5
8. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris 3
9. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson 3.5
10. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson 3
11. The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno 3
12. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris 3
13. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (audio) 4.5 (<-- I suspect this would have been a 5 had I read it. I know I missed stuff in the audio and really need to read it to catch everything)
14. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris 3
15. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (audio) 4.5
16. I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb 4
17. Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls (audio) 3.5
18. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (audio, NF) 4

A good bit of mediocre stuff, which is disappointing (though expected, I suppose, with 4 Charlaine Harris books in there), but the ones that were good were REALLY good.

Here's mine. Sorry for the odd formatting - its an Excel file and I'm too lazy to fix. Total of 93.

3 Blame Michelle Huneven
3 Such a Pretty Face Cathy Lamb
3 Virals Kathy Reichs
3 The Day the Falls Stood Still Cathy Marie Buchanan
3.5 Packing for Mars Mary Roach
4 The Day the World Came to Town Jim DeFede
3.5 Veracity Laura Bynum
4 The Lock Artist Steve Hamilton
3.5 Sworn to Silence Linda Castillo
3.5 Lottery Patricia Wood
3.5 The Neighbors are Watching Debra Ginsberg
2.5 Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler Wade Rouse
3 Pictures of You Caroline Leavitt
3.5 Left Neglected Lisa Genova
2 The Cookbook Collector Allegra Goodman
2.5 Ladder of Years Anne Tyler
3 29 Adena Halpern
2 Cum Laude Cecily von Ziegesar
3 Learning to Swim Sara J Henry
3 Panic Attack Jason Starr
3 Red Hook Road Ayelet Waldman
4 gods in Alabama Joshilyn Jackson
3 I Think I Love You Allison Pearson
3.5 Pray for Silence Linda Castillo
3.5 The Night Season Chelsea Cain
4 A Discovery of Witches Deborah Harkness
3 Without Mercy Lisa Jackson
3 Just Let Me Lie Down Kristin van Ogtrop
3 Dead Reckoning Charlaine Harris
3 Deep Down True Juliette Fay
2 The Other Family Joanna Trollope
3.5 Await Your Reply Dan Chaon
3.5 Reality Check Peter Abrahams
2.5 Sing You Home Jodi Picoult
3 The Weird Sisters Eleanor Brown
3 If You Were Here Jen Lancaster
3 Save Me Lisa Scottoline
1 Family Ties Danielle Steele
3 Love You More Lisa Gardner
4 Faith Jennifer Haigh
2.5 Parents Behaving Badly Scott Gummer
3 Swamplandia! Karen Russell
3 Swim Back to Me Ann Packer
3 In Zanesville Jo Ann Beard
3 Wicked Appetite Janet Evanovich
4 The Cradle Patrick Somerville
4 Broken for You Stephanie Kallos
4 Creep Jennifer Hillier
3.5 One Summer David Baldacci
3.5 Turn of Mind Alice LaPlante
3 The Girl Who Disappeared Twice Andrea Kane
4 These Things Hidden Heather Gudenkauf
4 Maine J. Courtney Sullivan
4 You’re Not You Michelle Wildgen
3 Writing Great Books for Young Adults Regina Brooks
4 The Nobodies Album Carolyn Parkhurst
4 Silver Girl Elin Hilderbrand
4 The Hungry Season T. Greenwood
3.5 Then Came You Jennifer Weiner
2.5 Autobiography of a Fat Bride Laurie Notaro
3.5 Never Knowing Chevy Stevens
3 Die Trying Lee Child
3.5 Deadly Decisions Kathy Reichs
4 The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Steig Larsson
3 The Gap Year Sara Bird
2.5 This Beautiful Life Helen Schulman
2.5 Organizing Your Day Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims
2 Managing Your Time to Reduce Your Stress Rita Emmett
4 The Girl Who Played with Fire Steig Larsson
1 Reboot Your Career Peter J. Fogel
2.5 Triangles Ellen Hopkins
3 All These Things I've Done Gabrielle Zevin
2 Eighteen Minutes Peter Bregmna
2 Smart Couples Finish Rich David Bach
3 Groundswell Katie Lee
2 Getting Things Done David Allen
2.5 Blueprints for Building Better Girls Elissa Schappell
2.5 Viola in Reel Life Adriana Trigiani
3.5 Compound SA Bodeen
3 Delirious Daniel Palmer
3 Emily and Einstein Linda Francis Lee
3 Blink and Caution Tim Wynne-Jones
3.5 Perfect Ellen Hopkins
4 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Ransom Riggs
3 I Am J Cris Beam
2.5 Wish You Were Dead Todd Strasser
2.5 Zone One Colson Whitehead
3 Then I Met My Sister Christine Hurley Denso
3 On Writing Stephen King
3 It's Hard Not to Hate You Valerie Frankel
3.5 Fatal Voyage Kathy Reichs
3 Grave Secrets Kathy Reichs
1 420 Characters Lou Beach

It wasn't my best year both in quality and quantity. Given that I read a total of 4 books in the Apr-Jun timeframe while I was studying for my exam it was decent. But there is a handful of 4 star books so it really wasn't too shabby.

Some of these books I got as recommendations here so thank you!!!! And keep them coming!

Safe Strategies for Financial Freedom - Van Tharp 3*
Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom - Van Tharp 2*
Cold Hard Truth: On Business, Money & Life - Kevin O'Leary 3*
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything - Joshua Foer 3*
A Spot of Bother (Vintage) - Mark Haddon 2.5*
The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition) - Benjamin Graham 4* (in an informative way, it's not exactly a thrilling read)
The Lazy Investor - Derek Foster 4*
I'd Know You Anywhere: A Novel - Laura Lippman 4*
The Two Minute Rule - Robert Crais 5* (in an entertaining way, it's not great literature but it was a page-turner)
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini 5*
Ubik - Philip K. Dick 3*
The Accidental Time Machine - Joe Haldeman 5*
Still Alice - Lisa Genova 5*
Adventures: The Chronicles of Lucifer Jones Volume I - Mike Resnick 2*
3,096 Days - Natascha Kampusch 2.5*
The Good Daughters: A Novel - Joyce Maynard 4*
My Booky Wook - Russell Brand 3.5*
Slam - Nick Hornby 5*
Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray 2*
A Discovery of Witches: A Novel - Deborah E. Harkness 3*
I Am Legend - Richard Matheson 4*
Townie: A Memoir - Andre Dubus III 3*
1984 - George Orwell
Bike Snob: Systematically & Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling - Christopher Koelle
Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology (P.S.) - Eric Brende 3*
An Object of Beauty: A Novel - Steve Martin 4.5*
Room: A Novel - Emma Donoghue - haven't actually finished this yet
Swamplandia! - Karen Russell 4*
The New Space Opera 2 - Gardner Dozois 3*
Coraline - Neil Gaiman (Author) Dave Mckean (Illustrator) 4*
Your Money Milestones: A Guide to Making the 9 Most Important Financial Decisions of Your Life - Moshe A. Milevsky
Words the Dog Knows - J. R. Carpenter 4*
Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain - Portia de Rossi 3.5*
This Is Where We Live: A Novel - Janelle Brown 4.5*
The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett 5*
The Girl Who Played with Fire (Vintage) - Stieg Larsson 4*
Mud, Sweat, and Gears: A Rowdy Family Bike Adventure Across Canada on Seven Wheels - Joe Kurmaskie 3*
Bicycle Diaries - David Byrne 3*

Holy shit! You guys read a LOT. I almost can't even remember what I read this year. Do you guys keep a list going all year? You must....

I try to keep my reads updated in Librarything. I have a feeling I missed out one or two this year but I can't remember. I like being able to look back and see all the books I read.

I'll have to go through my Kindle archive to see what I've read. Will post tonight...

I've kept a handwritten book journal since 2003. At the end of the year, I also convert it to an Excel file.

I like to keep track of what I've read, liked, etc.

Spudd wrote:I try to keep my reads updated in Librarything. I have a feeling I missed out one or two this year but I can't remember. I like being able to look back and see all the books I read.

That's what I do, too, but this year I didn't do a good job of tracking it.

My list is at home. I'm still at the beach.

I was tracking mine in my actual library account (they had a section where you could make lists) and in December they switched to a new format and I lost everything. This year I'm keeping mine in a written notebook!

Boo mellen! What a bummer that they did that and didn't give you warning. I was looking forward to your list too - I'm always so impressed with the breadth of your reading choices.

I've been in such a reading slump since October or so that I was feeling pretty dismal about my 2011 book list ... looking back, I was glad to see that I did manage to read some good books during the year after all!

Isle of Palms by Dorothea Benton Frank -- light entertainment that felt like it was aiming to be more than that; still it was okay

Man Walks into a Room by Nicole Krauss -- very good, but also sad; sort of the same feel as Joshua Ferris's The Unnamed

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters -- LOVED it. My favorite of her books.

This Body of Death by Elizabeth George -- good but depressing

Room by Emma Donoghue -- very good; I find myself still thinking about it, months after I read it

Case Histories
One Good Turn
When Will There Be Good News?
Started Early, Took My Dog -- this is a detective series by Kate Atkinson. I liked them a lot -- each one is better than the last -- and am waiting eagerly for the next installment.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters -- another good one

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides -- I can't say enough good things about this book.

Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger -- Meh.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen -- Fantastic read

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake -- so bad that I threw it away when I was done reading it, and I NEVER throw away books

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman -- standard Hoffman stuff, but since her standard is very good, I'm not complaining

Rockabye: from Wild to Child by Rebecca Woolf -- she writes the blog Girl's Gone Child, and it's pretty much the same as her blog. It was all right, but sort of shallow and pretentious at the same time. Her writing is better in small doses, I think.

Beverly, I'm about to start This Body of Death. My mom loved it.

I'm home now, but too lazy to post my list I'll try to do it some time this week.

I wonder if you guys will be able to see my GoodReads list if I link to it? Let's try. This is all of the ones I've put in but it's ordered by most recent.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/87 ... shelf=read

Blush, that worked! Cool.