Five years ago I began keeping a list of the books I read. Looking back at year end allows me to evaluate how I spent my time.
Usually, I complete 15-20 books–a mix of middle grade works and adult fiction and non-fiction. The high count of 29 books on my 2009 list surprised me, until I realized that six were children’s picture books.
Typically, one book stands out as the most compelling read for that year. As I reviewed the fifteen books I completed in 2012, I recalled my days of total immersion in two very different books. One offered outstanding research and exceptional writing (it was a Pulitzer Prize finalist) and the other a unique yet believable point of view.
Here are my ”stand out” books from the past five years of reading:
2012 Empire of the Summer Moon – Non-fiction, S.C. Gwynne
Memoir of an Imaginary Friend – Fiction, Matthew Dicks
2011 DOC: A Novel – Historical Fiction, Mary Doria Russell
2010 An Absence So Great – Historical Fiction, Jane Kirkpatrick
2009 Blood and Thunder – Non-fiction, Hampton Sides
2008 All Over But The Shoutin’ – Memoir, Rick Bragg
I look forward to lots of great reads in 2013. I’m already wait-listed for two new books at my local library and have a Christmas gift book downloaded on my Kindle. I hope that you, too, enjoy great reading in the new year.
Note: some of the books listed were not published in the year I read them.
