Books I Read in 2009

Being dyslexic (mildly so compared to some I've known) I'm not a speed reader. I don't skim well. If I do start skimming I know the book is not holding my interest. When I'm caught up in a book I read every single word, every sentence. Maybe it's just me (I'm hoping there are others out there who experience the same thing) but when I'm reading and I put down the book I often forget the story. YET when I pick it back up, everything comes rushing back, like a fast moving high tide. Suddenly I'm in the middle of it all up to my knees getting soaking wet. Sometimes, when a story really has a hold on me, when I go to sleep, I continue the story in my head.

I decided in January of this year that's I'd keep a list of what I'd read. It's a hodge-podge, eclectic. But then, so am I; a hodge-podge of genetic material that had an eclectic childhood. This leads, I hope over time, to eccentricity. If I'm not there yet, I hope to be real soon. I plan to keep a list each year from now on. I have linked to some of the authors, who are also fellow bloggers.

My 2009 Reading List

1. Nation – Terry Pratchett
2. The Wanderer – Sharon Creech
3. Word Magic – Cindy Rogers
4. I Capture the Castle – Dodie Smith
5. Lawn Boy – Gary Paulsen
6. Dairy Queen – Catherine Gilbert Murdock
7. Hattie Big Sky – Kirby Larson
8. Me and the Pumpkin Queen - Marlane Kenedy
9. The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman
10. Alex and the Ironic Gentleman – Adrienne Kress
11. The Devil’s Arithmetic – Jane Yolan
12. Wabi-Sabi for Writers – Richard R. Powel
13. A Great and Terrible Beauty – Robin McKinley
14. Freedom in Exile – The 14th Dalai Lama
15. Writing Down the Bones – Natalie Goldberg
16. Sorcery – Terry Pratchett
17. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks – E. Lockhart
18. Chains – Laurie Halse Anderson
19. The Forest of Hands and Teeth – Carrie Ryan
20. Wintergirls – Laurie Halse Anderson
21. The Adoration of Jenna Fox – Mary E. Pearson
22. The Shape of Water – Anne Spollen
23. Algernon, Charlie and I – Daniel Keyes
24. The Chocolate War – Robert Cormier
25. The Gift of Rain – Tan Twan Eng
26. The Treasure in the Little Trunk – Helen Fuller Orton
27. When the Whistle Blows – Fran Cannon Slayton
28. The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga
29. Telex From Cuba – Rachel Kushner
30. Sliding on the Edge – C. Lee McKenzie
31. Library Lion – Michelle Knudsen
32. Listening for Lions – Gloria Whelam
33. When You Reach Me – Rebecca Stead
34. What’s Upstairs – Avi
35. Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree – Lauren Tarshis
36. Truckers – Terry Pratchett
37. Which Witch – Eva Ibbotson
38. Loser – Jerry Spinelli
39. A Crooked Kind of Perfect – Linda Urban
40. Home and Other Big Fat Lies – Jill Wolfson
41. Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher – Bruce Coville
42. A Long Way from Chicago – Gary Paulsen
43. Dog Gone – Cynthia Chapman Wills
44. The Haritage of Hastur - A Darkover Novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley (a reread after many, many years.)
45. Protector - Larry Niven

Do you have a list of books you read during 2009? Any favorites? It's not a children's book, but I have to say The Gift of Rain was stunning, absolutely stunning.