So, I took a bit of a reading vacation. I decided that I would only read the books that I wanted to read, and would not worry about how much I read, or about reading the books everyone's talking about. I started this at the end of June when I was going to be spending a lot of time in airports and on planes. I'd been wanting to read Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall for some time, so I decided that would be a perfect book to bring along. I got about halfway through when I returned from all my traveling, and managed to finish it over the next month. For the rest of the year I've continued to read, but have slowed down the pace. Now I'm focusing on the books I need to read (or re-read) for book discussion, and the books I really want to read.
As much as I love being a librarian, I think that one of the problems inherent with the job is the danger of losing the joy of reading. Keeping up with the reading interests of our patrons is an important part of the job, and can become a chore, rather than something done for pleasure. So my goal for 2014 is to not worry about how much I read, but to slow down and savor each book.
With that introduction, I'm presenting the list of books I did read in 2013. Feel free to ask me about any of them; despite my sluggish attitude this year, I do still love talking about books. Happy New Year, and Happy Reading.
Books Read - 2013
1. Smith, Amy - All Roads Lead to Austen
2.
Martel, Yann - The Life of
Pi (Book Discussion)
3. Hoffman, Beth -
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
4. Evans, Rachel
Held - A Year of Biblical Womanhood
5.
Manzano, Sonia - The
Revolution of Evelyn Serrano (Juvenile Fiction)
6.
Dallas, Sandra - The Persian
Pickle Club (Re-read for Book
Discussion)
7.
Bradley, Alan - Speaking
from Among the Bones
8.
Donovan, Jeremy - How to
Deliver a Ted Talk
9.
Taub, Patricia - The Mother
of My Invention
10.
Kidder, Tracy and Todd, Richard - Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction
11.
Pym, Barbara - A Glass of
Blessings (Re-read)
12.
Martin, Demetri - This Is a
Book
13. Grissom,
Kathleen - The Kitchen House (Book Discussion)
14. Wodehouse, P.G.
- Right Ho, Jeeves (Re-read)
15. Patchett, Ann -
Bel Canto (Book Discussion)
16.
Crombie, Deborah - The Sound
of Broken Glass
17.
Jennings, Ken - Because I
Said So
18.
Fuller, Gary - The Trivia
Lover's Guide to the World
19. Haruf, Kent - Benediction
20.
Clayton, Meg Waite - The
Four Ms Bradwells (Book Discussion – skype with author!)
21. Haruf, Kent - The Tie that Binds
22. Beaton, M.C. - Death of Yesterday
23. Moore, Edward
Kelsey - The Supremes at Earl's
All-You-Can-Eat
24.
Close, Jennifer - The Smart
One
25.
Fforde, Jasper - The Eyre
Affair (Book Discussion)
26.
Lipman, Elinor - The View
from Penthouse B
27. Sloan, Robin - Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
28. Semple, Maria -
This One Is Mine
29. Fowler, Therese
Ann - Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
30. Arsenault,
Emily - The Broken Teaglass
31. Wein, Elizabeth
- Code Name Verity (Young Adult –
audiobook)
32.
Barnes, Julian - The Sense
of an Ending ( Book Discussion)
33.
Hainey, Michael - After
Visiting Friends: A Son's Story
34. Koppel, Lily - The Astronaut Wives Club
35.
Sedaris, David - Let's
Explore Diabetes with Owls (audiobook)
36. Potok, Chaim - The Chosen
37.
Cullen, Lisa Takeuchi - Pastor's
Wives
38.
Ryan, Tom - Following
Atticus (Book Discussion)
39. Gaffigan, Jim -
Dad Is Fat
40. Salzman, Mark -
The Soloist (re-read for Book
Discussion)
41. Grabenstein,
Chris - Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's
Library (Juvenile Fiction)
42. Mantel, Hilary
- Wolf Hall
43.
Lethal, Mac - Texts from
Bennett
44. Lutz, Lisa - The Last Word
45. Moran, Johanna
- The Wives of Henry Oades (Re-read for Book Discussion)
46.
Goolrick, Robert - A
Reliable Wife (Re-read for Book Discussion)
47. Paton, Alan - Cry the Beloved Country (Re-read)
48.
Steinbeck, John - Travels
with Charley: In Search of America (Re-read for Book Discussion)
49.
Thompson, Jean - The Year We
Left Home
50. Bradley, Alan -
The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
51.
Skloot, Rebecca - The
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Book Discussion)
52.
Mantel, Hilary - Bring Up the
Bodies
53. Pullman, Philip
- Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm
54. O'Flynn,
Catherine - Mr. Lynch's Holiday
55. Steadman, M.L.
- The Light Between Oceans (Book
Discussion)
56.
Faulks, Sebastian - Jeeves
and the Wedding Bells
57. Zierman, Addie
- When We Were on Fire
58. Smith,
Alexander McCall - The Minor Adjustment
Beauty Salon
59.
Setterfield, Diane - The
Thirteenth Tale (Re-read for Book Discussion)
60.
Semple, Maria - Where'd You
Go, Bernadette (Re-read for Book Discussion)
61. Attenberg,
Jamie - The Middlesteins (Re-read for
Book Discussion)
