Happily, for some of this year I had the wonderful Readernaut to keep track of these thing for me. I’m probably missing a few, and they are out of order, but here goes.
The Other Boleyn Girl (Philippa Gregory) — I read this just in advance of the movie coming out. The movie is not really like the book, but the book is not really like history, so that’s okay.
In Defense of Food (Michael Pollan) — I read this book of practical eating advice mostly at Braves games.
Cloud Atlas (David Mitchell) — This was a loaner from Shaun that I actually mostly read on the train. Absolutely incredible weaving of stories together.
Amsterdam (Ian McEwan) — I borrowed this from Emma and read it as a warm-up to Atonement.
Atonement (Ian McEwan) — I was super-intrigued to read this book after seeing the movie (which I didn’t like). I enjoyed the book, however, and it’s even more heart-wrenching than the film.
Empire Falls (Richard Russo) — I actually started to read this years ago, but it had been so long I had to start over. I really liked it, although what I will probably remember the most about it is when a stranger on the train commented to me, “That is such a good book!”
Velocity (Dean Koontz) — My brother Allen lent me this a few years ago, and I abandoned it. Again, it had been so long that I had to start over, so I am counting it for this year. It was alright.
The Dark Is Rising Sequence: Silver on the Tree; The Grey King; Greenwitch; The Dark Is Rising; and Over Sea, Under Stone (Susan Cooper) — I read these books in middle school (they are young adult) and thought it would be fun to re-read them. They’re fantasy and a very quick read. I read most of them on the plane to and from DjangoCon.
Twilight / New Moon / Eclipse / Breaking Dawn (Stephenie Meyer) — Yeah, I read these. With the exception of the final volume, these are enjoyable young adult books. Unfortunately, Breaking Dawn is an awful, over-the-top mess.
Hmm. I liked The Other Boleyn Girl better than Atonement, but until you posted these I had completely forgotten that I read either one of them this year. There was another book you mentioned to me like a month or two ago, and I can’t remember what it was. We should read it.
RENESMEE. For the rest of my life, I will be haunted by that name, that most unfortunate of names.
I tried reading Twilight and I didn’t get very far.
I keep seeing The Other Boleyn Girl and Atonement in bookstores… I’ll probably give in and see.