40 Books in 365 Days

A couple of years ago, I decided to take on a personal challenge of reading at least 50 books a year. The first time, it turned out to be easy because I don’t know, maybe I was bored or something. Last year, I only made it to 25 but that’s because I don’t know, I was busy. This year, I failed again because I don’t know, I was too busy thinking about not eating donuts. That being said, I just started my 40th book (One Day by David Nicholls lent to me by the coolest sister in law ever) and I might just stop there, unless I somehow lug around 10 books during the holiday sin the next week or so. Do you think I can do it? IS THIS ANOTHER CHALLENGE?!? Okay.

In case anyone cares (and I know the answer is no), here’s what I read in 2010:

1. Lady of the Butterflies, Fiona Mountain
2. The Book of Fires, Jane Borodale
3. The Red Queen: A Novel (The Cousins’ War), Philippa Gregory
4. The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson, Jerome Charyn
5. Private Life, Jane Smiley
6. My Name Is Memory, Ann Brashares
7. Leaving Rock Harbor, Rebecca Chace
8. The Savage Garden, Mark Mills
9. The Creation of Eve, Lynn Cullen
10. The Sister, Poppy Adams
11. The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters
12. The House at Riverton, Kate Morton
13. Romancing Miss Bronte, Juliet Gael
14. The Coral Thief, Rebecca Stott
15. The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton
16. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, Katherine Howe
17. True Confections, Katharine Weber
18. Girl in Translation, Jean Kwok
19. Solar, Ian McEwan
20. The Swan Thieves, Elizabeth Kostova
21. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, Tiffany Baker
22. The Heretic’s Daughter, Kathleen Kent
23. Mistress of the Art of Death, Ariana Franklin
24. The Winthrop Woman, Anya Seton
25. The Lace Reader, Brunonia Barry
26. The Wise Woman, Philippa Gregory
27. Magic for Beginners, Kelly Link
28. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer
29. Her Fearful Symmetry, Audrey Niffenegger
30. Hour I First Believed, Wally Lamb
31. Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, Jonathan L. Howard
32. Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall, Kazuo Ishiguro
33. The Help, Kathryn Stockett
34. Hancock Park, Isabel Kaplan
35. How to Buy a Love of Reading, Tanya Egan Gibson
36. Stranger Things Happen: Stories, Kelly Link
37. Follow Me, Joanna Scott
38. Windfall, Penny Vincenzi
39. Green Darkness, Anya Seton

A lot of them were bad, some of them were great and a few of them I don’t even remember what they were about. Here’s to some more great reading to come in 2011!