Monday, January 30, 2012

"Reads Is Fun" -- 2012 Reading List

My kindergartener is learning to read. He's not there yet, but he gets closer, less frustrated, and more enthusiastic every day. It is thrilling! Another parent tipped me off to the clever and easy-without-being-stilted Elephant and Piggie beginning readers by Mo Willems. After finishing one of these readers the other day, Bub was so excited he made and handed me the sign below.
I'm keeping it forever.

For almost 37 years, reading (or being read to) has been a consistent source of joy, comfort, inspiration, knowledge, FUN and more. Because I believe most good things are even better shared, I will continue to track my reading here at NTB. Check the Booksburgh link in the lefthand column if you ever want to know what I'm reading. I update this list/post throughout the year. Once I get the site up and running, please check booksandcarbs.com if you want to know what I'm thinking about what I'm reading.

For previous years' reading lists, follow these links: 2010 List 2011 List

2012 Reading List
The Arrivals by Meg Mitchell Moore
(hardback -- won in a blog giveaway)

Loose Diamonds ... and other things I've lost (and found) along the way by Amy Ephron
(library book)

I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections by Nora Ephron
(library book)

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
(audiobook)

Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe
(audiobook)

11.22.63 by Stephen King
(audiobook)

The Rules of Inheritance by Claire Bidwell Smith
(hardcover)

Make the Bread, Buy the Butter: What You Should and Shouldn't Cook from Scratch by Jennifer Reese
(hardcover)

Wifey by Judy Blume
(library book)

An Available Man by Hilma Wolitzer
(library book)

Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler by Wade Rouse
(paperback -- won in a blog giveaway)

Commuters by Emily Gray Tedrowe
(ebook)

Ali in Wonderland and Other Tall Tales by Ali Wentworth
(library book)

The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons
(audiobook)

A Good American by Alex George
(audiobook)

Delicacy by David Foenkinos
(library book)

Husband and Wife by Leah Stewart
(ebook)

You're Not Doing It Right by Michael Ian Black
(library book)

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
(library book)

The Anglo Files by Sarah Lyall
(audiobook)

MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend by Rachel Bertsche
(paperback)

The Perfectly Imperfect Home:  How to Live & Decorate Well by Deborah Needleman
(library book)

The Red Book by Deborah Copaken Kogan
(library book)

Bringing Up Bébe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman
(library book)

Arcadia by Lauren Groff
(audiobook)

Falling Apart in One Piece by Stacy Morrison
(audiobook)

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margo Livesey
(audiobook)

How It All Began by Penelope Lively
(audiobook)

Julie by Catherine Marshall
(audiobook)

Old Filth by Jane Gardam
(audiobook)

The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband by David Finch
(library book)

A Surrey State of Affairs by Ceri Radford
(library book)

The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews
(audiobook)

The Island by Elin Hilderbrand
(audiobook)

The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger
(audiobook)

A Thousand Lives:  The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown by Julia Scheeres
(audiobook)

No Place Like Home: A Memoir in 39 Apartments by Brooke Berman
(library book)

Pride and Prejudice* by Jane Austen
(audiobook)

The Ugly Sister by Jane Fallon
(audiobook)

The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey
(audiobook)

The Invitation by Anne Cherian
(library book)

Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray
(hardcover)

Lucia's Progress by E.F. Benson
(paperback)

Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon
(library book)

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
(audiobook)

The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
(audiobook)

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens
(audiobook)

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares
(hardcover)

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?  by Jeanette Winterson
(hardcover)

Some Assembly Required:  A Journal of My Son's First Son by Anne Lamott
(audiobook, CDs from library)

Canada by Richard Ford
(audiobook)

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen
(library book)

The Wedding Beat by Devan Sipher
(audiobook)

Sense and Sensibility* by Jane Austen
(audiobook)

I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag:  A Memoir of a Life Through Events -- the Ones You Plan and the Ones You Don't by Jennifer Gilbert
(library book)

The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner
(hardcover)

Objects of My Affection by Jill Smolinski
(audiobook)

Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead
(library book)

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
(audiobook)

Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons:  Tales of Redemption from an Irish Mailbox by Greg Fitzsimmons
(audiobook)

The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty
(library book)

I Feel Bad About My Neck:  And Other Thoughts On Being a Woman by Nora Ephron
(hardcover)

Where We Belong by Emily Giffin
(hardcover)

The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls by Julie Schumacher
(library book)

Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand
(playaway audio from library)

Girl Walks into a Bar ... Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle by Rachel Dratch
(library book)

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
(audiobook)

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
(audiobook)

The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty
(library book)

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson
(audiobook)

What the Nanny Saw by Fiona Neill
(audiobook)

Friends Like Us by Lauren Fox
(library book)

Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
(audiobook)

Triburbia by Karl Taro Greenfeld
(library book)

My New American Life by Francine Prose
(audiobook)

Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon
(audiobook)

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
(hardcover)

Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin
(hardcover)

But I'll Be Back Again by Cynthia Rylant
(paperback)

The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand
(audiobook)

My Mother Was Nuts by Penny Marshall
(audiobook)

Northanger Abbey* by Jane Austen
(audiobook)

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
(audiobook)

The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear
(audiobook)

Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures by Emma Straub
(library book)

Dinner:  A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach
(library book)

Dan Gets a Minivan: Life at the Intersection of Dude and Dad by Dan Zevin
(library book)

The Horse Dancer by Jojo Moyes
(audiobook)

Happy Accidents by Jane Lynch
(audiobook)

Lady Fortescue Steps Out (Poor Relation) by Marion Chesney
(audiobook)

An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
(audiobook)

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
(audiobook)

Charlotte Fairlie by D. Stevenson
(audiobook)

One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathon Tropper
(audiobook)

UPDATE on 12/31/12 -- This year's list is officially CLOSED.  I have a couple of partially-read titles, but I won't count them until I finish them ... next year.  I notice a HUGE drop-off in my reading of books in print (or ebooks) once the school year started.  Audiobooks are a lifeline for me, but I hope to read more "book books" in 2013.  Despite the fact that so many library books are on this list, I want it known for the record that I am still buying books.  I'm just not reading them since I get so many good ones from the library and then prioritize reading them before they are due.

Unless otherwise noted, all audiobooks are downloads from audible.com and all ebooks are from the Kindle Store.  One of these days I will figure out how to borrow downloadable audiobooks from the library.

*indicates a re-read

Please stop back again. I welcome book suggestions in the comments. Please share what you're reading!

7 comments:

Heather said...

I just finished Ape House by Sara Gruen, the same author of Water for Elephants. It was a quick and good read, laugh out loud in some parts, make you want to hop on a plane and visit a Bonobo reserve in others...

Have you read it?

Unknown said...

I've never heard of any of these. I'm usually years behind on the books since the English ones get to me late.

E... said...

Of course always love your book posts! Love that the Bub is figuring it out! Yes, thrilling! We're into Elephant and Piggie around here these days, too. We are in a Book! was a favorite. And Nora ADORES the pigeon ones by Willems- right up her humor alley.
I'm reading Mrs. Pegerine's Home for Peculiar Children, and listening to Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner. Both better than a lot of things I've read lately!

Anonymous said...

This list just makes me want to get back to reading! I haven't read or listened to anything in a while. I guess I've just been too busy. I may have to take a look at the ones you're reading for inspiration.

Love the sign! Hopefully he will continue to love reading.

Tricia @ Take 10 With Tricia said...

The girls also love elephant and piggie. We Are in a Book and Can I Play Too are our faves. Stella is reading more and more and it's so fun. Work book club just finished Hunger Games trilogy and Water for Elephants. Church mom book club is reading Honolulu. Right now I am reading too many blogs!

Stacia said...

That note? Suited for lamination if ever anything was. Love. Love, love, love.

And I downloaded "The Help" to my Kindle 10,000 years ago but haven't gotten to it yet. I've spent the entirety of my infirmity re-reading the Harry Potter books. Expelliarmus!

CaraBee said...

The Fault in our Stars. READ IT. So so good.

 
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