Category Archives: Books

BOOKS I READ IN 2006

31stDecember2006

Continuing an annual tradition, this is my fourth year listing all of the books I’ve read from the previous twelve months (the old lists: 2003, 2004, 2005). The totals during the first three years remained pretty constant (41, 42, and 45 books, respectively), and my goal this year was to read at least that many, if not more. I knew there was a very good chance that I’d be able to do that, since I was in college from ’03-’05 and I didn’t have time to read as many books on my own time as I would have liked. I’m happy to say that I (drastically) surpassed my goal this year.

This is an extensive list: I read 110 books, which is more than double what I read in 2005. Even though I knew there were a lot, I didn’t know exactly how many I’d read until yesterday because I don’t count the total until the end of the year.

There were several factors this year that enabled me to finish so many books. The biggest one was the long commute I had for the first six months of 2006, when I was living in California and taking a commuter bus to work. I had 2-3 hours a day of uninterrupted reading time. Then, beginning this summer when I drove back to Virginia, I started listening to audiobooks. Now I always keep one in my car and I listen to it almost every time I drive somewhere, as long as I’m in the car by myself (which is most of the time). My drive to work takes 25-35 minutes each way, so I finish a new audiobook roughly once a week.

A few additional notes:

  • I end up organizing these lists a little bit differently every year. This year I tried to group similar books together within the categories I assigned, and whenever I read multiple books by the same author I kept those together as well. The audiobooks are also clearly denoted.
  • If anyone ends up reading something because of a recommendation found here, or if you’ve read something on this list already, I’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment on this post or use the email address on my About page.
  • Most of my favorite books from the Travel Memoir category were previously mentioned in this post.
  • The books that I liked best, and highly recommend, have a double-asterisk after the authors name (**).

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By Zandria | Comments (21)

BOOKS I READ IN 2005

1stJanuary2006

I managed to accomplish the only resolution that I made last January—to read more books in 2005 than I did in 2004. Given my love of reading and how much of it that I do, the number wasn’t as high as I expected it to be: I read a grand total of 45 books. In 2003 the total was 41, and in 2004 it was 42.

I could easily have read double that number if it weren’t for other factors: a busy semester at college, moving, and then job-searching for the past four months (I would feel like a slacker if I read during the day when there were more important things to tend to). To tell the truth, I wouldn’t have reached my reading goal if it weren’t for all the books I read in December, which had the largest total all year—10! (Thanks to the fact that the job-hunt is done for now, and I subsequently spend less time online. Reading for at least an hour every morning and evening during the commute to/from work is also playing a big part.)

The number is also deceptive because I read newspapers, magazines, and tons of online articles—not to mention portions of multiple books and journals while doing research this past spring semester. Whenever I come across an interesting book (on TV, in a magazine, on the internet, or through another person’s recommendation), I always make a note of it right away because I know I’m likely to forget about it otherwise. Since I like reading nonfiction, most of the time it’s easy for me to tell that I’ll like something just by reading the title.

I worked hard on the following list—like last year, I decided to arrange the books by category rather than the order in which they were read. The ones that I liked best either have a short description, or I starred (**) them. This means that they come highly recommended; please feel free to follow the book’s link for more information.
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By Zandria | Comments (4)

BOOKS I READ IN 2004

5thJanuary2005

Last year, I listed the Books I Read in 2003 in the order in which they were read. For 2004, I decided to list them by category. The asterisks beside three of the names denote books that I read a majority of, but may have skipped or skimmed over a small portion.

Since I haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions so far this year, my resolution will be to read more books in 2005 than I read in 2004. “The Books I Read in 2004″ are in the extended entry. Click the name of the book to read to the description.
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By Zandria | Comments (4)

BOOKS I READ IN 2003

3rdJanuary2004

At a total of 41 books, this adds up to just over three a month, which to a voracious reader is pretty shameful. I’m keeping in mind that for the past few months I wasn’t able to read hardly anything for pleasure because of how busy I was with work and school-related stuff. There are also a few more that I read most of, but didn’t finish for one reason or another, that I didn’t include. I write them all down so that I’ll remember them. Even reading over this list just now reminded me of ones that I had almost forgotten about. Here goes:

1) Caramelo, by Sandra Cisneros

2) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain

3) Getting Over It, by Anna Maxted

4) Sula, by Toni Morrison

5) I’ll Take You There, by Joyce Carol Oates

6) Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison

7) The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway

8) Sophie’s Choice, by William Styron

9) The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair

10) Empire Falls, by Richard Russo

11) The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold

12) The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck

13) The Master Butchers Singing Club, by Louise Erdrich

14) The Assistant, by Bernard Malamud

15) The Covenant, by Beverly Lewis

16) Resistance, by Anita Shreve

17) The Kitchen God’s Wife, by Amy Tan

18) The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison

19) The Black Rose, by Tananarive Due

20) The Hungry Gene, by Ellen Ruppel Shell

21) Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain

22) The Making of June, by Annie Ward

23) My Antonia, by Willa Cather

24) Like Water For Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel

25) The Whole Woman, by Germaine Greer

26) Fat Land, by Greg Critser

27) Fire With Fire, by Naomi Wolf

28) The King of Torts, by John Grisham

29) Quentins, by Maeve Binchy

30) What Women Want, by Patricia Ireland

31) Wasted, by Marya Hornbacher

32) Shutterbabe, by Deborah Copaken Kogan

33) Tara Road, by Maeve Binchy

34) Black Like Me, by John Howard Griffin

35) The Hundred Secret Senses, by Amy Tan

36) The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

37) The Mismeasure of Man, by Stephen Jay Gould

38) Sidewalk, by Mitchell Duneier

39) Blood in the Face, by James Ridgeway

40) Strip City, by Lily Burana

41) The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown

By Zandria | Comments (11)