Book List

I love spending time with my kids, I do. I love vacation with them. But like fish and guests, hanging out with children starts to smell after a few days.

Yesterday afternoon, the fights were really cooking. I looked to today at 9AM, when the school door shuts on my last child, as a beacon of hope and sanity in the darkness of Christmas vacation.

My hope dwindled and died as I realized that poor V would have to stay home another day in order to see the doctor about his persistent cough. Crap.

Oh well-there's always tomorrow.

Here is my annual reading list from last year-Sorry it's a day late. I think the final count is 57 books for 2012-Not too shabby.
All of the books were good-if a book starts to suck-I stop and get another. My favorites for this year were "Steampunk!", "Neverwhere", "Anansi Boys", "A Monster Calls", "Shadow Show" and the Ray Bradbury short stories. But seriously-they were all pretty darn good.

The Night Circus-Erin Morgenstern
Monsters of Men-Patrick Ness(Chaos Walking Trilogy)
A Monster Calls-Patrick Ness
Steampunk!-short stories by Holly Black, Kelly Link and others
Nocturnes-Jonathan Connolly
The Infernals-Jonathan Connolly
**if you can, check out the Book of Lost Things" by Jonathan Connolly-best.book.ever.
Death Comes to Pemberley
Stay Awake-Dan Choban
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Good Omens-Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
The Hunger Games-Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire-Suzanne Collins
Bird by Bird-Anne Lamont or Lamott
Mockingjay-Suzanne Collins
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
On Writing-Stephen King
Gods Behaving Badly-Marie Phillips
The Graveyard Book-Neil Gaiman
Willpower
Room
Lamb-Christopher Moore
The Wind in the Keyhole-Stephen King
That's Disgusting-Rachel Herz
**Then I read the Hunger Games trilogy again to decide if they were actually good (they are) so that counts for three more books**
Gregor the Overlander-Suzanne Collins
Gregor and the Prophecy of the Bane-Suzanne Collins
Daughter of Smoke and Bone-Laini Taylor
Anansi Boys-Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere-Neil Gaiman
Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
This is How-Augusten Burroughs
American Gods-Neil Gaiman
A Wizard of Earthsea-Ursula LeGuines
The Tombs of Atuan-Ursula LeGuines
The Farthest Shore-Ursula LeGuines
The Other Wind-Ursula LeGuines
I Suck At Girls
Anansi Boys (again)
Shadow Show (Anthology of short stories in honor of Ray Bradbury)
The Giver
Short Stories of Ray Bradbury (I read 1/2 but the book itself was enormous)
Days Of Blood and Starlight-Laini Taylor
The Twelve
Let's Pretend This Never Happened
Happier At Home
I hear Lyd groaning in frustration upstairs so I better go and see what's wrong this time.
Happy day to you!

Every year for the last few, once on Myspace and I think a few times on Facebook, I have posted the books I read for that year. I keep track of them in the back of my journal. Rather maticulously, with the dates I read them as well. I started doing this was in response to some Apple CEO saying that nobody reads anymore, when asked about whether or not Apple was going to come out with a competitor to the new Kindle. The article also gave some ridiculously low number for the amount of books that the average American reads in a year. I was a little insenced because I am a voracious reader and if I could find a way to make money just reading, I would definitely do so. I think that I read about 52-53 books that year. I like to think that when I read a book it's like a little personal "Fuck you" to Steve Jobs, but not really, because he's dead now and I am not even sure if he was the one to make that crappy statement.

I was actually considering the purchase of some kind of Nook or Kindle this year. I thought it was definitely about time. But then something happened that made me change my mind.

I got a Barnes and Noble card from my brother for Christmas. With that I bought a copy of my 2 favorite books that I read this past year. The same day that said boks were delivered I also got a stack of books that I had on order from my neighborhood library. I stacked them up and held them, feeling the weight in my hands of all of those words, just waiting to be read. I thought of the enjoyment I got from waiting for all of those books to come in. In this age of instant gratification at the touch of a button, I decided that I was not ready to give up the magic of waiting a bit for a book that I'd really like to read, the magic of looking at and holding the book in your hands that hasn't been opened yet. For me that experience is like a child on christmas Eve waiting for Santa.

I decided to buy used beekeeping equipment instead.

Here is my list of books read for 2011. I include instructional books and Graphic Novels. I'll post tomorrow about my 2 favorite books for 2011.

-The Happiness Project

-The Gates-by John Connolly

-The Big Book of War (Jack of Tales graphic novel)

-Johannes Cabal Necromancer-by Jonathan H Howard

-Robbing The Bees

-Making Toast

-The Dirty Life-by Kristen Kimball

-A Discovery Of Witches

-Horns

-A Reliable Wife

-Wisconsin Death trip

-Shit My Dad Says

-The Nanny Diaries

-The Radley's

-Pretty Monsters

-Magic For Beginners

-The Land of Painted Caves

-The Nazi Officer's Wife

-Jane Eyre

-The Wide Sargasso Sea

-Rose Red-a Fables graphic novel

-Witches-a Fables graphic novel

-Fab Four-a Fables graphic novel

-The Reapers Are the Angels

-Writing Down the Bones

-The Lost Gate

-Games of Thrones

-Her Fearful Symmetry

-The Book of Lost Things-(**Favorite from 2010)

-A Monster Calls

-The Knife of Never Letting Go

-Pretty monsters(again)

-The Walking Dead-Rise of the Governor

-Swan Song

-The Ask and the Answer