Bookish

Since I first learned to read, I have been a bookish girl. I can still remember the thrill I would feel when I discovered a new series of stories. Some of my best memories are of immersing myself in a story. I can picture the libraries of my childhood as clearly as if I was just there yesterday. I was late to arrive at the hospital on the day I was scheduled to have my labor induced. The reason? I had stopped at the bookstore. I nearly always carry a book with me, just in case I have a moment to read.

My friend E keeps a list of every book she's read on her electronic planner. The first time I learned of the list, I was impressed. So in 2007 I decided to make a list for myself. Below is the list of every book I read in last year. As you'll see, summer is my most productive season (!). For those of you who are troubled by the (relative) lack of history and politics books, please know that my professional reading tends to be articles in academic journals. I try not to waste my time on crummy books, so nearly all of these books are good reads.

Without further ado, here is my 2007 life in books.

January
Jane Austen Mansfield Park
Joan Didion The Year of Magical Thinking
E.M. Forster Howards End

February
E.M. Forster A Room with a View
Nicole Krauss The History of Love
Paul Gordon Lauren The Evolution of International Human Rights
Laura Moriarty The Center of Everything
Mary Ann Glendon A World Made New
Sue Monk Kidd The Secret Life of Bees

March
Elizabeth von Arnim The Enchanted April
Eireann Corrigan Ordinary Ghosts
Bill Bryson A Walk in the Woods
Tim Cockey Murder in the Hearse Degree

April
Dave King The Ha Ha
Tanuja Desai Hidier born confused

May
Miss Read At Home in Thrush Green
Alan Brennert Moloka'i
Miss Read Affairs at Thrush Green

June
Miss Read Friends at Thrush Green
Angela Thirkell Peace Breaks Out
Elizabeth George With No One as Witness
Joyce Carol Oates Missing Mom
Bailey White Mama Makes Up Her Mind and Other Dangers of
Southern Living
Miss Read Village School
Jerrold M. Packard Victoria's Daughters

July
Ann Patchett Bel Canto
Zadie Smith On Beauty
Hazel Holt Mrs. Malory and a Death in the Family
Miss Read Village Centenary
Lucy Grealy Autobiography of a Face
Ann Patchett Truth and Beauty
Janet Evanovich Twelve Sharp
Alexander McCall Smith In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
Miss Read Summer at Fairacre
JK Rowling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Bailey White Sleeping at the Starlight Motel

August
Lisa See Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Miss Read Village Diary
Miss Read Storm in the Village
Jhumpa Lahiri Interpreter of Maladies
Miss Read Over the Gate
Diane Mott Davidson Dark Tort
Miss Read Fairacre Festival
Miss Read Village Centenary
Michael Malone Time's Witness
Khaled Hosseini A Thousand Splendid Suns

September
Al Gore The Assault on Reason
Miss Read Mrs. Pringle of Fairacre
Michael Malone Uncivil Seasons
Miss Read Changes at Fairacre

October
Michael Malone Handling Sin
Elizabeth Gilbert eat, pray, love
Cynthia Voigt Homecoming
Isabel Miller Patience & Sarah

November
Ferrol Sams Run With the Horseman
Amy Tan The Bonesetter's Daughter
William Anderson Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography
Sarah Vowell Assassination Vacation
Ferrol Sams The Whisper of the River

December
Willa Cather My Antonia
Alice Taylor An Irish Country Christmas
Laura Ingalls Wilder A Little House Christmas: Holiday Stories
from the Little House Books
Ferrol Sams When all the World was Young
Ian McEwan Atonement