Monday, December 31, 2007

2007: The Year in Books

Last year when I posted my 2006 book list, I was full of grandiose plans for keeping a list of movies I'd watched, but that never happened. I actually started such a list, but it became shameful to me that the movie list might be longer than the book list. Then my computer died, and all the lists suffered for it (as did the blog). However, there has been a fabulous holiday plot twist to this sad story. Drumroll, please... I was gifted a shiny new laptop. Joy of joys! So in celebration of unfettered computing, I am posting a reconstructed book list. It is sort of a pathetic little tally, but it is a list, and they are books; good things both. Happy New Year!

Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen
The Position by Meg Wolitzer
The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
The Hungry Tide by Amitov Ghosh
Into the Forest by Jean Hegland
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
A Mile in Her Boots edited by Jennifer Bove
A Midwife’s Story by Penny Armstrong and Sheryl Feldman
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle

7 comments:

Electronic Goose said...

Yea for books and a new laptop! I read a few of those myself this year ... happy New Year!

elenajoyce said...

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was one of my favorite books when I was a kid! I always wanted to run away to a museum - it seemed so glamorous. Dreamy sigh.
Happy New Year!

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

Maybe you should put in parentheses the number of the reading it is (eg, 3rd, 10th)

Congratulations on your first new laptop post.

I loved the From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler too, but I actually DID stay overnight multiple times in a museum. LOL!

Ev en when I was working late and no one else was there and I walked alone through the dark rooms, I remembered that--it was especially exciting when the dinosaurs were there.

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

I think if I ever read any books this year I am going to start a 2008 year in books post with my first book and update it with each one. (moving it forward to the current date.)

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

I may never read any books though, if I spend all my blogging and sending pictures.

Nicole said...

So, of all those books (except Harry Potter because I have read those), which 3 would you recommend to your fellow bloggies?

BerryBird said...

Oh, Nicole, that's so hard! Only three? I'll cheat and give you four, as it is hard to directly compare fiction and non-fiction. But narrowing it down that far was still really hard.

For fiction, The Highest Tide was one of my favorites of the year, an unexpected gem from a first-time author. It is a coming-of-age story about an insomniac boy, obsessed with Rachel Carson, who lives on the Puget Sound, and prowls the mud flats making some very interesting discoveries indeed. Into the Forest was another excellent coming-of-age story (I seem to be a sucker for those), with a tasty post-apocalyptic twist. Two teenage sisters struggle to survive in the northern California woods after civilization collapses.

For non-fiction, A Midwife's Story was very readable, and a book you might especially enjoy now. Penny Armstrong tells about her experiences in serving as a midwife to the Amish community in rural Pennsylvania, so it is not only informative about birth and the practice of midwives, but also about the Amish culture. Really good stuff. Also, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is an amazing book. It tells the story of a family of Hmong immigrants, and the cultural clash that occurs when their daughter is diagnosed with epilepsy. It is a sad story, but Anne Fadiman portrays everyone with such humanity, and there is a lot of fascinating details about the Hmong culture and history.