Total Number of Books Read: 145. This bests 2007 by seven books.
Fiction: 60 (17 more than last year)
Non-fiction: 85 (10 less than last year) I wish this number hadn't fallen off. Maybe I'll do better in '09. Or not. It depends on how much reading for escape I require this year, and I suspect I'm going to need a lot.
Month with the most reading completed: August, with 16.
Month with the least reading completed: September, with 8.
Average per month: 12. (That works out to a book every 2.5 days in case you were wondering).
Most Important Non-fiction Grand Prize: Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg. Read in April. Read it now, if you haven't already. This book was truly eye-opening.
Most Important Non-fiction Runner Up #1: Death of the Grown Up by Diana West. Read in January.
Most Important Non-fiction Runner-Up #2: Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. Read in May.
Favorite Fiction: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. Read in March. (And we also listened to the audio book of this later in the year). *I suspect I have a wee, tiny, little crush on Sir Percy Blakeney. He joins Mr. Darcy, Mr. Tilney, Mr. Knightley, Captain Wentworth, and, strangely, Gilbert Blythe in that respected group (Karen's Fictional Crushes). Don't worry about Prince Charming. My real life crush on him continues to grow stronger with every passing year. And he actually reciprocates.*
Favorite Fiction Runner-Up: A Room With a View by E.M. Forster. Read in February.
Favorite Fiction Series: Anything by Alexander McCall Smith. Any of his books are perfect for curling up on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate and a snack. The best is probably his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency but I didn't actually read that one in '08.
Favorite Non-Fiction Series: Winston Churchill's WW2 series. I haven't read them all yet, but all the ones I have are excellent.
Best Fiction I've Been Meaning to Read for a Long Time: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Read in October.
Best Fiction I've Been Meaning to Read for a Long Time Runner Up: Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton. Read in June.
Best Fiction Honorable Mention: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Read in February.
Phenomenon that I Completely Do Not Understand: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I read the first two books in the series in August. Yuck. My apologies to those of you who love it (you know who you are...) but it just does nothing for me and I'm actually pretty sure that no hormonal teenager needs to be reading these.
Book With Most Deceptive Title: The Greatest Presidential Stories Never Told by Rick Beyer. Let's just say Mr. Beyer's idea of "never told" is very different from my own.
Best Book On Education: Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto. Read in May.
Most Inspiring Christian Living Book: Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. Read in August.
Least Inspiring Christian Living Book: Home by Choice by Brenda Hunter. Read in March. (Try Passionate Housewives Desperate for God by Jennie Chancey & Stacy McDonald instead.)
Favorite Austen Re-Read: All of 'em except Mansfield Park. I can't say I've grown any fonder of that one. Read in January & February
Favorite Austen Spin-off: The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Mary Street. Read in March. And Prince Charming gave it to me for my birthday in May (good man!).
Best Book / Movie Combo Grand Prize: Cranford
Best Book / Movie Combo Runner Up: All of Jane Austen, in spite of those (mostly bad) new adaptations
Best Book / Movie Combo Honorable Mention: A Room with A View. (And here I reference the Merchant-Ivory adaptation, not the horrible Andrew Davies thing masquerading as A Room With a View)
Number of WW2 Non-fiction Books Read: 14
Number of WW2 Fiction Books Read: 7
Number of Books About Writing: 7
Number of Books With Dragons: at least 3, maybe 4. My memory's a bit rusty.
That's my round up for 2008. Remember you can always check the labels on my left sidebar (or under a specific post) for more. Will I be able to best my 2008 record in 2009? Stay tuned.
1. Espresso Tales. Fiction by Alexander McCall Smith. Quick, easy read. I can't quite explain why I am drawn to these tales from Scotland but I am. This is the second book in the 44 Scotland Street series.
2. Alphabet Juice. Non-fiction by Roy Blount Jr. I love books about books, books about words, books about writing...catching a pattern yet? This book was humorous at times but I found his style condescending and his politics obnoxious.
3. A Conspiracy of Ravens. Fiction by Gilbert Morris. I used to love the Christian fiction by this author but I am increasingly disillusioned by his efforts. It's like he's written so many he just phones it in now. Strong willed female, the tall strong attractive man she doesn't want to be attracted to, obnoxious older family member (usually female) standing in the way. Add to this sloppy habits (like the main character describing herself or sudden omniscience) and I don't really want to read anything else he writes.
4. America's Fighting Admirals. Non-fiction by William Tuohy. Concise but insightful. Read as research (naturally). I had a little thrill when I was checking a footnote in this book and realized the author was referencing a work by an historian whose works I have read. Maybe my intensive U.S. Navy WW2 study is finally paying off?
5. In the Shadow of the Sun King. Fiction by Golden Keyes Parsons. Excellent. Well-written, carefully crafted, based on true events. I think my mom would like this one, but anyone who appreciates well-written Christian fiction probably would.
6. Cooking for Mr. Latte. Non-fiction by Amanda Hesser. Ms. Hesser is most likely a lovely person, but Ms. Hesser is a food snob. And as such she is not the literary heir to M.F.K. Fisher, no matter what the back of this book says. This book didn't make me want to cook or copy any of the recipes. I'd call that a food memoir failure.
7. Spellbound by Beauty. Non-fiction by Donald Spoto. A book about Hitchcock and his leading ladies. Mr. Spoto is an excellent biographer, nonetheless, I am a bit embarrassed to admit I read this.
8. A Year in High Heels. Non-fiction by Camilla Morton. Harmless, useless, meaningless.
9. Poems of Christmas. Edited by Myra Cohn Livingston. I first read the Madeline L'Engle poem that I posted Christmas Eve from this book.
10. Love Over Scotland. Fiction by Alexander McCall Smith. Book 3 in the 44 Scotland Street series. My favorite character in all the stories so far: Bertie. My least favorite: Bruce or Bertie's mother, Irene.
11. Passionate Housewives Desperate for God. Non-fiction by Jennie Chancey & Stacy McDonald. I've seen a lot of women bloggers talking about this book. It is thought-provoking, which is good, of course, but it lacks in the "how" department. I understand the "why" but I need help with "how". I recommend it to Christian women, with some reservations. As always, use discernment.
12. Kid Culture. Non-fiction by Todd Tobias & Lou Harry. Quick, humorous look at kids' books, television and movies.
13. Battle Line: U.S. Navy 1919-1939. Non-fiction by Thomas Hone & Trent Hone. I finished out the year (Seriously - I finished this book December 31st!) with yet another book about the U.S. Navy. I had trouble getting through this one at first but the prospect of starting the year with it unfinished gave me the boost I needed. It was actually very helpful to me. I know a lot more about the WW2 U.S. Navy than I used to but this book gave me the background information I needed. I think I'm ready for a break from Navy history now!