Fourth Quarter Reading 2009

My final book count for the year ended at 199. Last year it was 149. Apparently, I do not like round numbers. Also, hey! Fifty books more this year than in 2008.

1. Girlfriend Material - Melissa Kantor
   
More depth than I would have expected. I find myself thinking about this book somewhat regularly.
2. Front and Center - Catherine Gilbert Murdock
   
It's hard for me to believe that this was from the same author who wrote Princess Ben. 
3. Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians - Jarrett J. Krosoczka
   
So funny. I immediately bought copies for both my libraries. 
4. Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute - Jarrett J Krosoczka
A quick, delightful read. These are excellent entry books into the world of Graphic Novels.
5. Chasing Lincoln's Killer - James L. Swanson
   
So well done. My mom read my copy and loved it, and I gave the adult version to both of Bart's dads for Christmas.
6. Touch - Francine Prose
   
Can hardly remember this book at all. Never a great sign.
7. No Talking - Andrew Clements
   Only my second Andrew Clements, but FAR better than Frindle in my opinion.
   
8. Mockingbird - Kathryn Erskine
   
It's a bit hard for me to read these kinds of books, but this one was quite well-done and I loved the parallels to To Kill A Mockingbird.
9. Atonement - Ian McEwan
   I don't really know what to say about this one. I knew what the ending was before it got there. Also, the swearing really lessened my enjoyment of this book. 
11. The Girl with the Silver Eyes - Willo Davis Roberts
    
I'd rather read Matilda, frankly. I think this book hasn't aged all that well.
12. How to Steal a Dog - Barbara O'Connor
    
I could not believe how much the kids at my schools loved this book. 
13. My Haunted House - Angie Sage
    
Most certainly the shortest book I read this year.
14. Stitches: A Memoir - David Small
    
I get depressed just thinking about this book.
15. Found - Margaret Peterson Haddix
    
A great book, but I have zero interest in reading the sequel.
16. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice - Phillip M. Hoose
    
Really a fine book.
17. Amos Fortune, Free Man - Elizabeth Yates
    
I had never even heard of this Newbery winner. Pretty good. 
18. Miracles on Maple Hill - Virginia Sorensen
    
So delightful. Can't wait to read this one to my kids.
19. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village - Laura Amy Schlitz
    
I have avoided this book since all the negative responses to its winning the Newbery. But then I loved it.
20. Rabbit Hill - Robert Lawson
    
I felt like an old person when I read this book, since I was so on the side of the farmers, rather than the animals.
21. How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
    
Started out strong, but then dragged on until I nearly lost my will to live.
23. Call it Courage - Armstrong Perry
    
Call it Boring.
24. Lincoln: A Photobiography - Russell Freedman
    
I loved this book. Time to pick up his book about Eleanor Roosevelt.
25. Medina Hill - Trilby Kent
    
Wish it could have been a smidge better. I donated my copy to my library, but no kids have read it yet. I want to know what they think of it. 
26. Jumped - Rita Garcia-Williams
I am so not the ideal audience for these kinds of books. Gritty is not my style.
27. These Is My Words - Nancy E. Turner
    
My very favorite book of the year.
28. The First Part Last - Angela Johnson
    
Such a typical Printz kind of book.
29. Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices - Paul Fleischman
    
Fun to listen to on CD. 
30. A Drowned Maiden's Hair: A Melodrama - Laura Amy Schlitz
    
I didn't realize until just now that this is the same author as "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!" I am very observant.
31. So You Want to be President? - Judith St. George
    
Delightful and funny.
32. Babymouse: Skater Girl - Jennifer L. Holm
    
Liked the Lunch Lady books better. 
33. Sleeping Naked is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days - Vanessa Farquharson
    
Interesting, but I'm not giving up my toilet paper any time soon.
34. The Matchlock Gun - Walter D. Edmonds
    
Bless this Newbery title for being short.
35. Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry: How to Write a Poem - Jack Prelutsky
    
I loved this book. Jack Prelutsky is brilliant and clever.
36. The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had - Kristin Levine
    
So good. So so good. 
37. Lips Touch: Three Times - Laini Taylor
I keep wondering: do teens really like this book or is it a book that adults THINK teens should like? 
38. The Rules of Survival - Nancy Werlin
I keep trying to write about this book. It was so intense but brilliantly done.
39. Splendor - Anna Gobersen
This series petered off a bit for me. 
40. Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith - Deborah Heligman
    
So interesting, but far more YA than I was expecting. For some reason, I thought it'd be middle grade level. Not so.
41. The Middle Place - Kelly Corrigan
    
I liked it while reading it, but have kind of forgotten about it since.
42. East - Edith Pattou
    
I was never so surprised as when a girl at church recognized this book and said it was one of her favorites. How had I never even heard of it?
43. Soulless - Gail Carriger
    
What an odd combination of Victorian England and vampires.
44. Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? - Louise Rennison
    
I laughed myself silly reading this one. Oh, Georgia, how I love you. 
45. Shug - Jenny Han
    
Good, but it's no "The Summer I Turned Pretty."
46. The Actor and the Housewife - Shannon Hale
    
Delightful! I loved this book, as you well know.
47. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson
    
A very fast, gripping read, but I had to skip a few too many pages for me to feel comfortable recommending.
48. Daddy-Long-Legs - Jean Webster
    
Sweet, but so obviously old. Also, so obvious what the ending was.
49. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life - Barbara Kingsolver
    
Fascinating, but I still bought strawberries this week.
50. Sunshine - Robin McKinley
    
I don't know what it was, but this book did nothing for me. I checked it out three times and renewed it twice more before I finished it.
51. Kit's Wilderness - David Almond
    
Printz committee, I just do not understand you at all.
52. Silent to the Bone - E. L. Konigsburg
    
What an odd book. E. L. Konigsburg, you kind of perplex me. 
53. The Year of Secret Assignments - Jacyln Moriarty
    
Frankly, pretty forgettable.
54. Lovestruck Summer - Melissa C. Walker
    
Austin, how I miss you.
55. The Everafter - Amy Huntley
    
Quite delightful. A fast, weekend read.
56. Absolutely Normal Chaos - Sharon Creech
    
Skip this, go straight to Walk Two Moons.
57. M.C. Higgins the Great - Virginia Hamilton
    
I realized I do not like books set over a period of just a day or two. Also, nothing happens in this book. Be warned.
58. Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking rat - Lynne Jonell
    
So terrific. I loved this book. 
59. Calamity Jack - Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and Nathan Hale
    
Good, but not as good as Rapunzel's Revenge.
60. The White Darkness - Geraldine McCaughrean
    
Another Printz pick that had me completely stymied. Where do they FIND these things?
61. Sisters in Sanity - Gayle Forman
    
If I Stay was far superior. I wonder why she switched publishers.  

And that's 2009.