Fun facts about my 2009 reads

I kept some new stats this year, thanks to Literary Feline

Total books read: 49
Total authors read: 44

Authors
male: 17
female: 27
new : 29

Genre
fiction: 15
young adult: 18
crime/mystery: 6
fantasy: 4
sci fi: 1
non-fiction: 6

Book Size
pint size (200 pgs or less): 13
intermediate (201-350 pgs) : 21
substantial (351-500 pgs): 11
door stoppers (500+ pgs): 4

Year of Publication
oldest: 1924 (Giants in the Earth)
several from 2009

1920s- 1
1940s- 1
1960s- 1
1980s- 2
1990s- 10
2000s- 35

Places visited in books
New York City, Prince Edward Island, magic kingdom of Landover, Florida, Barbados, Chicago, Wisconsin, Forks, Washington, Netherlands, Philadelphia, Oregan territory, Massachusetts, London, Dakota territory, Pompeii, Texas, Soviet Union, Los Angeles, Hogwarts, Washington, D.C., Australia, Louisiana, Elkhart, Indiana

Top 10 of 2009

in no particular order

American Band-Kristen Laine
Good in Bed- Jennifer Weiner
Child 44- Tom Rob Smith
Free-Range Kids- Lenore Skenazy
Loving Frank- Nancy Horan
Boston Jane- Jennifer Holm
Who P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit? - Gary Wolf
Casual Rex- Eric Garcia
Starlight Barking- Dodie Smith
The Most Wanted- Jacqueline Mitchard

My 2009 books

It's that time again! Here's the books I read this year:

January
1. Tomorrow Will Be Better- Betty Smith
2. Before Green Gables- Budge Wilson
3. Witches Brew- Terry Brooks
4. Jack's New Power- Jack Gantos

February
5. Jack's Black Book- Jack Gantos
6. Loving Frank- Nancy Horan
7. Twilight- Stephenie Meyer
8. Melanie Martin Goes Dutch- Carol Weston

March
9. Last Night at the Lobster- Steward O'Nan
10. Boston Jane- Jennifer Holm
11. Starlight Barking- Dodie Smith
12. A Woman of Her Tribe- Margaret Robinson

April
12. Giants in the Earth- O.E. Rolvaag
13. Sweet Sixteen Princess- Meg Cabot
14. Afternoon of the Elves- Janet Taylor Lisle
15. Eleven Karens- Peter Lefcourt
16. Just Don't Make a Scene, Mum- Rosie Rushton

May
17. Josie and Jack- Kelly Braffet
18. The Cuckoo Sister- Vivian Alcock
19. Pompeii- Robert Harris
20. Audacity of Hope- Barack Obama
21. Good in Bed- Jennifer Weiner

June
22. Jinxed- Carol Higgins Clark
23. Valentine Princess- Meg Cabot
24. The Most Wanted- Jacqueline Mitchard
25. The No Spin Zone- Bill O'Reilly

July
26. Child 44- Tom Rob Smith
27. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince- J. K. Rowling (reread)

August
28. The Civil War in Fairfax County- Charles Mauro
29. Free-Range Kids- Lenore Skenazy
30. Who P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit? -Gary Wolf
31. What's French for Eww?- Katie Maxwell
32. All-American Girl- Meg Cabot
33. The Rudest Alien on Earth- Jane Conly
34. Ready or Not- Meg Cabot
35. The Slightly True Story of Cedar Hartley- Martine Murray

September
36. Maybe Baby- Tenaya Darlington
36. Voyage- Stephen Baxter

October
38. Ya-Yas in Bloom- Rebecca Wells
39. If Only it were True- Marc Levy
40Sisters Long Ago- Peg Kehret
41. Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism- Georgia Byng
42. New Moon- Stephenie Meyer

November
43. Diary of a Mad Bride- Laura Wolf
44. Casual Rex- Eric Garcia
45. Anonymous Rex- Eric Garcia

December
46. Life Without Lawyers- Philip Howard
47. American Band- Kristen Laine
48. London Holiday- Richard Peck
49. The Lost Symbol- Dan Brown

The Lost Symbol

I read The DaVinci Code shortly after it came out and really enjoyed it. This book started out page turning and I couldn't wait to see what happened next. But it started falling apart for me somewhere in the middle. I figured out one of the mysteries of the book in the middle, which didn't seem that hard to decipher. The final secrets didn't seem too exciting or shocking to me either. I got tired of Langdon explaining everything and his and other main characters dumb moves. And saying SMSC (Smithsonian Museum Support Center) bugged me the whole book since I used to work in the same complex for the American Indian Museum and everyone calls it MSC, not SMSC, small nitpick but bothersome to me. And on the final pages of the book he even gets wrong the name of National Museum of the American Indian, calling it Native History Museum or something. So, yeah, I was a little disappointed but it was still interesting to read about supposedly ancient Masonic secrets. I have yet to read his other books, but I do own Angels and Demons and plan to read it some time.

London Holiday

I've read many young adult book by Richard Peck (The Dreadful Future of Blossom Culp is one of my favorite books) but never any adult fiction by him. This book is the story of 3 old high school friends from Missouri, who have mostly gone their seperate ways, but reunite for a trip to London together. They stay at a small bed and breakfast and each have their own London adventure with a heartwarming ending. Nothing too special, but I enjoyed it.

American Band

I really loved this book. This book is about a season in a highly competitive marching band in Indiana. It brought back so many memories for me. Marching band was my life in high school and my band was also very competitive. It was interesting to compare Concord Marching Band to my high school experience. Much was the same. This book also delved into the personal lives of several students and the directors. It was a great book and I highly recommend it especially to those who were in marching band.

Life Without Lawyers

No doubt that America is too litigious. Philip Howard's book is full of examples of outrageous lawsuits and solutions to this problem. I read this book at the beginning the month and I really don't remember much of his solutions! I remember mainly about the education section but not much other than that. It wasn't as easy to read as I thought it would be but still an interesting subject.