(Wow. Look at how much more I read in 2008, when I was pregnant and not yet a parent, or at home nursing constantly!)
2011
“Life is So Good,” by George Dawson and Richard Glaubman (Ann Arbor/Ypsi Reads selection) – big “meh” on this one.
“Lastingness: The Art of Old Age,” by Nicholas Delbanco (author feature for A2.com)
“Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making it Work” (fun dish about “Project Runway and fashion industry icons!)
“Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga Poses,” by Claire Dederer (LOVED this one)
“Born Standing Up,” by Steve Martin
“Bossypants,” by Tina Fey
“The Imperfectionists,” by Tom Rachman
“Big Girl Small,” by Rachel DeWoskin (author feature for A2.com)
“The Art of Forgetting,” by Camille Noe Pagan (author feature for A2.com)
“The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,” by Jamie Ford (for book discussion at Camp Michigania – heavy-handed, sentimental blah blah, in my humble opinion)
“Cinderella Ate My Daughter,” by Peggy Orenstein
“Something Borrowed,” by Emily Giffin
“Ballistics: Poems,” by Billy Collins
“Starlight,” by Neil Gaiman
“The Help,” by Kathryn Stockett
“Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put on my Pajamas and Found Happiness,” by Dominique Browning
“This is Where I Leave You,” by Jonathan Tropper
“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” by Jonathan Safran Foer
“Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend,” by Susan Orlean
2010
“The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold (first part was difficult to read, as a new parent, but liked this quite a bit in the end)
“The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins (SO good – in some ways, YA is where it’s at)
“Dead Until Dark” by Charlaine Harris (I’m afraid the vampire craze is lost on me, though)
“Catching Fire” by Suzanne Collins
“The Gate at the Stairs,” by Lorrie Moore
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
“The Lonely Polygamist” by Brady Udall
“Revolutionaries” by Jack Rakove
“Flipped” by Wendelin Van Draanen
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” by Rebecca Skloot
“Mockingjay,” by Suzanne Collins
“Bright-Sided,” by Barbara Ehrenreich
“The Irresistible Henry House,” by Lisa Grunwald
“One Day,” by David Nicholls
“Mary Poppins,” by P.L. Travers
“I Feel Bad About My Neck” by Nora Ephron
“The Ten Year Nap” by Meg Wolitzer
2009
“Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea” by Chelsea Handler
“The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman
“Coraline” by Neil Gaiman
“Commencement” by J. Courtney Sullivan
“New Moon” by Stephanie Meyer (her writing drives me crazy, so no more)
“The Geography of Bliss” by Michael Weiner
“The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes” by Neil Gaiman
“Gods Behaving Badly” by Marie Phillips
“The Reader,” by Bernhard Schlink
“Parenting, Inc.” by Pamela Paul
“The Abstinence Teacher” by Tom Perotta
“Wishful Drinking” by Carrie Fisher
“Girlfriend’s Guide to Toddlers” by Vicki Iovine
“The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak
“Up in the Air” by Walter Kirn (a rare instance wherein a screenplay was an improvement on the book, in my opinion)
2008
“Zoo Story” by Edward Albee
“Duck Variations” by David Mamet
“Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy” by Vicki Iovine
“Birth” by Tina Cassidy
“Kiss my Tiara” by Sarah Jane Gilman
“Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi
“A Perfect Madness” by Judith Warner
“Digging to America” by Anne Tyler
“Breastfeeding Sucks” by Joanna Kines (what expectant mother could resist that title?)
“Someday This Pain Will be of Use to You” by Peter Cameron
“The Trouble with Poetry” by Billy Collins
“Austenland” by Shannon Hale (big thumbs down)
“The Girlfriend’s Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood” by Vicki Iovine
“The Second Nine Months” by Vicki Glembocki (an awesomely candid and funny book for new moms, written by a talented Penn State MFA alum!)
“In the Mouth” by Eileen Pollack
“Rock Star Mommy” by Judy Davids
“The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch (so annoying – why did I read this?)
“What Would Barbara Do?” by Emma Brockes
“When You Are Engulfed in Flames” by David Sedaris
“The Glass Key” by Dash Hammett (didn’t finish)
“A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” by Dave Eggers (LOVED THIS)
“Promised the Moon” by Stephanie Nolan (really interesting, but didn’t get to finish this one)
“Twilight” by Stephanie Meyer (why is this such a hit? Edward’s such a controlling ass)
“Under the Banner of Heaven” by Jon Krakauer
