The year is almost over, and this is the first time I've kept track of all the books I've read this year. I don't know if this is my usual amount, but it does seem as if it's quite a few -
My top favorites in the order they were read:
When Will There be Good News - Kate Atkinson
Sarah's Key - Tatiana de Rosnay
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson
South of Broad - Pat Conroy
The following books I marked VG for very good:
The Brutal Telling - Louise Penny
Booked to Die - John Dunning
Caught in the Light - Robert Goddard
The Bookwoman's Last Fling - John Dunning
Sight Unseen - Robert Goddard
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - Jamie Ford
The Eleventh Man - Ivan Doig
The Princes of Ireland - Edward Rutherfurd
Loving Frank - Nancy Horan
Work Song - Ivan Doig
Jumping the Queue - Mary Wesley
The Summer Guest - Justin Cronin
Faithful Place - Tana French
That Old Cape Magic - Richard Russo
In Pale Battalions - Robert Goddard
This Body of Death - Elizabeth George
Never Change - Elizabeth Berg
The Swan Thieves - Elizabeth Kostova
Bad Boy - Peter Robinson
Home Safe - Elizabeth Berg
Coventry - Helen Humphreys
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
Lake of Sorrows - Erin Hart
Plots and Errors - Jill McGown
The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag - Alan Bradley
Day After Night - Anita Diamant
When She Flew - Jennie Shortridge
These books were good reads, but not terrific:
Coastliners - Joanne Harris
One Handful of Earth - Ellie Gunn
Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen
Not in the Flesh - Ruth Rendell
Suspicious Origin - Patricia MacDonald
Headcase - Peter Helton
The Wood Beyond - Reginald Hill
Fete Fatale - Robert Barnard
Abide With Me - Elizabeth Strout
Who Guards a Prince - Reginald Hill
Heart and Soul - Maeve binchey
The Grave Tattoo - Val McDermid
Rose - Martin Cruz Smith
The Sign of the Book - John Dunning
The Lost Mother - Mary McGarry Morris
Vanish - Tess Gerritsen
The Broken Shore - Peter Temple
Shanghai Girls - Lisa See
The Far Country - Nevil Shute
Down River - John Hart
Maisie Dobbs - Jacqueline Winspear
Tug of War - Barbara Cleverly
Tooth and Nail - Ian Rankin
Grasshopper - Barbara Vine
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
Messenger of Truth - Jacqueline Winspear
Long Time Coming - Robert Goddard
The Breaker - Minnette Walters
Holy Terror - Josephine Bolton
The Shadows in the Street - Susan Hill
Sacrifice - S.J. Bolton
The Rest of Her Life - Laura Moriarty
Jar City - Arnaldur Indridason
The Water Clock - Jim Kelly
Good Harbor - Anita Diamant
The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff
Scared to Live - Stephen Booth
Cold Case - Kate Wilhelm
Among the Mad - Jacqueline Winspear
The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters
The Dead of Winter - Rennie Airth
The Complaints - Ian Rankin
The Art of Racing in the Rain- Garth Stein
On the Night Plain - J. Robert Lennon
Black and Blue - Ian Rankin
I had problems with very few books - and only have one that I didn't finish.
Lights Out Tonight - Mary Jane Clark (this I gave an ok to - not a G for good)
Wish You Were Here - Stewart O'Nan ( D for dull)
Crooked Little Heart - Anne Lamott - (G? - not sure if it rated a G)
Found Wanting - Robert Goddard - the title says it all
The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood - I'm just not a fan of hers and skimmed a lot
And the one I did not finish:
Five Quarters of an Orange - Joanne Harris - I read half of the book; decided I just didn't like the main character enough to continue reading.
So there you have it. I believe that is 84. I'll have time to read one more before the end of the year!
