The Books I Read in 2012

I will begin with my top 10 favorite books that I read this year:

1. Ragtime--E. L. Doctorow
2. Train Dreams--Denis Johnson
3. The Hunger Games--Suzanne Collins
4. Robert Altman: Interviews--David Sterritt
5. Wonderstruck--Brian Selznick
6. Never Fall Down--Patricia McCormick
7. The Lonely Polygamist--Brady Udall
8. The Nashville Chronicles--Jan Stuart
9. Changing My Mind--Zadie Smith
10. A Patriot's History of the United States--Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen

Here are the 99 books I read this year:

1. Burn Unit--Barbara Ravage
2. A Patriot's History of the United States--Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen
3. Far from Home--Mary Chung Hayashi
4. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging--Louise Rennison
5. Changing My Mind--Zadie Smith
6. My Seinfeld Year--Fred Stoller
7. Dead End in Norvelt--Jack Gantos
8. Lost Detroit--Dan Austin
9. Where Things Come Back--John Corey Whaley
10. Jasper Jones--Craig Silvey
11. Bless This Mouse--Lois Lowry
12. Breaking Stalin's Nose--Eugene Yelchin
13. The Christmas Barn--C.L. Davis
14. Steve Jobs--Walter Isaacson
15. Holes--Louis Sachar
16. American Born Chinese--Gene Luen Yang
17. Death at an Early Age--Jonathan Kozol
18. When Your Kids Push Your Buttons--Bonnie Harris
19. The Hunger Games--Suzanne Collins
20. How to Be Alone--Jonathan Franzen
21. Inside Out & Back Again--Thanhha Lai
22. Coming Apart--Charles Murray
23. Barrel Fever and Other Stories--David Sedaris
24. Why We Broke Up--Daniel Handler
25. The Scorpio Races--Maggie Stiefvater
26. Naked--David Sedaris
27. Red Army--Aaron Klein and Brenda J. Elliott
28. Holidays on Ice--David Sedaris
29. Swamplandia!--Karen Russell
30. The Graveyard Book--Neil Gaiman
31. Spies of Mississippi--Rick Bowers
32. Black Hands, White Sails--Patricia C. and Fredrick L. McKissack
33. Catherine, Called Birdy--Karen Cushman
34. Farther Away--Jonathan Franzen
35. Quiet--Susan Cain
36. The Midwife's Apprentice--Karen Cushman
37. Out of My Mind--Sharon M. Draper
38. Red Scarf Girl--Ji-li Jiang
39. Life on Mars--Tracy K. Smith
40. Robert Altman: Interviews--David Sterritt
41. The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories--Ernest Hemingway
42. Train Dreams--Denis Johnson
43. Remainder--Tom McCarthy
44. Netherland--Joseph O'Neill
45. Sacred Marriage--Gary Thomas
46. The Winter Room--Gary Paulsen
47. Obama Zombies--Jason Mattera
48. Moon over Manifest--Clare Vanderpool
49. The Lonely Polygamist--Brady Udall
50. Christopher Durang Explains It All for You--Christopher Durang
51. The Bridge of San Luis Rey--Thornton Wilder
52. Missing May--Cynthia Rylant
53. Secret of the Andes--Ann Nolan Clark
54. The Moviegoer--Walker Percy
55. The Amateur--Edward Klein
56. Ragtime--E. L. Doctorow
57. Twilight--Stephenie Meyer
58. The White Darkness--Geraldine McCaughrean
59. The Tyranny of Cliches--Jonah Goldberg
60. The Lincoln Lawyer--Michael Connelly
61. Gomorrah--Roberto Saviano
62. The Higher Power of Lucky--Susan Patron
63. Young Lonigan--James T. Farrell
64. Same Kind of Different as Me--Ron Hall and Denver Moore
65. The Death of Nora Ryan--James T. Farrell
66. Quiet Strength--Tony Dungy
67. Going Bovine--Libba Bray
68. Sam Holman--James T. Farrell
69. Unprotected--Miriam Grossman
70. Luckiest Man--Jonathan Eig
71. Neighbors--Thomas Berger
72. This Is How You Lose Her--Junot Diaz
73. The Lone Pilgrim--Laurie Colwin
74. Mugged--Ann Coulter
75. Kingdom Come--Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins
76. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children--Ransom Riggs
77. Wonderstruck--Brian Selznick
78. Children of a Lesser God--Mark Medoff
79. Nothing--Janne Teller
80. Prelude to the Century (Our American Century)
81. Cleopatra--Stacy Schiff
82. World's Fair--E.L. Doctorow
83. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk--Ben Fountain
84. Paradise--Donald Barthelme
85. Endangered--Eliot Schrefer
86. Bomb--Steve Sheinkin
87. Whites--Norman Rush
88. Out of Reach--Carrie Arcos
89. Goblin Secrets--William Alexander
90. The Yellow Birds--Kevin Powers
91. Never Fall Down--Patricia McCormick
92. The Nashville Chronicles--Jan Stuart
93. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village--Laura Amy Schlitz
94. Back to Blood--Tom Wolfe
95. Man Made--Joel Stein
96. Fool Me Twice--Aaron Klein & Brenda J. Elliott
97. The Plague of Doves--Louise Erdrich
98. The Round House--Louise Erdrich
99. Can America Survive?--John Hagee

The Books I Read in 2011

These are the 62 books I read this year (3 less than last year):

1. Les Misérables—Victor Hugo

2. Exposing the Real Che Guevara—Humberto Fontova

3. Their Eyes Were Watching God—Zora Neale Hurston

4. The Girl Who Played with Fire—Stieg Larsson

5. Inquisition—Toby Green

6. War and Peace—Leo Tolstoy

7. Guilty—Ann Coulter

8. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest—Stieg Larsson

9. How to Reach and Teach All Students—Simplified—Elizabeth Breaux

10. Mint Condition—Dave Jamieson

11. Righteous Indignation—Andrew Breitbart

12. The Complete Maus—Art Spiegelman

13. The Pale King—David Foster Wallace

14. Into Thin Air—Jon Krakauer

15. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People—Stephen R. Covey

16. Heaven Is for Real—Todd Burpo

17. I’d Go with the Helmet, Ray: A Doonesbury Book—G. B. Trudeau

18. American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar—Harvey Pekar

19. Persepolis—Marjane Satrapi

20. Demonic—Ann Coulter

21. The Recognitions—William Gaddis

22. Parrot and Olivier in America—Peter Carey

23. Persepolis 2—Marjane Satrapi

24. Falling Man—Don DeLillo

25. A Reliable Wife—Robert Goolrick

26. Wisconsin Death Trip—Michael Lesy

27. Primetime Propaganda—Ben Shapiro

28. Frindle—Andrew Clements

29. Don’t Cry—Mary Gaitskill

30. A Visit from the Goon Squad—Jennifer Egan

31. The Uncoupling—Meg Wolitzer

32. The Stoning of Sally Kern—Sally Kern

33. The Discomfort Zone—Jonathan Franzen

34. Riding toward Everywhere—William T. Vollmann

35. In My Time—Dick Cheney

36. Prince Caspian—C. S. Lewis

37. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader—C. S. Lewis

38. Troublemaker—Christine O’Donnell

39. Arguing with Idiots—Glenn Beck

40. The Invention of Hugo Cabret—Brian Selznick

41. Complete Plays 1913-1920—Eugene O’Neill

42. Salvage the Bones—Jesmyn Ward

43. Binocular Vision—Edith Pearlman

44. Flush—Carl Hiaasen

45. The Sojourn—Andrew Krivak

46. The No Spin Zone—Bill O’Reilly

47. The Buddha in the Attic—Julie Otsuka

48. Teacher Man—Frank McCourt

49. Bone Palace Ballet—Charles Bukowski

50. When You Reach Me—Rebecca Stead

51. The Help—Kathryn Stockett

52. The Angel Esmeralda—Don DeLillo

53. Americana—Don DeLillo

54. Savvy—Ingrid Law

55. The Tiger’s Wife—Téa Obreht

56. End Zone—Don DeLillo

57. Scumble—Ingrid Law

58. Mockingbird—Kathryn Erskine

59. Great Jones Street—Don DeLillo

60. Maggie: A Girl of the Streets—Stephen Crane

61. Ratner’s Star—Don DeLillo

62. Quartet—Jean Rhys

My top 10 books that I read this year:

1. The Help—Kathryn Stockett

2. Demonic—Ann Coulter

3. The Discomfort Zone—Jonathan Franzen

4. American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar—Harvey Pekar

5. A Visit from the Goon Squad—Jennifer Egan

6. The Angel Esmeralda—Don DeLillo

7. Heaven Is for Real—Todd Burpo

8. The Complete Maus—Art Speigelman

9. Righteous Indignation—Andrew Breitbart

10. Falling Man—Don DeLillo

For 2012, I plan to read mostly non fiction books. I have class coming up where I will have to read some Young Adult literature, but other than that it will be all non fiction. My plan for the next three years is to spend each year reading only a certain genre of literature. In 2012, it will be non fiction; in 2013, it will be poetry and drama; and in 2014, it will be novels and short stories. I plan to start of the year reading Barbara Ravage’s Burn Unit.

June 4 to December 31, 2010

Here's what I've read since White Teeth back in June:

17. The Old Maid--Edith Wharton

18. The Lesson of the Master--Henry James

19. The Purpose-Driven Life--Rick Warren

20. Catholics--Brian Moore

21. Andrea--John O' Hara

22. My Mortal Enemy--Willa Cather

23. Mario and the Magician--Thomas Mann

24. Youth--Joseph Conrad

25. The Death of Ivan Ilych--Leo Tolstoy

26. The Ambassadors--Henry James

27. The Onion Field--Joseph Wambaugh

28. In Cold Blood--Truman Capote

29. Beloved--Toni Morrison

30. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger--Stephen King

31. To Kill a Mockingbird--Harper Lee

32. The Bible of Unspeakable Truths--Greg Gutfeld

33. John Calvin: A Biography--T.H.L. Parker

34. The Natural--Bernard Malamud

35. Lord of the Flies--William Golding

36. Bright Lights, Big City--Jay McInerney

37. The Conscience of a Conservative--Barry Goldwater

38. Notes from the Underground--Fyodor Dostoyevsky

39. Late Wife--Claudia Emerson

40. Underworld--Don DeLillo

41. Where I'm Calling from--Raymond Carver

42. Short Cuts--Raymond Carver (my second time reading it)

43. The Poisonwood Bible--Barbara Kingsolver

44. White Noise--Don DeLillo

45. The March--E.L. Doctorow

46. Freedom--Jonathan Franzen

47. Point Omega--Don DeLillo

48. The Road--Cormac McCarthy

49. The Case for Christ--Lee Strobel

50. Drinking the Rain--Alix Kates Shulman

51. Take God at His Word--Kregg Hood

52. Intellectuals Don't Need God--Alister E. McGrath

53. Billy Budd--Herman Melville

54. Goodbye, Columbus--Philip Roth

55. The Fall--Albert Camus

56. Dutch--Edmund Morris

57. Decision Points--George W. Bush

58. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo--Stieg Larsson

59. America by Heart--Sarah Palin

60. Everyman--Philip Roth

61. Lord of Misrule--Jaimy Gordon

62. The Bonfire of the Vanities--Tom Wolfe

63. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle--David Wroblewski

64. Mao II--Don DeLillo

65. Being There--Jerzy Kosinski

My top 10 favorite books that I read in 2010:

1. In Cold Blood--Truman Capote

2. The Right Stuff--Tom Wolfe

3. Being There--Jerzy Kosinski

4. Mao II--Don DeLillo

5. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle--David Wroblewski

6. Underworld--Don DeLillo

7. The Bonfire of the Vanities--Tom Wolfe

8. White Teeth--Zadie Smith

9. Hooking Up--Tom Wolfe

10. Freedom--Jonathan Franzen

I was on a Tom Wolfe and Don DeLillo kick this year. I've always been a fan of Wolfe; after reading Underworld, I became interested in DeLillo's post-Modern style.

I read this year's Pultizer winner for Fiction, Paul Harding's Tinkers, and this year's National Book Award winner for Fiction, Jaimy Gordon's Lord of Misrule, not long after they were announced as the winners.

I plan to read at least 13 books in 2011. David Foster Wallace's last novel The Pale King will be released in April. I plan to read it as soon as it comes out.

From January 1 to June 3:

1. Going Rogue--Sarah Palin

2. House of Thieves--Kaui Hart Hemmings

3. Hooking Up--Tom Wolfe

4. Brand--Henrik Ibsen

5. Modern Times--Paul Johnson

6. Liberal Fascism--Jonah Goldberg

7. Power to the People--Laura Ingraham

8. Collected Poems: 1953-1993--John Updike

9. Lips Touch: Three Times--Laini Taylor

10. The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby--Tom Wolfe

11. Pride and Prejudice--Jane Austen

12. The Paideia Proposal: An Educational Manifesto--Mortimer J. Adler

13. Tinkers--Paul Harding

14. The Right Stuff--Tom Wolfe

15. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao--Junot Diaz

16. White Teeth--Zadie Smith (currently reading it)

December 31, 2010

I'll be posting the books that will have been read by the end of the year on 12/31.