Books I've Read, 2003

♥

This is just a log of the books I've read this year. I'm hoping to read around five books a month, which to some mightn't seem like very much, but I used to be a voracious reader back in school and somehow slipped out of the habit. In the last couple of years I've rediscovered the joy of the library and I'm trying to keep up with it and feed my mind lots of cool stories. You might find that I'm not the most discerning reader (after all, I still have a stash of "Babysitter's Club" books laying about for lazy half-hour reads) but I pick things that look interesting and keep me intrigued, and that's the most important thing for reading, isn't it? Maybe something here will be interesting to you and give you something new to seek out and read. Enjoy!

Also, the "mini-review" thing I started doing became a chore rather than a pleasure so I'm just reverting back to a list for now.

* - asterisk denotes a repeat read.

I gave myself the challenge of reading 50 Books this year. So far I am up to number 58! Which means I did it - woohoo! I'm just so verklempt, I don't know how to react to the honour of reaching this milestone. I have so many people to thank! But I would like to narrow it down to the Washington County library system, and Barnes & Noble (extra thanks for not kicking me out while I read "Princess In Waiting" in three sittings).

January

  • "The Stepford Wives", Ira Levin (fiction; horror/sci fi)

  • "My Year Of Meats", Ruth L. Ozeki (fiction)*

  • "The Best Little Girl In The World", Steven Levenkron (fiction; anorexia)

  • "Like Water For Chocolate", Laura Esquivel (fiction; drama/romance)

  • "Beyond the Labyrinth", Gillian Rubenstein (Fantasy/Sci-Fi)*

    February

  • "What My Mother Doesn't Know", Sonia Sones (Young Adult Fiction; a book written entirely in freestyle poems, which might sound a bit iffy as a concept but it works and it makes it a marvelous, quick read with an engaging story)*

  • "Tracey Takes On", Tracey Ullman (Fiction/Non-fiction, involving both Tracey and the host of characters she portrays in her show, "Tracey Takes On")

  • "The Bluest Eye", Toni Morrison (Fiction, Non-Happy Kind. If this classification seems a bit weird to you, it's because I didn't realise how hard it would be to categorise until a ten-year-old girl said, "What's that book about?" while I was reading it. I said, "Uh, it's about a little girl who wishes she had blue eyes. It's not a very happy story.")

  • "The Queen of Everything", Deb Caletti (Young Adult Fiction).

  • "Invisible Monsters", Chuck Palahniuk (fiction).

  • "The Eternal Enemy", Christopher Pike (Horror/Sci-Fi)*.

    March

  • "The Vagina Monologues, V-Day Edition", Eve Ensler (non-fiction).

  • "Skin", C.E Poverman (short story anthology).

  • "Shirley, Goodness and Mercy", Debbie Macomber (fiction, Christmas holiday themed).

  • "Swift As Desire", Laura Esquivel (fiction; drama/romance).

  • "Fast Food Nation", Eric Schlosser (nonfiction).

    April

  • "The Answer Is Yes", Sara Lewis (fiction).

  • "Mouthing The Words", Camilla Gibb (fiction).

  • "The Great Gilly Hopkins", Katherine Paterson (fiction)*.

  • "Can This Be Christmas?", Debbie Macomber (fiction).

  • "Food and Loathing", Betsy Lerner (non-fiction, memoir).

  • "Otherwise Engaged", Suzanne Finnamore (fiction).

  • "Rosemary's Baby", Ira Levin (fiction, horror).

  • "Son of Rosemary", Ira Levin (fiction, horror).

  • "The Nanny Diaries", Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (fiction).

  • "The Giver", Lois Lowry (YA fiction).

    May

  • "A Wrinkle In Time", Madeleine L'Engle (science fiction).

  • "The Outsiders", S.E Hinton (fiction).

  • "The Amazing 'True' Story of a Teenage Single Mom", Katherine Arnoldi (graphic novel, non-fiction, memoir).

  • "So Much To Tell You", John Marsden (YA fiction).

  • "Duh! The Stupid History of the Human Race", Bob Fenster (non-fiction).

    June

  • "Frasier: The Official Guide", Jefferson Graham (non-fiction).

    July

  • "Clean It! Fix It! Eat It!", Joey Green (non-fiction).

  • "Brave New World", Aldous Huxley (fiction).

  • "Born Confused", Tanuja Desai Hidier (fiction).

  • "Blubber", Judy Blume (fiction)*.

    August

  • "I'm The One That I Want", Margaret Cho (non-fiction, memoir).

  • "Dream Boy", Jim Grimsley (fiction)*.

  • "Wake Up, I'm Fat!", Camryn Manheim (non-fiction, memoir)*.

  • "Fight Club", Chuck Palahniuk (fiction).

  • "The Princess Diaries" (Princess Diaries Vol. I), Meg Cabot (YA fiction).

  • "Night Gardening", E.L. Swann (fiction).

    September

  • "Princess In The Spotlight" (Princess Diaries Vol. II), Meg Cabot (YA fiction).

  • "Princess In Love" (Princess Diaries Vol. III), Meg Cabot (YA fiction).

  • "Sati", Christopher Pike (fiction)*.

  • "Princess In Waiting" (Princess Diaries Vol. IV), Meg Cabot (YA fiction).

  • "Screening Party", Dennis Hensley (non-fiction).

    October

  • "Cat's Eye", Margaret Atwood (fiction).

  • "The Lovely Bones", Alice Sebold (fiction).

  • "The Broke Diaries", Angela Nissel (non-fiction).

  • "Seven Wild Sisters", Charles de Lint (fiction).

    November

  • "Cut", Patricia McCormick (YA fiction).

  • "I Don't Know How She Does It", Allison Pearson (fiction).

  • "Cancer, Schmancer", Fran Drescher (non-fiction, memoir).

  • "Cybill Disobedience", Cybill Shepherd with Aimee Ball (non-fiction, memoir).

    December (The Month of the Celebrity Memoir!)

  • "Find Me", Rosie O'Donnell (non-fiction, memoir).

  • "Motherhood And Hollywood: How To Get A Job Like Mine", Patricia Heaton (non-fiction, memoir).

  • "Call Me Crazy", Anne Heche (non-fiction, memoir).

    [soliloquies] . [slackerbaby] . [LJ]