WHAT I READ 2009

I have loved to read ever since the first grade. During lunch, my darling Dad (a voracious reader) would walk from his office to the library across the street and select a stack of books to bring home to me. What a treat! My first grade teacher, Mrs. Stilwell, gave us a feather to put in an indian headdress for each book we read--I read the most and became chief (of course).

It has been a unique year of reading for me as I have found different ways to bring more books into my life. There is the lovely book in a hand approach, a classic that is my favorite way to read. But there are also books on tape which make my drive to and from work entertaining or educational; DailyLit helps me tackle the thick-book classics such as Vanity Fair, by emailing me a page a day; and my Kindle which lets me keep bunches of books at the ready with little effort.

Add to that the many blogs reviewing books and my ever-lengthening "to read" list makes my head hurt. My friend, Tami, hopes that we can still work on our reading list in the next life--Amen!

Recently I was talking to Mr. Talbot, my friend Leslie's darling Dad, about reading. He loves to read new books but in December he always re-reads A Christmas Carol and a Jane Austen book, this year Pride and Prejudice. I love that idea. The winter seems like a great reading season (you know, in other places where it snows), but December is so crazy busy it's hard to find the time to immerse myself in a new book. I think Mr. Talbot's idea of re-reading a few classics in December is brilliant and I shall do that in 2010.

Meanwhile, here is the list of all the books I read in 2009 with a brief note.

• The Ladies of Grace Adieu - enjoyable, at times unsettling


• Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire - educational


• Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure - educational but a bit crude


• Vanity Fair - loved it


• Cheeful Weather for the Wedding - easy


• The BFG - loved it


• Watching the English - too much information


• Cider with Rosie - lovely


• The Cemetary Yew - fun


• Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor - enjoyable


• Unnatural Death - loved it


• Diary of Provincial Lady - loved it


• Thank You, Jeeves - loved it, laughed out loud


• The Help - clever, loved it


• The Uncommon Reader - clever, loved it


• The Cranefly Orchid Murders - fun


• Bringing Home the Birkin - interesting but sophomoric at times


• Jack in the Pulpit - fun


• The Wildwater Walking Club - light reading


• Seven Pleasures: Essays on Ordinary Happiness - good, but smug


• My French Life - dreamy


• A Homemade Life - good


• Striding Folly - very good


• Richard and John: Kings at War - good but tedious


• Truman - very good


• Cold Comfort Farm - loved it


• Atlas Shrugged - loved it


• In Defense of Food - loved it


• Barchester Towers - good


• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - loved it


• Dorothy Parker short stories - too dreary


• Outliers - interesting


• My Life in France - loved it


• The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression - loved it


• Joy in the Morning (Wooster & Jeeves) - laugh out loud funny


• Paris to the Moon - good


• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - so good


• More Home Cooking: A Writer Returns to the Kitchen - loved it


• Blink - interesting


• Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen - terrific


• Happy All The Time - good


• The Tipping Point - interesting


• The Reluctant Widow - so so


• The Christmas Sweater - so so


• The Friday Night Knitting Club - very good, tear jerker


• The Picture of Dorian Gray - creepy, excellent