Books, books & more books

Last year I started keeping track of the books I read. This year, so far, I've read 133 books (although seven of them I either did not finish, or am still reading). I knew I read a lot, but more than 11 books per month, on average, is probably a little excessive. Maybe I should cut back next year and do something a little more productive with my time, like keep up with housework or, maybe, find a date. Heh.

Anyhoo, the standouts on my list this year were (in the order I read them):

• The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini - this book was fabulous and heartbreaking
• Something Borrowed and Something Blue, both by Emily Giffin - fun chick-lit fluff, but with substance; taken together, the books form two sides of the same story
  
• A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey - not exactly non-fiction, but VERY well written and compelling
• Undead & Unwed, by Mary Janice Davidson - another fun fluff piece, this time about a rather shallow young woman who becomes a vampire
• The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls - disturbing non-fiction memoir
  
• Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger - a coming-of-age story about the bonds of family and duty
  
• A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving - another lovely coming-of-age story, focused on faith
• A Dirty Job, Christopher Moore - more fun stuff: a man who becomes one of Death's helpers (Christopher Moore is always a good bet for offbeat, humorous "horror" stories)
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer - powerful story about a boy searching for clues to his father's past after he dies in the 9/11 attacks
• Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro - creepy but hopeful at the same time

I hope one or more of these books ends up on your 2007 list, if you haven't read them all already!