Books of 2007

In 2007, I made a goal to read 20 books and I hit my goal plus one! Hooray for me. I tried to broaden the authors I read and picked up a few non-fiction books. Here is a run down of my analysis.

This year, I tried to diversify and read more books written by men. There is a different point of view when you are reading a book by a male. Male authors look at relationships from a different angle, and its even more interesting when they are writing from a woman’s perspective. Out of the 21 books I read, 40% were written by men.

I only read 3 non-fiction books this year, and two of them were memoirs. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion was such a compelling read. This memoir was one of my favorite books this year and I wish I had gone to see the play when it came to DC.

Another favorite book of mine was of course Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. I think she finished off the series beautifully and answered all the questions that were in the previous books. Rowling made reading fun again and reminded kids and adults that there is a whole world out there that doesn’t involve video games or sitting in front of a tv or computer.

Some other honorable mentions of my favorite books are Eragon and Eldest by Christopher Paolini. The books fall under the fantasy realm and remind me of Tolkein, but not as wordy. I’m hoping he’ll finish the final book soon. Another great read is Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It has an interesting concept and besides the science fiction twist, really displays relationships and our need to belong.

One of my biggest disappointments was Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris. I have read of all Harris’s books and Hannibal Lector was one of my favorite characters of all time. He had so much depth and personality and was a man so evilly twisted. I could not wait to find out how Hannibal became this sociopath and felt rather under whelmed by it all. The prequel didn’t give you a real sense of why Hannibal continued to kill or what motivated him.

I will still keep my goal at 20 for this upcoming year. Towards the end, I found myself putting too much pressure on reading enough books to hit my goal, that I didn’t really enjoy some of the books that I was reading or picked books because of their length. The whole point isn’t just about hitting a target number, but also enjoying the story, getting lost in another world and experience different realities and viewpoints. I do want to read a few more non-fiction because I feel like I’m getting dumber since I haven’t been in school in over five years. I need to learn something or re-educate myself on a topic.

Here is my complete list of the books I read in 2007:

1) Eragon by Christopher Paolini
2) Eldest by Christopher Paolini
3) Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris
4) Captive of my Desires by Johanna Lindsey
5) The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
6) The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
7) Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
8) The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
9) Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
10) The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber
11) Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella
12) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
13) Being Committed by Anna Maxted
14) The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty by Julia Flynn Siler
15) A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas
16) The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
17) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
18) Manhunting by Jennifer Cruise
19) Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
20) Heartburn by Nora Ephron
21) I am American (And so Can You!) by Stephen Colbert


Here is my list from 2006

1) The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
2) The Historian by Elizabeth Kostava
3) The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
4) Something Blue by Emily Giffin
5) The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
6) Marley and Me by John Grogan
7) The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
8) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
9) The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld
10) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
11) From Baghdad with Love by Lt. Col Jay Kopelmen