2011: in books

Well, needless to say, 2011 was not exactly a stellar year in my reading life.

I mean, come on, I had a baby.

But, still, when I reviewed my list for the year and counted up the total, I was a little bummed. Reading gives me so much enjoyment, and it has only been in the past month or so that I feel like I am getting back into the reading groove. I admit I get a little crazy about my book total for the year. So crazy that on Thursday when I counted them up, and realized I had only hit 23 (and that was IF I finished the current book), I rapidly finished up the one I was on, and then read another one on Saturday just so I could hit the two-books-per-month number. I know, I know. And then I had to take another bite of the humble pie when Jon listed his 2011 books and they totaled 47. That's right. My movie-loving-previously-anti-reading husband almost doubled my list. Way to go, hubby.

A year ago, I recapped my 2010 reading list by naming my top 5 fiction and top 5 nonfiction. This year, that would be half the list... so I'll just cover the whole list this time and point out some favorites.

Emma*

Cutting for Stone
(Definitely my favorite novel of the year)

The Hunger Games
(close to the top of the list, as well)


Harry Potter #2 (I can never remember their names)

The Immortal Game
(Yes this is a book about chess... but was actually pretty good!)


Catch-22*
(much better the second time around)


Catching Fire


Babywise


19 Minutes


Brave New World*


Sleep Deprived No More


Birthing From Within
(will definitely be reading this during every pregnancy)


Skinny Bitch


Animal Farm*


Love and Respect


The Red Tent


Mockingjay


Anne of Green Gables


The Practice of the Presence of God


The Sun Also Rises*


What Babies Say Before They Can Talk
(probably my favorite non-fiction read of the year)


Every Bush is Burning


War of the Worlds*


Baby Sign Language Basics


*from Kate's and my Top 100 novels list. As you can see we were major slackers this year, only finishing 6 off the list. We try to do one per month, but obviously that did not happen this year. We have similar reasons for slacking: I'm a mom and she's a grad student, so we both are sleep-and-time-deprived.

Right now I am reading One Thousand Gifts and Ender's Game. Really excited about both of them.

Any more suggestions for the coming year? How was your reading life in 2011?