My 2008 Reading Year in Review

2008 wasn't a great reading year for me. I was too distracted by everything else (TWO kids! a fledgling etsy shop! all you awesome bloggers taking up my free time!) and didn't really focus on books like I wanted to do. In the end I read 41 books, missing my goal by 19.

This post will be my 2008 roundup, I'll post my goals for 2009 in another post. The 2007 version can be found here, 2006 here.

I didn't seem to read a lot of stand out titles this year, but the top five of what I DID read are:

1. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson,
   
2. gods in Alabama by Josilyn Jackson,
   
3. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs,
   
4. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audry Niffenegger,
5. Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs. (I love Patricia Briggs.)
   

Links to my reviews at the end of this post.

41 books read (titles listed at the end)
Of those:
9 adult fiction (including chick-lit)
5 YA fiction (including Meg Cabot, I couldn't decide where she belonged.)
2 romance
3 mystery
8 urban fantasy
14 non-fiction

Published in:
2008-7
2007-7
2006-7
2005-4
2004-3
2003-5
2002-3
2001-2
2000-2
1996-1

NO classics.
17 New to me authors (listed at the end.)
24 by women
13 by men
4 collections of essays
5 of the 12 on my personal TBR list.

So how did I do on my goals?

• 60 books (5 a month) FAILED
  
• 5 books off The Big List. The Big List is an ongoing list of books I “should” have read. These are mostly classics, and since I read 4 of them last year, I figure 5 is doable this year. FAILED
  
• 1 book of short stories. FAILED
  
• 1 Russian novel. FAILED
  
• More by men. (only 14% in 2007) SUCESS
  
• More non-fiction of any type. SUCESS
  
• Try to read anything published in 2008 IN 2008. MODERATE SUCCESS
  
• Complete my personal TBR Challenge list. This list is made of books that were hugely popular last year and that I own, but never got around to reading. FAILED
  
• Continue blogging about what I’m reading. SUCESS
  

Not so good. This years goals will be simpler that's for sure!

The new to me authors were: Stephenie Meyer, Audrey Niffenegger, Shannon Hale, Jim Butcher, Barack Obama, Nick Hornby, Diane Setterfield, Katrina Firlik, Michael Lewis, Lisa See, James Lee Burke, Diablo Cody, Chris Rose, Beth Lisick, Laurie Halse Anderson, Josilyn Jackson, and William Bass & Jon Jefferson.

The full list, with links to reviews (when reviewed):

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
2. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
3. 50 Greatest Love Letters of All Time edited by
4. Austenland by Shannon Hale
5. The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
6. Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume, Jennifer O’Connell, editor
7. Sex and Sensibility, Genevieve Fields, editor
8. Storm Front by Jim Butcher
9. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
10. In the Midnight Rain by Ruth Wind
11. Moneyball by Michael Lewis
12. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
13. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
14. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
15. The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke
16. Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
17. Candy Girl by Diablo Cody
18. Bonk by Mary Roach
19. Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris
20. Toddler edited by Jennifer Margulis
21. 1 Dead in Attic by Chris Rose
22. Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
23. Helping Me Help Myself by Beth Lisick
24. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
25. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
26. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
27. The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn
28. gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
29. Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich
30. Heat Stroke by Rachel Caine
31. Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot
32. Death’s Acre by William Bass and Jon Jefferson
33. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
34. Another Day in the Frontal Lobe by Katrina Firlik
35. Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs
36. Size 14 is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot
37. Death Masks by Jim Butcher
38. Mike, Mike, & Me by Wendy Markham
39. Complications by Atul Gawande
40. Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
41. Coraline by Neil Gaiman

2009 goals to come soon!