The Books of 2006

I liked reading the posts like this last year. Also, while I was reading them Liz showed me the list that she had been keeping; and so I was inspired to keep my own list. I'll advertise for her here and say that I will be helping her post her list of 200+ books later today and I know she'd love for you to check it out.

I included audiobooks, and therefore discovered that driving to work and walking the dog allowed me to "read" 12 extra books. I included books that I read to the older kids, but it felt like padding to include the ones I read to Curly Girl. Besides, I started to keep track of them and gave up after a few days because there were so many. I only commented on the ones that stood out--some of them after almost a year-- one way or the other.

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, JK Rowling. Reread, Audio
2. Flush, Carl Hiaasen. Audio
3. Dragon Rider, Cornelia Funke. Audio
4. Icy Sparks, Gwyn Hyman Rubio. Audio
5. A Good Year, Peter Mayle. Audio
6. The Confessions of Max Tivoli, Andrew Sean Greer. Audio
7. Sam's Letters to Jennifer, James Patterson. Audio
8. Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides. Audio. Interesting, if more than a little strange. The protagonist was raised as a girl, but genetically a boy. She was happy as a girl until puberty hit. It tells a lot of family history; I think I wouldn't have liked it so much if I had read it instead of listened to it.
9. Night, Elie Weisel. Audio. Somehow I missed this one when I was listing my influential 2006 books on the board. It’s so hard to believe that people would do that to other people, and that it would be allowed by so many others.
10. How to Succeed in Evil, Patrick McLean. Audio. If you ever find this book, don’t bother with it. It isn’t horrendous, but it’s not really worth the time.
11. Every Mother is a Daughter, Perri Klass, Sheila Solomon Klass. Audio. After listening to this, I bought it for my mother for Christmas.
12. Born Confused, Tanuja Desai Hidier. Audio
13. Replay, Ken Grimwood. Technically a reread, but I didn’t realize it until several chapters in.
14. Knitting in Plain English, Maggie Righetti. Reread. One of the very few books on this list that I actually own; it may be the only one I actually bought for myself.
15. Esther: A Story of Courage, Trudy J. Morgan-Cole
16. A Matter of Time, Jessamyn West. You might not think that a woman taking care of her dying sister and thinking back over their lives together would be a good book, but it was.
17. Chronoliths, Robert Charles Wilson. Science fiction book about monuments that appear all over the world with future dates inscribed on them. I wanted to read more by him, but never got around to it. Maybe in 2007.
18. Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynn Truss. Now I know I am a fan of the Oxford comma. I want to rewrite the title as “Eats, Shoots, & Leaves.”
19. Humbug, Nina Bowden
20. Of Two Minds, Carol Matas, Perry Nodelman. I can’t remember reading this one at all. Not much of a recommendation, eh?
21. Selling the Lite of Heaven, Suzanne Strempek Shea. A woman trying to sell her engagement ring after her fiancé decides to become a priest.
22. The Joy of Knitting, Lisa R. Myers
23. Knit Lit, Linda Roghaar, Molly Wolf
24. Self-Made Man, Norah Vincent
25. Blink, Malcolm Gladwell. Another one that could have made the Board list; I bored people around me for weeks with tidbits from it. About how well your mind does at making split-second decisions—except when it’s not.
26. Wings, Terry Pratchett
27. Child of Flame, Kate Elliott
28. 1-2-3 Magic, Thomas W. Phelan. Magic, I tell you.
29. Indigo Blue, Cathy Cassidy
30. Mason Dixon Knitting, Kay Gardiner & Ann Meador Shayne
31. How my Private Personal Journal Became a Bestseller, Julia Deviller
32. The Gathering Storm, Kate Elliott. I read the first few books, then realized that the series wasn’t finished. I waited years to be able to get started again! I’m glad that I did. It was hard at first to get back into who was who, but I liked the flow of going from one book to the next with the option of a short, palate-cleansing book in between.
33. Galactic Pot-Healer, Philip K. Dick. I like his books, but, man, is he weird.
34. Maze of Death, Philip K. Dick. Phil was paranoid, drug-addicted, and probably insane—and that’s no surprise if you’ve read any of his books.
35. Archer's Goon, Diana Wynne Jones
36. Firethorn, Sarah Micklem
37. Bellwether, Connie Willis—my favorite of the Connie Willis books I’ve read.
38. To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis
39. The Doomsday Book, Connie Willis
40. Code Talker, Joseph Bruchac. A young adult book about a Navajo code talker in WWII.
41. In the Ruins, Kate Elliott
42. Crown of Stars, Kate Elliott.
43. The Fourth Bear, Jasper Fforde
44. Firegirl, Tony Abbott
45. Cinderella (as if you didn't already know the story), Barbara Ensor
46. Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell
47. Rules, Cynthia Lord
48. The Case for Christ, Lee Stroebel
49. Nightwatch, Sergei Lukyanenko
50. Wendy Knits, Wendy D. Johnson
51. Charlotte in Paris, Annie Bryant
52. Forest Mage, Robin Hobb
53. Missing Abby, Lee Weatherly
54. Perfume, Patrick Suskind

Read to Josh, mostly at bedtime:
55. The Janitor's Boy, Andrew Clements
56. We Adopted You, Benjamin Koo, Linda Walvoord Girard
57. Mystery of Metru Nui, Greg Farshtey
58. Holy Enchilada!, Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver. Yes, written by the Fonz.
59. Capt. Underpants & the big bad battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Dav Pilkey
60. Top Dog, Marcia Thornton Jones
61. Summer School! What Genius Thought That Up?, Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver
62. Call it Courage, Armstrong Sperry

Read to Liz, who isn't too old for bedtime stories:
63. School's Out, Johanna Hurwitz
64. Al Capone Does My Shirts, Gennifer Choldenko
65. Dizzy, Cathy Cassidy
66. Bernie Magruder and the Parachute Peril, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
67. Worst Enemies/Best Friends, Annie Bryant
68. Halfway to the Sky, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley