See what books I read in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

Number	Author	Title	Published	Rating (out of 5)	Mini Sum
1	Emma Campbell Webster	Lost in Austen	2007	*****	(Humor) Choose your own matrimonial adventure as a character in a Jane Austen book.
2	Robert Louis Stevenson	The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde	1886	****	(Classic) Doctor causes his own demise when he distills his inner evil into an alter ego who does terrible things at night.
3	Suzanne Collins	The Hunger Games	2008	*****	(YA Sci-Fi) In a dystopic future districts must send teens to fight to the death on reality tv.
4	Gail Anderson-Dargatz	The Cure for Death by Lightning	1996	****	(Fiction) During WWII violence at home and (possibly) supernatural forces threaten rural Canadian girl as she comes of age.
4.5	R.A. Nelson	Teach Me	2004	*	(YA Fiction) Whiny teen throws a fit when the teacher she had an affair with marries a grown-up.
5	Garth Stein	How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets	2005	***	(Fiction) Thirty-something guitarist re-thinks his life when he suddenly gets custody of his teenage son.
5.5	Lisa Beth Kovetz	The Tuesday Erotica Club	2006	**	(Fiction) Self-righteous, middle-aged lawyers and paralegals learn life-lessons from a lowly secretary over self-penned, semi-biographical, erotic short stories. TMI!
6	Michael Franzini	One Hundred Young Americans	2007	*****	(Photography) Portraits and biographical sketches of 100 teens representing the full spectrum of millennial youth culture.
7	Cornelia Funke	Inkheart	2003	****	(YA Fantasy) Family has difficulty with fictional characters who they can read out of books.
8	Gillian Shields	Immortal	2009	**	(YA Fantasy) Orphaned teen goes to spooky boarding school where she predictably falls in love with an immortal guy who leads a secret coven of witches. Evie must get in touch with her ancestress and claim her power to save Sebastian and stop the witches.
9	James Patterson	Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports: Maximum Ride 3	2007	***	(YA Sci-fi) Max and her snarky flock of human/bird hybrids finally save the world from evil scientists...for now.
10	Mary Hoffman	Troubadour	2009	***	(YA historical fiction) Faced with marriage to an old man, 13th century aristocrat disguises herself as a boy and runs away to be a troubadour, unaware of the looming religous war that threatens everyone she loves.
11	Gregory Maguire	A Lion Among Men	2008	*****	(Fiction) The Wicked Years book three is about the Cowardly Lion, Brrr. On a mission to find out what happened to Liir and the Grimmerie, the Cowardly Lion recounts his life of cowardice and shame. Unabridged audiobook is brilliantly narrated by John Mcdonough.
12	Kristina Grish	Addickted: 12 Steps to Kicking Your Bad Boy Habit	2006	***	(Humor) Amusing advice for women who like men who aren't good for them. Bad boys want nothing to do with me, but it's still a pretty funny book. It will be excellent for the Valentine's display.
13	Philippa Gregory	The Other Queen	2008	**	(Historical fiction) Tells the story of Mary Queen of Scots long (so very long) captivity in England.
14	Pete Hautman	Godless	2004	****	(YA Fiction) When a teen and his friends create their own religion worshiping the town's water tower summer becomes more exciting than they thought possible.
15	Octavia Butler	The Parable of the Sower	1993	****	(Sci-fi) After the US economy colapses, violence, drug abuse, and unemployment leave girl's family vulnerable, eventually causing the young woman to lead a group of strangers to begin a new communal society.
16	Sarah Vowell	The Wordy Shipmates	2008	*****	(History) Vowell's newest book of humorous essays about American history is about the Puritans.
17	Neil Gaiman	Coraline	2002	*****	(Juv. Fiction) Upon finding a door into a house -spookily similar to her own- girl must save her parents, ghost children, and herself from a frightening soul-eating monster.
18	M.T. Anderson	The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: 1 The Pox Party	2006	*****	(YA Historical Fiction) As the American Revolution begins, Octavian, a slave brought up in the most unusual circumstances, fights for his own freedom.
19	Stephen Chbosky	The Perks of Being a Wallflower	1999	****	(YA Fiction) Sensitive and troubled teen shares observations during his tumultuous first year of high school through anonymous letters.
20	Margo Lanagan	Tender Morsels	2008	*****	(YA Fantasy) In this retelling of Grimm's "Snow-White and Rose-Red" magical forces allow a traumatized girl to raise her own daughters in the safety she missed, but when the magic sours the family must leave their heaven and face the harsh truth of the real world.
21	Orson Scott Card	Children of the Mind	1996	***	(Sci-fi) Ender, his extra bodies, his friends, and his family all try to prevent the destruction of their planet, seek communication with another species, and find a way to save Jane.
22	Steve Martin	Shopgirl	2000	****	(Novella) Depressed artist dates a slacker then a business mogul while working as a glove salesgirl - each grows when the relationships fail.
23	Barry Lyga	Boy Toy	2007	****	(YA Fiction) Controversial novel about a high school senior whose past haunts him when the teacher who molested him in 7th grade is released from jail.
24	Gwen Bristow	Jubilee Trail	1950	***	(Historical Fiction) Garnet, a wide-eyed NY socialite bored with the confines of the feminine sphere of the 1840's, falls in love with a trader who has land in California. Garnet had never heard of California, but she eagerly undertakes the treacherous journey west through the wild lands between St. Louis and L.A. to expand her limited world.
25	E. Lockhart	The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks	2008	*****	(YA Fiction) Everyone underestimates Frankie: her parents, friends, boyfriend, and school. After observing the power structures at her boarding school, Frankie decides to make a statement. She secretly takes over the secret all-boys old boys club. How she uses her new-found power is the stuff of legends.
26	Ann Rinaldi	A Break With Charity: A Story About the Salem Witch Trials	2003	***	(YA Historical Fiction) Susanna knows what the girls are doing. They are maliciously accusing innocent people of witchcraft for attention, power, and fun. The hysteria is getting out of hand, but even knowing how it started Susanna is powerless to stop it.
27	Marilynne Robinson	Home	2008	*****	(Fiction) 38-year-old Glory has returned home to care for her aging father. The youngest of 8 children - all others grown into successful adults with happy families, she would be the black sheep if it weren't for Jack. Jack, their father's favorite in spite of every way he broke his heart, disappeared 20 years ago leaving behind a scandal. Jack's return begins the family's weaving of an intricate web of guilt, hope, and grief.
28	Anonymous	Go Ask Alice	1971	*	(YA Fiction) A teen girl experiments with drugs, gets hooked, runs away from home, and suffers the consequences of her wild hippy lifestyle in this preachy, diary style novel.
29	Neil Gaiman	The Graveyard Book	2008	*****	(YA Fiction) Boy is raised by kindly ghosts in a graveyard until he is old enough to avenge his family's murder.
30	S. Morgan Friedman and Michael Malice	Overheard in New York	2008	***	(Humor) Amusing, strange, and puzzling things people have overheard others saying in NYC - compiled from the website.
31	Salman Rushdie	Shalimar the Clown	2005	****	(Fiction) The interweaving, international life stories of Max, his daughter, his wife, his mistress, and her husband - also Max's killer - Shalimar the Clown.
32	Simon Winchester	The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary	1999	*****	(History) The fascinating story of Dr. William Minor, a schizophrenic Civil War doctor who worked on the OED from his cell in an English asylum for the criminally insane.
33	Octavia Butler	Fledgling	2005	***	(Fiction) Shori wakes up in the woods with no memories, broken, and in pain. As she heals she discovers that half of her family has been slaughtered and the other half is in danger. And she is a vampire.
34	Nellie Bly	Ten Days in a Mad-House	1887	****	(Nonfiction) Uncover journalist investigated the terrible conditions in a NYC asylum and published her experiences.
35	Marilynne Robinson	Gilead	2004	*****	(Fiction) In Rev. Ames's letter to his young son he seeks to tell him all he won't be able to tell him before he dies - about his grandfather and father (both ministers with conflicting faith systems), the lonely years after his 1st wife and baby died, meeting his 2nd wife and becoming a father in his old age, his life-long friend Boughton, and his namesake, Jack (Boughton's son), and the challenges Jack presented to their faith.
36	Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus	The Nanny Diaries	2002	**	(Fiction) A NYC nanny works for a horrible family who constantly take advantage of her and involve her in their drama.
37	Suzanne Collins	Catching Fire	2009	*****	(YA Fiction) Katniss's actions during the Hunger Games have inspired communities across the nation to rebel against the capital. As the newest symbol of revolution, her actions endanger everyone she loves but may free her society from their cruel leader.
38	Alan Weisman	The World Without Us	2007	****	(Nonfiction) Weisman explores what would happen to the Earth - environment, buildings, flora & fauna, power grid, et al - if all people disappeared right now.
39	Jonathan Stroud	The Amulet of Samarkand	2003	****	(Juv. Fiction) 12-year-old apprentice magician Nathaniel summons the djinni Bartimaeus to help him get even with a magician who bullied him.
40	Sandra Cisneros	Caramelo	2002	***	(Fiction) Lala comes to understand her awful grandmother as she tells her Mexican family's history.
41	Martine Leavitt	Keturah and Lord Death	2006	****	(YA Fiction) Medieval girl tells stories to save her village from the plague and put off her death while she looks for true love.
41.5	Karen Joy Fowler	The Jane Austen Book Club	2004	*	(Fiction) Ordinary women have a book club & we get to see their painfully uninteresting memories between discussions.
42	Laurie Halse Anderson	Wintergirls	2009	*****	(YA Fiction) Lia is haunted by her ex-best friend who has just died. As Lia's ability to control her thoughts and feelings slips away, she tightens her control over the food she eats. In a mad limbo Lia and Cassie exist as wintergirls until Lia must finally decide whether to thaw and embrace life or join her friend in cold, permanent death.
43	Anna Godbersen	The Luxe	2007	***	(YA Fiction) The predictable (but somewhat engaging) story of 1899 NY high society girls' loves and disappointments.
44	Larry Doyle	I Love You, Beth Cooper	2007	***	(Fiction) Geeky Denis admits to crushing on the head cheerleader in his valedictory speech, opening the door for a wild night of drinking, running from Beth's boyfriend, partying, and sexual awakening in the lewd teen comedy tradition.
45	Art Spiegelman	Maus: A Survivor's Tale	1997	****	(Graphic Biography) Comic book artist Art Spiegelman interviews his father about surviving the Holocaust, retelling the tale with cartoon mice.
46	James D. Scurlock	Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit, and the Era of Predatory Lenders	2007	****	(Nonfiction) In this companion to the movie (filmed in '04-'05 - which is excellent), Scurlock goes a little deeper into America's problems with debt from the individual experiences of people caught in the debt cycle to broader problems with the banking industry and our national debt. The book foreshadows the housing bubble burst and our current recession.
47	Suze Orman	The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke	2005	****	(Nonfiction) Suze Orman's advice for young adults on getting finances in order to pay off debt, save for a house, and begin investing for retirement.
48	Alice Munro	The Love of a Good Woman	1998	***	(Short Stories) Stories about women and how different kinds of love drive people to make life-changing decisions.
49	John Knowles	A Separate Peace	1959	***	(Fiction) A fateful summer was a turning point in brooding Gene and charismatic Finny's lives as they attend boarding school in the shadow of WWII.
50	D.J.H. Clifford	The Diaries of Lady Anne Clifford	1993	***	(History) These are the surviving diaries of Lady Anne Clifford. A noblewoman born in Elizabethan England, she lived a long and interesting life. Lady Anne spent decades suing for rights to her inheritance, and once she took possession spent the rest of her life improving the properties for her progeny.
51	Curtis Sittenfeld	Prep	2005	**	(YA Fiction) Lee, an insecure Midwestern scholarship student, recounts her experiences at an elite New England boarding school.
52	Ian McEwan	Amsterdam	1998	****	(Fiction) Narcissistic friends become enemies when the untimely death of a former lover causes each to contemplate his mortality and ruin what they hope will be their history-making masterpieces.
53	Robert Penn Warren	All the King's Men	1946	***	(Fiction) Jack, a political journalist who becomes part of the political machine, tells the story of Willie Stark, a politician whose rise to power is told in contrast with Jack's own life as Jack works out his personal philosophy.
54	Libba Bray	Rebel Angels	2005	***	(YA Fiction) Continuing her adventures in this 2nd book, Gemma seeks to bind the magic that escaped when she destroyed the runes to free her mother before Circe can bind the magic for evil. With Ann & Felicity's help, Gemma looks for the temple in the Realms during a drama-filled Christmas season in London.
55	Philippa Gregory	The Virgin's Lover	2004	****	(Historical Fiction) In the unstable first years of her reign, Queen Elizabeth I began a passionate love affair with Robert Dudley, a manipulative and power-hungry married man.
56	Doris Lessing	The Fifth Child	1988	****	(Fiction) An English couple who wants a large family has their happy home ruined when their fifth child is dangerous and frightening.
57	Libba Bray	The Sweet Far Thing	2007	****	(YA Fiction) Gemma, possessed with the Realm's magic, must figure out how to share the magic & who to trust, help her friends realize their dreams, & grow into the woman she is meant to become.
58	Rick Riordan	The Titan's Curse	2007	*****	(Juv Fiction) In book 3 Percy goes on a cross-country quest to rescue Artemis and Annabeth from Luke.
59	Rick Riordan	The Battle of the Labyrinth	2008	****	(Juv Fiction) In book 4 Percy and his friends search the Labyrinth for Daedalus hoping to find a way to protect camp against Luke's army.
60	Rick Riordan	The Last Olympian	2009	*****	(Juv Fiction) The deadline for the great prophecy approaches as Percy leads a defense of NYC against the approaching monster hoards.