The 2013 Book List

So I made a quite manageable goal of 25 books for 2013. At some point I realized it was filling up with Graphic Novels quite quickly, so I quit officially adding them.

1. Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood by Naomi Wolf. --I finished reading this before I found out I was pregnant. Interesting. That or I just don't remember.

2. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White--My sister and I are still working through our "list" of books you should have read in school but probably didn't. I never read this one. I loved the cartoon. And I'll be honest, I didn't care much for the book. Wilbur is an annoying little pig. I have no idea what Charlotte friended him. He's a whiner. I wonder what my impression would have been as a child tho? I'll be curious to hear what Oz and Tilda think when they are older and reading.

3. Water Witches by Chris Bohjalian- I really wanted to like this one, but I was just bored by it. It took me ages to finish it. I just didn't care like I had hoped I would.

4. Cyndi Lauper: A Memoir-- It's not brilliant writing, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Love Cyndi. LOVE. HER.

5. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury---This is the first Bradbury book I've read. I fell in love with it. The story, the illustrations...it's magic. I had to buy the cartoon DVD and add it to our collection as well. This is something I hope to make the whole family fall in love with.

6. Walking Dead 14: Way Out

7. Walking Dead 15: Find Ourselves

8. Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me by Ellen Forney---I anticipated that I would enjoy the illustrations of this, but I was surprised at how moving the story was. I have found other works/memoirs about depression to be overly indulgent and I get frustrated with the author. Instead, in this one I feel like I learned a lot. I hope to find more of Forney's works to read.

9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling--So, the plan was to read all of the Harry Potter books while I was pregnant. No such thing happened! But I enjoyed revisiting the first. I will always remember how magical it was the first time I read it, and none of the magic has faded. It's such a complete world. I wish I could go there.

10. How To Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran---LOVED THIS. I took this out at the library, and I want to add it to my collection. Laugh out loud hilarious.

11. Everyday is an Atheist Holiday by Penn Jillette---I may not agree with all of Penn's views, but the man makes me laugh.

12. Banished: Surviving my Years in the Westboro Baptist Church by Lauren Drain-- Meh. They're horrible people, no surprises. Drain was kicked out of the church, but she's making money out of it. I don't think she's terribly sorry for the practices she took part in.

13. Stitches by David Small---another graphic novel memoir. Enjoyed.

14. Walking Dead 16: A Larger World

15. The Year of Learning Dangerously: Adventures in Homeschooling by Quinn Cummings---This was a fun read while we spent some time discussing whether or not we'd be homeschooling Oz (answer? probably not. Unless he asks us when he's older). But Cummings investigates all the different styles and goes "undercover" to get better ideas of how and why people homeschool, while trying to figure out how to school her own daughter. It was a good read.

16. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris--A lot of fans of Sedaris do not like this particular book. I saw him read one of these stories for a BBC Radio 4 recording, so I think I feel a bit nostalgic. I enjoyed it. It's not a sit down and read through book tho, and that's probably the mistake people are making. They are fables. You need to read one here and there.

17. Help! I'm a Prisoner in the the Library by Eth Clifford--Loved this as a child. I checked it back out when I started working this year. Definitely need to either find my copy packed away in my parent's storage, or I'm going to need to buy it. I'm starting to become a bit obsessed with children's books set in a library.

18. Batgirl Vol 1: The Darkest Reflection----Batgirl has small boobs. This was incredibly important to me. She can fight crime because she doesn't have a ridiculous chest. I'm excited to watch this story unfold.

19. Y: The Last Man. Vol 1: Unmanned---Another new comic obsession coming on! I started by checking them out, and I've come to a standstill as we don't have Vol 5 in the system. I may just have to start buying them once I've caught up on Walking Dead. It's a fantastic story.

20. Batman: Noel---It's a Batman version of A Christmas Carol. WHAT IS NOT TO LOVE!?!? Griff bought it for me for Christmas and it's a great addition.

21. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury---Another book on the sister's reading list. And I got Griff to read it with me as well. He actually tore through and read it quickly. It took me a bit longer to get into it, but once I did I fell in love. It had been awhile since I had to sit with a pen next to me so I could underline as I read along. So many amazing passages. It's a new favorite.

22. The Plain Janes #1----Graphic Novel about a group of high school girls (all named Jane) who begin to art bomb their community. It's such a lovely concept and idea. It made me wish I had been that clever in high school.

23. How to Make Your Child a Reader for Life by Paul Kropp---A lot of the resources are dated, but I think the bones of information are still relevant.

24. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin---Griff started reading these and it had been a long time since I had seen him so excited about a book. He was talking to me about them non-stop, and I found myself asking more and more questions. So I started reading the first one, and I found myself really enjoying it. I won't be reading the series back to back like Griff has. I need to break it up a bit, otherwise I'll burn out and never finish. Plus, I really enjoy being surprised by the show. So I don't want to read ahead.

25. The Great Gatsby---That's right. Another from the sister list. This is one of Meghan's favorites, and I missed this one in high school. Crazy, right? It took a little while to get into the rhythm of writing, but once I did, I found myself enjoying it. But it was so sad. I did not expect it to end so sadly.

26. Illustrated Classic's A Christmas Carol--After having a baby, I didn't think I could sit and read the book. So I decided to read the graphic novel version.

So there ya go! Here's to a lot more reading in 2014. Griff's on first shift now, so we can go to bed together at a "decent" hour and lay and read for a bit. Also? Nursing a baby gets boring and there's nothing to do but read. Working in a library is good for encouraging a bit of reading too :) So more, more, more in 2014! I've set a higher number this year (50) because if I'm going to read a load of Graphic Novels, I'm going to count them. Ready....set....GO!