Total Pages Read: 9,998
Shortest Book: 86 pages
Longest Book: 624 pages
Fiction: 17
Non-Fiction: 9
Cookbook: 1
Poetry: 5
Last Book Read:
32. The Course of Love by Alain de Botton. A return to fiction and the story of our narrator from On Love. We learn more about who our narrator is and his background. We follow him as he journeys through the beginnings of the relationship that becomes his marriage and what follows over the course of it. 240 pages. (Finished 12 Dec 2016).
Past Lists:
2015 List
2014 List
2013 List
2012 List
2011 List
2010 List
2009 List
2008 List
2007 List
- Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell. (Kurt Wallander #1). An elderly couple is brutally murdered in rural Sweden. Inspector Wallander must figure out why this couple was murdered and stop other violence from spurring from it. 280 pages. (Finished 11 Jan 2016).
- Submission by Michel Houellebecq. A middle-aged lecturer at the Sorbonne and expert on the nineteenth-century author J.-K. Huysmans is bored. The year is 2022, and the two party democracy is about to come crashing down when the Socialists form an alliance with the rising moderate Islamic party. Islamic law comes into force, women are veiled, and polygamy is encouraged. A great piece of satire that could be ripped out of the headlines of the not too distant future. 246 pages. (Finished 17 Jan 2016).
- Green & Golden: Portland Timbers’ Historic March to the MLS Cup by The Oregonian Staff. A coffee table book commemorating the 2015 Portland Timbers and their journey towards winning the 2015 MLS Cup. Pictures and articles by the staff of the Oregonian. 145 pages. (Finished 3 Feb 2016).
- Among The Thugs by Bill Buford. An American living in England has never been to a “football” match when he observes a strange happening at a train station in Wales. At the height of hooliganism in England, he dives in to find out what it is all about. In the end, the line between journalist and participant becomes muddy. 320 pages. (Finished 09 Feb 2016).
- Funny Girl by Nick Hornby. A girl from Blackpool dreams of moving to London and becoming the next Lucille Ball. She falls into the perfect part with the right people who will help her achieve her dreams and more. 453 pages. (Finished 11 Feb 2016).
- Lila by Marilynne Robinson. Returning to Gilead, we hear the story of a neglected toddler who is rescued/taken, by a drifter woman we only know as Doll. After growing up on the move with Doll, she ends up in Gilead and steps inside a small country church to escape the rain. There she comes into contact with the now old Reverend Ames, who sees something in her. They end up marrying and having a child. 272 pages. (Finished 20 Feb 2016).
- Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer. A typical college town where football is king is rocked by a series of sexual assault allegations. Krakauer looks at where the system failed for the victims of this horrible crime. 386 pages. (Finished 23 Feb 2016).
- The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagercrantz. A return to the characters from the Dragon Tattoo series, a Swedish professor is killed in front of his autistic child. Mikael Blomkvist was about to speak to the professor when the murder occurs. With Lisbeth Salander’s help, can he figure out (and help the police) why and who killed the professor? 416 pages. (Finished 28 Feb 2016).
- Morning Poems by Robert Bly. A collection of poetry. 128 pages. (Finished 28 Feb 2016).
- The Martian by Andy Weir. Mark Watney is left behind on Mars when his crewmates think he has had a fatal accident. He must figure out how to survive long enough to either be rescued or get to the next Mars mission site. 385 pages. (Finished 1 Mar 2016).
- The Last Girl by Joe Hart. A Kindle First read (pre-release). A worldwide epidemic has dropped the birth rate for female babies to less than one percent. The last few are held in facilities until they are of prime fertility age. Zoey figures out that everything might not be what they tell her it is, and plots a plan to escape the facility. 386 pages. (Finished 6 Mar 2016).
- The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore. A comedy combining aspects of Othello, The Merchant of Venice, and a short story by Edgar Allen Poe. 336 pages. (Finished 11 Mar 2016).
- Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn. All about Charcuterie for home cooks to professional chefs. I read this for the bacon chapter (a soon to be project). 320 pages. (Finished 11 Mar 2016).
- Purity by Jonathan Franzen. Pip Tyler doesn’t know who her father is. In typical Franzenian style, we get the story of a bunch of different characters to learn about who her father is and why it was hidden from her. 576 pages. (Finished 27 Mar 2016).
- Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks. Based on a true story about some of the first Indian students at Harvard College. This historical fiction novel is set in colonial Massachusetts around Cambridge and what we now know as Martha’s Vineyard. 300 pages. (Finished 5 Apr 2016).
- Felicity by Mary Oliver. A collection of poems celebrating love. Amazing. 86 pages. (Finished 5 Apr 2016).
- The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez. A love story between two immigrant teenagers, and the stories of their families and the other families living in an apartment building populated by American immigrant families. 304 pages. (Finished 09 Apr 2016).
- Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love by Dr. Sue Johnson. 320 pages (Finished 22 Apr 16).
- A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk. The story of a street vendor and the love of his life as Instanbul and Turkey grow into a modern city and country respectively. 624 pages. (Finished 26 Apr 2016).
- After the Affair: Healing Pain and Rebuilding Trust When A Partner Has Been Unfaithful by Janis Abrahms Spring, PhD. 355 pages. (Finished 4 May 2016).
- Death by Water by Kenzaburo Oe. Novelist Kogito Choko is going back to his home town to finish what he imagines will be his last novel. When he gets there, the information he’s waiting a decade to see ends up changing the direction of his story. 432 pages. (Finished 3 Jun 2016).
- Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. A look at those instinctive decisions/judgements that we naturally make but can’t necessarily explain. When we should trust them, and when they can fail us. 308 pages. (Finished 12 Jun 2016).
- Finding the Game: Three Years, Twenty-five Countries, and the Search for Pickup Soccer by Gwendolyn Oxenham. The story of a project to make a documentary about pickup soccer and how it is practiced worldwide. 301 pages. (Finished 4 Aug 2016).
- I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid. Narrated by the girlfriend, Jake is taking her to visit his family’s farm and introduce her to her parents. Meanwhile she is thinking of ending the relationship. 244 pages. (Finished 9 Aug 2016).
- On Love: A Novel by Alain de Botton. Our narrator meets Chloe on a flight and falls in love before the end of the flight. It follows their relationship from its passionate beginnings to its ending and aftermath. The novel is filled with observations of the exhilaration and pain of love. 240 pages. (Finished 7 Sep 2016).
- How to Think More About Sex by Alain de Botton. Part of the School of Life series of short paperbacks dealing with life’s big questions. 192 pages. (Finished 24 Sep 16).
- Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer. The story of a Jewish family in crisis. A marriage, a death, and a catastrophic earthquake in Israel have brought up many questions about what it means to be in relationship…with each other, with your country, with your cultural identity. 571 pages. (Finished 20 Oct 2016).
- salt. by Nayyirah Waheed. A collection of poetry full of the self, love, language, diaspora, and color. 259 pages. (Finished 25 Oct 2016).
- bone by Yrsa Daley-Ward. a collection of poetry and prose. 137 pages. (Finished 27 Oct 2016).
- nejma by Nayyirah Waheed. another collection of poems from this poet I am so greatful to have discovered. 180 pages. (Finished 28 Oct 2016).
- The Boys From Little Mexico by Steve Wilson. The story of the 2005 men’s soccer team from Woodburn High School. Also the challenges the students faced as immigrants or being the children of immigrants and navigating academics and college decisions. 256 pages. (Finished 12 Nov 2016).
- The Course of Love by Alain de Botton. A return to fiction and the story of our narrator from On Love. We learn more about who our narrator is and his background. We follow him as he journeys through the beginnings of the relationship that becomes his marriage and what follows over the course of it. 240 pages. (Finished 12 Dec 2016).
