Year-end Reading List

As previously stated, I do believe that this list is not fully comprehensive, but it's the best I can do for the year. Hey, I remembered most of what I read!

In terms of best book I haven't read before, it's a toss-up for me between Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy or Anthony Bourdain's Gone Bamboo. I very much enjoyed both; I read the entire Pullman trilogy in I think 5 days and I adore pretty much anything Tony Bourdain does--cooking, writing, TV shows, it doesn't much matter. I think I give the edge to Bourdain though, because a) Gone Bamboo is a stand-alone novel, unlike His Dark Materials, and b) I think it's probably more consistently, strongly written, and doesn't have as much (potential) controversy. It does have lots of violence (LOTS of violence) and sex, but it's a cut above the old pulp novels--good plot, great characters that are just a bit over the top, but still manage to be essentially believable, and fabulous writing. If you've never read Anthony Bourdain's writing, I strongly encourage you to start. If you don't like mysteries, try reading Kitchen Confidential, which is a memoir about Bourdain's early years and how he came to work in the restaurant industry. Whichever you choose to read, brilliant!

Best book of the year, however, goes to Pat Frank's Alas, Babylon. It's a 1950s post-apocolyptic novel and it's quite possibly the best ever written. It is dated, and yet still very relevant. If you've seen the now-defunct TV show Jericho and enjoyed it, you'll probably enjoy Alas, Babylon. Read it!

Books marked with an asterisk (*) I have read before. Books marked with a carat (^) are part of a series.

Alexander McCall Smith:

^The Full Cupboard of Life

^In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

^Blue Shoes and Happiness

^The Good Husband of Zebra Drive

Roald Dahl:

*Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

*Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

*The Witches

Terry Goodkind:

^Debt of Bones (more of a short story/companion prequel novella)

^Wizard's First Rule

^Stone of Tears

^Blood of the Fold

^Temple of the Winds

^Soul of the Fire (currently reading)

Robin Jarvis:

^The Whitby Witches

^A Warlock in Whitby

Philip Pullman:

^Northern Lights

^The Subtle Knife

^The Amber Spyglass

J.K. Rowling:

*^Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

*^Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

*^Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

*^Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

*^Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

*^Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

*^Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Alan Alda:

Never Have Your Dog Stuffed

Margaret Atwood:

*The Handmaid's Tale

Anthony Bourdain:

Gone Bamboo

Elizabeth Peters (series books are not all part of the same series):

*^Crocodile on the Sandbank

*^The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog

*^He Shall Thunder in the Sky

*^The Golden One

*^The Serpent on the Crown

*The Copenhagen Connection

*^The Murders of Richard III

*^Die for Love

*^Naked Once More

*The Camelot Caper

Catherine Fisher:

The Oracle

Neil Gaiman:

The Graveyard Book

Allan C. Weisbecker:

Can't You Get Along with Anyone? (unfinished--it started to get convoluted and boring)

Stephenie Meyer:

^Twilight

^New Moon

^Eclipse

^Breaking Dawn (yeah, I read them all...shut up. They still weren't very good.)

Pat Frank:

*Alas, Babylon

Dan Brown:

^The Lost Symbol (Not really a series, but a recurring character. Past events are mentioned, however.)

Terry Pratchett:

^Carpe Jugulum (Nominally series in that they're all Discworld books. They do not need to be read in order, however.)

^Maskerade

^The Fifth Elephant

Scott O'Dell

*Island of the Blue Dolphins

Gordon Korman

*^Bruno & Boots: The Zucchini Warriors

Caroline B. Cooney

*Flight #116 is Down

Agatha Christie

^The Tuesday Club Murders (still reading) (not explicitly a series, but part of the Miss Marple books)