The First 25 Books of 2013

At the beginning of the year, I decided to track all of the non-work and non-children's books that I read in 2013. I was pleasantly surprised last night to realize that I have read 25 books so far this year.

1. Coming Apart, The State of White America 1960-2010, by Charles Murray - this has tons and tons of data on the various outcomes of higher- and lower-income white Americans from the last 50 years, from the much-maligned author of The Bell Curve. Even if you don't agree with all of the author's political beliefs (I certainly don't), it is eye-opening and quite interesting. 

*2. The Kitchen God's Wife, by Amy Tan - a book club book that we chose because of the idea of combining book group with a "cookie exchange." The book actually has nothing to do with cooking (or the kitchen), but is a powerful, gripping story of life in China prior to and during the Second World War. 

*3. San Miguel, by T.C. Boyle - a novel in three parts based loosely on historical accounts of the various families that attempted to reside on the isolated island of San Miguel (near California). Somewhat depressing, but left me with gratitude that I do not have consumption in the 1880s. 

*4. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer - a very cute novel (almost too cute, but thoroughly enjoyable) that is written entirely through letters centered around life on Guernsey during the subsequent to the Second World War. We even enjoyed an authentic potato peel pie during our book group discussion. 

*5. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen - Another book group selection. I foisted this selection on the group since I had never read Austen and I LOVED IT, but alas, I may have been alone in my sentiments. :)

6. A Year of Biblical Womanhood, by Rachel Held Evans - This was available on Kindle for $1.99 and I downloaded it on a whim; it is a simultaneously humorous and insightful account of a woman who attempts to follow all of the biblical instructions for women over the course of a year. The book itself was good but learning about Rachel Held Evans has been life-changing; I now regularly read her blog and look forward to learning from the theological discussion among her readers. 

7. The Panic Virus, by Seth Mnookin - the introduction to this book was in The New York Times and is a gripping account of a boy who falls ill with an Hib infection (one of the many diseases that has seen a resurgence in the wake of the anti-vaccine movement). The book is interesting, gripping, and very well-written - in particular, I was struck by the fact that science will always "lose" against emotion since science cannot prove a negative. 

8. Christianity and World Religions, by Adam Hamilton - this was a companion book for a study we did in Sunday School class that I am counting because I did read the whole book. :) I liked the study but not quite as much as the other Hamilton one that we did recently on Christianity and the different denominations. 

9. The Power of Less, by Leo Babauta - I discovered Leo Babauta's blog "Zen Habits" at the beginning of the year and enjoy subscribing. The book, however, felt like fluff and not much of substance beyond a regular blog post. 

10. The Trouble with Boys, by Peg Tyre - Another eye-opening book on the decline of boys' reading and math scores since the 1970s. Lots of scary facts - boys are five times more likely than girls to be kicked out of preschool (out of preschool!!!), and it is now much harder for girls to be admitted to elite colleges than boys because if selected on pure merit, college classes would be approximately 80%+ female. 

*11. The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery - an absolutely delightful book that was originally written and published in France. The novel is character-centered and focuses on a middle-aged concierge and a bright 12-year old girl who each live in the same apartment building; delightfulness ensues. 

12. I've Got Your Number, by Sophie Kinsella - this is a very fun, fast, light book, written by the same author of the entertaining Shopaholic series. It is (and was) absolutely perfect for an airport read with lots of laughs. 

13. Between Sisters, by Kristin Hannah - oh my goodness, this book was THE BIGGEST SOAP OPERA that I have read in a very long time. I must be alone in my annoyance based on the positive reviews it received, but neither Will nor I could stop laughing when I attempted to summarize the plot for him. 

14. Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn - once I finally got my hands on this book, I could.not.put.it down (just ask my neglected children). I was on the hold list at the library three different times because every time I finally got it, I had no time to read, but this riveting thriller is oh-so-worth it. 

15. Lean In, by Sheryl Sandberg - a fast read by the current COO of Facebook (and fellow working mom). Sandbeg's book has gotten bashed a lot in the popular press, particularly by Maureen Dowd in the NYT, which I can't quite figure out because she has a lot of great points (even though my career goals are far more modest). 

16. Help, Thanks, Wow, by Anne Lamott - Anne Lamott is one of my favorite writers on faith and theology; the book Traveling Mercies is a favorite. This is a very short book (I read it all in a coffee shop one night) on the essential prayers: Help, thanks, and wow. 

17. Evolving in Monkey Town, by Rachel Held Evans (read 2/3) - I did not quite finish this book, not because it wasn't enjoyable, but because it was overdue and my sense of civic duty eventually won out over my desire to see it to the end. This is a "faith biography" by Rachel Held Evans (author of A Year of Biblical Womanhood) about growing up in a very conservative community (Dayton, TN) and how doubts led her faith to crumble and then expand. 

*18. All for Anna, by Nicole Deese - this book was free on Kindle at the time, and the author is a friend of one of my friend's sisters. I enjoyed the book, though; it is a nice novel about faith, family relationships, post-traumatic stress, and redemption. 

19. Runaway Girl, by Carissa Phelps - My newest obsession is on sex-trafficking, after learning that my hometown of Wichita, KS is one of the top spots in the country for this activity. This book is an autobiography of a girl who became involved in sex-trafficking when she was only 12 years old, and how she managed to overcome that and other obstacles. 

20. The Gifts of Imperfection, by Bene Brown - the author is a professor of social work, so this book on letting go of anxiety and embracing imperfections to live a "full" life is an easy read but backed up with lots of data and studies (thanks to my friend for her recommendation for this!). I was a little disappointed to learn later that Bene Brown regularly appears on Oprah and is quite popular, because I wanted to feel like I had stumbled into something little-known and brilliant, but her thoughts on how shame can be such a strong weapon on holding us back are quite powerful. 

*21. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle - we read this for book group and it was just as wonderful as I remember from when I was a child (although some of the Cold War-inspired plot seemed a little dated). But really, Madeleine L'Engle is my favorite author and you can't go wrong with her at any age. 

*22. The Dinner, by Herman Koch - I had heard about this on NPR, and we read it for my other book group. It was a primarily plot-driven novel (with fairly thin character development), but an utterly gripping read about the hidden nastiness buried among "happy families." 

23. Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease, by Robert Lustig - SUGAR IS EVIL! After finishing this book written by a medical researcher, I am totally drinking the kool aid (oh wait, that has sugar!) on how sugar is the evil ingredient that we all need to fear. Nothing earth-shattering but very credible read with tons of data. 

24. Homeward Bound: Why Women are Embracing the New Domesticity, by Emily Matchar - I am probably the antithesis of the New Domesticity (except for extended breastfeeding, which I swear was this big secret when I did it and not the popular trend that it seems to be now), but I found this book fascinating on the rise of interest in baking, knitting, home schooling, etc. by people on both sides of the political spectrum. My favorite part was probably the second chapter on woman's involvement in the home in America since the 1600s. 

*25. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger - this is for book group tonight, and I finished it in the nick in time last night (interestingly, we had also read this for my book group in KC in 2004, and this was the ONLY book in that whole time that I didn't finish). I thought that it started out kind of slow, mainly because I had different ideas about the rules of time travel than the author, but by around page 50 or 100 (out of 518), it was utterly gripping, beautiful, and offers some very interesting parallels to modern life. 

* = Adult Book Club Book 

One other item that I realized from this list is that almost all of the books that I picked up voluntarily to read were non-fiction, whereas both of my adult book groups predominantly read fiction.