The Books of 2007

The SportswriterSo many books, so little time

My son started keeping a reading list and so I decided to try it last year as well. Though I didn’t calculate pages, or get any prizes when I got around “Mrs. Brown’s Brook” every time I read 1,000 pages like he did.

When it came time to put this all together I was surprised both by how many books I read—I thought 44 was pretty impressive—but also how many not particularly challenging books I read.  There’s obviously a connection. So my reading goal for 2008 is to be a little more selective about what I read.

My favorite book of 2007 was probably The Sportswriter, by Richard Ford.  It’s one of those very male books that men are always talking about loving, so I resisted it for a lot of years. It’s a little dated, circa 1986, but definitely worth picking up.  Another favorite this year was The Wife by Meg Wolitzer. Go figure, both of these books are about writers.

I’d love to hear about other people’s favorite books this year.

  1. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
  2. Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA by Ellen Meister
  3. Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie
  4. Sandcastles by Luanne Rice
  5. Silver Tongue by Steven Crandell
  6. Wives Behaving Badly by Elizabeth Buchan
  7. Fool Me Once by Fern Michaels
  8. Pretty Woman by Fern Michaels
  9. Chicken Soup for the Scrapbookers Soul
  10. Digging to America by Anne Tyler
  11. Smart Vs. Pretty by Valerie Frankel
  12. Dance of the Gods by Nora Roberts
  13. Valley of Silence by Nora Roberts
  14. Forever in Blue by Ann Brashares
  15. Wild Swans by Jung Chang
  16. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
  17. Leaving Normal by Stef Ann Holm
  18. Humanities by Eric Anzalone
  19. Avalon High by Meg Cabot
  20. Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen
  21. Shopaholic and Baby by Sophic Kinsella
  22. Mom CEO by Jodie Lynn
  23. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
  24. Bungalow 2 by Danielle Steel
  25. Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
  26. High Noon by Nora Roberts
  27. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
  28. The Wife by Meg Wolitzer
  29. Innocent in Death by JD Robb
  30. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  31. The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love
  32. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophic Kinsella
  33. Goodbye Without Leaving by Laurie Colwin
  34. Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophic Kinsella
  35. Straight Talking by Jane Green
  36. Angels All Over Town by Luanne Rice
  37. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  38. The Sportswriter by Richard Ford
  39. The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
  40. Paint it Black by Janet Fitch
  41. Poemcrazy by Susan G. Wooldridge
  42. Bump in the Night by JD Robb
  43. The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon
  44. Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes

Originally posted January 1, 2008.