Books of 2009

I know, I know. You waited all year for this. As soon as your calendar turned to December you thought, Emily is going to post all the books she read this year soon! Your excitement was barely contained- even though you can see all the books I read as I finish them in the LibraryThing widget on the bottom right of the page. Anyway, here are my books of the year. Here is 2008 and 2007. Here are all the books I've ever read (that I can remember).

My list is shorter this year than last, since I no longer have a soul sucking commute from NJ to NYC ruining my life (that's when I did most of my reading). I've included links to Amazon so you can read the descriptions/buy them if you are so inclined.

In order from Best to Worst:

1. The Women's Room: A Novelby Marilyn French

This feminist classic follows a woman from her life as a 50's housewife, through a divorce and as she starts Harvard graduate school and meets a group of women who have gone through similar life events. I really loved it.

2. Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss---and the Myths and Realities of Dieting by Gina Kolata.
Review here.

3. Feminine Mistake, The: Are We Giving Up Too Much? by Leslie Bennets
Review here. Thinking back, I realize that it pretty much scared the crap out of me to ever stop working. I'd like to find a book not as alarmist on the realities of full time moms.

4. High Fidelity: A Novel by Nick Hornby
The most honest and least sappy love story I've ever read.

5. Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian
A tumultuous family drama, which I enjoy reading every once in awhile. Not as good as my favorite of this genre, We Were the Mulvaneys, but very similar.

6. Little Earthquakes: A Novel (Washington Square Press)by Jennifer Weiner.

7.Goodnight Nobody: A Novel by Jennifer Weiner.

8. Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety by Judith Warner.
Warner writes for the New York Times, and wrote this book about helicopter moms and how families need better choices when it comes to work/life balance and child care. She makes a very strong case.

9. Beginner's Greek: A Novel by James Collins
A love-conquers-all story, without being nauseating.

10. The Dive From Clausen's Pier: A Novel by Ann Packer
A story about a woman in her early 20's whose fiance becomes paralyzed after an accident. She makes some big life changes, which can be seen as selfish or daring. I still haven't quite decided.

11. In Her Shoes : A Novel by Jennifer Weiner
I now have read all of Weiner's books (I'm picking up her latest, Best Friends Forever: A Novel, tomorrow). I find her to be entertaining and without the mind numbing predictability of chick lit.

12. The Obesity Myth: Why America's Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Your Health by Paul Campos.

13. How Sassy Changed My Life: A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen Magazine of All Time by Kara Jesella.

14. The Bleeding Heart by Marilyn French.

15. Perfect Fifths: A Novel (Jessica Darling) by Megan McCafferty

The end of the series about Jessica Darling, I found it a huge disappointment. The author took on a third person voice instead of writing from Jessica's point of view, and it lost much of the charm and humor found in the other four books. Also, the whole book was drawn out, confusing, and predictable.

16. I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley.
I read somewhere that she is the "female David Sedaris," which turned out not to be true because Sedaris is hilarious and Crosley is utterly boring.

17. (currently in the middle of) Commencement: A novel by J. Courtney Sullivan.

What was the best book you read this year? Any you're looking forward to reading in 2010?