Books Read, 2009

JANUARY
The Right Mistake, by Walter Mosley (fiction) ****
Immortal, by Traci Slatton (fiction) ****
Burning Bright, by Tracy Chevalier (fiction) ****
The Echo Maker, by Richard Powers (fiction) ***
Eat Pray Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert (nonfiction) ***
Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen (fiction) **
Forever Liesl, by Charmian Carr (nonfiction) **

FEBRUARY
Saving Fish From Drowning, by Amy Tan (fiction) ****
Eating My Words, by Mimi Sheraton (nonfiction) ***
Mistress of the Art of Death, by Ariana Franklin (fiction) ***

MARCH
Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed, by Patricia Cornwell (nonfiction) *
Indefensible, by David Feige (nonfiction) *****
The Interpretation of Murder, by Jed Rubenfeld (fiction) ****
Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite, by Michael Gighlieri and Charles “Butch” Farabee Jr. (nonfiction) **
Sum: Forty Tales From the Afterlives, by David Eagleman (fiction) *****
The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho (fiction) ****

APRIL
The Sacred Blood, by Michael Byrnes (fiction) **
The Buddhist Path to Simplicity, by Christina Feldman (nonfiction) *****
The Virgin Queen’s Daughter, by Ella March Chase (fiction) ***
The Seance, by John Harwood (fiction) *****
Nothing Is Terrible, by Matthew Sharpe (fiction) *

MAY
Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov, read by Jeremy Irons (fiction) *****
Rhyming Life & Death, by Amos Oz (fiction) ****
The Miracles of Prato, by Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz (fiction) ***
Got the Life, by Fieldy with Laura Morton (nonfiction) *
The Tyranny of Dead Ideas, by Matt Miller (nonfiction) *****
When Everything Changes, Change Everything, by Neale Donald Walsch (nonfiction) *
The Student Loan Scam, by Alan Michael Collinge (nonfiction) ***

JUNE
Ecological Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman (nonfiction) ****
The  Compass, by Tammy Kling and John Spencer Ellis (fiction) ****
Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay (fiction) ***
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, by Kim Edwards (fiction) *****
Irreplaceable, by Stephen Lovely (fiction) ***
Move Into Life: The Nine Essentials for Lifelong Vitality, by Anat Baniel (nonfiction) **
On Parole, by Akira Yoshimura (fiction) ***
The Cradle, by Patrick Somerville (fiction) *****
The Fire Gospel, by Michel Faber (fiction) ***
Lark & Termite, by Jayne Anne Phillips (fiction) ****
Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart, by Gordon Livingston (nonfiction) ****
Bright Shiny Morning, by James Frey, read by Ben Foster (fiction) ***

JULY
The Spare Room, by Helen Garner (fiction) *****
Zen in the Art of Archery, by Eugen Herrigel (nonfiction) *****
The Art of Happiness at Work, by Howard Cutler and the Dalai Lama, read by Howard Cutler and B.D. Wong (nonfiction) *****
Idiot America, by Charles P. Pierce (nonfiction) ***
The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri (fiction) ***
The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, read by Julia Gibson (nonfiction) ****
The Blue Notebook, by James A. Levine (fiction) ***
By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, by Paulo Coelho (fiction) **
Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People, by Jane Bryant Quinn, read by Quinn (nonfiction) ***
The Worst Thing I’ve Done, by Ursula Hegi (fiction) ***
Coming to Our Senses, by Jon Kabat-Zinn, read by Kabat-Zinn (nonfiction) *
The Empty Mirror, by  J. Sydney Jones (fiction) ****

AUGUST
Figures in Silk, by Vanora Bennett (fiction) ***
Julie & Julia, by Julie Powell (nonfiction) **
The Other Queen, by Philippa Gregory (fiction) **
This Year You Write Your Novel, by Walter Mosley (nonfiction) *****
Bitter Is the New Black, by Jen Lancaster (nonfiction) ***

SEPTEMBER
Butterfly Burning, by Yvonne Vera (fiction) **
Curious?: Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life, by Todd Kashdan (nonfiction) ****
Dust and Shadow, by Lindsay Faye (fiction) ***
The Observations, by Jane Harris (fiction) ****
EnLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds With a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer, by Jessica Berger Gross (nonfiction) ***

OCTOBER
Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich, by Lois P. Frankel (nonfiction) ****
The Hundred Secret Senses, by Amy Tan (fiction) *****
Why Kids Kill: Inside the Mind’s of School Shooters, by Peter Langman (nonfiction) ***
In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan, read by Scott Brick (nonfiction) *****
Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer (nonfiction) *****
Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, by David Bayles and Ted Orland (nonfiction) *****
Think!: Why Crucial Decisions Can’t Be Made in the Blink of an Eye, by Michael R. LeGault, read by LeGault (nonfiction) ***
The Queen of Subtleties, by Suzannah Dunn (fiction) ***

NOVEMBER
The Monster of Florence, by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi, read by Dennis Boutsikaris (nonfiction) ****
Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves From Old Habits and Fears, by Pema Chödrön (nonfiction) ****
The Leader’s Way: The Art of Making the Right Decisions in Our Careers, Our Companies, and the World at Large, by the Dalai Lama and Laurens van den Muyzenberg, read by Feodor Chin and Marc Cashman (nonfiction) **