'09 Reading List

“You always read too many books . . . That can’t lead to any good.”

January
1. Abraham Lincoln, George McGovern. Biography
2. Mucho Mojo, Joe Lansdale. Mystery
3. Personal Record, A Love Affair with Running, Rachel Toor. Running
4. The Right Mistake, Walter Mosley. Fiction
5. The Right Madness, James Crumley. Fiction
6. The Porcupine Year, Louise Erdrich. Juvenile Fiction
7. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Simon Armitage. Poetry
8. Chief Bender’s Burden, Tom Swift. Baseball/Biography
9. Going After Cacciato, Tim O’Brien. Fiction
10. A Visible Darkness, Jonathon King. Mystery
11. Tales to Astonish. Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution, Ronin Ro. Non-Fiction
12. The Weather in Berlin, Ward Just. Fiction
13. The Ones You Do, Daniel Woodrell. Fiction
14. Truth & Beauty, Ann Patchett. Memoir
15. The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens. Fiction

February
16. The Outlander, Gil Adamson. Fiction
17. Frontier Medicine, David Dary. History
18. Darkness, Take My Hand, Dennis Lehane. Thriller
19. Prayers for Rain, Dennis Lehane. Thriller
20. Dark Banquet, Blood and the Curious Lives of Blood-Feeding Creatures, Bill Schutt. Natural Science
21. Cost, Roxana Robinson. Fiction
22. The Family Trade, Book One of the Merchant Princes, Charles Stross. Speculative Fiction
23. The Hidden Family, Book Two of the Merchant Princes, Charles Stross. Speculative Fiction
24. Clapton, Eric Clapton. Biography/Blues
25. The Clan Corporate, Book Three of the Merchant Princes, Charles Stross. Speculative Fiction
26. The Merchants’ War, Book Four of the Merchant Princes, Charles Stross. Speculative Fiction
27. Somewhere Towards The End, Diana Athill. Memoir
28. John Tyler, Gary May. Biography
29. The Women, T.C. Boyle. Fiction 2-25 451
30. Herbert Hoover, William E. Leuchtenburg. Biography

March
31. Agincourt, Bernard Cornwell. Fiction
32. The Flood, Ian Rankin, Fiction
33. Dead Souls, Ian Rankin. Thriller
34. Crossing Open Ground, Barry Lopez. Essays/Nature
35. The Falls, Ian Rankin. Thriller
36. Dreaming Up America, Russell Banks. Essays
37. Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon. Fiction
38. All the Color of Darkness, Peter Robinson. Mystery
39. The New Wolves, Rick Bass. Nature
40. The Jewel That Was Ours, Colin Dexter. Mystery
41. Run Less, Run Faster, Bill Pierce, Scott Murr and Ray Moss. Running
42. As They See ’Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpire, Bruce Weber. Baseball
43. American Rust, Philipp Meyer. Fiction
44. The Messenger, Jan Burke. Fiction
45. A Partisan’s Daughter, Louise de Bernieres. Fiction

April
46. The Sweet Hereafter, Russell Banks. Fiction
47. Child 44, Tom Rob Smith. Mystery
48. The Red Convertible, Louise Erdrich. Stories
49. Steer Toward Rock, Fae Myenne Ng. Fiction
50. A Cool Head, Ian Rankin. Mystery
51. Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship, Jon Meacham. Biography
52. The Patron Saint of Liars, Ann Patchett. Fiction
53. The Last Dickens, Matthew Pearl. Fiction
54. The Long Fall, Walter Mosley. Mystery
55. Scat, Carl Hiaasen. YA Fiction
56. The First Person and Other Stories, Ali Smith. Stories
57. Life Sentences, Laura Lippman. Fiction
58. The Believers, Zoe Heller. Fiction
59. Wake, Robert Sawyer. Science Fiction
60. Taft, Ann Patchett. Fiction

May
61. The Northern Clemency, Philip Hensher. Fiction
62. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, Wells Tower. Stories
63. Nobody Move, Denis Johnson. Thriller
64. A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers From Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx, Elaine Showalter. Non-Fiction
65. Bloodbrothers, Richard Price. Fiction
66. Alphabet Juice, Roy Blount Jr. Words
67. Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit, Matt McCarthy. Baseball
68. A Reliable Wife, Robert Goolrick. Fiction
69. The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery. Fiction
70. Free Fall, Robert Crais. Thriller
71. Beat the Reaper, Josh Bazell. Thriller
72. The Way Home, George Pelecanos. Fiction
73. Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music, Ted Gioia. Blues
74. Sag Harbor, Colson Whitehead. Fiction
75. The Best American Short Stories 2008, ed. Salman Rushdie. Stories

June
76. The Breaks, Richard Price. Fiction
77. The Last Campaign: How Harry Truman Won the 1948 Election, Zachary Karabell. Political History
78. Victory Over Japan, Ellen Gilchrist. Stories
79. Brooklyn, Colm Toibin. Fiction
80. Road Dogs, Elmore Leonard. Thriller
81. Gone Tomorrow, Lee Child. Thriller
82. Nocturnes, Kazuo Ishiguro. Stories
83. The Scarecrow, Michael Connelly. Thriller
84. Leadership on the Line, Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky. Leadership
85. The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters. Fiction
86. The Complete Game, Ron Darling. Baseball
87. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Alan Bradley. Mystery
88. The Angel’s Game, Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Fiction
89. Lark & Termite, Jayne Anne Phillips. Fiction
90. Miracle Ball, Brian Biegel. Baseball

July
91. In the Kitchen, Monica Ali. Fiction
92. I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman, Nora Ephron. Humor
93. Exiles in the Garden, Ward Just. Fiction
94. A Short History of Women, Kate Walbert. Fiction
95. Between the Assassinations, Aravind Adiga. Fiction
96. Comfort to the Enemy, Elmore Leonard. Fiction
97. Wanting, Richard Flanagan. Fiction
98. Four Corners of the Sky, Michael Malone. Fiction
99. The Revolution Business, Book Five of the Merchant Princes, Charles Stross. Science Fiction
100. Just Before Dark, Jim Harrison. Non-Fiction
101. The Blind Side, Michael Lewis. Football
102. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami. Fiction

August
103. Rain Gods, James Lee Burke. Thriller
104. Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It, Maile Meloy. Stories
105. Born to Run, Christopher McDougall. Running
106. Border Songs, Jim Lynch. Fiction
107. Trouble, Kate Christensen. Fiction
108. That Old Cape Magic, Richard Russo
109. The Children’s Book, A.S. Byatt, Fiction
110. The Wild Marsh, Rick Bass. Nature
111. Wireless, Charles Stross. Stories
112. The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare. Comedy
113. Middle Passage, Charles Johnson. Fiction
114. Coronado, Dennis Lehane. Stories
115. Rainbows End, Vernor Vinge. Speculative Fiction
116. Satchel, Larry Tye. Biography/Baseball
117. The Coolest Race on Earth, John Hanc. Running

September
118. The Atrocity Archives, Charles Stross. Speculative Fiction
119. Homer & Langley, E.L. Doctorow. Fiction
120. Love and Summer, William Trevor. Fiction
121. Dark Entries, Ian Rankin. Graphic novel
122. Noah’s Compass, Anne Tyler. Fiction
123. Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout. Fiction
124. Me Cheeta, Fiction. James Lever
125. The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood. Fiction
126. Strange Doings, R.A. Lafferty. Stories
127. Juliet Naked, Nick Hornby. Fiction

October
128. Mark Twain, Ron Powers. Biography
129. A Gate at the Stairs, Lorrie Moore. Fiction
130. Outside of a Dog, Rick Gekoski. Books on Books
131. The Complaints, Ian Rankin. Mystery
132. Born Round, Frank Bruni. Food/Memoir
133. Spooner, Pete Dexter. Fiction
134. Too Much Happiness, Alice Munro. Stories
135. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much, Allison Hoover Bartlett. Books on Books
136. The Arms Maker of Berlin, Dan Fesperman. Thriller
137. War Dances, Sherman Alexie. Stories & Poems
138. The Baltimore Elite Giants, Bob Luke. Baseball
139. Gone Baby Gone, Dennis Lehane. Thriller
140. Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing, Lydia Peelle. Stories

November
141. Far North, Marcel Theroux. Fiction
142. American Salvage, Bonnie Jo Campbell. Stories
143. Nine Dragons, Michael Connelly. Thriller
144. Await Your Reply, Dan Chaon. Fiction
145. Let The Great World Spin, Colum McCann. Fiction
146. Stardust, Joseph Kanon. Fiction
147. Nixon and Kissinger, Robert Dallek. History
148. The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet, Arturo Perez-Reverte. Fiction
149. The Humbling, Philip Roth. Fiction
150. Tales of Outer Suburbia, Shaun Tan. Graphic Novel

December
151. Invisible, Paul Auster. Fiction
152. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, Daniyal Mueenuddin. Stories
153. Inside of a Dog, Alexandra Horowitz. Dogs
154. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum. Story by Eric Shanower, art by Skottie Young. Graphic Novel
155. Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel. Fiction
156. Chronic City, Jonathan Lethem. Fiction
157. Cowboys Full, The Story of Poker, James McManus. Poker
158. Look at the Birdie, Kurt Vonnegut. Stories
159. Talking About Detective Fiction, P.D. James. Books on Books
160. The Museum of Innocence, Orhan Pamuk. Fiction
161. The Broken Cord, Michael Dorris. Non-Fiction


“Over time I have learned that what makes a man is not his ideas or his words, what makes a man is the ability to squeeze out a ferocious stream of lighter fluid from a can and throw a match on it. Mr. Nickerson was a man.”
--Sag Harbor, Colson Whitehead


“My hands are clumsy. I typed five novels with a single forefinger. Frankly, this limited my interest in revision.”
--Just Before Dark, Jim Harrison

“When your children are teenagers, it’s important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.”
-- I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman, Nora Ephron

“For the best part of forty years she had genuinely believed that not doing things would somehow prevent regret, when of course the exact opposite was true.”
--Juliet Naked, Nick Hornby