#80 Tweak:Growing up on Methamphetaminesby Nic Sheff

Just finished this about 10 minutes ago. Our plans fell through because of the snow so I decided to try and finish my book before midnight and I did it! I'm really happy I made it to 80 books, 79 just didn't feel right!

Happy New Year all!

#79 Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Even more fun than the first one.

I'd love to make it 80 but it's going to be close. I just started The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb which is over 700 pages. Think I'll have to pick something else for #80 though, I'll never finish that by Wednesday.

Thanks Kathy-I really enjoyed most of them. Only a few clunkers this year.

Great list, Joanie. Some I've read, some I've got on my to-read list.

I was really hoping to make it to 80 books but things have been so busy I've made little progress over the past week. Guess we'll just have to see what happens.

#78 Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris

Some parts were really funny others were just okay.

#77 Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Loved it!

# 76 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

It's been a good 15 years since I've read this-fun to re-read it this time of year.

#75 Black Irish by Casey Sherman

Read for book club-not great.

#74 East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Read for book club-loved it.

#73 A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas

Read for book club. It's a memoir about a woman whose husband suffers a traumatic brain injury.

#72 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

I re-read this for book club. Originally my plan was just to skim through but I ended up getting totally sucked in to the story and re-reading the whole thing. I'm really glad I did too because I liked the book so much more the second time around.

#71 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

This a was re-read (re-listen really, I got the audio book from the library.) I'd like to re-read the whole series eventually.

#70 Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk

This book is definitely not for everyone but it was a fast and funny read.

#69 Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon

Totally sucked me in but there are some similarities between this one and her first book. Hopefully she mixes it up in her next book.

#68 A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

I've seen the movie a bunch of times but had never read the book. It was rough going at first but then totally worth it.

#67 Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohen and David Levithan

Read this in a matter of hours-really cute story.

#66 The Road by Cormac McCarthy

This book had me so tense, I felt like I couldn't focus on anything else until I knew how it ended.

#65 A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka

Read this for book club. I probably never would have picked this up on my own but did enjoy it.

#64 Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore

I'm on a vampire kick after getting hooked on True Blood on HBO. This one was a lot of fun.

#63 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I'm happy I read this one too, even if I didn't love it. What's more perfect to read in October?

#62 The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

Read this for book club-it's really creative and unexpected. It was a bit confusing at first but then it all came together.

#61 The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

I continue to be impressed by Morrison's work. She packs a lot into this little book.

# 60 Dracula by Bram Stoker

This was chosen by two different book clubs this month which makes my life easier! I liked the book but it moved slowly at times. I think over the years I've gotten used to much scarier vampire books so Dracula seemed kind of tame in comparison but I'm sure it was scary for it's time.

#59 The Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene

I read this in honor of banned book week. This book used to come up on my summer reading list but my dad was adamant that I not read it. I think he imagined something explicit but it's actually very tame and age appropriate (which is more than I can say for the books I was actually reading in junior high!) I found this at a thrift store and had to grab it.

#58 Run by Ann Patchett

Read for book club. I liked this much more than I expected, great story about families in all different forms.

#57 Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Read for book club-loved it! Really touching and well done.

#56 The Cider House Rules by John Irving

I read this for book club-I really liked it but it took me longer to get through it than I would have expected.

#55 Blaze by Stephen King

This was good but not great. It was entertaining but the flashbacks got old. This is supposedly the last of the Bachman books-one that King had packed away for years.

Shh....don't tell anyone Dini!!

Nah, I read the abridged version so it still counts as just one book, haha!

Thanks Dini-but you read The Count of Monte Cristo whereas I still have it sitting on my nightstand with only 60 pages read. That should count for a good 4 or 5 books right there!

First of all, congrats on reaching 50, Joanie! There are some books on your list that I've been wanting to get to too. Here's to wishing I get to 50 as well! (I've been moving really slow, but one can hope, no?)

#54 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I really loved this book and the main character, Liesel. She made me think of Francie in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird.

#53 The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Read this for book club after wanting to read it for a long time. After his mother dies, David seeks solace in reading the books she left behind. In time the books begin to talk to him and lead him to enter a scary new world. The books has a lot of twists on classic fairy tales and it's pretty dark and creepy.

#52 Peony in Love by Lisa See

Read this for bookclub, I liked it by was annoyed by some aspects. The lovesick maiden stuff was hard to take at times but the book was really well researched.

Here's my whole list for the year broken down by month.

January
1. Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen
2. The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
3. Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews
4. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffen

February
5. A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry
6. Forever in Blue by Ann Brashares
7. The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner
8. Jane Eyre by Charlote Bronte
9. 100 Demons by Lynda Barry
10. Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
11. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
12. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

March
13. Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
14. Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
15. Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
16. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
17. Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
18. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

April
19. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
20. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
21. Pygmallion by George Bernard Shaw
22. My Sweet Audrina by VC Andrews


May
23. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
24. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing by Francine Shapiro
25. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
26. Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
27. The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perotta
28. The Giver by Lois Lowry
29. Mr. Maybe by Jane Green

June
30. Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubenstein
31. Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen
32. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
33. Gerald's Game by Stephen King
34. The Woman Who Walked into Doors by Roddy Doyle
35. Cut by Patricia McCormick
36. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
37. A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

July
38. Bet Me by Jennifer Cruise
39. 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
40. Easter Rising by Michael Patrick MacDonald
41. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
42. Songs Without Words by Ann Packer
43. The Code of the Woosters by PG Wodehouse
44. Otherwise Engaged by Eileen Goudge

August
45. The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho
46. Perfume by Patrick Suskind
47. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
48. Map of Ireland by Stephanie Grant
49. There's No Place Like Here by Cecilia Ahern
50. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
51. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
52. Peony in Love by Lisa See
53. The Book of Lost Things

September
54. The Book Theif by Marcus Zusak
55. Blaze by Stephen King
56. The Cider House Rules by John Irving
57. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
58. Run by Ann Patchett

October
59. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
60. Dracula by Bram Stoker
61. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
62. The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
63. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

November
64. Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore
65. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
66. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
67. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohen and David Levithan
68. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
69. Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon
70. Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk
71. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
72. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
73. A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas

December
74. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
75. Black Irish by Casey Sherman
76. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
77. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
78. Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
79. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
80. Tweak:Growing up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff

I'm really happy with 80 books in a year. I'd love to read even more in 2009 but I'm not sure I'll be able to. Just have to wait and see I guess.

I finished my 50th book on Saturday, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I will eventually put my completed list here but for the time being I just want to bask in the glow of 50! I wish I thought I could make it to 100 in a year but I don't think I can read another 50 books in the next 4 months. 75 seems do-able though, here's hoping!

Hi Ed,
My friend said the same thing-it was big in it's time! I love Neil Diamond-I'll have to see if I can find the album. I think I'll pass on the movie though-I can't even imagine what it must be like!

Joanie,

re: Jonathan Livingston Seagull

You had to be there in the early 70's. If you can find it, Neil Diamond did an album based on the book or to accompany the movie, I can't remember which (I was on something). The movie sucked big-time. The music is good, though, especially if you are on something.

#51 Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

I read this for the Summer challenge on The Next Best Book Club-it was a bestseller in the decade I was born. All I can say was it was short and maybe it would have been better if I was on something!

#50 The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

When I realized I was approaching 50 I decided to purposely choose a book that had some meaning to me. The Last Lecture was a good choice with lots of things to ponder. His attitude is amazing but I couldn't help but be so sad for his kids.

# 49 There's No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern

I liked this one a lot, not what I was expecting-but in a good way. Ever since her classmate went missing at the age of 10 Sandy Shortt has been obessed with finding things. As an adult she starts a missing person's agency but then one day she goes missing herself. The story is pretty imaginative and had some unexpected suprises.

#48 Map of Ireland by Stephanie Grant (2 more to go!!)

This was a quick read about a girl growing up during the busing riots in South Boston in the 70's. In her Irish Catholic community, Ann is an outcast for being a lesbian. Things get more complicated for her when she develops a crush on a Black French teacher who is teaching in Southie as part of an exchange program.

I haven't watched it yet but heard it was well done. I'll have to check it out.

Did you see the movie, "Perfume....". it was also "tres" creepy?

Ed Hahn

#46 Perfume-The Story of a Murder by Patrick Suskind

This book was definitely creepy. The main character is a man with an extremely sensitive sense of smell who set out to find and recreate the perfect scent. The ending is so twisted and so strange but also totally unexpected. Not sure that I would recommend this to everyone I know but definitely an interesting read.

#47 The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

This is a collection of his essay published in "The Believer." Each month he charts the books he bought vs. the books he actually read. Great read for book lovers.

#45 The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho

Read this for book club. I liked it but didn't love it. The story is told from multiplie perspectives, some I liked, some I didn't. There are some good messages in the book (as I understand is often the case with Coelho's books-this was my first) and some of it definitely makes you think.

Got some reading done on vacation.

#42 Songs Without Words by Anne Packer

Not as good at Dive From Claussen's Pier but pretty good.

#43 The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

Read this for Rory Gilmore book club. I wasn't sure about it at first but wound up really enjoying it.

#44 Otherwise Engaged by Eileen Gould

This was for chick lit book club-it was quick, fun, cute-your basic chick lit.

#41 Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

I had heard lots of mixed things about this book but it was picked for book club so I read it with pretty low expectation-I was pleasantly surprised, I wound up really enjoying it.