2005 List of Books

Full list of books I read in 2005:

Great Failure, Natalie Goldberg

All the Fishers Come Home to Roost, Rachel Brown

The Fourth Hand, John Irving

Blindness, Jose Saramgo

The Optimisist's Daughter, Eudora Welty

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey

Wild Mind, Natalie Goldberg

Mermaid Chair, Sue Monk Kidd

Devil in the White City, Erik Larsen

The Bee Season, Myla Goldberg

Matilda, Roald Dahl

Writer's Life, Ellen Gilchrist

Forever, Pete Hamill

What Was She Thinking, Zoe Heller

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, JK Rowling

A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby

The Drowning Tree, Carol Goldman

Diary of Anne Frank

The Jane Austen Book Club, Karen Joy Fowler

Crossing California, Adam Leger

The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini

Mr Maybe, Jane Green

Portuguese Irregular Verbs, Alexander McCall Smith

Stiff, Mary Roach

A Suitable Vengence, Elizabeth George

Sleep Toward Heaven, Amanda Eyre Ward

Emperor of Scent, Chandler Burr (AWFUL)

Blink, Malcolm Gladwell

How to Be Lost, Amanda Eyre Ward

The Ha-Ha, Dave King

The Reader, Bernard Schlink

Early Leaving, Judy Goldman

The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell

Rebecca, Daphne DuMaurier

The Mango Season, Amulya Malladi

I am Charlotte Simmons, Tom Wolffe

Inner Circle, TC Boyle

Favorite Books of 2005

Favorite books from 2005:

Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseni: I can't say enough about this book. It rips your heart open and touches you to the core. I read this on a plane and had to finish before we arrived because I knew I couldn't put it down.

Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon : A great story that is dramatic, mysterious and adventurous. For anyone who loves books, it is a great ride into the world of fiction.

Bee Season, Myla Goldberg: This book had been recommended to me many times and I finally had the opportunity to pick it up. Goldberg crafts an amazing story about the dysfunctional Naumann family -- Eliza's success in spelling bees, her brother Aaron's religious search and their mother's kleptomania. In the end, you get a peek inside each characters thoughts and fears.

The Ha-Ha, Dave King: The story of Howie, a Vietnam vet who can't speak, write or read and Ryan, the 9 year old son of an ex-girlfriend, who ends up in Howie's care when Ryan's mother goes into rehab. It's a touching and engrossing story, making you laugh and cry.

Sleep Toward Heaven and How to be Lost, Amanda Eyre Ward: Both of Ward's books suck you in and you don't want to put them down. Both center around 3 main characters and how their lives intersect. Ward focuses on the relationships between women and family and touches you deeply.

Inner Circle, TC Boyle: A fictional account of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey's work and world. A great example of Boyle's work, though Drop City is still my favorite.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Mary Roach: Exactly what the title says, Mary Roach entertainingly follows the different routes human cadavers can take. It may seem surprising that this subject matter can be called "entertaining" but Roach provides color commentary that is laugh out loud funny.