Books Read in 2015

2015 turned out to be a good year for reading:  I set a new record (since I begain to keep track in 2010):  72 books, on average six books per month.  The smallest number of books read per month was two, which occurred in both June and August; between those two months, July had the most:  eleven.  By some standards that's not a lot of reading, but it's a good deal more than I was accomplishing before I made reading a priority, and started measuring.

Here's the list, sorted alphabetically.  A chronological listing, with rankings, warnings, and review links, is here.  It's a good mixture of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry; old books and new; short books and tomes.  I enjoyed most of them, and regret none.Titles in bold I found particularly worthwhile.

  1. 1066 and All That by W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman
  2. Artemis Fowl (Book 1) by Eoin Colfer
  3. Artemis Fowl (Book 2): The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer
  4. Artemis Fowl (Book 3): The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
  5. Artemis Fowl (Book 4): The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer
  6. The Bible
  7. The Billion Dollar Spy by David E. Hoffman
  8. The Black Star of Kingston by S.D. Smith
  9. A Book of Strife, in the Form of the Diary of an Old Soul by George MacDonald
  10. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
  11. A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
  12. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
  13. Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin
  14. England's Antiphon by George MacDonald
  15. Exotics by George MacDonald
  16. Food Foolish by John M. Mandyck and Eric B. Schultz
  17. Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill by Gretchen Rubin
  18. The Gambia in Depth by the Peace Corps
  19. Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story by Ben Carson with Cecil Murphey
  20. The Green Ember by S.D. Smith
  21. Gutta-Percha Willie by George MacDonald
  22. It All Started with Columbus by Richard Armour
  23. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey
  24. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
  25. The Kids from Nowhere by George Guthridge
  26. Legally Kidnapped by Carlos Morales
  27. Life of Fred: Goldfish by Stanley F. Schmidt
  28. Life of Fred: Honey by Stanley F. Schmidt
  29. Life of Fred: Ice Cream by Stanley F. Schmidt
  30. Life of Fred: Jelly Beans by Stanley F. Schmidt
  31. Life of Fred: Kidneys by Stanley F. Schmidt
  32. Life of Fred: Liver by Stanley F. Schmidt
  33. Life of Fred: Mineshaft by Stanley F. Schmidt
  34. Life of Fred: Pre-Algebra with Biology by Stanley F. Schmidt
  35. Love Does by Bob Goff
  36. Malcolm by George MacDonald (much Scottish dialect)
  37. Malestrom by Carolyn Custis James
  38. Manjiro by Hisakazu Kaneko
  39. The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson
  40. The Marquis of Lossie by George MacDonald (some Scottish dialect)
  41. The Martian by Andy Weir
  42. Mary Marston by George MacDonald
  43. The Mind's Eye by Oliver Sacks
  44. Old Peter's Russian Tales by Arthur Ransome
  45. Paul Faber, Surgeon by George MacDonald
  46. The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall
  47. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
  48. The Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall
  49. The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
  50. Pioneer Days by Laura Ingalls Wilder, annotations by Pamela Smith Hill
  51. The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald
  52. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
  53. The Qur'an translation by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem
  54. St. George and St. Michael by George MacDonald
  55. The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
  56. The SHARP Solution by Heidi Hanna
  57. Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie
  58. The Six Fingers of Time and Other Stores from Galaxy Magazine
  59. Sir Gibbie by George MacDonald
  60. The Story of Western Science by Susan Wise Bauer
  61. Stiff by Mary Roach
  62. Thomas Wingfold, Curate by George MacDonald
  63. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  64. Tremendous Trifles by G. K. Chesterton
  65. The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal
  66. The Village on the Edge of the World by A.T. Oram
  67. Warlock o' Glenwarlock by George MacDonald
  68. Weathermakers to the World by Eric B. Schultz
  69. West Africa Is My Back Yard: Ex-Pat Life in The Gambia and Beyond (Part I: Where on Earth is The Gambia Anyway?) by Mark Williams
  70. Wilfred Cumbermede by George MacDonald
  71. The Winged Watchman by Hilda van Stockum
  72. The Wise Woman by George MacDonald
Posted by sursumcorda on Sunday, January 10, 2016 at 7:32 am | Edit
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Comments

That's quite a few more than I read this year. Good job!



Posted by dstb on Sunday, January 10, 2016 at 9:17 am

My yearly goal is 52 books (one per week). My unofficial goal this year was to beat my previous record, which was 65 (in 2010). Then it got a little out of hand, as books kept rising to the top of our library "hold" list....



Posted by SursumCorda on Sunday, January 10, 2016 at 2:08 pm

Thanks again! This is inspirational. And based on your last post, I hope a read (or likely re-read) of "Bridge of San Luis Rey" is on the 2016 list!



Posted by Eric on Monday, January 11, 2016 at 8:25 am

I can see it's time I faced the demons of my misspent youth, a.k.a. school. I read The Bridge of San Luis Rey in junior high and did not like it, a judgement I believe I passed on every single one of the books I was required by my teachers to read. But as the years since my incarceration have increased, I have made many amazing discoveries, such as that history is interesting and that I enjoy writing. I'm guessing it may also be true that the books we were forced to read aren't all as bad as I remember. :)



Posted by SursumCorda on Monday, January 11, 2016 at 9:15 am

You can borrow it when you visit us. I'm not sure where I put it, but I know I read it and I'm pretty sure it's still around because I liked it quite a bit. Thornton Wilder has a peculiar style that I'm tempted to classify as mockumentary: many details, fleshed-out biographies, yet still lively and interesting.



Posted by Stephan on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 4:13 pm
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