Last year for Christmas, my parents gave me a notebook to document and keep track of all the books I read. It’s been fun to look back through the year and remember all the great book and some not so great books. I only write them down finished books and audio books are not included. Should I include audio books? I still can’t decide.
Writing it in my book makes finishing a book even more satisfying. But it also means I have forced myself to finish a book even though I am not enjoying it. Only finished books make it into the book. That happened with Bridget Jone’s Diary. It’s such a popular book but I did not like it. All she did was complain about her weight and her lack of boyfriend – it was annoying. But I powered though because I wanted to get credit for the time and pages I had made so far! Don’t worry I know how ridiculous that is.
Looking back, this is a list of a 14 year old girl – Divergent series, The Fault in Our Stars, Girl Online. It was a year of teen adult books, for sure.
If you are looking for a book to read, I recommend so many on this list! Here are my top three but I enjoyed every other one of those books, except Bridget Jones’s.
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn– This was probably my favorite book I read this year. Gillian Flynn is an phenomenal writer. She comes up with the most interesting sentences.
This one is from Dark Places, I book I listened to – “I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ. Slit me at my belly and it might slide out, meaty and dark, drop on the floor so you could stomp on it.” Wow just wow
Catch Me if You Can, Frank Abagnale – I saw the movie many years ago and finally decided to read the book. It was fascinating to read exactly how Frank conned so many banks and airlines. He is truly brilliant. Definitely a good read.
Fugitives and Refugees, Chuck Palahniuk – This is a must read for any Portlanders. Chuck is a part-time Portlander and this book is all about the quirky weird things around Portland. There is a self-washing house, ghosts, and a pretty extensive sex working industry. I want to visit everywhere on his list, well maybe not all the strip clubs, I’ll skip those.
Here is the full list of books:
- Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
- Wild – Cheryl Strayed
- Divergent – Veronica Roth
- Insurgent – Veronica Roth
- Allegiant – Veronica Roth
- Stolen Life – Jaycee Dugard
- The Fault in Our Stars – John Green
- Persuader – Lee Child
- Invisible Monsters – Chuck Palahniuk
- Gone Tomorrow – Lee Child
- Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen
- Catch Me if You Can – Frank Abagnale
- Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
- Fugitives and Refugees – Chuck Palahniuk
- Girl Online – Zoe Sugg
That is –
15 books
11 Authors
5,630 pages
7 are movies, with 3 more coming soon
Do you keep track of the books you have read? What were your favorite books from the last year?
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I’ve made a goal to track my books in 2015…I’m hoping for 12!
Writing it down is a good motivator to keep going. A little extra accountability. What books are on your list for this year?
I totally keep track of what I read….bvt, hey, I’m a book blogger so it goes with the territory!
I would count audiobooks! I actually just started counting them myself–I’ve been a regular audio-reader for about 6 months, but it was only in the last month or so that I accepted that audio books are real books!
Haha ya you do more than just list the title and author! I don’t listen to too many audiobooks but it would be nice to have a record.
awesome list of books! i need to do something similar – make a list and also a goals list!
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It’s fun to keep track and look back through. My mom has been keeping track for years.
So many of those books are on my list to read this year. I am currently reading Gone Girl and I am loving it.
Her other books Sharp Objects and Dark Places are also amazing!
I think audio books should be counted!
I think I might add them. But note somehow that they are audio.
Wow!! This is so impressive. Great job.
Thanks Rachel. It’s a good way to relax in the evenings.
Wow!! This is so impressive. Great job.
I LOVE reading, many of your books have been on my reading lists!
You will have to let me know what you think of them!
You’re a good reader! I mostly read things online and in magazines, so I’m kind of a junk-food reader. 🙂
My son and I have a running debate about whether audiobooks should count as reading. I have a long commute and get a lot of books read that way. He says it doesn’t count, but I am an English teacher and say that it does, so I overruled him. (I had to read a certain number of classics for a list I made.) It’s great that you keep track in a special notebook. I used to, but I don’t anymore. I loved Wild.
I say English teacher overrules too! I think I will start keeping track of them too.
I’ve been keeping track of the books I read for quite awhile now, and it’s really interesting to go back and look through the lists now and then! I actually keep mine on Goodreads rather than paper. I’m looking forward to a great year of reading in 2015! 🙂
That’s great! How long have you been keeping track? It’s going to be a great reading year! 🙂