My 2009 Reading List

I’ve mentioned quite a few times here at “Blank Stares and Blank Pages” that I want to become a better reader.

Unfortunately, I reached my reading zenith in the first four months or so that I lived in Boston and it’s fallen off steadily ever since.

When we first moved out here (read: before I made friends) I was plowing through one or two books a week, especially in the two weeks or so before we got cable and internet hooked up.

Since then, however, my desire for a social life and this incessant habit of writing have both greatly hampered by reading.

I set a goal for myself back in January or so, that I wanted to read the equivalent of a book a month, or twelve total for the year, as an absolute minimum.

As you can see below, I appear to have just met that goal.

In fact, I’m pretty sure there are a handful of other books that I read, but can’t remember at the moment. If/when they come to me, I’ll be sure to update the list.

If any of y’all recall seeing me tote around a certain title in the past twelve months, lemme know.

Without any further ado, here is—in no particular order—my 2009 reading list:

READ IN 2009

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
The Dead Zone by Stephen King
On Writing by Stephen King
Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman
Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman
Small-Town Heroes by Hank Davis
Wild and Outside by Stefan Fatsis
Hank Aaron and the Homerun that Changed America by Tom Stanton
I’m Sorry You Feel That Way by Diana Joseph
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max
I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
The Death of WCW by Bryan Alvarez and RD Reynolds

IN PROCESS

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman

Not too shabby for a year that was pretty jam-packed with travels, writing, softball, and plenty of that bubbling social life I mentioned above.

I think I’m going to push the bar up to a nice solid fifteen books for 2010.

I realize that in the grand scheme of things, that’s still basically nothing, and I’m hoping to read drastically more than that, but like I said, I’m a busy dude.

I’m also making a new rule that anytime I go into a used bookstore from this day forward, I am REQUIRED to purchase at least one book every time.

If nothing else, it’ll help me grow a pretty bitchin’ collection.