I love reading books and book reviews are the heart of Panorama of the Mountains. I’ve been keeping track of the books I read since I was a teenager and I’ve attempted to catalog every book I’ve ever read at LibraryThing.
One of my big reading projects is Around the World for a Good Book, where I’ve been attempting to read an original work of fiction from every nation in the world.
On this page I’ve provided links to posts about my favorite books as well as my running lists of books I’ve read this year. If there’s a book you’d like to discuss or think I should read, let me know in the comments!
Favorite Books of All Time (as of 2009)
Favorite Books by Year:
Books Read in 2020
The books are rated on a scale from 1 to 5 stars with links to summary reviews. (A) is for audiobook.
Here’s a thumbnail of what the ratings mean:
- 5 stars – all-time classic (I’m very stingy with these)
- 4 stars – a particularly interesting, well-written, or important book
- 3 stars – a good book from start to finish
- 2 stars – not a good book on the whole but has some good parts
- 1 star or less – basically a bad book with no redeeming values
January
- Cartoon County by Cullen Murphy – ****
- The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher (A) – ***
- Return of the Living Dad by Kate Orman – ***1/2
- Star Wars Vol. 11: The Scourging of Shu-Torun
- Star Wars Vol. 12: Rebels and Rogues
- the relationship by Ashley D. Stevens – ***
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (A) – ****
- The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King (A) – ****
- Lonely Planet: Yellowstone and Grand Tetons – ***
- Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein – ****1/2
- The Shining by Stephen King (A) – ***
February
- When the Irish Invaded Canada by Christopher Klein – **
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (A) – ****
- The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben – ***1/2
- 11/22/63 by Stephen King (A) – ***1/2
- Shearwater: A Mermaid Romance by D.S. Murphy – **1/2
- Rise of the Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt (A) – ****
March
- Empire of Shadows: The Epic Story of Yellowstone by George Black (A) – ***
April
- The Walt Disney World That Never Was by Christopher E. Smith – ***
- Sula by Toni Morrison (A) – ****
- The Fiery Trial by Eric Foner (A) – ***1/2
- The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer – ****
- Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones (A) – ****
- Terry Jones’ Medieval Lives by Terry Jones and Alan Ereira – ****
- All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai (A) – ****
May
- The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (A) – ***
- Damaged Goods by Russell T. Davies – ***1/2
- Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (A) – *****
- Bonk by Mary Roach – ***
- The Hunger by Alma Katsu (A) – **
- K : A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches by Tyler Kepner – ***1/2
June
- All the Bad Apples by Moïra Fowley-Doyle (A) – **1/2
- The Monied Metropolis by Sven Beckert – ***
- Highfire by Eoin Colfer – **1/2
- Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis – ***1/2
- Letters to The Hall of Presidents by Guy Hutchinson – 1/2*
- Tar Baby by Toni Morrison (A) – ****
- Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (A) – *****
July
- Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe (A) – ****
- Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore (A) – ***1/2
- This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (A) – **
- Maeve in America by Maeve Higgins (A) – ***1/2
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace by Terry Brooks – ***
- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow (A) – ***
August
- Voyage of Mercy by Stephen Puleo (A) – ***1/2
- Star Wars: Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray – ***1/2
- The Tree by Colin Tudge – ***
- Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown – ***1/2
- Watching Yellowstone & Grand Teton Wildlife by Todd Wilkinson – ***
- A Ranger’s Guide to Yellowstone Day Hikes by Roger Anderson and Carol Shively Anderson – ***1/2
- The Farcountry Field Guide to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks by Kurt F. Johnson – ****
- Caste by Isabel Wilkerson (A) – ****1/2
- Attack of the Clones by R.A. Salvatore – ***
September
- The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer (A) – ***1/2
- Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover – ****
- The Assassination of Fred Hampton by Jeffrey Haas –
- Beloved by Toni Morrison (A) –
POTENTIAL AROUND THE WORLD FOR A GOOD BOOK READS
Austria: The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek
Cambodia: In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vadeley Ratner
China: Five Spice Street by Can Xue
The Last Lover by Can Xue
Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin
Finland: Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo
Israel: Dolly City by Orly Castel-Bloom
Mauritius: Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi
Poland: Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
Stone Upon Stone by Wiesław Myśliwski
Swallowing Mercury by Wioletta Greg
Russia: Aetherial Worlds: Stories by Tatyana Tolstaya
Switzerland: I Am the Brother of XX by Fleur Jaeggy
Syria: The Proof of the Honey by Salwa Al Neimi
Trinidad and Tobago: Golden Child by Claire Adam
Vietnam: Paper Bells by Phan Nhiên Hao
