Book List 2015

Once again it’s time to make my wishlist of books I want to read this year and below that, a list the books I actually do get around to reading

You can also check out how I did the last couple of years on my Book Lists ‘08,  Book Lists ’09, Book Lists ’10,  Book Lists’ 11,  Book Lists ’12,  Book Lists 2013, Book Lists 2014 pages.  Visit Library Thing to see every book I’ve ever read as well as my 100 favorite books of all time.

Books to Read in 2015

• 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann (BPL, MLN)
• 50 myths & lies that threaten America’s public schools : the real crisis in education by David C. Berliner
• The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth  by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
• Alcatraz versus the Scrivener’s Bones by Brandon Sanderson
• America’s Bitter Pill by Steven Brill
• Being with animals : why we are obsessed with the furry, scaly, feathered creatures who populate our world by Barbara J. King
• The big necessity : the unmentionable world of human waste and why it matters by Rose George
• Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster
• Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard on You?: A Memoir by George Clinton
• Bunker Hill : a city, a siege, a revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick
• Cerebus by Dave Sim
• Cheesemonger : a life on the wedge by Gordon Edgar (BPL)
• The Cost of Rights: Why Liberty Depends on Taxes by Stephen Holmes
• Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (BPL)
• Days of destruction, days of revolt by Chris Hedges
• End of the Innocence 1964-1965: The 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair by Lawrence Samuel
• Even This I Get to Experience by Norman Lear (BPL)
• The Eye of Zoltar by Jasper Fforde
• Feminism is for everybody : passionate politics by Bell Hooks
• Fifteen minutes outside : 365 ways to get out of the house and connect with your kids by Rebecca P. Cohen (BPL, MLN)
• Global Minstrels: Voices of World Music by Elijah Wald
• Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design by Charles Montgomery
• How music works : the science and psychology of beautiful sounds, from Beethoven to the Beatles and beyond by John Powell
• How we got to now : six innovations that made the modern world by Steven Johnson
• Hundred-year-old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
• The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey by Louise W. Borden (MLN)
• Last ape standing : the seven-million year story of how and why we survived by Chip Walter
• Last child in the woods : saving our children from nature-deficit disorder by Richard Louv (BPL, MLN)
• The Librarian (Book One: Little Boy Lost) by Eric Hobbs
• Made for walking : density and neighborhood form by Julie Campoli
• The new Jim Crow : mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (BPL, MLN)
• The New York nobody knows : walking 6,000 miles in the city by William B. Helmreich
• Ninety percent of everything : inside shipping, the invisible industry that puts clothes on your back, gas in your car, and food on your plate by Rose George
• A People’s History of the New Boston by Jim Vrabel
• Puddingstone: Franklin Park by Mark Jay Mirsky
• Q : a novel by Evan J. Mandery (BPL)
• The Round House by Louise Erdich (BPL, MLN)
• Rubbish!: The Archaeology of Garbage by William Rathje
• Sacred economics : money, gift, & society in the age of transition by Charles Eisenstein (BPL)
• The Second Amendment : a biography by Michael Waldman
• Sherlock Holmes and the Rune Stone Mystery by Larry Millet
• So, anyway… by John Cleese (BPL, MLN)
• Tinkering toward utopia : a century of public school reform by David B. Tyack
• Up : a mother and daughter’s peakbagging adventure by Patricia Ellis Herr
• The Urban Bestiary: Encountering the Everyday Wild by Lyanda Lynn Haupt
• Voyager: Seeking Newer Worlds in the Third Great Age of Discovery by Stephen J. Pyne
• The Walking Dead Vol. 23: Whispers Into Screams by Robert Kirkman (Hoopla)
• Washington’s spies : the story of America’s first spy ring by Alexander Rose (BPL)
• The Westing Game  by Ellen Raskin (BPL, MLN)
• The years of rice and salt by Kim Stanley Robinson (BPL)

Around the World for a Good Book

My Around the World For A Good Book project continues.  Like last year I’m drawing inspiration from international sport by using nations involved in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup as inspiration for my book choices.

• China PR: The Last Lover by Can Xue (Lamont, Widener)
• Costa Rica: (MLN, Lamont, Widener)Assault on Paradise by Tatiana Lobo
• Norway: The Cold Song by Linn Ullmann  (BPL ebook, BPL, MLN, Widener)
• Switzerland: With the Animals by Noëlle Revas
• Thailand: The Happiness of Kati by Ngarmpun (Jane) Vejjajiva  (BPL, MLN)

Audiobooks

• 1493 : uncovering the new world Columbus created by Charles C. Man (BPL, MLN)
• The accidental highwayman : being the tale of Kit Bristol, his horse Midnight, a mysterious princess, and sundry magical persons besides by Ben Tripp(BPL, MLN)
• Airman by Eoin Colfer  (BPL, MLN)
• Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (BPL)
• All The Wrong Questions series
  • Who Could That Be at This Hour? by Lemony Snicket (BPL, MLN)
  • When Did You See Her Last? by Lemony Snicket (BPL, MLN)
  • Shouldn’t You Be In School? by  Lemony Snicket (BPL, MLN)
  • Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights? by  Lemony Snicket( MLN)
• American Slavery, American Freedom by Edmund S. Morgan (MLN)
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (BPL, MLN, Hoopla)
• Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume (BPL, MLN)
• Art of Mindful Living by Thích Nhất Hạnh (BPL)
• Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer  (BPL, MLN)
• Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer (BPL, MLN)
• Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer (BPL, MLN)
• Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson (BPL, MLN)
• The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald (BPL)
• Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (BPL, MLN)
• The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin (MLN)
• Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury (BPL, MLN)
• Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson (BPL, MLN)
• The disappearing spoon : and other true tales of madness, love, and the history of the world from the periodic table of the elements by Sam Kean (Hoopla)
• Dissident gardens : a novel by Jonathan Lethem (MLN)
• The Essential Lewis and Clark (BPL)
• The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King (Hoopla)
• The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (BPL, MLN)
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (BPL)
• First Family by Joseph Ellis (BPL, MLN)
• Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis (BPL)
• Flight by Sherman Alexie (MLN, Hoopla)
• From the Mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg ((BPL)
• Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi (BPL, MLN)
• The Glorious Cause by Jeff Shaara (BPL, MLN)
• The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker (BPL)
• Grandma Gatewood’s walk : the inspiring story of the woman who saved the Appalachian Trail by Ben Montgomery  (Hoopla)
• The Great Bridge by David McCullough (BPL)
• Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America by Linda Tarado (BPL)
• Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami (BPL)
• The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (BPL, MLN)
• In the Garden of the Beast by Erik Larson (BPL)
• The Inventor’s Secret by Andrea Cremer (Hoopla)
• The Iowa Baseball Confederacy by W. P. Kinsella (BPL)
• The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough (MLN)
• Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell
• Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving (BPL, MLN)
• Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (BPL, MLN)
• The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (BPL, MLN)
• Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble by Marilyn Johnson (Hoopla)
• The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett (BPL, MLN)
• Looking for Alaska by John Green (BPL, MLN)
• Manhood for amateurs : the pleasures and regrets of a husband, father, and son by Michael Chabon (BPL)
• Midnight Rising by Tony Horwitz (BPL, MLN)
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (BPL, MLN)
• Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz (MLN)
• The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street by Justin Fox (BPL)
• The Myth of the Spoiled Child: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom about Children and Parenting by Alfie Kohn (Hoopla)
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (BPL, MLN)
• Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (BPL)
• Our Divided Political Heart: The Battle for the American Idea in an Age of Discontent by E.J. Dionne (Hoopla)
• The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough (BPL)
• A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn (BPL)
• The Pope and Mussolini by David I. Kertzer (MLN)
• The Portrait of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde
• The Power Broker by Robert Caron (BPL)
• Revolutionary Summer by Joseph Ellis (MLN)
• The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore (BPL, MLN)
• Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (BPL, MLN)
• Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (BPL, MLN)
• A Song of Fire and Ice series
  • A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin (BPL, MLN)
  •  A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (BPL, MLN)
  • A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin (BPL, MLN)
  • A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin  (BPL, MLN)
• The Story of My Experiments With Truth by Mohandas Ghandi (Hoopla)
• Through the Children’s Gate by Adam Gopnik (BPL)
• To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 by Adam Hochschild (Hoopla)
• To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (BPL, MLN)
• Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (BPL)
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (MLN, Hoopla)
• When you reach me by Rebecca Stead (BPL, MLN)
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (BPL, MLN)
• A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin (BPL, MLN)
• Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle (BPL)
• The Wright Brothers by David McCullough (BPL, MLN)
• You’re Never Weird on the Internet by Felicia Day(BPL)

Library Thing Early Reviewers

These are books I’ve received from the Library Thing Early Reviewers program that I haven’t reviewed.  Even if I don’t complete each book, I’d like to give them enough consideration to review them this year.

• Just Kids from the Bronx by Arlene Alda
• Dirigible Dreams: The Age of the Airship by C. Michael Hiam
• The Bluffer’s Guide to Beer by Jonathan Goodall
• Paperboy by Tony Macaulay
• It’s Game Time Somewhere: How One Year, 100 Events, and 50 Different Sports Changed My Life by Tim Forbes
• Out on the wire : the storytelling secrets of the new masters of radio by Jessica Abel
• The Polish Boxer by Eduardo Halfon
• The Embedded Librarian Innovative Strategies for Taking Knowledge Where It’s Needed by David Shumaker
• Vintage Base Ball by James R Tootle
• Secret Life of Pronouns by James W. Pennebaker
• Beyond the Scoreboard by Rick Horrow

Books Read in 2015

January

• The Eye of Zoltar by Jasper Fforde – ****
• The Days of Anna Madrigal by Armistead Maupin (A) – ***1/2
• Grandma Gatewood’s walk : the inspiring story of the woman who saved the Appalachian Trail by Ben Montgomery (A) – ***1/2
• Cerebus by Dave Sim – **
• Dirigible Dreams: The Age of the Airship by C. Michael Hiam – **
• Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (A) **1/2
• Bunker Hill : a city, a siege, a revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick – ****
• The accidental highwayman : being the tale of Kit Bristol, his horse Midnight, a mysterious princess, and sundry magical persons besides by Ben Tripp (A) – ***1/2

February

• The Librarian (Book One: Little Boy Lost) by Eric Hobbs – ***
• The Librarian (Book Two: Unhappily Ever After) by Eric Hobbs – ***
• A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin (A) – ***
• The disappearing spoon : and other true tales of madness, love, and the history of the world from the periodic table of the elements by Sam Kean (A) – ***
• The Bluffer’s Guide to Beer by Jonathan Goodall – **1/2
• The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey by Louise W. Borden – **1/2
• A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (A) – ***
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (A) – ****

March

• Cheesemonger : a life on the wedge by Gordon Edgar – ****
• A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin (A) – ***
• Night of the Humans by David Llewellyn (A) – **
• Manhood for amateurs : the pleasures and regrets of a husband, father, and son by Michael Chabon (A) – **1/2
• The Walking Dead (Volume 21): All Out War Part Two by Robert Kirkman – **
• The Walking Dead (Volume 22): A New Beginning by Robert Kirkman
• Art of Mindful Living by Thích Nhất Hạnh (A) – ****
• A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin (A) – ***
• Fifteen minutes outside : 365 ways to get out of the house and connect with your kids by Rebecca P. Cohen – **
• Airman by Eoin Colfer (A) – ****

April

• Ninety percent of everything : inside shipping, the invisible industry that puts clothes on your back, gas in your car, and food on your plate by Rose George – ***
• Even This I Get to Experience by Norman Lear – ***1/2
• Who Could That Be at This Hour? by Lemony Snicket (A) – ***
• When Did You See Her Last? by Lemony Snicket (A) -***1/2
• Looking for Alaska by John Green (A) – **1/2
• Bottom of the 33rd by Dan Barry (A) – ****
• So, anyway… by John Cleese – ***1/2
• Midnight Rising by Tony Horwitz (A) – ***1/2

May

• Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer  (A) – ***1/2
• Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (A) – **1/2
• The New York nobody knows : walking 6,000 miles in the city by William B. Helmreich – ****
• Timewyrm: Exodus by Terrance Dicks – ***
• Adventures With the Wife in Space by Neil Perryman – ***
• From the Mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg (A) – ***1/2
• When you reach me by Rebecca Stead (A) – ***

June

• Hang a Crooked Number by Matthew Callan – ***
• The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (A) – *****
• Shouldn’t You Be In School? by Lemony Snicket (A) – ***1/2
• It’s Game Time Somewhere: How One Year, 100 Events, and 50 Different Sports Changed My Life by Tim Forbes (A) – **1/2
• Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer  (A) – ***
• Timewyrm: Revelation by Paul Cornell – ***1/2
• The Cold Song by Linn Ullmann – **1/2

July

• The Happiness of Kati by Ngarmpun (Jane) Vejjajiva – **1/2
• Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz (A) – ***1/2
• Q : a novel by Evan J. Mandery – **
• Love and War by Paul Cornell – ***
• Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer (A) – ***
• A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin (A) – **1/2
• Our Kids by Robert D. Putnam

August

• The Left-Handed Hummingbird by Kate Orman – ***1/2
• In the Garden of the Beast by Erik Larson (A) – ***
• First Family by Joseph Ellis (A) – ***1/2
• Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis (A) – ***
• Assault on Paradise by Tatiana Lobo – **1/2
• What If? by Randall Munroe – ****

September

• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates – ****1/2
• Out on the wire : the storytelling secrets of the new masters of radio by Jessica Abel – ***1/2
• Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving (A) – ***
• The Myth of the Spoiled Child: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom about Children and Parenting by Alfie Kohn (A) – ****
• How To Raise a Wild Child by Scott D. Sampson – ***1/2
• The Last Lover by Can Xue
• The Walking Dead Vol. 23: Whispers Into Screams by Robert Kirkman – **1/2
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (A) – ***1/2
• You’re Never Weird on the Internet by Felicia Day (A) – ***

October

• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (A)
• The Wright Brothers by David McCullough (A) – ***1/2
• Mysterious New England by Austin N. Stevens – **1/2
• Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights? by  Lemony Snicket (A) – ***1/2
• Flight by Sherman Alexie (A) – ***
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (A) – **1/2

November

• Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson (A) – ***1/2
• Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America by Linda Tarado (A) – ****
• Rubbish!: The Archaeology of Garbage by William Rathje – ****
• Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble by Marilyn Johnson (A) – ****
• Through the Children’s Gate by Adam Gopnik (A) – **1/2
• The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame – ****
• Up : a mother and daughter’s peakbagging adventure by Patricia Ellis Herr – **1/22

December

• The Glorious Cause by Jeff Shaara  (A) – ***
• Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (A) – ***
• Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard on You?: A Memoir by George Clinton – ***
• A People’s History of the New Boston by Jim Vrabel – ****
• The Westing Game  by Ellen Raskin – ***