The Office, East Ukrainian Village, Chicago

In 2005 I set my hands on 33 books and finished 24 of them. It’s disappointing that my numbers are down from 2004, but I think I was busier so I’m still proud that I finished a couple dozen. My favorite books from the year were:

Nonfiction:

• Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner finished 07.17.05
• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell finished 04.25.05

Fiction:

• The Road to Wellville by T. C. Boyle finished 10.30.05
• The Alienist by Caleb Carr finished 10.09.05
• The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova finished 09.30.05
• Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire finished 09.11.05
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon finished 08.14.05
• Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres finished 03.20.05
• The Namesake: A Novel by Jhumpa Lahiri finished 02.04.05

Here’s a complete list of the books I’ve read this year:

• Body of Evidence by Patricia Cornwell finished 12.26.05
• The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling finished 12.09.05
• Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving finished 11.23.05
• The Columnist by Jeffrey Frank finished 11.08.05
• The Road to Wellville by T. C. Boyle finished 10.30.05
• The Alienist by Caleb Carr finished 10.09.05
• Book of Ages 30 by Lockhart Steele, Joshua Albertson, Jonathan Van Gieson
• The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova finished 09.30.05
• Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire finished 09.11.05
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon finished 08.14.05
• The Kaua’i Movie Book by Chris Cook, David Boynton
• Pupus to Da Max by Douglas Simonson, Pat Sasaki, Ken Sakata
• A Concise History of the Hawaiian Islands by Phil Barnes finished 07.17.05
• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Kidd finished 07.17.05
• Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner finished 07.17.05
• The Time Traveler’s Wife Audrey Niffenegger finished 07.08.05
• Pidgin to Da Max by Douglas Simonson, Pat Sasaki, Ken Sakata
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain finished 06.26.05
• Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom finished 06.13.05
• The East of Eden by John Steinbeck finished 06.07.05
• The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark finished 05.21.05
• Tales From The Scale by Erin J. Shea
• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell finished 04.25.05
• The Quince Seed Potion by Morteza Baharloo finished 04.21.05
• The Little Black Book Of Sushi by Day Zschock finished 04.14.05
• The Broker by John Grisham finished 04.07.05
• Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres finished 03.20.05
• The Namesake: A Novel by Jhumpa Lahiri finished 02.04.05
• Small Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver
• The Perfect Storm : A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger finished 01.22.05

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