Reading List 2013

For Browsing: 

Spanish for the Construction Trade
American House Styles by John Baker
A Field Guide to American Houses
Identifying American Architecture
The Fruit Gardener's Bible: A Complete Guide to Growing Fruits and Nuts in the Home Garden
Put 'em Up: A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook, from Drying and Freezing to Canning and Pickling
Carrots Love Tomatoes



Finished:
Under the Dome by Stephen King
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Heat Rises by Richard Castle
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
A Song for Summer by Eva Ibbotson
About that Night by Julie James
Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella
Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik
Baby Be Mine by Paige Toon
Confessions of  a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Little Earthquakes by Jennier Weiner
In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner
Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen
Second Glance by Jodi Picoult
5th Horseman by James Patterson
Can you keep a secret by Sophie Kinsella
Naked Heat by Richard Castle
Inferno by Dan Brown
Shopaholic & Sister by Sophie Kinsella
Johnny be Good by Paige Toon
I love Shopping in New York by Sophie Kinsella
Bloodline by Mark Billingham
Good as Dead by Mark Billingham
The Lost Temple by Tom Harper
Lazarus Vault by Tom Harper
Seige of Heaven by Tom Harper
Book of Secrets by Tom Harper
The 6th Target by James Patterson
7th Heaven by James Patterson
A Walk in the Park by Jill Mansell
Falling For You by Jill Mansell
Head over Heels by Jill Mansell
Don't Want to Miss a Thing by Jill Mansell
Nadia Knows Best by Jill Mansell
Third Degree by James Patterson
Judge and Jury by James Patterson Cradle and All by James Patterson
Lake House by James Patterson
Cross Country by Patterson, James
The Big Bad Wolf by Patterson, James
Four Blind Mice by Patterson, James 
Double Cross by Patterson, James

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2012 Booklist

2012 was the first year I had a Nook Color. I would say at least 75% of the books I read in 2012 were on my Nook. Others were library books.

Violets are Blue by James Patterson
Roses are Red by James Patterson
Motor Mouth by Janet Evanovich
Full Speed by Janet Evanovich
Full Tilt by Janet Evanovich
Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Tess of the D'urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
The Book of Secrets by Tom Harper
Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson
You're the One that I Don't Want by Alexandra Potter
Lost Temple by Tom Harper
The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
Who's that Girl by Alexandra Potter
To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell
Millie's Fling by Jill Mansell
Rumor Has It by Jill Mansell
Full House by Janet Evanovich
Full Scoop by Janet Evanovich
Foul Play by Janet Evanovich
Before I fall by Lauren Oliver
Second Glance by Jodi Picoult
Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
I'll be Seeing You by Mary Higgins Clark
Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult
Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich
A Painted House by John Grisham
Lost light by Michael Connelly
The Drop by Michael Connelly
The Litigators by John Grisham
The Summons by John Grisham
The Brethren by John Grisham
Fify Shades Trilogy by E.L. James
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Fruitless fall : the collapse of the honeybee and the coming agricultural crisis by Rowan Jacobsen
Beekeeping in the Midwest by Elbert R. Jaycox
Self-sufficiency beekeeping by Joanna Ryde
Beeing : life, motherhood, and 180,000 honeybees by Rosanne Daryl Thomas
The Confession by John Grisham
Loves Music Loves to Dance by Mary Higgins Clark
Mary Mary by James Patterson
London Bridges by James Patterson
Cross Fire by James Patterson
Jack and Jill by James Patterson
Full Scoop by Janet Evanovich &Charlotte Hughes
Kill the Girls by James Patterson
Cross by James Patterson
Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly
Black Ice by Michael Connelly
The Poet by Michael Connelly
The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
May Day Murders by Scott Wittenburg

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Books

This is the last time I'll be updating this post. For the next year, I'll list what I've read under the "Reading List 2012" tab at the top of the page. 

Since purchasing a new phone, I started reading more because it has a Kindle app. This post is going to get updated everytime I finish a book. I'm also taking full advantage of the library near my house, and the feature I discovered online where I can request a book from another branch of the library to pick up at the one by my house! I can even order books through Mobius (the state-wide library system) to pick up at my local library!

Currently working on:

Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain


The May Day Murders by Scott Wittenburg

 

In 2011, I read:

Dracula by Bram Stoker
Powerful words from this book: "The common people know me, and I am master. But a stranger in a strange land, he is no one. Men know him not, and to know not is to care not for." Chapter 2 (unsure of the page number!)

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart

The Fence My Father Built by Linda S. Clare
A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
"Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no change and no need of change." Chapter X.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (I started reading this series while I was on vacation in Puerto Rico)
The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

The Black Echo by Michael Connelly (If you've heard of the movie The Lincoln Laywer, The Black Echo is the first in one of his other series. The main character's name is Hieronymous "Harry" Bosch, named after a painter I studied in college. Check out his painting Garden of Earthly Delights.

The Last Coyote by Michael Connelly
Void Moon by Michael Connelly


Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery by Charles Kibert (This is an educational book because I'm working with a client who wants sustainable features in his building and I haven't done a green project since the LEED Platinum Habitat for Humanity house...I'm brushing up!)

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly

Sage by Debora Clark


Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell (Ended up taking this book back without finishing it. I was 1/3 of the way into it and could not get "into" it. So boring and wordy.)

Week by Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook by Ron & Jennifer Kujawski This book was so awesome, I'm buying it!

City Farmer by Lorraine Johnson I didn't read all of this book...

Farm City by Novella Carpenter This was a pretty entertaining book about a woman who lived in a ghetto area of Oakland, CA and raised chickens, turkeys, rabbits and pigs in her backyard. In the MIDDLE of the city!


City of Bones by Michael Connelly

Angels Flight by Michael Connelly

Growing a Farmer: How I Learned to Live off the Land by Kurt Timmermeister


The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food and Love by Kristin Kimball

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

The Reversal by Michael Connelly


9 Dragons by Michael Connelly


Chasing the Dime by Michael Connelly

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Book: The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball

I've been reading a lot these last two years, and this year I started a reading list to keep track of everything I've read. It drives me crazy when I remember reading a book about something but can't remember the name of the book or who wrote it. (Luckily, my account at the library has a digital reading history and if I can remember about what month I read the book I can figure out the book.)

I've dreamed about having my own CSA farm at some point. This is probably just a pipe dream, as working a farm for sole income is rather taxing. This dream is fueled by my homesickness for the farm I grew up on, and for green country in general.

I recently finished The Dirty Life by Kristen Kimball. I don't want to forget some of what I read, so here are a couple things she wrote, emphasis mine:

"As much as your transform the land by farming, farming transforms you. It seeps into your skin along with the dirt that permanently abides in the creases of your thickened hands, the beds of your nails. [...] Your acres become a world. And maybe you realize that it is beyond those acres or in your distant past, back in the realm of TiVo and cubicles, of take-out food and central heat and air, in that country where discomfort has nearly disappeared, that you were deprived. Deprived of the pleasure of desire, of effort and difficulty and meaningful accomplishment." (pg 5)

My stash of seeds, accumulated over the last couple years, but pared down from my original desires.

"Food, a French man told me once, is the first wealth. Grow it right, and you feel insanely rich, no matter what you own." (pg 16)

"The seeds arrived in February, a whole farm in a box. Of all the mysteries I'd encountered on the farm, this seemed the most profound. I could not imagine how several tons of food could come out of a box so small and light I could balance it on one hand. Mark and I spent evenings poring over the seeds catalogs that had arrived during the darkest week of winter, piling up next to the bed like farmer porn." (pg 119)

I force myself to recycle seed catalogs about mid-summer, when it wouldn't do me any good to order new seeds anyway. However, I keep the catalogs from Baker Creek because they really are like looking at seed-porn. I'm addicted. That catalog in the back? That was a late comer, not a Baker Creek catalog, like didn't arrive until early summer. It's still hanging around because I'm already thinking about next year's garden.

 I start receiving seed catalogs around Thanksgiving and am completely guilty of poring over them like porn. I read and re-read descriptions, trying to figure out the best variety for my area and tastes. I bookmark, highlight and turn down pages. Then I map out a new garden layout to figure out just how many of those plants I have marked will actually fit in the garden. Then, the sad part of paring down the list, so that I can order without feeling guilty about buying seeds that won't ever get planted.

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Guess what I received today?

An autographed book from my friend Debora who published her first book last year! I went to West Plains today to deliver plans to her office and she surprised me with it! Here's her website, with some info about the book series: http://www.intheruggedhills.com/index.html

I'm "going to bed" early tonight so I can start reading!

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