I considered doing that end of the year survey that’s going around–the one that asks if you’re thinner, happier, or richer–but that’s very 1960s society-esque (“You can never be too rich or too thin!”), and it’s also all about what did you want, want, want? So instead, I’m going to make good on one of my 2010 resolutions and share the list of books that I read in 2010, their respective ratings, and the amount of time it took me to get through them. You will notice that I am sometimes a very, very fast reader; that I am sometimes competitive with myself; and that from September until December, I was quite busy with yoga teacher training homework.

The rating system is an LCA Original, not at all scientific, but the gist of it is:

* Couldn’t finish it/shouldn’t have finished it
** OK or at least fun
*** Good
**** Great
***** Favorite

I didn’t rate books that I had to read for a purpose, like the “summer reading list” for yoga, I didn’t rate young adult books because I read those purely for fun, and I didn’t rate researchy books.

And I considered linking the books to their summaries on Amazon in case anyone is interested in reading them, but you’re all good Googlers, so I’ll leave that to you.

1.

    The Olive Farm

Dec. 27-Jan. 11
**
2.

    Let the Great World Spin

Jan. 11-Jan. 20
****

3.

    Push

Jan. 21-Jan. 22 (<24 hours)
****

4.

    Just Listen

Jan. 24
YA

5.

    The Highly Sensitive Person

Jan. 25-Jan. 27

6.

    Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice

Jan. 28-Feb. 10

7.

    Them

Jan. 30-Jan. 31
***

8.

    The Patron Saint of Liars

Feb. 10-Feb. 13
***

9.

    Sammy’s Hill

Feb. 14-Feb. 25
**

10.

    Easter Everywhere

Feb. 17-Feb. 18
***

11.

    If I Live to be 100

Feb. 18-Feb. 19
***
12.

    Open House

Feb. 18
**

13.

    A Walk in the Woods

Feb. 19-Feb. 20
**

14.

    The Soloist

Feb. 20
***

15.

    Willie Mae

Feb. 27-Feb. 28
***

16.

    Truth and Beauty

Feb. 28
***

17.

    Hit by a Farm

Mar. 1
***

18.

    Mama Makes Up her Mind

Mar. 1-Mar. 3
**

19.

    Clay’s Quilt

Mar. 3
* (abandoned)

20.

    My Before and After Life

Mar. 4
* (abandoned)

21.

    Songs Without Words

Mar. 4-Mar. 8
**

22.

    Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoir of a Girl Who Couldn’t Stop Praying

Mar. 8-Mar. 9
***

23.

    Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes

Mar. 9-12:40 a.m. on Mar. 11
****

24.

    Never Change

Mar. 9-Mar. 11
**

25.

    The Time it Takes to Fall

Mar. 11-Mar. 12
**

26.

    Some Girls

Mar. 12-Mar. 13
**

27.

    The Dive from Clausen’s Pier

March 15-
(Was re-reading it, never finished it this time)

27.

    Julie and Julia

Mar. 16-1:02 a.m. on Mar. 18
***

28.

    Dangerously Alice

Mar. 18-12:39 a.m. on Mar. 19
YA

29.

    Almost Alice

Mar. 21-1:12 a.m. on Mar. 22
YA

30.

    Blue Sky July

Mar. 23
***

31.

    Secrets to Happiness

Mar. 24-Mar. 26
**

32.

    Mendocino and Other Stories

Mar. 26 at 11:52 p.m.-Apt. 1
** (unable to finish last story)

33.

    Just Like Family: Inside the Lives of Nannies, the Parents they Work for, and the Children they Love

Apr. 1-Apr. 2
**

34.

    The Friendly Young Ladies

Apr. 4-Apr. 6
* (abandoned)

35.

    Big Fat Manifesto

Apr. 6-Apr. 8
* (abandoned, YA)

36.

    Fact of Life #31

Apr. 8-Apr. 16
*** (YA, but rated)

37.

    I am an Emotional Creature

Apr. 19
*** (YA, but rated)

38.

    Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant

Apr. 20-Apr. 21
**

39.

    While I’m Falling

Apr. 28-12:27 a.m. on Apr. 29
***

40.

    Two is Enough: A Couple’s Guide to Living Childless by Choice

May 8-May 9
**

41.

    Swimming Lessons

May 9-May 17
***

42.

    Girl, Interrupted

May 17-May 23
***

43.

    The Miracle of Mindfulness

May 13-May 23

44.

    Couldn’t Keep it to Myself: Testimonials from Our Imprisoned Sisters

May 27-May 31
***

45.

    The Woman I Kept Inside

May 30
*****

46.

    Paradise, Piece by Piece

May 31-June 3
***

47.

    Tree of Yoga</ul
    June 9-June 30

    48.

      3 Willows

    June 9-June 11
    YA

    49.

      Family History

    June 12
    **

    50.

      Eating Pomegranates: A Memoir of Mothers, Daughters, and the BRCA Gene

    June 13-June 19
    * (abandoned on pg. 210)

    51.

      Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story

    June 20-June 26
    **

    52.

      Voluntary Madness: My Year Lost and Found in the Loony Bin

    June 26-June 20
    ***

    53.

      Making Toast

    June 30-July 4
    ***

    54.

      The Usual Rules

    July 6-July 12
    **

    55.

      The Year that Follows

    July 13-July 20
    **

    56.

      Enchanted Evening Barbie & The Second Coming: A Memoir

    July 5
    ***

    57.

      Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage

    July 23-July 26
    ****

    58.

      The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women & a Forty Year Friendship

    July 25-July 27
    **

    59.

      Insatiable: A Young Mother’s Struggle with Anorexia

    July 29-July 30 (<24 hrs.)
    ****

    60.

      The Time it Snowed in Puerto Rico

    July 31-Aug. 1 (<24 hrs.)
    ***

    61.

      The Windup Bird Chronicle

    Aug. 3-Aug. 10
    * (abandoned at chapter 10)

    62.

      Roxana Saberi: Between Tow Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran

    Aug. 11-Aug. 17
    ***

    63.

      Runaway

    Aug. 18-Aug. 19
    ** (abandoned on page. 297)

    64.

      Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage

    Aug. 25-Aug. 27
    **

    65.

      Pack of Two: The Intricate Bond Between People and Dogs

    Aug. 27-Aug. 29
    ***

    66.

      It’s a Wonderful Lie: 26 Truths About Life in your Twenties

    Sept. 19-Sept. 20
    ****

    67.

      The Opposite of Love

    Sept. 21
    ****

    68.

      Yo!

    Begun late Sept., abandoned early Dec. on page 209

    69.

      Strange Birds in the Tree of Heaven

    Begun and abandoned in Sept.

    70.

      The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

    Dec. 19-Dec. 26 (mostly Dec. 26)
    **

    71.

      The Happiness Project

    Dec. 27
    ***

    72.

      Waiting to Exhale

    Dec. 27-Dec. 28 (mostly Dec. 28)
    *

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