These are the books I’ve read this year. The grading part was hard, but I just went with my first inclination. I see that I gave five A’s and one A+, and two of those six were classics that I felt confident were not only my personal favorites, but also had spoken to many other people over the course of time. I couldn’t grade Huckleberry Finn, The Great Gatsby, or Gulliver’s Travels–all books I re-read this year in connection with educating my children. I like all of them, but I must admit that I’ve been taught to enjoy them. It really wasn’t love at first sight. On the other hand, love that grow over a period of time may deeper and longer lasting. So I don’t know. The A- books are all well worth your time and energy; grades below a B may indicate that I liked it but also found something about the book intensely annoying. Links are to reviews here at Semicolon.

1599: A Year in the Life of Shakespeare–Shapiro B+
84 Charing Cross Road–Hanff A-
A Mango-Shaped Space–Maas B-
Acts of Faith–Caputo A-
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn–Twain
After the Ball–Beard B
Airborn–Oppel B+
Bad Ground by W. Dale Cramer B+
The Balkan Trilogy–Manning C-
Blood and Judgement–Walker A –
Beyond Stateliest Marble: The Passionate Femininity of Anne Bradstreet by Douglas Wilson C
Beyond the Summerland–Graham. A-
The Bible or the Axe–Levi A-
Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation that’s Changing Your World–Hewitt B-
The Broker–Grisham B
Case Histories–Atkinson C
Chamomile Mourning–Childs C-
Children of Men–PD James A-
Cut and Run–Pearson C+
Empty Cradle: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity and What to Do About It by Phillip Longman B
Facing East: A Pilgrim’s Journey into the Mysteries of Orthodoxy–Mathewes-Green A
Fewer: How the New Demography of Depopulation Will Shape Our Future by Ben J. Wattenberg B
The Flame Tree–Lewis B+
The Full Cupboard of Life–McCall Smith A-
Game of Kings–Dunnett B
Gilead–Robinson A
The God I Love by Joni Eareckson Tada B+
The Goose Girl–Hale B+
The Great Gatsby–Fitzgerald
Great Improvisations: Franklin, France and the Birth of America–Schiff B+
Gulliver’s Travels–Swift A-
Improbable–Fawer B+
In the Beginning There Were No Diapers–Bete
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies–McCall Smith A-
Invisible Child: On Reading and Writing Books for Children–Paterson B-
The Kalahari Typing School for Men–McCall Smith A-
The Kite Runner–Hosseini A-
The Keeper’s Son–Hickam C
Levi’s Will–Cramer A-
Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum Peril and Romance–Jocelyn C+
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind–Ross B
Morality for Beautiful Girls–McCall Smith A-
Nature Never Stops Talking–Alibrando B
Nectar in a Sieve–Markandaya A-
No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency–McCall Smith A
Oceans Apart by Karen Kingsbury C+
Once Upon a Marigold–Jean Ferris B
Pagan’s Crusade–Jinks B
Peace Like a River–Enger A
Plain Truth–Picoult B
Pride and Prejudice–Austen A+
Riding the Bus with my Sister–Simon B+
Right Turns–Medved B
Safely Home-Alcorn B-
Saffy’s Angel–McKay B+
Seabiscuit: An American Legend–Hillenbrandt A-
Sea of Trolls–Farmer B
Shackleton’s Stowaway–McKernan B
Shadowmancer–G.P. Taylor B
The Shakespeare Stealer–Blackwood A-
Shakespeare’s Scribe–Blackwood B+
Shakespeare’s Spy–Blackwood B+
Shepherds Abiding–Karon A-
The Silent Speaker–Stout B+
The Sunday Philosophy Club–McCall Smith A- (a birthday present from Eldest Daughter)
The Tears of the Giraffe–McCall Smith A-
Testimonies–O’Brian B
The Eight–Neville B
The Singer–Calvin Miller A
The Thirteenth Juror–Lescroart B-
Time Lottery–Moser D
The Time Traveler’s Wife–Niffenegger C-
Twilight Children–Hayden B+
When Christ and His Saints Slept–Penman A-
Wide as the Waters–Bobrick B+
With No One As Witness–George B+
The Year of the Warrior–Walker A-
Year of Wonders–Brooks B+

Tomorrow: the books I started and couldn’t finish–and why.