Tim's 2009 Wrap Up Post

My goal for the challenge was six books and I reached that at the beginning of August. Read and reviewed for the challenge were:

• This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust. (Review):


• The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu (Review);
  


• Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories by Steven Millhauser. (Review);
  


• A Free Life by Ha Jin. (Review);
  


• Breath by Tim Winton. (Review); and,
  


• The Challenge: How a Maverick Navy Officer and a Young Law Professor Risked Their Careers to Defend the Constitution--and Won by Jonathan Mahler. (Review)
  

I'm guessing I read others in the last quarter of the year but was am too lazy to go back and look. It wasn't hard to see why the six listed books were considered notable. I enjoyed each in their own way. I would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite given their wide variety and range.

The quality of the books leads me to continue the challenge this year, again at the six book level. Part of the reason I'm staying with six is that, like Wendy, I read several from the latest lists before the lists were released. They include, with links to reviews on my blog:

• Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath by Michael and Elizabeth Norman. (Christian Science Monitor Best Books - Nonfiction) (Review);
  
  
• The Good Soldiers by David Finkel. (Christian Science Monitor Best Books - Nonfiction, NYT Most Notable, PW's Best Books of 2009);
  
  
• American Rust by Phillipp Meyer. (NYT Most Notable - Fiction);
  
  
• Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon. (NYT Most Notable - Fiction, 2010 Tournament of Books; PW's Best Books of 2009);
  
  
• Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada, translated by Michael Hofmann (NYT Most Notable - Fiction) (Review);
  
  
• Invisible by Paul Auster (NYT Most Notable - Fiction) (Review);
  
  
• The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood (NYT Most Notable - Fiction, 2010 Tournament of Books) (Review);
  
  
• Columbine by Dave Cullen (NYT Most Notable - Nonfiction, PW's Best Books of 2009);
  
  
• Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town by Nick Reding (NYT Most Notable - Nonfiction);
  
  
• The City & The City by China Mieville (2010 Tournament of Books, PW's Best Books of 2009);
  
  
• Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich (PW's Best Books of 2009) (Review);
  
  
• Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer (PW's Best Books of 2009)

While I could probably just point to those dozen and call it good, I figure challenging myself to another six simply means I'll find additional worthy books I might not otherwise have read.