Books of 2006

Since I doubt anyone wants to read about the new haircut I got or how accomplished I felt yesterday when I finally registered my car in Arizona, I've decided to take a cue from Elah over at Ciboulette and showcase the books I read in 2006.

• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
• The Anthropology of Turquoise: Meditations on Landscape, Art and Spirit by Ellen Meloy
• Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
• Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos
• The Cactus Primer by Arthur Gibson
• Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
• The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates
• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
• The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• Legends of the American Desert by Alex Shoumatoff
• The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
• The Mountains Know Arizona: Images of the Land and Stories of Its People by Rose Houk
• Now is the Time to Open Your Heart by Alice Walker
• The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence by Deepak Chopra
• A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell

I think that's about it. This summer I was in a reading frenzy when I was working that crazy temp job and I have no recollection what books I checked-out from the library and read on my lunch hour in the park. That's okay though as those that were particularly noteworthy are listed here.

I would not recommend all of the books above, Bitter is the New Black was particularly absent of substance. The Anthropology of Turquoise felt uninspired and sometimes snoozeworthy.

I felt most accomplished after finishing Anna Karenina which took me forever and a day to read but it was well worth the time and effort. The Falls was another beautifully written novel, a seriously crafted work of art. The requisite Walker, Monk Kidd and Chopra are represented on the list. I don't know if it's me getting older or if it's a reflection of these works in particular, but this time around the books weren't as inspiring as others by these authors have been in the past. My new favorite author of the year is Luis Alberto Urrea. Of all the books I read this year relating to the desert and it's native plants and people, Urrea did the most lovely job portraying the pre-revolutionary Mexican rancheria and the surrounding Sonoran desert in his novel The Hummingbird's Daughter.

I just started The Story of B by Daniel Quinn; I'll make sure to let you know how it turns out.