“I cannot live without books.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
Every year I aspire to read a number of books simply because I love to read. My house if full of books of all sorts – non-fiction, fiction, self-improvement, biographies and autobiographies, classics, spiritual, informative, and so on. I have a love affair with books. They educate me, entertain me, and even comfort me.
James McBride, author of "The Color of Water", with his beloved mother
My Favorite Books Ever (Year Read)
(1) The Color of Water – James McBride (2002)
(2) A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini (2008)
(3) The Help – Kathryn Stockett (2010)
(4) My American Journey – Colin Powell (1997)
(5) Life on the Color Line – Gregory Howard Williams (1995)
(6) The Value in the Valley – Iyanla VanZant (1999)
(7) The Road Less Traveled – M. Scott Peck (5 times and counting)
(8) Eat Pray Love – Elizabeth Gilbert (2008)
(9) Roots – Alex Haley (1990)
(10) Savage Inequalities – Jonathan Kozol (2001)
2012 Reading List
- The Girl Who Played with Fire – Stiegg Larson
2011 Reading List
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – Rebecca Skloot
- Drowning Ruth – Christina Schwarz
- Same Kind of Different As Me – Ron Hall and Denver Moore
- Cutting for Stone – Abraham Verghese
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stiegg Larson
2010 Reading List
1. The Gospel According to Starbucks – Leonard Sweet
2. The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell
3. Native Son – Richard Wright
4. The Hour I First Believed – Wally Lamb
5. The Alchemist – Paulo Coehlo
6. The Help – Kathryn Stockett
7. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
8. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
9. A Hope in the Unseen – Ron Suskind
10. Push: A Novel – Sapphire
2009 Reading List
Malcolm Gladwell
(1) Blink – Malcolm Gladwell
(2) Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
(3) The Last Lecture – Randy Pausch
(4) A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini
(5) The Shack – William Paul Young
(6) Such a Pretty Fat – Jen Lancaster
(7) Bitter is the New Black – Jen Lancaster
(8) The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
(9) The Giver – Lois Lowry
(10) The Pact – Jodi Piccoult
(11) My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Piccoult
(12) Perfect Match – Jodi Piccoult
(13) Vanishing Acts - Jodi Piccoult
(14) Picture Perfect – Jodi Piccoult
(15) Harvesting the Heart – Jodi Piccoult
(16) Handle with Care – Jodi Piccoult
(17) The Glass Castle – Jeannette Walls
(18) Stealing Buddha’s Dinner – Bich Minh Nguyen
(19) Three Cups of Tea – Greg Mortenson
2008 Reading List
(1) Eat Pray Love – Elizabeth Gilbert
Elizabeth Gilbert
(2) The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom
(3) How Starbucks Saved My Life – Michael Gates Gill
(4) The Four Agreements – Don Miguel Ruiz
(5) Leadership – Rudy Giuliani
(6) The Measure of a Man – Sidney Poitier
(7) The Art of Happiness – His Holiness the Dalai Lama
(8) How to Practice the Way to a Meaningful Life – His Holiness the Dalai Lama
(9) The Five Love Languages – Gary Chapman
(10) Now You’re Speaking My Language – Gary Chapman
(11) The Secret – Rhonda Byrne
(12) Change of Heart – Jodi Piccoult
(13) Keeping Faith – Jodi Piccoult
(14) 19 Minutes – Jodi Piccoult
(15) Mercy – Jodi Piccoult
(16) Second Glance – Jodi Piccoult
(17) Plain Truth – Jodi Piccoult
(18) Songs of the Humpback Whale – Jodi Piccoult
(19) Salem Falls – Jodi Piccoult
(20) The Tenth Circle – Jodi Piccoult
(21) Leadership – John C. Wooden
(22) The Art of Seduction – Robert Greene
Wow! Thanks! I need a new book to read! It looks like you did all the work for me! Now I just have to pick one and go buy it! Thanks so much Claudine. Reading through everything else….You are amazing! I might just be a better person for knowing you! Hope to see you this weekend!