The year in review, or, at least, what I read in 2007...

Well, it is the last day of the year.

I haven’t made any resolutions (anyway, none that I’m willing to go on record with), and I’ll leave the “year in review” pieces to those who don’t get as depressed as I do looking back at this year of record stupidities.

But, I thought I’d at least share my reading list for the year.

At the beginning of the year I decided that I was going to read a book a week. I ended up short by 12. But that means that I did manage to read 40 books this year. Not bad in a year that was crowded with work, with taking care of my mother, with trying to be a more active writer, and with all the various activities that make up everyday life.

Some of this list might look familiar; I posted the list for the first half of the year at the end of June/beginning of July. Anyway, this is the list for the full year (the dates are the day I completed each book. Non-fiction titles are marked with an asterisk.

1. Rage, Jonathan Kellerman (Ballantine Books, 2005) 391 pages (paperback edition). 1 January 2007.

2. Behind Closed Doors, Natalie R. Collins (St Martin Paperbacks, 2007) 322 pages. 8 January 2007.

3. The Lucifer Gospel, Paul Christopher (Onyx Books, New American Library, 2006) 357 pages. 4 February 2007.

4. Last on the Menu*, Sister Eleanor Quin, C. S. J. (Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1969) 182 pages. 18 February 2007.

5. The Republican Noise Machine*, David Brock (Three Rivers Press, 2004; Afterward copyright 2005) 432 pages. 19 February 2007.

6. The Templar Legacy, Steve Berry (Ballantine Books, 2006) 487 pages. 24 February 2007.

7. The Republican War on Science*, Chris Mooney (Basic Books) 357 pages.
7 March 2007.

8. An Alphabetical Life*, Wendy Werris (Carroll & Graf Publishers) 292 pages. 12 March 2007.

9. Hotel California: The true-life adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and their many friends*, Barney Hoskins (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2006) 324 pages. 25 March 2007.

10. The Alexandria Link, Steve Berry (Ballantine Books, 2007) 462 pages. 26 March 2007.

11. Michelangelo’s Notebook, Paul Christopher (Onyx Books, 2005) 358 pages. 5 April 2007.

12. The Collar*, Jonathan Englert (Houghton Mifflin, 2006) 301 pages. 8 April 2007.

13. Tutu Deadly, Natalie M. Roberts (Berkley Prime Crime, 2007) 248 pages. 17 April 2007.

14. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus*, Charles C. Mann (Vintage, 2005, 2006) 541 pages. 4 May 2007.

15. All Saints, Liam Callahan (Delacorte, 2007). 7 May 2007.

16. The Last Cato, Matilde Asensi (Rayo, 2006; originally published in Spanish, 2001) 458 pages. 13 May 2007.

17. The Machine’s Child, Kage Baker (Tor, 2006) 351 pages. 22 May 2007.

18. Evolving God*, Barbara J. King (Doubleday, 2007) 262 pages. 30 May 2007.

19. Gods and Pawns, Kage Baker (Tor, 2007) 335 pages. 4 June 2007.

20. Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America’s Soul*, Edward Humes (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2007) 380 pages. 22 June 2007.

21. By Their Father’s Hand: The True Story of the Wesson Family Massacre*, Monte Francis (Harper, 2007) 285 pages. 4 July 2007.

22. Rembrandt’s Ghost, Paul Christopher (Signet, 2007) 347 pages. 22 July 2007.

23. Dr. Mary’s Monkey: How the unsolved murder of a doctor, a secret laboratory in New Orleans and cancer-causing monkey viruses are linked to Lee Harvey Oswald, the JFK assassination and emerging global epidemics*, Edward T. Haslam (TrineDay, 2007) 374 pages. 27 July 2007.

24. Echo Park, Michael Connelly (Warner, 2006) 427 pages. 30 July 2007.

25. The Ritual Bath, Faye Kellerman (Arbor House, 1986) 282 pages. 5 August 2007.

26. Straight Into Darkness, Faye Kellerman (Warner Books, 2005) 510 pages. 14 August 2007.

27. Gone, Jonathan Kellerman (Ballantine Books, 2006) 365 pages. 19 August 2007.

28. Dress Her in Indigo, John D. MacDonald (Fawcett Crest, 1969) 301 pages. 26 August 2007.

29. The Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights, Faye Kellerman (Warner Books, 2006) 370 pages. 27 August 2007.

30. The Black Echo, Michael Connelly (Warner Books, 1992) 482 pages. 6 September 2007.

31. The Closers, Michael Connelly (Little, Brown, 2005) 403 pages. 11 September 2007.

32. The Concrete Blonde, Michael Connelly (Warner Books, 1994) 484 pages. 19 September 2007.

33. Lost Light, Michael Connelly (Warner Books, 2003) 385 pages. 5 October 2007.

34. Tapped Out, Natalie M. Roberts (Berkeley Prime Crime, 2007) 261 pages. 13 October 2007.

35. Trunk Music, Michael Connelly (St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 1997) 427 pages. 21 October 2007.

36. The Overlook, Michael Connelly (Little, Brown, 2007) 225 pages. 30 October 2007.

37. The Last Coyote, Michael Connelly (Grand Central Publishing, 1995) 495 pages. 9 November 2007.

38. Angels Flight, Michael Connelly (Warner Books, 1999) 454 pages. 16 November 2007.

39. City of Bones, Michael Connelly (Warner/Vision Books, 2002) 421 pages. 23 November 2007.

40. The Prey, Allison Brennan (Ballantine, 2006) 395 pages. 18 December 2007.

I read a lot more fiction this year than I usually do, and as you can see, I went on quite a mystery tangent from about July on. This is not to say that I didn’t read any non-fiction in the last half of the year. I just got most of my non-fiction reading in other places than books, and most of the non-fiction books I dipped into were for research and I did not read all of any of them.

The tangent will likely continue, as the book I’m in the middle of now…actually two of the four books I’m reading now (yes, I read more than one book at a time)…are in the mystery genre. Of the other two, one is about trilobites and the other is about the opposing views of religion and other topics taken by Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis. Interesting reading in all cases.

So, my question for you dear readers, is: What did you read in 2007? What do you recommend, and what do you recommend I stay away from? And, what is at the top of your to-read list for the new year?