This is a list of all books I read in 2013. To be eligible for the list,I merely had to finish reading the book this year. So, for example, if a book has 500 pages, and I read 490 of them back in 2012, and finished up the final ten pages this year, it still counts for 2013. Oh, and I’m only counting books that I have read for the first time. A book must have a minimum of 48 pages to qualify for the list.
The column labeled “Reason” provides the reason why I read the book. There are five possible entries in this column:
1. Class. This means the book was assigned to me in a class at my university, and I had to read it.
2. Kids. This means I read the book to my son (and possibly) my daughter.
3. Review. This means I read the book with the idea of reviewing it for our local paper, or with the intention of interviewing the author during an episode of Atheists Talk, or (in one case) because it’s a book I wrote and I needed to check for errors one more time.
4. Work. This means I read the book for my current “day job”.
5. FTHOI. This stands for “For the Hell of It,” because, let’s face it, every once in a while I do read a book simply for my own enjoyment or to learn how to improve on something in my own personal life.
In 2012, I read at least one book with a title from each letter of the alphabet. This year, I didn’t quite do that – no books on this list beginning with J, O, X, Y, or Z. Sigh. On the up side, the 55 books I read this year bring my total number of books to 960. This is great news because, for over twenty years now, I’ve had this goal of reading 1,000 books. Since 1997, I’ve been averaging 47 books a year – so there’s a very real possibility I will achieve this longed-for goal in 2014. Wish me luck!
| TITLE | PAGES | AUTHOR | REASON |
| 1776 | 294 | McCullough, David | FTHOI |
| 11/22/63 | 852 | King, Stephen | FTHOI |
| 2013 Saint Paul Almanac, the | 398 | compilation | FTHOI |
| Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 | 288 | Ferling, John | FTHOI |
| Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future, the | 176 | Pilkey, Dav | Kids |
| America’s Hidden History | 312 | Davis, Kenneth C. | FTHOI |
| American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies in the Founding of the Republic | 304 | Ellis, Joseph J. | FTHOI |
| Artist View, an | 134 | Videen, Arthur | FTHOI |
| As a Man Thinketh | 56 | Allen, James | FTHOI |
| Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream | 244 | Ehrenreich, Barbara | FTHOI |
| Black, White, Blue: The Assassination of Patrolman Sackett | 252 | Swanson, William | Review |
| Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex | 320 | Roach, Mary | FTHOI |
| Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam, a | 74 | Ibrahim, I. A. | FTHOI |
| Brothers and Keepers | 252 | Wideman, John Edgar | Class |
| Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede | 192 | Denton, Bradley | FTHOI |
| Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers | 224 | Pilkey, Dav | Kids |
| Dark Day in the Deep Sea (Magic Tree House #39) | 116 | Osborne, Mary Pope | Kids |
| Deliverance at Hand!: The Redemption of a Devout Jehovah’s Witness | 340 | Zimmerman, James | Review |
| Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, the | 448 | Larson, Erik | FTHOI |
| Doggy Dung Disaster & Other True Stories: Regular Kids Doing Heroic Things Around the World, the | 176 | Sundem, Garth | Kids |
| Elephants of Style, the | 240 | Walsh, Bill | FTHOI |
| Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be | 56 | Loxton, Daniel | Kids |
| Forgotten Presidents: Their Untold Constitutional Legacy, the | 314 | Gerhardt, Michael J. | FTHOI |
| Good Night for Ghosts (Magic Tree House #42), a | 116 | Osborne, Mary Pope | Kids |
| House at Pooh Corner, the | 180 | Milne, A. A. | Kids |
| Human | 512 | compilation | FTHOI |
| Inferno | 464 | Brown, Dan | FTHOI |
| Infidel Body-Snatcher and the Fruits of His Philosophy: The Life of Dr. Charles Knowlton, an | 264 | Allosso, Dan | Review |
| Intersex and Identity | 216 | Preves, Sharon E. | Review |
| Killing Lincoln | 336 | O’Reilly, Bill / Dugard, Martin | FTHOI |
| Knight at Dawn (Magic Tree House #2), the | 72 | Osborne, Mary Pope | Kids |
| Let the Specter-Detecting Begin (Ghost Hunters #1) | 186 | Enderle, Dotti | Kids |
| Making of African America: The Four Great Migrations, the | 306 | Berlin, Ira | Class |
| Map that Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology, the | 330 | Winchester, Simon | FTHOI |
| Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks | 304 | Jennings, Ken | FTHOI |
| Mercy, a | 198 | Morrison, Toni | Class |
| Night of the Ninjas (Magic Tree House #8) | 74 | Osborne, Mary Pope | Kids |
| Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void | 334 | Roach, Mary | FTHOI |
| Psycho | 208 | Bloch, Robert | FTHOI |
| Return to the Hundred Acre Wood | 204 | Benedictus, David | Kids |
| Revivalism, Social Conscience, and Community in the Burned-Over District: The Trail of Rhoda Bement | 182 | Altschuler, Glenn C. / Saltzgaber, Jan M. | Class |
| Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot | 104 | Pilkey, Dav | Kids |
| Road Less Traveled, the (25th anniversary edition) | 318 | Peck, M. Scott | FTHOI |
| Seventh-Day Adventists and the Civil Rights Movement | 200 | London, Samuel, G. | Class |
| Sleepy Hollow Sleepover | 138 | Roy, Ron | Kids |
| Survival Schools | 312 | Davis, Julie L. | Review |
| Treasure Island | 276 | Stevenson, Robert Louis | FTHOI |
| Twelve Years a Slave | 172 | Northup, Solomon | Class |
| U.S. Presidents: The Oval Office All-Stars! (Basher Books) | 112 | Green, Dan | FTHOI |
| Unstrung Harp, the | 64 | Gorey, Edward | FTHOI |
| Vacation Under the Volcano (Magic Tree House #13) | 84 | Osborne, Mary Pope | Kids |
| Voice-of-the-Customer Marketing | 252 | Roman, Ernan | Work |
| War of the Worlds, the | 238 | Wells, H. G. | FTHOI |
| White House White-Out | 138 | Roy, Ron | Kids |
| Women, Race & Class | 276 | Davis, Angela Y. | Class |
Dang, no letter grades for the books. 🙁
Yeah, I thought about adding in letter grades, but here’s the deal:
Two of the books include my writings, so I don’t think the letter grade I assign them would be perceived as fair, regardless of the letter.
Another book was hand-given to me by the author. He was really proud of his book, and I would feel bad grading it as if it were just something I dispassionately read.
Two more of the books were books I read so that I could subsequently interview the authors on “Atheists Talk,” and, again, I didn’t feel right about grading them.
Additionally, my son brought home several really lousy books this past year. I don’t want him to find this blog several years hence and find out how much I couldn’t stand the stuff we read together. I hope he doesn’t read the comments section.
Hello James,
I hope you are well
I’m a writer for the Australian Skeptics magazine and I’m currently doing a piece on an ex Australian Jehovah’s Witnesses and was wondering if I could ask you some questions about the J.W’s.
I apologize that I had to post this on your blog but couldn’t find another method of contacting you.
Hope to hear from you soon
Best Regards
Michael
Yay! Someone posted on my blog…
No worries, Michael. I will contact you via email.