The Final 52... well 53.

Image by fimoculous via Flickr

With a little more than a month to go, I was worried. In fact, prior to Thanksgiving I considered giving up the quest--my ONE resolution for 2009--to read 52 books during the year, one for each week. With great vigor (and no job), I read 4 books during the 4 days of Thanksgiving holiday. I could taste victory. As it turns out, I finished my 53rd book a week before the year actually ended.

I meant to finish my book as number 52, but I realized that I can't just read it without rewrites and edits. So, I had some backups in place (and already completed).

Anyhow, here are the final 52 (53) books from 2009.
(I've already started on the same task for 2010!)

Notes on Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin:
One of the most captivating books that I've ever read. I cried most of the last 50 pages as things that I'd suspected were revealed... and things that I hadn't were discovered.

“Love does that. It names the nameless and gives voice to the voiceless.”

“He said he gave up what he couldn’t keep to gain what he couldn’t lose.”

“Men spend their entire lives asking Who I am when the real question is Whose am I? I don’t think you can answer the first until you’ve settled the second. First horse, then cart. Identity does not grow out of action until it has taken root in belonging.”

I started this book on an afternoon after having finished "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," and found myself finishing it near 2am--complete in one sitting.

BONUS Book #53 = "Chasing Fireflies" by Charles Martin, 4.5/5 Stars
Book #52 = "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Berendt, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #51 = "The Autumn People" by Ray Bradbury, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #50 = "Into the Wild" by John Krakauer, 3/5 Stars
Book #49 = "Old School" by Tobias Wolff, 4/5 Stars
Book #48 = "Firmin" by Sam Savage, 3/5 Stars
Book #47 = "The Devil and Miss Prym" by Paulo Coelho, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #46 = "The Shack" by William P. Young, 3/5 Stars
Book #45 = "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #44 = "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli, 1/5 Stars
Book #43 = "Highlighted in Yellow" by H. Jackson Brown, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #42 = "Warrior of the Light: A Manual" by Paulo Coelho, 5/5 Stars
Book #41 = "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd, 1/5 Stars
Book #40 = "It's Not About the Bike" by Lance Armstrong, 2/5 Stars
Book #39 = "Dragonfly" by K.R. Dwyer (Dean Koontz), 3/5 Stars
Book #38 = "Teaching a Stone to Talk" by Annie Dillard, 1/5 Stars
Book #37 = "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury, 5/5 Stars
Book #36 = "The Illustrated Man" by Ray Bradbury, 2/5 Stars
Book #35 = "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway, 3/5 Stars
Book #34 = "Now & Forever" by Ray Bradbury, 4/5 Stars
Book #33 = "Coincidence" by David Ambrose, 2/5 Stars
Book #32 = "The Discreet Charm of Charlie Monk" by David Ambrose, 2/5 Stars
Book #31 = "Fish" by Lundin, Paul, Christensen, & Blanchard, 4/5 Stars
Book #30 = "Purple Cow" by Seth Godin, 3/5 Stars
Book #29 = "The System's Bitch" by John Wright, 3/5 Stars
Book #28 = "Twitter Power" by Joel Comm, 3/5 Stars
Book #27 = "The Cluetrain Manifesto" by LLSW, 3/5 Stars
Book #26 = "What Kind of World Do You Want?" by Jim Lord, 5/5 Stars
Book #25 = "The New Rules of Marketing & PR" by David Meerman Scott, 4/5 Stars
Book #24 = "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell, 3/5 Stars
Book #23 = "Lisey's Story" by Stephen King, 1/5 Stars
Book #22 = "My Favorite Place on Earth" by Jerry Camarillo Dunn, 4/5 Stars
Book #21 = "Wisdom 2.0" by Soren Gordhamer, 4/5 Stars
Book #20 = "Oath Of Gold" by Elizabeth Moon, 5/5 Stars
Book #19 = "The Age Of Engage" by Denise Shiffman, 3/5 Stars
Book #18 = "What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20" by Tina Seelig, 4/5 Stars
Book #17 = "Animal Farm" by George Orwell, 4/5 Stars
Book #16 = "Divided Allegiance" by Elizabeth Moon, 3/5 Stars
Book #15 = "The Curious Incident of the Dog..." by Mark Haddon, 2/5 Stars
Book #14 = "The Sheepfarmer's Daughter" by Elizabeth Moon, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #13 = "Love Is The Killer App" by Tim Sanders, 4/5 Stars
Book #12 = "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk, 4.5/5 Stars
Book #11 = "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger, 5/5 Stars
Book #10 = "The Finder" by Colin Harrison, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #9 = "Veronika Decides To Die" by Paulo Coelho, 1/5 Stars
Book #8 = "By The River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept" by Paulo Coelho, 3/5 Stars
Book #7 = "Stiff" by Mary Roach, 2/5 Stars
Book #6 = "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, 1/5 Stars
Book #5 = "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, 3/5 Stars
Book #4 = "Eleven Minutes" by Paulo Coelho, 2/5 Stars
Book #3 = "The Good Guy" by Dean Koontz, 3/5 Stars
Book #2 = "My Ishmael" by Dan Quinn, 2/5 Stars
Book #1 = "The Zahir" by Paulo Coelho, 3.5/5 Stars