52 Down, 0 To Go

When I went to go post a review for what I thought was my 52nd book of the year, I realized that I made a mistake. In true Laura fashion, I learned that I can read, but I can’t count. Turns out that somewhere in the mid 40’s I messed up a little, thinking that I was a book behind myself. It seems I’ve been finished with the project for about a week now. I had saved a book especially to be the last and now it will just be a little extra. 

In any case, this project has meant the world to me. I didn’t expect anyone to read my reviews or care about my progress, but surprisingly, it received more attention than was intended. Because of 52books, I have met many wonderful people and have been able to share a journey that came out of a place of longing and need. Thank you for following along, sending me your suggestions, and becoming a friend. I can’t wait to do it again next year. 

1. Atonement by Ian McEwan
2. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
3. Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
4. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger 
5. Love is a Mixtape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time by Rob Sheffield
6. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini 
7. The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman
8. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
9. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
10. Imagining Robert by Jay Neugeboren
11. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
12. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
13. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
14. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
15. The World to Come by Dara Horn
16. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P.D. James
17. White Noise by Don DeLillo
18. Half Life by Shelley Jackson
19. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë 
20. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
21. Seeing by José Saramago
22. Rant by Chuck Palahniuk
23. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
24. Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman
25. Dracula by Bram Stoker
26. Straight Man by Richard Russo
27. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
28. No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July
29. The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
30. Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games by Tennent H. Bagly
31. Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis
32. If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino
33. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
34. The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
35. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
36. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
37. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
38. The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan
39. In My Skin by Kate Holden 
40. The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox
41. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
42. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
43. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
44. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
45. Emma by Jane Austen
46. Murder on 47th Street by Beulah Poynter
47. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
48. Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
49. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
50. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
51. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
52. Blink by Malcom Gladwell

Update:

   53.  Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer   

   54.  The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum

   55. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky