It’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the folks at the Broke and the Bookish. This week’s challenge. Top Ten Favorite Books You’ve Read During The Lifespan Of Your Blog. Ooh…this is a good one. And once again, my handy dandy book journal helps refresh my memory.

So, I launched this blog on December 26, 2010. Since that day, I have read 44 books….so almost a quarter will make this list! Since I’m not a book blogger, I haven’t written about (or even mentioned) a lot of the books I read, but I have mentioned several in this blog. For those books I’ve written about, I have a link at the end of the entry to take anyone interested to the post where I talked about it.

Here’s my unranked list.

1. Dewey, the Small-Town Library Cat who Touched the World. by Vicky Myron and Bret Witter. Finished reading on  January 1, 2011. As a cat and book lover, how could I not love a book about a library cat?

2. Best Friends Forever, by Jennifer Weiner. Finished reading on January 5, 2011. I was cooped up at home with a bad cold at the beginning of 2011 and this book perked me up.

3. U is for Undertow, by Sue Grafton. Finished reading on January 6, 2011 (that cold helped me get reading done at least). A decades old mystery comes back to (nasty) life….a page-turner.

4. Bitter is the New Black, by Jen Lancaster. Finished reading on March 29, 2011. As someone who was constantly told not to take such a dim view of things, it was so much fun to read someone whose bitterness is at a whole ‘nother level. (post)

5. I Love Everybody and Other Atrocious Lies, by Laurie Notaro. Finished reading September 4, 2011. Another ode to having a bad attitude. I laughed out loud. (post)

6. Read My Pins, by Madeleine Albright. Finished reading September 14, 2011. This hits all the right notes…a very powerful woman showing off the pins she collected/wore to express herself while serving as Secretary of State. Really fascinating. (post)

7. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. Finished reading February 4, 2012. I still haven’t seen the movie yet, but wanted to read the book before I did. I could see why it got so much acclaim. (post)

8. Encyclopedia of the Exquisite, by Jessica Kerwin Jenkins. Finished reading April 11, 2012. This book with its bits of trivia about “the exquisite” (the only entry I remember at this moment is the one for “ballooning”) was full of interesting facts and histories of objects and trends. Appealed to the wanna be know-it-all in me.

9. A Very Long Engagement, by Sabastien Japrisot. Finished reading May 16, 2012. I had seen the movie several years ago, and picked up the book at a library sale last year. I had forgotten a lot of the details, so the book was “like new” in several regards. A haunting story/mystery.

10. Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. Finished reading June 26, 2012. This book was too much fun…Kaling’s tale of her awkward childhood and rise to fame is hilarious (and relatable..). (post)

It’s interesting to me to see that 6 out of my top ten are nonfiction…I’ve definitely read more fiction than non over the last year and a half.

What are some of the best things you’ve read since the beginning of 2011 (or since you started your blog?)