Bookshelf

Since 2005, I’ve been keeping a list of every book and film I consume in entirety. Because how scary is it to not remember the last book you read? It’s also hard to recommend that Spanish film where the dead mother comes back and everyone mistakenly assumes she’s a ghost and Penelope Cruz is all “Yowza!”, when you don’t know the name of it.

I resolved to read at least 52 books a year starting in 2006 and have been doing so ever since. Why? Because I ride the subway a lot and can only stare at other passengers or listen to music for so long.

My yearly reading goal keeps my brain agile, open, inspired, confused… It’s a daily investment in myself that I can carry inside and share as I see fit.

Here’s my bookshelf for 2010 - I add books and films as I finish them. Why yes, you can email me to share a recommendation or make fun of my taste.

See 2009’s bookshelf.

Books:

1. Note to Self: 30 Women on Hardship, Humiliation, Heartbreak, and Overcoming It All edited by Andrea Buchanan
2. I Love You, Let’s Meet: Adventures in Online Dating by Virginia Vitzthum
3. A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen
4. Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead
5. I Love You, I Hate You, I’m Hungry: A Collection of Cartoons by Bruce Eric Kaplan
6. Impossible Motherhood: Testimony of an Abortion Addict by Irene Vilar
7. Dear Old Love: Anonymous Notes to Former Crushes, Sweethearts, Husbands, Wives, & Ones That Got Away by Andy Selsberg
8. Mixed: My Life in Black and White by Angela Nissel
9. Awkward by Ariel Schrag
10. Definition by Ariel Schrag
11. The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance: A Memoir by Elna Baker
12. Potential by Ariel Schrag
13. Likewise by Ariel Schrag
14. Don’t Stop Believin’: How Karaoke Conquered the World and Changed My Life by Brian Raftery

Films:

1. Reverse
2. Six Degrees of Separation
3. The Peretzniks
4. Closer
5. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
6. (500) Days of Summer
7. A Streetcar Named Desire
8. The Good Guy
9. New York, I Love You
10. Beyonce: Live at Wembley
11. An Education
12. Harakiri
13. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
14. A Serious Man