I can’t believe this is the 6th year of this list online! Last year was my lowest by far because I just did not have the time or inclination to read when Hannah was born. I’m excited to see how I do this year, but a little trepidatious. I am so easily overwhelmed by all the prolific readers I know through the library and kidlit communities, and I just can’t keep up. I’m not the fastest reader to begin with, and I always have so many other things going on that I definitely rely heavily on audio books to keep me well read. I’m still trying to get current with my knowledge of recent releases after maternity leave. There are always way more amazing books than time to read them, and more and more I’ve found my attentions drifting back to grownup books. It’s actually pretty interesting; since Hannah was born, a lot of the books, films, and TV shows I used to find entertaining are impossible to get through for me now. I am over dystopia. I am struggling with YA. I am more drawn to middle grade than I used to be. Maybe it’s all the bleak material rolling out the past few years. Having a baby with her whole life before her makes me shy away from terrifying visions of the future. And extreme violence; I have not been able to watch Criminal Minds since she was born, for example.

So anyway, I’m excited and trepidatious. What books will I read this year? Where will my tastes take me? Will I ever catch up to my PLN’s avid readership?

Here’s my tally from past years:

2008: 356 Books Read
2009: 302 Books Read
2010: 344 Books Read
2011: 202 Books Read
2012: 121 Books Read

B=Biography
BB=Board Book
C=Chapter Book/Easy Reader
CN=Children’s Novel
CNF=Children’s Nonfiction
N=Novel
NF=Other Nonfiction (Teen or Adult)
P=Picture Book

* Audio Book

Picture Books
1. If I Had a Dragon-Tom Ellery (P)
2. Bembo’s Zoo: An Animal ABC Book-Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich (P)
3. Oh!-Kevin Henkes (P)
4. Katie and the Big Snow-Virginia Lee Burton (P)
5. Perfect Square-Michael Hall (P)
6. The Heart and the Bottle-Oliver Jeffers (P)
7. Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich-Adam Rex (P)
8. The Journey-Sarah Stewart (P)
9. The Dirty Cowboy-Amy Timberlake (P)
10. The Hueys in the New Sweater-Oliver Jeffers (P)
11. Trust Me, Jack’s Beanstalk Stinks!: The Story of Jack and the Beanstalk As Told By the Giant-Eric Braun (P)
12. Believe Me, Goldilocks Rocks!-Nancy Loewen (P)
13. Grandma Fina and Her Wonderful Umbrellas: La Abuelita Fina y sus sombrillas maravillosas-Benjamin Alire Saenz (P)
14. Christmas Is…-Gail Bibbons (P)(CNF)
15. Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated the World-Julianna Hatkoff (P)(CNF)
16. Who Likes the Snow?-Etta Kaner (P)
17. Snow Is Falling-Franklyn Mansfield Branley (P)
18. When Jo Louis Won the Title-Belinda Rochelle (P)
19. Ring! Yo?-Chris Raschka (P)
20. That’s Not My Puppy…It’s Coat Is Too Hairy-Fiona Watt (P)(BB)
21. Disney It’s a Small World: Furry Friends-Walt Disney Company (P)(BB)
22. Abe Lincoln’s Dream-Lane Smith (P)
23. The Shape of My Heart-Mark Sperring (P)
24. When My Baby Dreams of Fairy Tales-Adele Enerson (P)
25. Chu’s Day-Neil Gaiman (P)
26. Flood-Alvaro F. Vila (P)
27. Ten Tiny Toes-Todd Tarpley (P)
28. Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons-Eric Litwin (P)
29. If You Hold a Seed-Elly McKay (P)
30. One Cool Friend-Toni Buzzeo (P)
31. This Moose Belongs to Me-Oliver Jeffers (P)
32. Creepy Carrots!-Aaron Reynolds (P)
33. Sleep Like a Tiger-Mary Logue (P)
34. Reach for the Stars: And Other Advice for Life’s Journey-Serge Bloch (P)(CNF)
35. Listen, Buddy-Helen Lester (P)
36. The Ballad of Valentine-Alison Jackson (P)
37. Little Bear’s Valentine-Else Holmelund Minarik (P)
38. My Colors/Mis Colores-Rebecca Emberley (P)(BB)
29. My Animals/Mis Animales-Rebecca Emberley (P)(BB)
30. The Quiet Place-Sarah Stewart (P)
31. Giraffes Can’t Dance-Giles Andreae (P)
32. Unstoppable Me!: Ten Ways to Soar Through Life-Wayne W. Dyer (P)(CNF)
33. My House/Mi Casa-Rebecca Emberley (P)(BB)
34. Cuckoo/Cucu: A Mexican Folktale-Lois Ehlert (P)
35. My Food/Mi Comida-Rebecca Emberley (P)(BB)
36. My Friends/Mis Amigos-Taro Gomi (P)
37. Curious You: On Your Way!-H.A. Rey (P)
38.  The Story of Ruby Bridges-Robert Coles (P)(CNF)
39. Enemy Pie-Derek Munson (P)
40. Falling for Rapunzel-Leah Wilcox (P)
41. Dogku-Andrew Clements (P)
42. Green-Laura Vaccaro Seeger (P)
43. Two at the Zoo-Danna Smith (P)
44. Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs-Mo Willems (P)
45. I Dare You Not to Yawn-Helene Boudreau (P)
46. Ollie and Claire-Tiffany Strelitz Haber (P)
47. Ball-Mary Sullivan (P)
48. Spoon-Amy Krouse Rosenthal (P)
49. The Dark-Lemony Snicket (P)
50. That Is Not a Good Idea-Mo Willems (P)
51. I Am Blop!-Herve Tullet (P)
52. The Game of Mix-Up Art-Herve Tullet (P)(BB)
53. The Game of Finger Worms-Herve Tullet (P)(BB)
54. The Game of Patterns-Herve Tullet (P)(BB)
55. The Game of Colors-Herve Tullet (P)(BB)
56. Ol’ Mama Squirrel-David Ezra Stein (P)
57. Each Kindness-Jacqueline Woodson (P)
58. I, Too, Am America-Langston Hughes & Bryan Collier (P)(CNF)
59. I Have a Dream-Martin Luther King, Jr. & Kadir Nelson (P)(CNF)
60. Back to Front and Upside Down-Claire Alexander (P)
61. Ellen’s Broom-Kelly Starling Lyons (P)

Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books
1. I Am Snow-Jean Marzollo (C)
2. Let’s Go for a Drive!-Mo Willems (C)
3. Tiny Titans: Titans in Space-Art Baltazar (C)

Children’s/YA Books
1. Inside Out and Back Again-Thanhha Lai (CN)
2. *Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2)-Laini Taylor (CN)
3. *Matched-Ally Condie (CN)
4. *Goblin Secrets (Zombay #1)-William Alexander (CN)
5. *The Perks of Being a Wallflower-Stephen Chbosky (N)
6. *Uglies-Scott Westerfeld (N)

Grownup Books
1. *Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1)-Charlaine Harris (N)
2. *A Letter of Mary (Mary Russell #3)-Laurie R. King (N)
3. *The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy-Douglas Adams (N)
4. *Oh, Jerusalem (Mary Russell #5)-Laurie R. King (N)
5. *I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High-Tony Danza (NF)
6. *Gone, Girl-Gillian Flynn (F)