I told no one that I hoped to read 50 books this year. I don’t think I ever even said the words aloud, but they were there, all year long, inside my head. I hadn’t counted until today.

Books read in 2010 (in roughly the order I read them):

1. Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle (352 pages)
2. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (199 pages)
3. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (352 pages)
4. Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams (240 pages)
5. Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco S. Stork (320 pages)
6. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (451 pages)
7. Austenland by Shannon Hale (208 pages)
8. Circles of Confusion by April Henry (368 pages)
9. Island Sting by Bonnie J. Doerr (280 pages)
10. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (325 pages)
11. Savvy by Ingrid Law (342 pages)
12. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (533 pages)
13. Kwaïdan by Jung and Jee-Yun (144 pages)
14. City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (288 pages)
15. Astrid & Veronika by Linda Olsson (288 pages)
16. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (227 pages)
17. The Sorceress by Michael Scott (483 pages)
18. The Painted Garden: A Story of a Holiday in Hollywood by Noel Streatfeild (320 pages)
19. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (390 pages)
20. The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner (352 pages)
21. The Necromancer by Michael Scott (389 pages)
22. Queen Zixi of Ix; or The Story of the Magic Cloak by L. Frank Baum (108 pages)
23. A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare (re-read) (256 pages)
24. Making Toast: A Family Story by Roger Rosenblatt (176 pages)
25. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (re-read) (309 pages)
26. The Collected Tales of Nurse Matilda by Christianna Brand (300 pages)
27. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan (516 pages)
28. The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall (272 pages)
29. Stargirl by Jerry Spinnelli (188 pages)
30. Frindle by Andrew Clements (112 pages)
31. Greenwitch by Susan Cooper (144 pages)
32. The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum (267 pages)
33. Blockade Billy by Stephen King (112 pages)
34. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K Rowling (re-read) (341 pages)
35. Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright (re-read) (272 pages)
36. Matilda by Roald Dahl (240 pages)
37. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (160 pages)
38. Heat by Mike Lupica (240 pages)
39. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson (358 pages)
40. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (400 pages)
41. Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James (304 pages)
42. Pippi Goes On Board by Astrid Lindgren (144 pages)
43. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (293 pages)
44. Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern (512 pages)
45. Fat Vampire by Adam Rex (324 pages)
46. A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz (192 pages)
47. Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich (240 pages)
48. The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer (208 pages)
49. Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas (211 pages)
50. Miracle on 34th Street by Valentine Davies (136 pages)
51. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (audio) (it looks like print versions of this run an average of 100 pages)

51 books including one audio book, one re-read play, and three re-read novels, three books that probably qualify as graphic novels, and two works of non-fiction. I was more balanced than I expected in terms of audience and gender: Twenty of the books would probably be classified as intended for adults, while the rest were children’s or young adult novels. Twenty-four were written by men, 25 by women, and two were authored by two or more people. And, in case you were wondering, these 51 books total up to 14,286 pages, give or take a few.

Stay tuned this weekend when I add a few last reviews and reveal what were the best reads of 2010.