Liberty Hardy details highlights of the 50-plus books she read in 2007

I don’t know if it’s a strange habit, but I have a habit, nonetheless, of making a list each December of things I would like to accomplish in the upcoming year. I succeeded spectacularly in 2006, having seen every film that played at The Music Hall that year. In December 2006, I once again drew up my list of goals, the most ambitious of them being to read 100 books in 2007.

See, I used to be a reading machine. I would read a book or more per night. Reading 100 books a year was easy for me. But, at some point in the last few years, my prolific reading has trickled off. In the hopes of re-igniting it, I decided to make my grandest goal for 2007 involve reading. I even set up a Web site to keep track of my progress in the hopes that public failure would strengthen my drive ...

Let me just start off by saying that I did accomplish some of my goals this year. I watched every episode of “Buffy” and “Angel.” I made a gingerbread house. I went on a motorcycle trip. I got a bicycle and a pink Christmas tree. I sat in a bathtub filled with Froot Loops and milk, and stuck my feet in macaroni and cheese. (What, didn’t everyone want to do that?) There was plenty I did do.

Now, about that book goal. It started off with a bang. I read 13 books in January, nine in February and then ... things slowed to a crawl. I’m not entirely sure how it all went wrong (ahem, “World of Warcraft”), but I ended 2007 having read only 53 books.

For most folks, 53 books is a big accomplishment. And I had such a great year, I’m not even that upset about the fact that my 2007 quest was a spectacular, screaming failure. Many of the books I did read were fantastic. Among my favorites:

“The Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion. A brave memoir concerning the sudden death of Didion’s husband and her daughter’s simultaneous serious illness. Made me sob my head off, as I’m so attached to my own mortal coil.

“The Bird Artist” by Howard Norman. Norman makes Nova Scotia feel like such a magical place, even when talking about the murder of a lighthouse keeper. Actually quite light and amusing, and very fabulous.

“A Brief History of the Dead” by Kevin Brockmeier. My pick of the bunch. “Brief History” deals with a virus that wipes out everyone on the planet except for one woman and a city of dead people who all knew her in some aspect of their lives. It’s so achingly lovely, and Brockmeier handles his descriptions of cold and loss as well as Mark Helprin did in “Winter’s Tale.” You can practically see your breath as you read it.

“Heart-Shaped Box” by Joe Hill. A blood-soaked thrill ride about an aging rock star who purchases a ghost over the Internet for kicks and ends up with a hell of a haunting on his hands. Eagerly awaiting more from Hill!

“Christine Falls” by Benjamin Black. Booker Prize-winning author John Banville’s first attempt at mystery is scorching. His character and setting descriptions are so vivid and wonderful, it makes the hows and whys seem less important. Why he felt it necessary to write it under a nom de plume is the real mystery.

“Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson. One of the classics of science fiction, about a pizza delivery guy who’s trying to save the world from a computer virus. Lots of fun and lots of funny. Read it and you’ll realize Stephenson actually predicted such things as Google Maps and Second Life more than 15 years ago.

“The Inheritance of Loss” by Kiran Desai. A vibrant multi-generational tale that takes place in India. Desai really brings things to life with colorful descriptions of everything she puts to words. Especially desserts.

“On Chesil Beach” by Ian McEwan. Author of “Atonement,” one of my favorite books, McEwan can seem to do no wrong. He cranks out one great book after another. “On Chesil Beach” deals with events leading up to, and occurring on, a couple’s wedding night. Beautiful and cringe-worthy.

“The Gathering” by Anne Enright. Winner of the 2007 Man Booker Prize, “The Gathering” deals with the suicide of a brother in a large Irish family and his subsequent wake, all narrated by his sister. Extremely ghastly and visceral and completely haunting.

I think next year, I’m going to redo this goal, but modify it to “read as much as I can.” I hope I find as many amazing books as I did this year. And I hope I end it with my mortal coil still intact.