the Undergraduate Science Librarian

Stereotypically, librarians have a lot of time to read at work.  In reality, any reading we do (even for professional purposes) is typically done in our “free” time.  With the birth of my second daughter this year, that free time was almost non existent, and as a result, I read considerably fewer books this year.  You can view the complete list at Worldcat.org to find each book in a library near you.

Some great non fiction:

• Fey, T. (2011). Bossypants. New York: Little, Brown and Co.
• Gleick, J. (2011). The information: A history, a theory, a flood. New York: Pantheon Books.
• Harman, C. (2010). Jane’s fame: How Jane Austen conquered the world. New York, N.Y: Henry Holt and Co.
• Maddox, B. (2002). Rosalind Franklin: The dark lady of DNA. New York: HarperCollins.
• Nielsen, M. A. (2012). Reinventing discovery: The new era of networked science. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.
• Orenstein, P. (2011). Cinderella ate my daughter: Dispatches from the front lines of the new girlie-girl culture. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
• Stewart, A., & Morrow-Cribbs, B. (2011). Wicked bugs: The louse that conquered Napoleon’s army & other diabolical insects. Chapel Hill, N.C: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.
• Stewart, A., Morrow-Cribbs, B., & Rosen, J. (2009). Wicked plants: The weed that killed Lincoln’s mother & other botanical atrocities. Chapel Hill, N.C: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.
• Tucker, H. (2011). Blood work: A tale of medicine and murder in the scientific revolution. New York: W.W. Norton.
• Williams, T. (2010). The pox and the covenant: Mather, Franklin, and the epidemic that changed America’s destiny. Naperville, Ill: Sourcebooks.
• Wilson, A. (2010). When did I get like this?: The screamer, the worrier, the dinosaur-chicken-nugget-buyer, and other mothers I swore I’d never be. New York: William Morrow.

Some fiction I really liked:

• Brashares, A. (2011). Sisterhood everlasting: A novel. New York: Random House.
• Fforde, J. (2011). One of our Thursdays is missing: A novel. New York: Viking.
• McCall, S. A. (2008). The miracle at Speedy Motors. New York: Pantheon Books.
• Nicholls, D. (2010). One day. New York: Vintage Books.
• Schine, C. (2010). The three Weissmanns of Westport. New York: Sarah Crichton Books.
• Sedaris, D. (2010). Squirrel seeks chipmunk: A wicked bestiary. London: Little, Brown.

Some stuff to fill in the time at 3am when you are awake holding a baby and need something to read on your iPhone that you don’t need to think too much about:

• McQuestion, K. (2010). Easily amused. Las Vegas, NV: AmazonEncore.
• Allen, S. A. (2011). The peach keeper: A novel. New York: Bantam Books.
• Mapson, J.-A. (2006). The Owl & Moon Cafe: A novel. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.
• Shelton, S. K. (2005). What comes after crazy: A novel. New York: Shaye Areheart Books.

And then there is this:

• Bradley, A., & Kennedy, E. M. (2011). Let’s panic about babies!: How to endure and possibly triumph over the adorable tyrant who will ruin your body, destroy your life, liquefy your brain, and finally turn you into a worthwhile human being. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin.

See also: Books I read in 2010 and Books I read in 2009