just wrote this down to keep track of what i've read and plan to read. feel free to drop me suggestions as the books on deck list gets shorter. books i've read have ratings (#/5) following them... 1 being a crappy book and waste of time, 5 being something everyone should go and purchase a nice hardcover copy of.

books i've read

2008:
Beware of God - Shalom Auslander (3/5). Cynical, but interesting.
Cooked - Jeff Henderson (4/5). I seriously just finished this in 2 days - 2 hours on the plane from Oakland back to Denver and then 1.5 hours tonight... it's that good and quick of a read.

2007:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling (4/5). I didn't think this one was as compelling or clever as the previous ones, but it's still good and a nice wrap up of the series.
The Diary of Eva Heyman - Eva Heyman (4/5). Sad... horribly sad, but there are funny moments as you could imagine in reading any 13 year old girl's diary.
The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier (2/5). I think my low score is because i wasn't satisfied wtih the ending... other than that, it's a good book. This book is listed as a "banned book" and i read it as my little way to join in banned book week.
Heat - Bill Buford (4/5).
Kitchen Confidential - anthony bourdain (5/5).
i'm probably trending higher in my ratings on food/chef related nonfiction, because it's a growing passion... someday i'll quit IT and work in a kitchen professionally.

2006:
ender's game - orson scott card (5/5)... i'd even say that i'd give it 6/5.
freakonomics - steven levitt & sephen dubner (5/5)
good to great - jim collins (3/5)
under the banner of heaven - jon krakauer (3/5)
prayer and the art of volkswagon maintenance - donald miller (didn't finish this... just ran out of time on my library checkout)
just a geek - wil wheaton (4/5)

2005:
harry potter and the half-blood prince - j.k. rowling (4/5)
blue like jazz: nonreligious thoughts on christian spirituality - donald miller (5/5)
searching for god knows what - donald miller (never finished... not nearly as good as blue like jazz)
plan b: further thoughts on faith - anne lamott (3/5)

2004:
1421: the year china discovered america - gavin menzies (never finished... but i'd give it a 3/5)
harry potter and the order of the phoenix - j.k.rowling (4/5)

2003:
jennifer governement - max barry (4/5)
holes - louis sachar (5/5)
hey nostradomous! - douglas coupland (3/5)
fugitives and refugees: a walk in portland, oregon - chuck palahniuk (2/5)
running with scissors - augusten burroughs (4/5)
things my girlfriend and i have argued about - mil millington (4/5)
the toynbee convector - ray bradbury (5/5)... it's really a short story
urban tribes: a generation redefines friendship, family, and commitment - ethan watters (4/5)
seizing your divine moment: dare to live a life of adventure - erwin mcmanus (never finished... but i'd give it a 4/5)
design for community - derek powazek (never finished... no rating yet)

books i'm currently reading

On Food and Cooking - harold mcgee
I Am America (and so can you) - Stephen Colbert
But the Crackling is Superb - Nicholas Kurti and members of the Royal Society

books on deck

Shelved - agile web development with rails - dave thomas
Shelved - Object Oriented PHP - peter lavin... i read through most of the important bits, enough for me to know what i was doing with basic php OOP.
Perfectionist: Life and Death in Haute Cuisine - Rudolph Chelminski. The book is interesting, but just too dry... and some of it reads like a newspaper reporter trying to stretch a multi-day special report into a large novel.