Monday, December 31, 2007

2007 Books

The final list....
I highlighted my top 10 favorite books for the year (the Book of Mormon doesn't count).
  • 75. Peace Like a River
  • 74. The Book of Mormon
  • 73. Christmas Jars
  • 72. Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank
  • 71. Assassination Vacation *
  • 70. The Year of Living Biblically *
  • 69. Father Knows Less Or: "Can I Cook My Sister?"
  • 68. Moloka'i
  • 67. Love, Stargirl *
  • 66. The Tale of Despereaux *
  • 65. The Road
  • 64. The Star Garden *
  • 63. Behind the Scenes at the Museum
  • 62. The Devil in the White City *
  • 61. One Thousand White Women
  • 60. The Invention of Hugo Cabret *
  • 59. Good Harbor
  • 58. Gilead
  • 57. I'm a Stranger Here Myself
  • 56. Austenland *
  • 55. A Walk in the Woods
  • 54. The White
  • 53. Princess Academy *
  • 52. A Girl Named Zippy
  • 51. Eclipse *
  • 50. The Mists of Avalon
  • 49. Home to Big Stone Gap *
  • 48. Four to Score
  • 47. New Moon
  • 46. Three to Get Deadly
  • 45. Twilight *
  • 44. Two for the Dough
  • 43. One for the Money
  • 42. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime *
  • 41. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive *
  • 40. The Places in Between *
  • 39. Digging to America *
  • 38. The Dive from Clausen's Pier
  • 37. The Birth of Venus
  • 36. I Want to Buy a Vowel
  • 35. Feed
  • 34. Stargirl *
  • 33. Weetzie Bat
  • 32. The Adventures of Blue Avenger *
  • 31. American Born Chinese
  • 30. One Bad Rat
  • 29. Persepolis
  • 28. Keturah and Lord Death *
  • 27. Whirligig *
  • 26. Carver: A Life in Poems *
  • 25. It's Perfectly Normal
  • 24. God Went to Beauty School
  • 23. With Courage and Cloth
  • 22. Shakespeare: His World and His Work *
  • 21. The Rose and the Beast
  • 20. Rose Daughter *
  • 19. Zel *
  • 18. How Angel Peterson Got His Name *
  • 17. Prom
  • 16. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes
  • 15. Doing It
  • 14. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
  • 13. My Heartbeat
  • 12. Heart's Delight
  • 11. Go and Come Back *
  • 10. The Myth of You and Me *
  • 9. A Girl Named Disaster
  • 8. Sabriel *
  • 7. The Golden Compass *
  • 6. Catcher in the Rye
  • 5. The Outsiders *
  • 4. Alice in Wonderland *
  • 3. From Romance to Realism
  • 2. Water for Elephants
  • 1. Leaving Microsoft to Change the World *
What were your favorite books of 2007?

Peace Like a River

Set in the 1960's, this is the story of a motherless family on a quest to find the oldest brother who killed two neighborhood boys and escaped from prison.

Things I liked: Enger's writing style; the characters Rube and Swede; the themes of faith, hope, repentance and forgiveness found throughout the story.

Things I didn't like: Sense of foreboding throughout the whole book, feeling like I couldn't breathe every time Rube had an asthma attack, the setting--winter in Minnesota and North Dakota--which felt cold and dark.

So, it was a mixed bag for me. But, his next book, So Brave, Young, and Handsome will be out May 13, 2008 and I do plan on reading it.

The Book of Mormon

I figured it would be a pretty sad commentary on myself if I couldn't manage to get this one read this year with all the other books I did manage to read.

It truly is the best of all books and I know it is true.

(There just aren't enough *'s to convey how I feel about it.)

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Love in the Time of Cholera

This was our book club book for December and I'm sorry to say that I only read half of it. The half I read was so beautiful. But then those who had finished it said that the rest of it gets quite graphic sexually in a way they described as "foul". So, I'm going to have to put this one aside. However, one person did highly recommend his One Hundred Years of Solitude, so I may try that after I get over my disappointment.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Christmas Jars

This book is the most cheesiest, predictable piece of slop I have read in a long time.

And I gobbled up every page.

If you have two hours (and I don't, but I read it while I was waiting for my car to get serviced today) and want to get into the Christmas spirit I highly recommend it.