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.)

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.

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.