BEST BOOKS 2012!

 Here is the list of the best books I read in 2012!  This year I am going to start with #1 and go forward from there.  You can click on the title and it will take you to the Amazon.com page for it.

 

1.  What is the What by Dave Eggers.  I read this book at the beginning of last year and the story stays with me to this day.  That is the mark of a great book.  Highly recommended!!!!!

2.  Pure by Julianna Baggott.  Another book that has stayed with me.  Also, this is part one of a trilogy.  Part two just came out.  I am going to re-read Pure first and then read part two.  I liked this even better than Hunger Games (so that is saying a lot).

3.  The Fault in our Stars by John Green.  Wow.  Another one that has some staying power. 

4.  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  Talk about a page turner!!!!

5.  By the Iowa Sea by Joe Blair.  Amazing.  Could not put it down.  Highly recommended. 

6.  The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison.  Totally fabulously wonderful.

7.  Home Front by Kristin Hannah.  I admit it.  I was a snob and thought Kristin Hannah books were subpar.  But since two of her books on my end of year best lists I have to admit I was wrong. Very wrong.  She writes great characters and stories.  Stories you are swept up in and can't wait to get back to. 

8.   Wild by Cheryl Strayed.  Quite a story.  Great writing.  Very good.

9.  Bloom by Kelle Hampton.  A beautiful book about a family.  

10.  American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar.  Love this book cover.  Great story and writing. 

Would love to hear if you have read any of these and what you think of the list!

Hope 2013 is a great reading year for everyone!

Best Books 2011

 It is time for the annual countdown to the best book I read this year!!!!  Number 10 was Bossypants by Tina Fey. 

 9.  The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli

 8.  The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

 7.  Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?  by Mindy Kaling

 6.  Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

 5.  Half A Life by Darin Strauss

 4.  Thrift Store Saints by Jane Knuth

 3.  American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

 2.  The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan

1.  Room by Emma Donoghue

Waiting - Fall 2011

 These are the books coming out over the next couple of months that I am most excited about.  Can't wait to read each one of them!  What new books about to be published are you excited about?

Waiting - Fall 2011

 These are the books coming out over the next couple of months that I am most excited about.  Can't wait to read each one of them!  What new books about to be published are you excited about?

Highly Recommended

I have really been on a lucky reading streak. I read these three books right in a row and they were all perfectly written and endlessly interesting. I highly recommend them all. Click on the book cover to be taken to information about the book.

These are my picks for the best books I read this year. Please click on the book cover to be taken to a description of each book.

Who would have thought a non-fiction book about North Korea would be #1? I did not really know much about North Korea and when I read this book I was shocked. What hardships the people of that country have endured. This books reads as fast as a novel. The author focuses on a few specific people and their lives. I think it is a must read.

I also think the book Where Men Win Glory is a definite must read for every American. Pat Tilman was a hero.

A book that I made fun of my friend for reading, True Colors by Kristin Hannah, ended up on the list! It was really a fun and interesting read.

Sherman Alexie is a really great author and I loved his book of short stories; which is saying something because I am not a big fan of short stories.

Sadly, I look back at my reading year in 2010 with some sadness. I really did not read that many books that knocked my socks off. However, yesterday I went to Barnes & Noble armed with gift cards and bought about 7 new books! They all look really good and I want to dive into them all right this minute!!!!

I would love to know what the best books you read last year were!!!!

Listening

I thought that listening to books on CD while cross-stitching was a very good idea. However, it really has turned into listening to books while driving to and from work. How restful, relaxing, and engrossing this has been. It all started with Emma.

This is one of the Jane Austen novels that I had not read, but recently I saw the BBC mini-series version and it was fabulous. The CD was too. Listening to books you "read" differently. I heard things I might have passed while reading.
Next was a book I had read. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. I loved this book of short stories when I read it and it was on my Top 10 list that year. Listening to the stories after reading them was so interesting. It really sealed my opinion that the first short story in this book needs to be the basis for a novel. The main characters are a father and his daughter. I found them to be endlessly intriguing.
So, after finishing Unaccustomed Earth I went back to the library and browsed through the books on CD. I was kind of looking for something "easy" to listen to and something set in modern day. Maybe something by Harlen Coben.

I saw the title The Painted Drum. I had not read anything by this author Louise Erdrich, but having recently become very interested in Native American culture I thought I would give this a try. I mean, what did I have to lose?

It turns out that listening to The Painted Drum was one of the best "reading" experiences I ever had. The story was wonderful and the characters were endearing. I really would have liked to stay in their company much longer. The author is a superb writer and I hope to read all of her books now.

The reader on this CD was Anna Fields. Wow. Wow. Wow. She was fabulous. She did all of the characters; and her reading of the male characters' parts was just genius. Her accents were so interesting. As I neared the end of the CDs her reading made me feel the story deep in my soul. Her description of the mother/daughter relationship had me sitting in the car with tears running down my face before going into work one morning.

I so wanted to send her an e-mail to let her know what her reading meant to me. I looked her up on the internet and was so shocked and so very saddened to learn that she had died in 2006 at the age of 41. I was really shaken up by it for the rest of the day. I so wanted to let her know how I felt about her.

Reading, writing, listening, talking about books, feeling the feelings they all engender..........what a miracle of life.