Reading Report

A shameful confession here. I did not finish 8 of my categories! (That is if you count each letter of the alphabet as a separate category.) Letters I, N, U, V, and Y got me. Lame, I know. And I never did see a movie that I had not seen and read the book I had not read this year. I read and watched Persuasion, but I had both read and watched Persuasion before, so I did not count it. I didn't read a retold fairy tale, surprisingly, that I had not read before. Usually this is a favorite genre, but not one I got around to this year. And lastly, I did not read a book that was written between 1776 and 1850. So I failed my own book challenge.

Still, I did read a lot of books and even a number that I would not have normally picked up, but was goaded into doing so for the book challenge. Let me highlight some favorites for you [note: not all the categories I finished are interesting enough to include]:

A: It was fun to read a few books by Hannah Alexander (Christian medical fiction). I think I started with "Second Opinion."
B: Really enjoyed some Judy Baer (Christian fiction) books this year. "Mirror, Mirror" was probably my favorite.
C: "Out of the Rain" was probably my favorite Elizabeth Cadell (general fiction/light romance from the '50s to '80s) book read this year.
E: Enjoyed "Middlemarch" by George Eliot.
G: "Never the Bride" by Rene Gutteridge (Christian fiction - at least this book was) made me think a lot. I liked a lot of what it made me think about, though I didn't necessarily agree with lots in the book. Still, got to love a thinker.
H: Dee Henderson's (Christian thriller) series starting with the prequel "Danger in the Shadows" was a fun one for me. I also really liked Dr. Harley's "His Needs, Her Needs." (marriage). Excellent!! And Helene Hanff's "Charing Cross Road."
O: I read Janette Oke's (Christian historical fiction) "Prarie Legacy" series. Very interesting to me.
S: I loved "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart (children's).
W: Discovered Laura Jensen Walker's book club series. Very fun for me, a book lover. Also really enjoyed "Reconstructing Natalie" about a breast cancer survivor.

Water book: Read Elizabeth Cadell's "Shadows on the Water" for this. Liked it. I love Cadell's seemingly rambling style.

Title: Another Elizabeth Cadell. (I was on a kick this year, obviously.) "Enter Mrs. Belchamber."

Plant: "When the Bough Breaks" by Kay Lynn Magnum (LDS young adult). A tie-in to her "Secret Journal of Brett Colton," my favorite LDS young adult novel. (Okay, so it was a bit of a stretch...)

Visited: "Excellent Women" by Barbara Pym. Takes place in England. I wanted to visit England and then I GOT to visit. :) Perfect.

1851 - 1900: "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson. One of the best books I read all year. A very short, wonderful read with an amazing moral to the story. LOVED it!

1901 - 1950: Read a Georgette Heyer book and also "Winnie-the-Pooh."

War: "In Our Strange Gardens" by Michel Quint. Another short, but fabulous book.

"Best" book of the decade: "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Lynne Truss

Science: "A Briefer History of Time" by Stephen Hawking. I actually could follow along for longer than I anticipated. Made me feel smart. (Until I thought about how this was his dumbed down version...) :)

History: "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. History of the Appalachian Trail.

Goodreads author: "Dragon Slippers" by Jessica Day George (YA). "Sweet Caroline" by Rachel Hauck (Christian fiction). "Impossible" by Nancy Werlin (YA). This was particularly interesting to me. Once I got into the book, I couldn't put it down!

2010: "Caught" by Harlan Coben. One of my favorite endings to a book. Ever.

Meant to read: "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. Another thinker of a book. An excellent read I would recommend to everybody.

Politics: Read several here, but the only one I would recommend is "Amazing Grace" by Eric Metaxas. It is about William Wilburforce and not only a lot of great information, but a good read, too!

Before 1776: "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli. Very interesting, especially when put into historical persepctive. I think that's very important for this book.