My Top 5 of 2007

Anyone who knows me, or who's been checking out this little blog of mine knows I love to read and I've read an awful lot this year. I've read a lot of good books this year, but there's only been a handful of truly awesome books. So here is my own little list, the top 5 books I read in 2007 (obviously some of them have been out longer, not sure what took me so long to discover their greatness!)

1. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Gregory Maguire)

2. My Sister's Keeper (Jodi Picoult)

3. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)

4. Nineteen Minutes (Jodi Picoult)

5. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See)

Last Book of 2007--- 29 out of 101: Every Marriage is a Fixer Upper

So on Friday night I wasn't feeling too good and decided to spend the evening curled up with a book. I've had this book lying around for a while, but never was able to read it (honestly I enjoy reading books on relationships, but I hesitated to take this book with me to work, as people can tend to look too much into that sort of stuff. Know what I mean?) Anyways I enjoyed this book. It was a quick easy read, and it gave some pretty good ideas as well as listed some good resources for additional reading, etc. I don't think it's the best book on relationships (so far the best I have read was The Five Love Languages) but it was still pretty good. Besides I finished it the next day, can't complain about that.

28 out of 101: Dear John

So this was my second attempt at reading a Nicholas Sparks book and honestly I just don't see what all the fuss is about. The first book of his I read was the notebook, and after loving the movie sooo much I was very excited to read the book. But it just wasn't anything special, and I felt that it fell way flat. So I figured that maybe I was just biased since I saw the movie first. So I decided to give Dear John a try, thinking that I may enjoy it more since it also has a military theme to it. Nope.... just didn't happen that way.

I found the book boring and predictible. Everything that occured in the storyline, you could see happening. It was one of those books that I wanted to be done with and just read to finish so that I could move on to something better. Very blah. I don't think I will be attempting to read any other books by Nicholas Sparks, guess I'll just stick with the movie versions from now on.

27 out of 101: Nineteen Minutes

So I just finished reading my fourth Jodi Picoult book, and I must say it was another amazing read. (Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors, and if you haven't read her yet, I would highly suggest her!) Nineteen minutes was a complex and gripping novel about highschool shooting. Like her other novels, this was very thought provoking. I often find that when I am reading her books I just can't stop thinking about the story. You would think that an issue like school shootings would be a clearly black and white issue, but Picoult does a great job of helping you to see the grey areas. I think that a book like this would be of beneficial to anyone-- especially teenage students, something that can help show the effects of bullying and the effects that school shootings have on everyone.

Synopsis:

In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five....In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it.
In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.
Sterling is a small, ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens — until the day its complacency is shattered by a shocking act of violence. In the aftermath, the town's residents must not only seek justice in order to begin healing but also come to terms with the role they played in the tragedy. For them, the lines between truth and fiction, right and wrong, insider and outsider have been obscured forever. Josie Cormier, the teenage daughter of the judge sitting on the case, could be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened in front of her own eyes. And as the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show, destroying the closest of friendships and families.
Nineteen Minutes is New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult's most raw, honest, and important novel yet. Told with the straightforward style for which she has become known, it asks simple questions that have no easy
answers: Can your own child become a mystery to you? What does it mean to be different in our society? Is it ever okay for a victim to strike back? And who — if anyone — has the right to judge someone else?

26 out of 101: PS I Love You

I just finished reading PS I Love You this afternoon at work. I had just bought this book last week because I had seen that the movie was coming out very soon. It was a great book. It was sad, and funny, and you couldn't help but care about the character. Considering what the book is about it was a little tough for me to read this at work. I'm sure if I had read this book in the privacy of my own home I would have been bawling like a baby through out some of it. But instead I had to keep it together and try not to get all teary eyed at work. I can not wait for the movie to come out. I know that it is not going to follow the book exactly, but just from what I've seen from the previews and from the movie's website I still think it is going to be very good. I can't wait for Jesus to take me to see it!

This is the synopsis of the book from barnesandnoble.com :


A novel about holding on, letting go, and learning to love again.
Now in paperback, the endearing novel that captured readers' hearts and introduced a fresh new voice in women's fiction — Cecelia Ahern.
Holly couldn't live without her husband Gerry, until the day she had to. They were the kind of young couple who could finish each other's sentences. When Gerry succumbs to a terminal illness and dies, 30-year-old Holly is set adrift, unable to pick up the pieces. But with the help of a series of letters her husband left her before he died and a little nudging from an eccentric assortment of family and friends, she learns to laugh, overcome her fears, and discover a world she never knew existed.
The kind of enchanting novel with cross-generational appeal that comes along once in a great while, PS, I Love You is a captivating love letter to the world!

25 out of 101: Soul Harvest #4 in the Left Behind Series

Well I started this book last week, but it took me a little longer than I would have liked to finish it, but I suppose that happens when you have a long (and busy) weekend. So I just finished this book today (I was sort of in a rush to finish it so I could get on with my next book). I thought it was okay. I still don't think the Left Behind books are the most amazing books I've ever read. They look a lot bigger than they are, but the text is actually pretty large so they tend to be quick reads. I've noticed with these books that they seem to have a pace where they pick up in the begining, slow down in the middle, and then they pick up again really fast in the end and you get a lot of info in the last chapter or so. Just kind of an interesting observation.

I'm not sure when I'll read the next book in the series, I feel bad since that lady let me borrow them and I have the rest of them sitting in a box, but I just can't see myself reading one right after the other.

24 out of 101: Nesting, It's a Chick Thing!

From barnesandnoble.com :

Synopsis
Check it out--the Chicks are back. Authors of It's a Chick Thing, with 110,000 copies in print--"A must book for the reader who knows that chicks rule" (Publishers Weekly), "a smart and sassy compilation" (Chicago Tribune)--Ame Mahler Beanland and Emily Miles Terry celebrate chicks nesting, or what it means to have a home filled with laughter, good friends, lovingly prepared foods and crafts, all with personal style.Seasoned with attitude and packed with stories, history, how-tos, quips, advice, recipes, folklore, and crafts, Nesting is all about finding personal style and showing it off, putting an entirely fresh, it's-a-chick-thing spin on entertaining, decorating, cooking, and gardening. In "Chicks and Chow," the food chapter, there are unexpected stories by M.F.K. Fisher, Ruth Reichl, and Erma Bombeck; a Spice, Spice Baby! guide to spices; sixteen recipes for great Chicktails; and Towels That Snap Back (how to make personalized dish towels). "Flocking Together {hen parties and sassy soirees}" has Sally Quinn on being a guest while in labor; Ina Garton's "The Worst Party I Ever Had"; the How to Be a Hostess Cupcake guide to party girl preparedness; Upper, Lower, and No-Crust hors d'oeuvres; Monotony Killers; and decorating inspiration from Elsie de Wolfe: "I believe in plenty of optimism and white paint."Nesting is totally un-Martha in its approach--it's easy, it's light, it's like your best friends hanging out and offering advice with a quip--and it's illustrated throughout with hilarious retro photos and illustrations.

I totally loved this book! I have had it for a few years now, but for some reason I never got around to reading it. It was a fun read, the whole book was filled with cute quotes, and tons of awesome tips. I also enjoyed all of the little stories from women that filled the many pages of this book. I love being a wife, and all of the domestic stuff that entails, so this book was perfect for me. My favorite section was the one on entertaining since I really enjoy having people over and I love to cook for people. I found myself marking this book up with a highlighter and even putting little sticky tabs on the pages I want to reference later. Awesome, girly read!