My 2009 Top Ten Books

If you've paid any attention to the list of books on my side bar, you know that I am a voracious reader. After I had Taylor, I pretty much stopped reading. Not altogether, but not nearly as much as I used to either. Maybe two or three books a year or so. Then a few years ago one of Kalen's old Spanish professors, Kevin Krogh, wrote a book and wanted us to read it. So we bought it and because we knew him, I felt a sense of urgency to get it read. Well it didn't take long before I was so immersed in this book that I was packing it around with me and reading it while I was making dinner or brushing my teeth or (allegedly) playing with the kids. When I finished, I realized that I had been missing something over the years. I had given up one of my all-time favorite hobbies and I wanted to get it back. So I did. Kalen makes fun of me because I keep a book in the bathroom and I read it when I am getting ready for bed or getting ready for the day. I read when I am rocking Kaya to sleep. I read whenever I have even a little break from all the other stuff I have to do. I just love reading.

This past year I read over 40 books but there are a few that stuck with me more than others. Some I read that I thought I would love but found I really didn't (sorry all you Twilight fans but I can't enjoy a book where the main character is such a little whiner and the romantic hero is a bit of a stalker. However, I have nothing but respect for Stephenie Meyer who in spite of the dislikable characters and a completely unnecessary 3rd book, managed to keep me and the rest of the human population reading all four books and is now filthy rich). And some things I read, I enjoyed at the time but are pretty forgettable after the fact (I'd name one but I can't think of a title right now). And some really have stuck with me and made at least some sort of impression.

(These are in no particular order):

1. Standing For Something by Gordon B. Hinckley--amazing book for anyone of any faith! If we could all ascribe to the virtues in this book, all the world's problems would be solved. Really.

2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott--I read this when I was a teenager and loved it, but reading it as an adult shed a whole different light on the novel. If you haven't read it in awhile, do it now.

3. My Not-So-Fairytale Life by Julie Wright--I wasn't expecting too much from this book. It was something I bought on clearance for a couple of dollars on Deseret Book and I hadn't ever really heard of the author before. But it turned out to be a well-written and creative story of adoption told from the birth mother's point of view. The author did an especially good job of making me sympathetic to the character even though in the beginning she was so far from being likeable.

4. No One Can Take Your Place by Sheri Dew--I love Sheri Dew. I love how she lays everything out so straight and really does just tell it like it is.

5. Small Change by J. Yolanda Yandell--This was a book that I re-read. I got this out of a box of freebies at a community function a few years ago and ended up being so inspired by it that we started saving up all of our spare change and watching it all add up. (This book does have a bit of bad language in it though, so be forewarned if you should choose to read it).

6. The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale--I actually have mixed feelings about this one because I'm not even actually sure how I feel about the whole story idea but I really love the narrative and the witty dialogue and I couldn't put this one down. I went on to read Austenland by her too and found it also entertaining.

7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee--If you haven't read this book, you must. Atticus Finch is one of the most amazing literary characters ever, in my opinion.

8. The Christmas List and Finding Noel by Richard Paul Evans--okay, I know this is technically two books but I read them back to back and loved them both the same. I love feel-good holiday stories that also have a good deal of substance.

9. The Pigpen by Kevin Krogh--this is a fourth novel by the author who got me reading again. He has a style all his own and you should look into reading his books. A lot of people criticize them for being "too good to be true", but that's what I love about them. Why can't things really work out in the end?

10. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows--this is a book written in letters to and from different people that paint a vivid picture of a particular part of England in World War II. It is funny and poignant and heartbreaking and I highly recommend it.

And there you have it. Don't you feel like going to read a good book now? I think I do.