Book List 2012

5 stars=  on my very favorites list
4 stars= excellent, highly recommend
3 stars= good book, worth the read
2 stars= eh.  take it or leave it
1 star= not worth your time

RED = read ;)  Black = plan to read
fiction:

• The Count Of Monte Cristo, Dumas ( read 2/12. very, very good.  hated the ending.   the movie end was so much better.  overall, fantastic read 5 stars)
•  Katherine, Anya Seyton {loved. read 5/12.  5 stars}
• The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follet{read may-'12 .  liked it a lot.  liked the characters, interesting story.  some parts seemed to drag slowly.  a tad more yuck factor than i anticipated,i.e, rapes, etc.  all around 4 stars}
• Echoes, Maeve Binchy( read jan. 2012.  love binchy's settings/era.  loved the book until the end. despised the way it played out. 3 stars)
• Mitford, Karon (read book 1, 1/12.  cute series.  i'd totally live in mitford!  easy, simple read.  not anxious to get to the next in the series, but will eventually.  3 stars)
• The Mark of the Lion Trilogy by Francine Rivers { loved,loved,loved! 5 stars, read 3 /12 see my full review here . the 3rd book in the series wasn't quite as good as the other 2}
• The Last Sin Eater, Rivers { 4 stars.  good read . 2/12}
• Picture Perfect, Jodi Picoult {read 4/12.  liked while i was reading it, but afterwards went "eh". 2.5stars}
• The Other Boleyn Girl, gregory { read 6/12.  i love british history and historical romance, so this was great.  take the info with a grain of salt as much was inaccurate.  however, it was a great story. well written and fun.  be forewarned of many adult themes including sex.  reminds me a lot of Katherine i read in may. {though a few hundred years separated} 4.5 stars}
• A Good Yarn, debbie macomber {July. just picked it up cuz someone had left it at our cabin.  cute story of 4 women at different stages in life brought together through knitting.  if i new how to knit, or had any desire to, i may have enjoyed it more.  overall?  very cute chick-lit, 3.25 stars}
• A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, smith {july. 3.75 stars.  i love coming of age type stories.  i also love green, flowery, pretty settings which this lacked.  but it was poignant and sweet, if a little detached from me.}
• Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy { 3.5 stars. july . very sad, depressing.  but good.}
• The Trouble With Brides  , Gist { 4 stars.  a super cute 3 books-in-one, easy peasy, brainless reading . a Christian story, but oh so realistic issues that make it a nice chick lit with a message. read 8-12}
• Emma, Jane Austen { 9/12 . 4.75 stars. duh.  adorable, spunky emma and her not -so-great matchmaking skills, a funny hypochondriac father, less than suitable suitors, and a dashing mister knightly.  what's not to love?}
• Shades of Blue, Kingsbury { 9/3. yet again, have found a Christian author i  love.  not sure why i didn't give her a chance earlier.  LOVED this book.  read it in about 3 hours. 4.75 stars}
• Where Yesterday Lives, When Joy Came to Stay, On Every Side, Kingsbury {3 books in one collection , read 9/12.  i liked them all a lot. quick reads. if you are looking for meaningful, easy Christian fiction, these are great.  3.5,  3.5 , 3.75 respectively}
• the Distant Hours , morton, { 4 stars.  read oct. '12.  i had read one of her other books last year and prefered this one to Forgotten Garden, though i liked that too. she is a gifted writer, weaving suspence that spans generations.  a fun, suspenseful read}
• Madame Bovary { read oct. 2012.  started slow, got much better. a sleezy classic if you will. 3 stars.}
• Lessons At Blackberry Inn, Andreola {  read for almost 6 months in small bites. i wanted to like this homeschooling mother's perspective wanna-be novel. this woman's non fiction works are great, but she should probably stick to those. a very sweet story, but no depth...just a simple story.  i'm a fast reader ya'll, so the fact this dragged on forever  should tell ya something of it's wow factor...or lack thereof. 1.5 stars}
• Shiloh Autumn, Thoene {Nov. '12. 5 stars. depression era family drama book.  very good}
• A Shadow In The Wind , Zafon { 11/12.  5 stars.  a fantastic page turner.  a web of mystery that soemhow stears cler of 'scary' and yucky. loved it will pursue more of zafon's works}
• The Fisherman's Lady, MacDonald {12/12 this was C.S. Lewis's favorite author in adulthood, and MacDonald was friends with some of the greats such as Dickens, so I wanted to read him, curious why he was popular then and nearly unheard of now. I enjoyed this book a lot. it was well written and mysterious and i will pick up the second one asap.  4 stars}
• Surprised By Joy , C.S. Lewis {dec. 2012.  4 stars.  a fascinating look at Mr. Lewis's quest away from and then back to his faith.}

non-fiction:

• Large Family Logistics {5 starts, amazing!3/12}
• Bringing Up Girls, Dobson{  great read for parents of girls! 4 stars 4/12}
• Captivating, Eldridge {probably the most life altering[other than the Bible-duh] book i have ever read.  beyond 5 stars. 5/12}
• The 5 Love Languages,chapman {june 2012.  good book.  not really a 'need' to read if you already grasp the languages, but interesting. 3 stars.}
• Beyond Survival , waring {june 2012.  excellent homeschool book.  4 stars}
• Wild at Heart, Eldridge {july 2012.  AMAZING.  the guy version of captivating.   a must read if you are married or have sons. or a brother. or a dad. or have ever met a man.  5 stars}
• One Thousand Gifts {july, 2012.  5 stars.  a must read! should be on everybody's shelf!  life changing!}
• Educating the Whole Hearted Child, the Clarksons, {8/12.  by far the best and most thorough book on homeschooling out there.  a must read- 5 stars}
• The Mormon Mirage { Oct. 2012, a book written by an exmormon about the inside teachings of the mormon church. a great resource and i learned a lot! 5 stars if interested in this topic}
• My Own Country, Verghese { Book Club read Oct. 2012.  3.75 stars.  a dr. who was an infectious disease specialist during the aids epidemic in the south in the 1980s.  follows his learning the disease and his patients.  surprizingly good.}
• The Mission Of Motherhood, Clarkson { Nov. 2012.  5 stars.  though the first half was not new ground for me and it was pretty much preachign to the choir, i apprciate Sally Clarkson's much gentler and kind approach to parenting than generally found inside Christian parenting resources.  She's all about grace and gentle.}