on my bookshelf

A couple of years ago I unintentionally began a campaign to become a book worm. Being a former CSI, Law & Order , and Food Network groupie- I basically had to go cold turkey. Now, except to hang with one of my girls, I watch little to no tv...like ever. I have however completely whizzed through many wonderful books and feel this is a much better way to spend my time. With the added demise of my four favorite magazine publications, I am more focused than ever....climbing in my crisp white linens each night to snuggle up with my chosen book.



When we rolled over our calenders to begin 2009 I decided I wanted to do a better job of documenting what I've read. I am by no means a literary critic, I'm not even in a book club for crying out loud, but here are a few that I've read this year & some of my thoughts.



To Kill a Mockingbird~ just finished this one ...what can i say--amazingly written. had to slow down to enjoy the beauty of this one. Atticus Finch-definitely a literary hero of mine & that Scout-to think she is Caroline's age- I love it. Wish I could speak the same beautiful language in my everyday dialogue that Harper Lee has written with ( already I've made a grammatical error). The copy I purchased had the ruffed edges....love that. Hoping to include more classics in my repertoire.

Redeeming Love~my #1 fave of all time. beautiful story of unconditional love. run grab this one & I dare you to take longer than 24 hours to complete.

Same Kind of Different as Me~ OH WOW! my #2 fave book. wore me out emotionally. challenged many of my convictions. inspired my to love my fellow man ( decidedly a stretch for me being that i can't even tolerate my next door neighbor--literally). wish i could make a difference in my world like these folks. true story. minor spoiler here....having sat beside my husband as he left this world due to the horrors of cancer, there is a part of this book that i doubted i could finish.....glad i did.....i highly recommend this one & i dare you not to be changed

website here

goodness me, that's the last dare, i promise.

Magic Hour~ couldn't put it down...precious story

Firefly Lane~ my #3 fave. wonderful story of a life long friendship...total tearjerker

Big Cherry Holler, Milk Glass Moon~ total winners

Home to Big Stone Gap~ fourth in the series, sitting by my bed waiting to be read. with a cover like this, it too is destined to be a winner

Mary Alice Monroe~ my fave author. love everything she has written. everything.

Grace Based Parenting~phenomenal book!! i don't prefer self help books but had this one recommended to me. hoping i can put into practice what i've learned & wishing i had read this years ago. need to write a whole post sharing some of his words. a must read


Snow Flower & the Secret Fan~ I'll be honest, swapped out a paperback while at the beach on my last day & needed something to read. intense story. started out not liking this one but the ending is beautiful ...totally worth it.

Nights in Rodanthe~in true melancholy Nicholas Sparks form-i give it a fair. much preferred The Notebook and The Wedding. loved one of the relationships which incidentally was omitted from the movie which i found ridiculously boring . someone please give diane lane a better hair cut.

The Off Season~ a little disappointing and totally weird ending.

The Secret Life of Bees~loved it. in my top 10 for sure. loved the movie even more...how often does that occur. cried like a baby . gonna add that one to our dvd library (which gives me another thought --favorite movies post) The Mermaid Chair~bought this in hardback simply because I loved the cover and it mentioned mermaids which follows along in my love of all things related to the sea. tried to read it, thought it was too weird. never finished it. movie was weird enough. what was i thinking? The Tenth Circle~ok, any book who's title is referring to Dante's 9 circles of hell is bound to be too much for me. at the risk of sounding cliche, i need more of a happy ending. well written but absolutely no redemption in the entire book. being the first jodi picoult book i read, i was hopeful the ending would indeed have some one being redeemed. yuck. didn't like that at allCurrently reading My Sisters Keeper~should finish it tonight. do tell, are all her characters completely forlorn? geez

Change of Heart~i'll tell you what is changing-my plans on reading this one. flipped to and read a random page & decided definitely not for me. sorry jodi, i will give you one more try. anyone have any advice? i hate to throw the towel in on a hugely popular author....but really

The Swan House~ ok, this one is actually my #3 fave. not that you care about accuracy here, but i LOVED this story. historical Atlanta fiction. (on a side note~ the Swan House is an authentic old home in downtown that serves an amazing lunch and even more amazing merangue swans for desert).... a must read for all southern girls.

The Dwelling Place~ ( the Swan House sequel)the main character was a little to grumpy for me, but otherwise loved it.

Searching for Eternity~ love Elizabeth Musser's work but found this one a tad disappointing.

Another book I swapped at the beach was Water for Elephants- since everyone is reading it. peer pressure. but truth be told, i hate the circus. hate the circus. years ago i vowed never to go again. think the people are totally weird but most importantly cry like a baby when i see those poor mistreated beautiful elephants. that combined with my inability to handle any sad story about animals, i 've yet to read this one. would someone kindly tell me if i should move forward & give it a try?

True Colors~ just released. love the cover--seashells. trying to decide if i want to purchase this one in hardback or go the way of the library due to the tanked economy.

Dan is cruising through the Harry Potter series--stopped just before book 5 to read Same Kind Of Different thanks to my request. I finished book 5 last year & needed a Harry Potter vacation before I plowed through book 6 & 7 ....my girls think I'm not a true fan. sigh.

Also read the first two of the Twilight series. started sounding redundant so i passed on the last two. movie was a pathetic disappointment.

LOVED The Shack. want to read that one over & over.

Incidentally, on the Beth Moore blog, one of her daughters also did a book post. there is just shy of 2,000 comments of favorite books. i blitzed through the first 400 comments as if i had nothing else to do....looks like The Shack, Same Kind of Different as Me, Pride & Prejudice, & Redeeming Love where the front runners.

Would love to hear some of your faves my friends~