The Year End Book Review

Those of you who know me know that I am a reader.  I really don't function well without a book or two scattered around my house that I am in the process of reading.  So, as part of finishing up 2011, I thought I'd do a little post about what I read this year and what I am planning on reading in 2012.  Looks like 2012 will be the year of mysteries!  Enjoy!

Books I Read Cover to Cover in 2011

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - Although I really liked the movie, I thought the book was outstanding!

Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson - One word - fantastic!  I am seeing the movie version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo tomorrow!

The Sookie Stackhouse / Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris - These are the books that the HBO series "True Blood" is based on.  Entertaining and fun, but nothing life changing.  :)

The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus Book 1) by Rick Riordan - I am absolutely a sucker for teen fiction and this series (which is a spinoff series to the fantastic Percy Jackson novels) began very well!

The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd & Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - Her books are so good for everyone - mysteries without all the sex and overt violence in today's books.

The Good & Beautiful Life:  Putting on the Character of Christ by James Bryan Smith - An inspiring second book in the Apprectice Series.  Our church made this a sermon series as well.

The House of Night Series by PC & Kristen Cast - This teen vampire series was original, but without much substance.  They would make great beach reads.

Books I Want to Read in 2012

Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado - We were all made to make a difference and I want to make more of one in 2012.

The Kinsey Milhone Series by Sue Grafton - I just started these books that correspond with the alphabet (A is for Alibi, B is for Burgler, etc).  I am on "D is for Deadbeat" and they are very entertaining so far!

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins - I've heard good things about these books that are set in a grim future where contestants are chosen to compete in competition to the death.

The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus Book 2) - I can't wait to read this follow up to the awesome Book 1!

77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz - looks creepy - just like the Mr. Koontz I love.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - I love the premise of a story featuring a deserted orphanage, tales of the supernatural and a mystery handed down from grandpa!

11/22/63 by Stephen King - If you could go back in time and stop the JFK assassination, would you?  I'm excited about this one and all of its 1000 pages.

Books I Just Want to Own in 2012

Mississippians II - A gorgeous coffee table book of famous Mississippians.  This one is a bit of a cheat, since I got it for Christmas - yay!

The Complete Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson - Love these, need this!

The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond - That Ree, she is a superwoman!

Thanks to The Nester for hosting a link up of books.  I already see several to add to my list!

Elf on the Shelf Fun

Our Elf on the Shelf, Sparkle Belle, has been up to way too much fun this Christmas season already.  I thought I'd share some of her best mischief with you - enjoy!

 Sparkle Belle loves to play Candyland, but she swears that the Lalaloopsy girls cheat!

What's a Southern Elf to do when she misses the snow? 

Why, make grit angels of course!

 Making Cookies, but we were out of chocolate chips  :(

Reading AnnaLauren's books

(The ink that he likes to drink is pink.)

Rolling the Christmas Tree in toilet paper

Trying on Barbie dresses (she's partial to the Holiday ones)

Eating leftover birthday cake, yes please!

And one of my favorites, playing veterinarian to all the Littlest Pet Shop animals!

Merry Christmas!   Hope you are having fun with your elves too!

From Craziness to Surrender

I drive myself crazy a lot of the time.  I over-analyze things, do things the hard way and get bogged down in the general minutiae of life.  The even crazier thing is that I know I do it but sometimes I feel powerless to stop.  I feel the need to "handle" things.  I feel the need to exert control over everything that comes my way.  I HATE to delegate.  I HATE to give up control.

But, occasionally something comes along and proves to me that many things are completely beyond my control.  And sometimes these things aren't so great - pregnancy at age 17, divorce, health concerns, etc.  But sometimes, these things are so good and eye opening and soul touching that I know they are straight from Heaven.

Last night I had the honor of listening to the stories of a few phenomenal ladies at The Orchard Women's Night for January.  Most of my fabulous friends from small group met me there.  I am so blessed to have a group of girls who are all best friends to me.  Love you Amanda, Amy, Brandy, Shannon & Victoria! The theme was surrender and it resonated so strongly with me. 

Our first speaker talked about her recent adoption of a baby girl from China and how after raising three perfect biological children that God put it on her heart to adopt.  She and her husband took 5 years before being able to totally surrender to God's will and bring Sophie home.

The next speakers were the co-authors of the book A Cord of Three Strands, Sara Berry and Tricia Robbins.  I bought the book last night, so I have not read it.  However, just listening to their story of how bad times sometimes turn out not to be bad times but are instead hard times and how God can redeem us when we feel our most broken was wonderful.  I am including a link where you can read about and even order the book - here.  But, please know that I am not affiliated nor compensated in any way.  I just truly think that others may be moved the way I was.

Will I always surrender?  Probably not, I'm not there yet.  But will I think more?  Absolutely.

Have a great week!

Summer Reading Update

Back in June, I posted about some of the books I love and some books that I wanted to read this summer.  You can read that post here.  Although I didn't get  to everything on my "Want to Read" list, I did read several  of them and several others and wanted to share my opinsion with you.

My Thoughts on the "Want to Read" Books I Read

1.  In The Woods by Tana French
I was actually a little disappointed by this one.  Although the plot was intriguing, too much was left unfinished for characters that she does not seem to plan to revisit.  If you like closure in your books, then this one is not for you.

2.  The Dive from Clausen's Pier: A Novel by Ann Packet
This was yet another lackluster book for me.  I wanted it to speak to me, but it really didn't.  I just never could relate to the main character. 

3.  The Shack by William Paul Young
I am in the middle of reading this one right now and so far it is fantastic.  If it continues to be as good as I think it will, then it will get it's very own post.

Some of the Other Books I Read this Summer (and mostly liked)

1.  Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
I really loved this one - really!  The plot of the book centers around a young, unmarried Amish girl who is accused of murdering her newborn.  I am fascinated by the Amish culture anyway and the plot was extremely engaging.  As with any Jodi Picoult book, there are plot twists and surprises that make them great reads.  Will this book change your life?  No.  But will it entertain.  Absolutely.

2.  The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan
This series about the children of Greek gods living on Earth centers around a son of Posiedon who first learns he is a demigod and then that the world is in a time of great trouble.  It is geared towards tweens and teens, so Noah already had all 5 of the books and loved them.  If he gets involved enough in a series of books to read them all, then I usually try them out too.  These were really fabulous.  I was entertained and would recommend them to anyone looking for something relatively easy yet engaging for their children. 

3.  Bleachers by John Grisham
This was on Noah's Pre-AP English Summer Reading List, so after he finished it, Tommy read it and then I read it.  In a complete 180 from the normal legal thrillers he usually writes, this book is all about small town high school football.  I loved it because it was both simple and deep.  My hubby loved it even more than me, so I would vote this as a great potential stocking stuffer for all the football loving men in your life.

4.  A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett
I picked up this book at a church yard sale for the hubby, because, well Jimmy Buffett - seriously!  Tommy read it and loved it.  I read it and kinda liked it.  It's definitely a guys book, but entertaining and fun.  This would be a perfect vacation read because it does not require any thinking and it's all about tropical places.  It is obvious that Jimmy wrote it - it practically screams Parrot-Head!

Hope you try some of these.  Most really are worth reading. 

Here is my updated "Want to Read" List for Fall

1.  A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - carry over from summer
2.  The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris - carry over from summer
3.  Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King - I'm so excited about this book of four stories that will be released in November
4.  The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell - This is the 17th novel centered around Dr. Kay Scarpetta.  I'm behind because number 18 is being released soon.  These are all great reads about murder and forensics.
5.  Millennium Trilogy:  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson - I don't know too much about these other than from what I have read they are fast moving and the heroine is phenomenal.


I am in no way affiliated with or compensated by any of these books.  These are simply my opinions.

Monday Shopping Trip - Great Summer Reads

So, it's not Monday.  But, in my defense, my father-in-law had surgery due to kidney cancer yesterday.  He is doing great and should come home today.  The doctors are optimistic that they "killed" everything! 

So, let's pretend that I got this posted yesterday!

Today is all about great summer reads.  I am an absolutely voracious reader and love a great book better than almost anything.  You know, those books you just can't put down - even when you should really be doing laundry or dishes since the toddler is in bed!  And, I spend way too much time at my local Goodwill Book Store!  But you can order any of these on Amazon.com.  So in honor of summer and of reading a great book in a beach chair or a porch swing, here are a few that I have read and I few that I want to read - enjoy!

Books I Have Read and Recommend (no particular order)

1.  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - still one of my favorites of all time, a legal thriller set in the deep south long before there was a John Grisham

2.  The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling - fabulous read for tweens and adults alike

3.  The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - beautiful, if depressing picture of Afghanistan culture after the Taliban

4.  The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer - yep, I'm a little bit of a vampire nerd

5.  The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel by Barbara Kingsolver - a fascinating story of a zealous missionary and his family in Africa

6.  The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards - a touching story about lies and forgiveness

7.  The Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz - LOVE these!  Sweet, humble and resourceful Odd can see the dead and always ends up in the middle of big messes.  These have a great spiritual message as well.

Books I Plan on Reading this Summer

1.  A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - hoping it's as good as The Kite Runner

2.  In The Woods by Tana French - heard her murder-mystery series is really great

3.  The Dive from Clausen's Pier: A Novel by Ann Packet - heard really good things about this one as well - a story about a reluctant fiancee' whose husband-to-be is paralyzed in an accident

4.  The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris - I told you I was a bit of a vampire nerd.  I totally watch the series too!

5.  The Shack by William Paul Young - another one I have heard only good things about - a story about finding God in the midst of our worst nightmare

As always, I am neither affliated with nor compensated by any of the items or websites that are mentioned above. I also do not make any statements as to the quality, workmanship, etc.

They are simply things I like! :)