We survived our 50 books in one year challenge. In 2009 we are still reading...

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (#33, Fiction)


I think the fact that I have gotten this far into the series, in this amount of time, pretty much says it all.

I'm already far into the final book and wow has it gotten crazy. I'm not sure if I LOVE where the plot has gone, but we will see.

Still loving my guilty pleasure :)

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (#32, Fiction)

What more is there to say?

We were introduced to some more interesting characters in this installment. Things started to get a little complicated.

Who will Bella end up with??

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (#31, Fiction)

Hey STEPH, why didn't you say, "hey becky, you should really read this series, you will become obsessed with it!"?????

It's okay though, I forgive you. I can understand the hesitation at giving me recommendations ;)

But seriously, I am a huge fan of this series right now. I had a lot of people tell me I had to read it ASAP.... so, apparently I took those words to heart. I'm kind of wondering what the purpose in my life will be once I finish the series. Sad.

I'm not sure what exactly it is about reading about teenage vampires and werewolves that is so good. I have to imagine it has a lot to do with how the author writes and has created the characters. They fact that they are teenagers does not often come into my mind... and well, come on, Edward may only be 17, but he's been around for quite some time!

Talk about a guilty pleasure done right!

Monday, December 22, 2008

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (#33, Contemporary Fiction)

It has taken me three months to finish Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible. I am slightly ashamed to admit this because when is the last time it has taken me that long to read a book of average length? I mean, I could see if I was hacking away at something like War and Peace or Infinite Jest or Anna Karenina, but The Poisonwood Bible was not epically long or overly challenging in terms of style or vocabulary. Perhaps I just had a reading dry spell.

That said, I want to make clear that I really enjoyed this book. Just because it took me three months to read it does not mean it was at all bad. Quite the contrary, which is what puzzles me the most about having taken so long to get through the book. I was determined to read it and ended up extending it three times and then taking it physically back to the library and checking out a new copy completely.

I like Kingsolver's style and I like the characters. I like the way she divides the narration between the female characters. Every aspect of this story and the way she tells it is deliberate, beautiful and tragic. The subject matter is depressing, but uplifting at the same time. The violent history of the Congo comes out of the mouths of four little girls, ages 15 to 5 and is at once absorbing and disturbing. I am sad it took me so long to decide to read this book and even longer to pass through its pages.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham (#30, Nonfiction)

I've never really been a huge fan of John Grisham. I can give or take him. I liked some of his older books, The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and then I was pleasantly surprised with The Runaway Jury. But, I honestly haven't read him in years.

Someone suggested I read this one. I'm not sure how I feel about Grisham and nonfiction. I diligently read the first 200 pages, then got bored and skimmed through about 150 pages and then actually continued reading the end.

The book made me mad though. I really can't believe that based on the evidence and information that the prosecution put together that four men were/are on death row. Although, I'm trying to also realize that the book begins and ends from one, and only one perspective--innocent men put in jail for a crime they didn't commit. So, it's hard to be objective about any of the details when I went into it knowing he was not guilty.

After going to law school and learning about Constitutional law and criminal procedure I really can't believe how sketchy the police and prosecutor in the case acted. I guess I didn't realize that detectives actually pulled out all those Law and Order moves like good cop/bad cop and keeping people isolated for so long that they final confess just to get out of there!

Way to go detectives of Ada, OKlahoma, awesome job of letting the real murderer get away with it for almost 20 years.

Monday, December 15, 2008

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (#29, Fiction)

After a veerrrry long pause, I have finished off the Dark Materials trilogy.

With the holidays quickly approaching I have been thinking about what gifts I should get for my nieces and nephews. Although Celia is only in first grade, she is already reading chapter books, and I have been trying to think of books that she might enjoy. This series came to mind before I started the third book. I knew it was probably too mature for her, but man, after the third boy, heck no! There was a lot of evil in this one! It was pretty intense. I didn't know if I could handle the part where Lyra and Pan had to separate from each other!

I definitely enjoyed the book, and the series as a whole. I think the first book was my favorite though. By the third book there were just so many characters and so many loose ends that had to be tied up, it got a little confusing at times. And, honestly, I still don't entirely get why the "dust" stopped leaving the world when Lyra and Will got there. Although, I guess it was pretty late when I finished the book, maybe I missed something. I'm also torn about the ending--for a young adult book it was really intense! Lots of death and hard and important decisions that needed to be made.

Overall it was really good....now I am pretty excited to move on to my next young adult series--Twilight!!!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace. . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (#28, Nonfiction)

Another amazing book here. Very similar to Mountains beyond Mountains.

Greg Mortenson is as selfless as a person can be with an amazing story. The book is excellently written and never dull.

I am pretty much at a loss of words for what to say. It's an inspiring story, and I believe that all of the work he is doing in Pakistan and Afghanistan will make a difference for future generations.

Anything the United States can do to foster better relationships with the world is a good thing, and Greg Mortenson is leading the way.