Half Broke Horses

by Jeannette Walls. A 'sort of' moir of Jeannette's maternal grandmother. She called it a novel although the stories were recounted by Jeannette's mother Rosemary regarding her mother and her childhood.

A Soft Place to Land

By Susan Rebecca White

The Year of Living Biblically

This memoir from AJ Jacobs was my October book, although it went into November til I finished reading it. My daughter has this as her next book club selection and I had wanted to read it since I heard about it. Very interesting premise, well written. It makes me think about some of the Biblical laws and how to follow them. Also makes me think about tolerance and the outlook of religions towards each other. Will keep this for future reference and have added other books by this author to my to be read list.

Day After Night

by Anita Diamant Intresting story about a portion of history that I knew nothing about. It was based on the true story of the October 1945 rescue of two hundred (plus) prisonsers from an internment camp name Atlit. The camp was run by the British for 'illegal' immigrants to Isreal immediately after the second World War. Very thought provoking.

The Girl Who Played with Fire

Second novel in the 'triloby' by Steig Larsson. I like this one much better than the first. It was easier to get into from the beginning. Awesome plot twists and turns, ending was great, need to read the next one SOON!

Needles and Pearls

A sequel to "The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club", this book by Gil Mcneil picked up where the first novel left off. The story has a nice, cozy feel and one can envision meeting the characters in a knitting store one day. This book brought the story around nicely and answered some questions left from the first book.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

This was an ARC by Tom Franklin that I got through Bookbrowse.com. Predictable mystery, likeable characters, quick read.

The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood I liked it, however, I'm fairly certain that I have read the book before. This was one of the reasons that I wanted to start a blog--to keep track of books I've read so that I don't re-read unless I want to. Back to the book-the story line was similar to a lot of books around lately--group of women who develop friendships over a shared interest. I liked some characters here more than others. There were one or two that felt very stereotypical.

September memoir

90 minutes in heaven by Dan Piper. Not at all what I expected or was hoping for. There was a relatively brief description of his time in heaven and then the rest of the book concentrated on his long, painful recovery. I was also disappointed in his seeming lack of desire to tell his story after he recovered.

Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex I was surprised with how much I enjoyed this book since my daughter didn't like it and we usually have similar taste in books. I wouldn't say it is the best book ever, but I did find the information about Detroit history and hermaphrodite--ism interesting. The voice of the narrator was compelling. I loved the picture that these particular words painted--"It was the custom in those days for passengers leaving for America to bring balls of yarn on deck. Relatives on the pier held the loose ends. As the Giulia blew its horn and moved away from the dock, a few hundred strings of yarn stretched across the water. People shouted farewells, waved furiously, held up babies for last looks they wouldn't remember. Propellers churned; handkerchiefs fluttered, and, up on deck, the balls of yarn began to spin. Red, yellow, blue, green, they untangled toward the pier, slowly at first, one revolution every ten seconds, then faster and faster as the boat picked up speed. Passengers held the yarn as long as possible, maintaining the connection to the faces disappearing onshore. But finally, one by one, the balls ran out, The strings of yarn flew free, rising on the breeze." page 64

Memoir for August--Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen This book was not what I expected. I did find some parts funny, but there were also some parts that slightly offended. In the process of gently poking fun at her upbringing, she at times turned her family members into caricatures.

Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith Loved it!

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister I picked this up during one of my visits to Borders. It was on the 'buy one, get on 50% off' table. The book follows a pattern that seems to have gotten popular over the past two years--a book about a group of people with a common interest who meet weekly and learn and share their lives. The writing in the book was beautiful, very descriptive and melodic. The one negative, which might be a consequence of the genre, was that the 'story' ultimately did not go anywhere. I apparently am getting tired of the genre. Will try to hold off from the pull of these books for a while.

Same Kind of Different as Me Denver Moore and Ron Hall-This was my memoir for July. I waited a long time to receive it from paperbackswap.com. It was well worth the wait. Although it was at times difficult to read due to the language and the realities of Denver's life, it enriched me to get a glimpse of the friendship that developed between the two men and the courage of Ron's wife.

The Girl Next Door by Elizabeth Noble. Easy read. Good portrait of the tenants of a NYC apartment building. The characters felt real.

South of Broad by Pat Conroy I very much looked forward to this book because I have other Conroy works such as Beach Music and Prince of Tides very much. This one wasn't quite up to previous standards, but it was a moving tribute to friendship. At times the author used quite beautiful descriptive language. The plot was good, but at the end I felt that he added sidelines that were not necessary.

Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy Another heartwarmer by this author. Liked the characters and the tone.

John Hart The Last Child

The Lemon Meringue Pie Murder by Joanna Fluke After four of her books, reading about the characters feels a little like catching up with old friends. Some of the storylines could move a little quicker, she feels like she is covering old ground, but overall an easy, relaxing read.

Handle with Care Jodi Picoult I have been telling myself after the last several Jodi Picoult books that I have read my last one. I'll say it again this time and hope I mean it. I get that she writes about difficult subject matter, but there was too much pain in this book. Too much was wrong in the family. It became overdone and unbelievable. Horrible ending.

Peony in Love by Lisa See

Memoir Lucky by Alice Sebold

Last Night at the Lobster Stewart O'Nan

Thursdays at Eight Debbie Macomber

John Hart The King of Lies

Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

"The Forgotten Garden" by Kate Morton. I enjoyed this book thoroughly. The author drew me into the story gradually and completely. The back and forth style was intriguing. Because of the generational relationships there were a few times that it was difficult to follow who belonged to whom, but eventually everything was sorted out. The interspersed fairy tales added an extra dimension to the story. The characters were likeable and felt real.

Scott Turow's "One L"-my biography for May was about the experience of first year law students at Harvard Law School. I enjoy Scott Turow's 'voice' in the book. His style of writing is easy to read. He seemed to honestly describe the events of that year and the extreme stress that the students were under at the time. The year was 1975, so Ii do wonder if the experience is the same today.

Lisa Scottoline's "Look Again" This was a quick read that I picked up at the library. It was a 'tug at your heartstrings' kind of book. Story of a woman who saw a missing child picture that reminded her of her son and who investigated the situation. The characters were well drawn and believable and the author made you care about what happened to the woman and her son. The premise presented a thought-provoking 'what would you do?' scenario that sticks with me. It wrapped up a little too neatly at the end--real life usually doesn't.

Pete Hamill's "North River". I very much enjoyed this book and was drawn into the lives of the characters and the time period. I liked the characters and I always seem to enjoy books more when that happens. Very believable.

"A Reliable Wife" by Robert Goolrick Book about an man who places an ad in a paper for a wife and gets a response from a woman con artist. Overall I didn't care for it and thought it could have been so much more. There was some redemption at the end, but too little, too late to save the story in my opinion.

Bill Bryson's "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid" I choose this for April because my daughter was reading it for her book club. I've read other books by Bryson and like his writing style. I found the book entertaining and funny, easy to read. I expected to "recognize" and relate to more of the stories than I did. I guess there is a big difference between being a child of the 50's or a child of the later 60's. Glad I read it.

"Little Bee" I was very curious to read this book-the back cover was cleverly written to draw you in without telling you anything. It was a painful, sad story but interesting in it's refugee perspective. Well written.

"The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. Wonderful, wonderful book. As good as the hype surrounding it. The 'characters' were so realistic they didn't even seem like characters. I can imagine them all living in Mississippi. Aibileen, Minny and the others. . . . Miss Skeeter, of course, is in New York City writing other books :)

Harlan Coben-"Tell No One" Another fast paced page turner by this author. Story of a man whose wife was murdered 8 years prior. Although he was also attacked, he becomes a suspect in her death. Typical Coben style with plot twists and turns. Very good!

"In My Hands, Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer" by Irena Gut Opdyke. A very somber story of the life of a young woman in Poland during World War II. The story was told matter-of-factly, without self pity. I admire the writer for her courage, especially considering she was young and separated from her family. It was incredible that she made the decisions to feed, warn and hide Jewish people in German-occupied Poland. The writer was honored in Israel as one of "The Righteous Among the Nations" and planted a tree on the Avenue of Remembrance.

A Thread of Sky--by Advanced Reader copy that I received through Bookbrowse. I thought and expected to like this much more than I did. It was about 6 women who travelled to China in search of their heritage. I expected more historical facts and information, it ended up being mostly about the women themselves. The chapters were divided between the women and it felt disconnected.

Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. I did not like this book at all. It was not at all what I expected. I thought that there would be more details about Julia Child in the book. I didn't find the narrator appealing and never became interested in her "project". I barely skimmed the last 50 or so pages. (I think I need to read another memoir this month to make up for this poor one.)

The Concubine's Daughter by Pai Kit Fai

"The Lake of Dead Languages" by Carol Goodman. Interesting book written mostly in narrative form. Goes back and forth between past and present during the course of the book. Story unfolds in an unhurried, suspenseful manner. I enjoyed the book even though I saw the "twist" coming.

A friend recently came to me, very excited because she discovered Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series novels. She lent me the first three and I read One for the Money. It was a quick, fun read with characters that can hold a reader's interest. The writing is not great, but the story was good and didn't 'cheat'. I will continue with the series, but not one right after the other because I quickly tire of a series that way.

One of my Christmas presents was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson. I very much anticipated reading this book and it was certainly worth my time. Although it was very slow to start it turned into an interesting mystery story with a good back story. I will probably look into getting the second book, although not right away.

Lucky Man by Michael J Fox was my second memoir for the year. I truly admire his spirit and determination in facing the terribly debilitating Parkinson's disease. The title of the book says so much about his way of thinking. I learned a lot about Parkinson's disease from the book and from subsequent research that I did on the internet.

"What the dead know" by Laura Lippman. Good suspense novel that doesn't "cheat" at the end. I can't say that I saw the ending coming--even though I had a good idea, I wasn't quite right. Very quick read that kept me entertained and wanting to read more the whole way through.

I finished "Knit One, Kill Two" this week. It was an ok 'cozy mystery' with a pretty predictable plot. There are others in the series, right now I'm not going to get any of them.

What to read? So many choices. . . . .

"The Kommandant's Girl" by Pam Jenoff. WWII historical fiction. Although I usually enjoy stories of this time period, this one was much too predictable. The writing was simple and the ending was filled with coincidences that were too unbelievable. Glad I didn't pay for this one!

"The question hung there like a beautiful chord, ringing in the air." One example of the expressive language in "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet". Great book! I knew about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, this book brought a small part of that story to life. Good character development and storyline.

"The Kindness of Strangers" by Katrina Kittle I could hardly put this book down! It was a painful story, but it felt very genuine and real. The characters became alive; I could picture them in my mind. It wouldn't be a book that everyone would enjoy, but it is worth the time.

"The Glass Castle" --Jeannette Walls-- One of my goals for the year is to read at least one memoir a month. This was a great way to start! The author told her sad story, very matter-of-factly, without self pity. There were times that the tale seemed too sad to be true, but as yet I have not found a reason to doubt what I read. This was a book that made me feel incredibly grateful for the life and the family I've had.

"The Associate"-Grisham. I probably won't go out of my way to read another Grisham novel. This was predictable and actually boring in some places. The characters really had no personalities. I found myself not caring what would happen to them.

"The Piano Teacher"--I enjoyed the book even though I expected something different from it when I put it on my TBR pile. I like stories of other cultures, thought this one would be more about the culture in Hong Kong, especially during WWII years. It wasn't, it was more a relationship story. Would recommend, but not read again.

I've decided that I am going to keep track of and briefly blog all of the books that I read in 2010. Even though I've kept 'been read by me' lists for a while now, I want to put down my first impressions of the book after I finish it. As of today (1/15) in 2010 I've finished "The Piano Teacher" by Janice Lee, "The Associate" by John Grisham, "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls and "The Kindness of Strangers" by Katrina Kittle.