Mirkwood Reflections

Wow, just haven't gotten around to posting my December reads yet! Thought I'd better get to it! An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon 12/03/09 Excellent - Historical Fiction Jamie and Claire travel to Scotland and back while continuing to participate in the American Revolution I've waited for this book for YEARS and then when it was published, I was still re-reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes so I couldn't start immediately. Jamie and Claire only get better with age, and the cliffhanger ending makes me crazy!!! Can't wait to listen to the audio! I think Gabaldon's books are even BETTER in audio. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen 12/04/09 Excellent - Memoir Rhoda Janzen's Mennonite upbringing colors her approach to love, life, and religion. Humorous and insightful, though I didn't actually agree with much. This book was a great example of an author having a compelling voice. Janzen was utterly charming and mesmerizing even when I didn...

The Penny Pinchers Club by Sarah Strohmeyer - 08/05/09 Good - Chick Lit (999 Category - Serendipity) Kat thinks her husband is planning to leave her so she curtails her wild spending and learns to save with the help of a motley group of penny pinchers. I love Strohmeyer's books! She always has a different take on the chick lit formula. Thoroughly entertaining. The Fate of Katherine Carr by Thomas H. Cook - 08/07/09 Good - Mystery (999 Category - Serendipity) When George Gates' young son was murdered, he lost his once-avid taste for mysteries, but he meets a retired police detective whose story of a missing woman piques George's interest. Saw this one at the library on the new book shelf and picked it up based on the cover and title alone. Glad I did. It was compelling and interesting. Everybody's Normal Until You Get to Know Them by John Ortberg - 08/10/09 Excellent - Non-fiction (999 Category - Faith) How do flawed abnormal people such as ourselves master forces that ...

Because I neglected what I SHOULD have been doing this month (but that's another story), I go t a LOT of reading done this month - 9 books. That's the most in any month so far this year. This included my first book in my C.S. Lewis category, which I'd been procrastinating. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult - 05/02/09 Good - Fiction (999 Category: 9 and Counting) Sterling High School is torn apart by a mass shooting. I'm never quite sure if I like Picoult or not, but this was definitely a compelling read. If y ou like heavy fiction, this may fit y ou well. Deep in the Heart of Trouble by Deeanne Gist - 05/04/09 Good - Inspirational (999 Category: Kindred Spirits) Essie has accepted her spinsterhood, but then Tony Bryant comes to town. But is he too good to be true? This historical Christian novel is a sequel in the edgy Christian fiction category. Realistic people with realistic problems and who don't always make good choices despite being Christians. The Martian C...

I enjoyed participating in the 888 Reading Challenge, so I went looking for a challenge for 2009. The 999 Library Thing Challenge is very similar - Read 9 books in each of 9 categories for 2009. Here is my list of books. You will see that some categories have more than 9 books. It's easier just to list them all than to try to pick and choose now. My final choices will depend quite a bit on what is available to me from the library. Nostalgia - Books I Read As a Child and want to Read Aloud to My Children 1.The Borrowers – Mary Norton 2.Edward, Hoppy and Joe – Robert Lawson 3.A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L'Engle 4.Five Little Peppers and How They Grew – Margaret Sidney 5.The Book of Three – Lloyd Alexander 6.Dragonsong – Anne McCaffrey 7.The Great Brain – John D. Fitzgerald 8.Soup – Robert Newton Peck 9.Encyclopedia Brown – Donald J. Sobol Kindred Spirits - Books By Favorite Authors 1.An Echo in the Bone – Diana Gabaldon 2.The bodies left behind - Jeffery Deaver 3.Plum Spooky ...