Monday, January 31, 2011

2010 Books

I've finally documented and analyzed my reading from last year. A few interesting trends appear: I did A LOT of reading aloud to the children and this turned out to be my biggest category (15 books read aloud). Reading to the kids is one of my favorite things to do with them and I hope they will have fond memories of it when they grow up as I have of my parents reading to me in the evenings.

I was surprised at how few novels I read (11) and how many cookery books I read (9). I was also happy that I had read so many Christian books (12).

I suppose if you consider that the biggest category of books I read were children's books, that means I read fewer adult books than I have in many years. Since our year was a crazy, mixed up one anyway, that's okay. I did make my yearly goal if those are included and that made me happy after so much else going awry.

I did feel as if I read more books that I would highly recommend than I have in other years. Please check out the books listed with a ***. They are worth reading!!!

I always hope to read more "really good books" each year and think about goals for reading, etc. However, reading is my relaxation and so much of what I read gets ordered from the library on a whim after seeing it recommended elsewhere. I'm not sure I really want to stop that practice. However, I will always subtly try to "read richer".

Thanks to all of you who have recommended books this past year! I always enjoy seeing what others have been reading.

CHRISTIAN BOOKS

*****Hearing Jesus Speak Into Your Sorrow -- top book of the year
Nancy Guthrie
Extremely good book on suffering and difficult times.
Highly recommend.

***Blessing Your Husband
Debra Evans
Great book with book lists at the end of each chapter! Don't let the cheesy title turn you off!

***Parenting Is Your Highest Calling and 8 Other Myths
Leslie Leyland Fields
A very good book covering such myths as: Good Parenting Leads to Happy Children, If You Find Parenting Difficult, You Must Not Be Following the right Plan, and You Will Always Feel Unconditional Love for your Child.
I would highly recommend this book.

***Pure Pleasure
Gary Thomas
Christians need to enjoy God's gifts to the fullest balanced with holiness
Highly recommend

Isaiah
Allan Harman
Good commentary

The Message of Philippians
JA Motyer
Easy reading commentary

A Mother's Heart
Joan Fleming
An older book but worth reading -- sort of a precurssor to Sally Clarkson

Refractions
Makoto Fujimura
Essays about art and influencing culture. Good, but sometimes "refracted"

Holy Available
Gary Thomas
Good, but liked Pure Pleasure better. Holiness and the Christian life.

***Six Ways to Keep The Little in Your Girl
Danna Gresh
Such a great book on helping girls through their tween years

A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God's Sovereignty
Joni Eareckson Tada
Good book, especially if dealing with physical pain.

Singing the Gospel
Janet Spaulding
master's thesis on hymn singing in the 1850's to present



CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Blue River
Charles Major
The kids loved this book about a boy in Indiana during the pioneer days and his battles with bears

Alice of Old Vincennes
Maurice Thompson
Mostly historical account of late 1700's Vincennes. Enjoyed this historical fiction. Would be good for teens -- too long for grade school.

The Swiss Twins
Lucy F. Perkins
Sweet little story of life in Switzerland for children

Inemak: the Little Greenlander
Alice Alison Lide
Children's story of life in Greenland

Growing Up in Indiana
Thomas W. Kitchel
Indiana farmer's life in the 1920's

***Freedom's Light
Elizabeth O'Maley
Great kids book on the Underground Railroad in Indiana

***The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Elizabeth George Speare
Great children's book on colonial Connecticut. We all enjoyed it.

***Captured
Mary Blair Immel
Great story for kids of a boy captured in Civil War and brought to Camp Morton in Indianapolis

***Stopping to Home
Lea Wait
Lovely book about an 11 year old girl in Wiscasset, Maine in 1806. The children and I really enjoyed it.

***Johnny Tremain
Elizabeth Forbes
Wow, did I love this book! set in Boston in 1774 and the hero is a young silversmith apprentice.

***Misty of Chicateague
Marguerite Henry
My first time to read this children's classic

Faraway Summer
Johanna Hurwitz
Story of a NYC girl going to Jericho, VT for summer vacation. (Children's)

***Standing in the Light: The Captive Diary of Catherine Carey Logan
Mary Pope Osborne
Historical novel of a Pennsylvania Quaker girl captured by the Lenape Indians. Good but a bit too heavy on the boy interest and obviously quite PC about the Indian religion.

Miss Hickory
Carolyn S. Bailey
Interesting nature stories from New Hampshire

***Carry on Mr. Bowditch
Jean Lee Latham
Fantastic biography for children of Nathaniel Bowditch.

NOVELS
Digging to America
Anne Tyler
Interesting novel about two families that adopt children. One family is American and the other American-Iranian. Deals with issues of fitting into a cultureThe Bears of

***The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Alan Bradley
Very fun, easy read crime novel. Heroine is 11 years old but still found it a page-turner

The Landlady's Master
George MacDonald
Endearing story but strange theology. Not McDonald's best.

Homestead
Rosina Lippi
Interesting snippets of life in a small Austrian town over 40 years in the 20th century and from different people's lives in the same town.

The Little Stranger
Sarah Waters
Set in England in the early 1950's. Really enjoyed it but it turned out to be about a ghost....not exactly my genre but it was fascinating discussing it with some friends

The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde
An interesting and somewhat depressing story of what a depraved life looks like

The Writing Circle
Corinne Dermas
Interest-keeping book about a writing group. I felt it was very well written, some strange things, a clear portrayal of a woman's selfishness ruining lives.

Agnes Grey
Anne Bronte
My first Bronte read. Sweet novel about a governess who marries a pastor. Too predictable. Appreciated the many Christian references.

***Queen Hereafter
Susan Fraser King
Historical novel about Margaret Queen of Scotland around 1066AD -- very enjoyable and not overly sensualized

An Irish Country Christmas

Patrick Taylor
#3 in a favorite series of an Irish country doctor in the 1960's

Crossing Oceans
Gina Holmes
Quick read novel about a single mother dying of cancer and needing to find the right place for her daughter. Easy read but shallow and not much depth or development.

COOKERY RELATED
The Diary of a Farmer's Wife 1796-1797
Anne Hughes
Interesting diary of a middle class housewife in 18th century England

A Table in the Tarn
Orlando Martin
Part memoir of starting a French B&B and part cookbook. Very nicely designed but recipes are too complicated. Was somewhat dissappointed.

The Sharper the Knife, The less You Cry
Kathleen Flinn
Entertaining (for a foodie) memoir about attending the Le Cordon Bleu in Paris

***Eating History
Andrew F Smith
30 turning points in the making of American Cuisine. Too me forever to get through this but it was interesting and enjoyable

Well Preserved

Joan Hassol
Part recipe book, part memoir about making jam on the east coast

The Cook & The Gardener
Amanda Hesser
"A year of recipes and writings from the French Countryside": sweet and enjoyable


Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages
Anne Mendelson
Extremely informative history and chemistry of milk, including recipes

***Taste: The Story of Britain Through Its Cooking
Kate Colquhoun
Fascinating history of Britain by tracing the developments in eating habits over the centuries.

Notes on Cooking: A Short Guide to an Essential Craft
Costello/Reich
Good advice on cooking in short snippets. Wish I could remember them all....

KNITTING RELATED
Sweater Quest
Adrienne Martini
Fun knit read about knitting an Alice Starmore sweater

Knitting Around
Elizabeth Zimmerman
My first introduction to EZ, the knitting legend. Memoir plus patterns.

OTHER
Shop Your Closet
Melanie Fascitelli
Tips on organizing your wardrobe. Not extremely impressive.

Things Good Mothers Know
Alexandra Stoddard
Pure Alexandra Stoddard, but I do enjoy reading her now and then








4 comments:

Ruth MacC said...

I love reading and am always interested in whay you have managed to get through each year. Niall and I read a lot to Sean too. It's a lovely thing to do, a lovey family pastime.
Thanks for your visit and thank you for your post over the christmas. I had hoped to send you over some stamps for your son but I haven't got any but I will try to find some :0)

Sean is just loving school although he was bullied by kids on friday. However, we had a good chat with him and think he will deal with it on his own rather than us having to go in.

I hope your children are doing ok.
I am away to have a look onyhour blog! Talk soon.
God bless

southseaislandhome said...

I enjoyed reading your list - such a lot of interesting books that I want to read now. You are blessed in the USA with a alot of rich history that so many have written about - some of those sounded really good too. Thanks for sharing!

Monica said...

Thanks for the reviews. I'm excited to dig into a few of them this year.

Lovella ♥ said...

What an amazing list of books. I will certainly come back here for a look when I'm next ready to settle down to read. I go in such spurts and most often read while on vacation.
I am not sure why that is. . .I love to read.

I am thinking of you tonight. .hoping the blizzard passes by quickly and you are able to dig out.