Lady Susan by Jane Austen. I had never even heard of this book until my friend mentioned it. It was okay, not nearly as good as her others. I think because it was much shorter and the characters were never really developed.

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. This book was SO good! I might have to get myself a copy of it. I often find myself thinking about many of the concepts and ideas in it.

The Secret by Beverly Lewis. This is the first in her Seasons of Grace series. It was good, I really like the variety of characters in this one and can't wait until the next one is out.

London Refrain by Bodie and Brock Thoene. Number 7 in the Zion Covenant series. This is one of my favorite series ever, so I was excited to see there were three new books added. This was very good, just like the rest of the series.

Paris Encore by Bodie and Brock Thoene. Number 8 in the Zion Covenant. Very good! I'm going to start number nine as soon as I finish updating this blog!

Match Day: One Day and One Dramatic Year in the Lives of Three New Doctors by Brian Eule. As I'm sure I mentioned, I love books about medical school and residency. This book focused on "match day" which is a huge event in the life of a medical student when they learn where they will be doing their residency. At first, I couldn't believe there would be enough about "match day" to write a book, but by the middle of the book I couldn't not wait to see where these doctors had matched!


Plain Girl by Virginia Sorensen. This was a cute book I found at Goodwill about an Amish girl who has to go to school at a regular public school where no other Amish children attend.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I really liked this book...until the end. One of thee most disappointing endings ever.

Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto by Mark R. Levin. My friend wanted me to read this book and it was really good.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.
This was a good book, sort of modern Jane Austen type story, however the ending was not nearly as satisfying as one of Jane Austens. Another disappointing ending.

The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose.
I could not put this book down! What happens when an uber liberal enrolls at Jerry Falwell's university and tries to blend in? This is a funny and intriguing book. Kevin Roose is open and honest about his experience there, he brushes it with neither an evil or good view but with an an open mind that is just trying to understand the other side and see if the "God divide" can be overcome.

Hollywood Nobody by Lisa Samson. This was just okay. Didn't even get very interesting until the end. I don't think I will be reading the next in the series.

Deception Point by Dan Brown. I have to hand it to Dan Brown, he can take things I have absolutely no interest in and make it into a really good story!

Multiple Bles8ings: Surviving to Thriving with Twins and Sextuplets by Jon Gosselin, Kate Gosselin, and Beth Carson. This was a good book. Kate got to express a lot of their spiritual faith that doesn't make it to the t.v show. I am a bit confused as to why Jon's name was on the cover though, since he didn't contribute one tiny bit to it!


Midnighters #3: Blue Noon by Scott Westerfeld. A good wrap up to the trilogy. A very weird twist at the end.


Hit and Run by Lurlene McDaniel. I always liked her books when I was younger, but this one was pretty stupid.

Specials by Scott Westerfeld. I almost didn't read this final book in the Uglies trilogy, but I'm glad I did. It was better than the second book, and a pretty good ending.

Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult. This was really similar to her book Change of Heart. I really couldn't believe how much of the same material she used, although the endings were quite different.

I have a lot of books to add, I guess I've read a lot this past month!

Graceling by Kristin Cashore. This was an original plot and a pretty good story, however, there were undertones that really ruined it for me. Also, I felt there was a lot of superfluos stuff at the end that didn't add to the story at all.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld. The was the second in the Uglies trilogy. I didnt' enjoy it as much as the first book.

Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke. I really liked the characters in this trilogy, but I felt like the whole story could of been condensed into something shorter.

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb. This book sounded interesting when I heard about it, but I was disapointed. I really hated how Christians were portrayed.

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forrester. This was okay. Not as great as the reviews made it out to be.

Once Upon a Summer by Janette Oke. I found Janette Oke's Seasons of the Heart saga at Sam's Club a few weeks ago for less than $10.00! I read this series when I was in jr. high and really enjoyed it. I didn't remember much about them, it was almost like reading them again for the first time. Very good, although a little sappy.

The Winds of Autumn by Janette Oke.

Winter is Not Forever by Janette Oke.

Spring's Gentle Promise by Janette Oke.

Black by Ted Dekker. Very good! I really like alternate reality plots and this is a good one.

Midnighters: The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld. I have to say that I thought the plot of these books was so cool and I had some preconcieved ideas beforehand and found the actual story a bit disapointing. Still good, but I guess I liked my own ideas better. :)

Midnighters 2: Touching Darkness by Scott Westerfeld. Not a bad sequel. I do like the characters in this trilogy more than in his Uglies trilogy.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. I did not like this book. I understand that Artemis is not supposed to be a good guy, but I just don't enjoy a book where the main character is a bad guy. I actually heard this book compared to Harry Potter and I have to say there is NO comparison whatsoever.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. I liked this book. It wasn't one that I couldn't put down, but I looked forward to reading it every night.

Inkspell by Cornelia Funke. A good sequel, maybe even a bit better than Inkheart.

Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson. I didn't enjoy this as much as the first 2 books. It really began to feel like he is just stretching the story longer and longer.

Maximum Ride: The Final Warning by James Patterson. This was worse than the third! It turned into a PSA about global warming. This was pretty much the nail in the coffin for this series as far as I'm concerned.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Very good! I definately plan on reading the next in this series. If you liked Brave New World, or The Giver, than you would like this.

Girlheart by Norma Fox Mazer. This book was not at all what I expected. I was expecting something mother/daughter like Gilmore Girls. Instead, the mother dies right away, and it's about the daugher's grief. Not bad, but there were a lot of undertones I didn't like. As a Christian, I felt this story was absolutely depressing and lacking any true hope.

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. This was good, not as good has his Robert Langdon novels though. I really liked the "who will guard the guards?" message.

Chosen by Ted Dekker. This was okay. It felt sort of like a vague copy of other stories (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Narnia).

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. This was good. Not the best prisoner story, but it gives you a sense of the mundane prisoner life that other books tend to overlook.

I have to get these books posted before I start forgetting some!

First, the December books that I never got around to posting.

Emma by Jane Austen. I love the movie Emma, and decided to finally read the book. Of course, it was good. It was Jane Austen.

Marley and Me by John Grogan. I bought this so I would have something to read when we drove up to the U.P on Christmas Eve. It was such a cute story!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Very good! It's the first of a trilogy, and I can't wait for the next one.

Now for the beginning of my 2009 reading. January has been a great month for reading! It's been way too cold to go many places, great weather for snuggling up and reading.

Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte. Not sure what to say about this one. It's an interesting story but it would of been nice to have one character to like. Well, I guess the maid that tells the story is okay...

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult. This was like some type of John Grisham/ Da Vinci Code hybrid. Not bad.

Against Medical Advice : One Family's Struggle with and Agonizing Medical Mystery by
by James Patterson, Hal Friedman, and Cory Friedman. This was a really good memoir! You could feel the frustration of not only Cory, but of his parents, teachers and sister too. I love that they finally dediced to what they did in the end.

Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts. This has been on my "To Read" list for awhile. I really liked the movie and figured the book would be even better. It was.

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson. This was a pretty good book. I wish the characters were a little more real and not so "action movie-ish".

Maximum Ride: Schools Out Forever by James Patterson. This is the second of the trilogy. Good enough that I was actually disapointed when the third book wasn't in at the library.

School of Fortune by Amanda Brown and Janice Weber. Amanda Brown is the author of Legally Blond. This was a funny book! Very cute story.

Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet. This was such a sweet, and very unique, love story! Notice how many James Patterson books I've read this month? This guy is such a versatile writer! Three different genre, yet all very good.

Crossing Over: One Woman's Escape from Amish Life by Ruth Irene Garrett. This was a good story. Of course Amish life is not quite idyllic as many of the fictions books I read make it out to be.

Pride and Prescience by Carrie Bebris. I have seen many "sequels" to Pride and Prejudice, but this was the first one that I have read. It was a good, classic "who did it" mystery and the author stayed pretty true to Jane Austen's style of writing.

Pretense by Laurie Wick. This was a very long book that I slowly trudged though. I guess it was okay, but I don't think I would read it again.

Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella

Shopaholic and Sister by Sophie Kinsella.

Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella. I finally finished the Shopaholic series. It was so hard to get a hold of the second one, but once I did I read the last three right away. Now I feel a little sad that there are none left.