Guest Virginia Dawn Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 I tried making an 888 list at the beginning of the year, but I didn't stick to it. Instead I kind of muddled around looking for things that interested me at a particular time. Some of my favorites from this past year: The Creature From Jekyll Island The Dante Club Dorothy Cannell mysteries Time After Time It wasn't a year for much heavy reading, how about you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz. It's about the exploration and colonization of America from the first Norse explorers up to the time of Columbus. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 it's hard to pick just one...but I'd have to say "The year of Fog", it was really, really well written. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 oh, have to add a kid's book, "Dragon Slippers" was really, really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in IL Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Books from the Catholic Lay Apostle "Anne" - "Directions for Our Times," series are really hitting a chord with me, lately. If you are Catholic, these are amazing - as is the woman's story who writes them. You can find out more about them at Directions For Our Times' website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbandpickles Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini If you loved the Kite Runner you will LOVE this book. I did anyway. What I am reading now and almost finished with, The Road by Cormac McCarthy I think is going to be in my top three. I spent a lot of time rereading some books I had read in the past and really loved. The Reader was one of then by Bernhard Schlink. I decided to reread it when I had read somewhere they made a movie based on the book. Kate Winslet playing Hana. I had read it a few years ago and felt compelled to reread the book before the seeing the movie. Still waiting on the movie. I love a good book, there's nothing better :D! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyboys Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 I tried making an 888 list at the beginning of the year, but I didn't stick to it. It wasn't a year for much heavy reading, how about you? Sounds like me. Even the thought of a 999 group is daunting. Unless the following year would be a 000! :tongue_smilie: One of my categories was ya historical fiction. ;) We liked Johnny Tremain and The Ransom of Mercy Carter quite a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Non-fiction for me: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver Second Nature by Michael Pollan No Plot, No Problem by Chris Baty--really fun and electrifying book on writing. Perfect for the November challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 This book wins my award for 2008 Just-Can't-Put-It-Down-I-Have-to-Find-Out-What-Happens/Suspense Category: Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Set in the Soviet Union in 1953, this stellar debut from British author Smith offers appealing characters, a strong plot and authentic period detail. When war hero Leo Stepanovich Demidov, a rising star in the MGB, the State Security force, is assigned to look into the death of a child, Leo is annoyed, first because this takes him away from a more important case, but, more importantly, because the parents insist the child was murdered. In Stalinist Russia, there's no such thing as murder; the only criminals are those who are enemies of the state. After attempting to curb the violent excesses of his second-in-command, Leo is forced to investigate his own wife, the beautiful Raisa, who's suspected of being an Anglo-American sympathizer. Demoted and exiled from Moscow, Leo stumbles onto more evidence of the child killer. The evocation of the deadly cloud-cuckoo-land of Russia during Stalin's final days will remind many of Gorky Park and Darkness at Noon, but the novel remains Smith's alone, completely original and absolutely satisfying. Rights sold in more than 20 countries. (May) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johanna Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 MARK OF THE LION series by FRancine Rivers......AWESOME!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi @ Mt Hope Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 I loved so many of the books I read this year. Top pick: Watership Down Runners-up: Ruth (Gaskell), What's So Amazing About Grace (Yancey), Little Britches (Moody), and The Mysterious Benedict Society (Stewart). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepy Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Loved: John Adams, by David McCullough and Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon (thank you, Leila!:D) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Juvenile Fiction - The May Bird series by Jodi Lynn Anderson YA Fiction - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Adult Fiction - The Road by Cormac McCarthy Non Fiction - The Nine by Jeffery Toobin I'm sad to say I don't think I will be able to finish in time. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 (edited) I'd have to say: Things Fall Apart The Lovely Bones A Guide to the Birds of East Africa The Tenderness of Wolves The Meaning of Night Northanger Abbey Never Let Me Go Tunnels Shakespeare: The World as Stage That's out of 70+ books from this year. Sorry, I can't ever just name 1 or 2. lol Edited December 3, 2008 by 6packofun added Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Crazy For God - Frank Schaeffer and Stride Toward Freedom - Martin Luther King, Jr. A word of warning on the Schaeffer book. It is how he remembers growing up, and it shows his parents warts and all. If you're a huge Francis Schaeffer fan, you might not like it. (Although I am and I enjoyed this book.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritAnnia Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 One of my favourite reads this year was I Am The Messenger - Markus Zusak. I really enjoy Zusak's work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theodwyn Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 I'll have to include more than one. Mere Christianity by C.S.Lewis, Flesh and Blood Jesus by Dan Russ, Physics for Future Presidents by Richard Muller, and The Castle on the Hill by Elizabeth Goudge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddhabelly Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 "Farther Than Any Man: The Rise and Fall of Captain James Cook" by Martin Dugard. Just fascinating, and very well-written. I also enjoyed "With Speed and Violence" by Fred Pearce, about how global climate change has never been particularly gradual in the past and is not likely to be in the future either. This is a wonderful read. There is an interesting theory mentioned about how methane "burps" from the bottom of the ocean were perhaps responsible for the "Bermuda Triangle" phenomenon. The methane changes the density of the water and if there is a ship directly above the "burp", the ship is sucked directly to the sea floor -- whoosh! Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PariSarah Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 I would say, for family read-aloud, Motel of the Mysteries, by David Macaulay. Not just because that's the only one we finished this year, but also because it was a really fun, silly good book. For me, for fun, In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan, and the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Also from my 888 list 1. Alex Rider series (all of them) I love these books and would love to make a geography curriculum from the books, that would be so fun. 2. Huckleberry Finn - had never read it before. I still find myself thinking about it months later. 3. Latin-Centered Curriculum - saved my sanity and probably my son's too. 4. Revision & Self-editing - detailed a process that seemed very scary to me before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ELaurie Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. I could not put this book down - a gripping, horrifying, and truly inspiring story. I am now reading the sequel Led by Faith: Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Youngs Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Epic by John Eldredge Wide Awake by Erwin Raphael McManus Power Foods by Stephanie Beling, MD Brisinger by Christopher Paolini I kept a list his year......;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Youngs Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. I could not put this book down - a gripping, horrifying, and truly inspiring story. I am now reading the sequel Led by Faith: Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide You may like The Bishop of Rwanda....... Heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 History of the Ancient World The Well-Trained Mind (started my HS journey back in January!) :auto: Gulliver's Travels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ELaurie Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Thank you for recommending this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 For me, it's been a C.S. Lewis year: Screwtape Letters and Screwtape Proposes a Toast, A Grief Observed, Miracles....wow.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Simple Prosperity by David Wann The Host by Stephenie Meyer :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 One of my favourite reads this year was I Am The Messenger - Markus Zusak. I really enjoy Zusak's work. We loved this one too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie in NE Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 My top three: Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur, by Daoud Hari A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier , by Ishmael Beah Guess I kind of got onto the "memoir kick" this year. The strength of the human spirit amazes me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon H in IL Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 I'll go get my commonplace book. That's where I keep my lists of books read. OK, here we go: - Human Accomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences 800 BC to 1950 by Charles Murray - Culture Shock! India [travel guide series] by Gitanjali S. Kolanad - Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 35 Billion-Year History of the Human Body, by Neil Shubin - The Iliad [audiobook] trans. by Robert Fagles read by Derek Jacobi (this was much abridged) - SuperCrunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart by Ian Ayres - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFP Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 The Creature From Jekyll Island Hey, didn't I recommend you get this one for your son last Christmas, Virginia Dawn? How'd he like it? My favorites (so far): The Birds Fall Down. Rebecca West Our Horses in Egypt. Rosalind Belben Half of a Yellow Sun. Chimananda Ngozi Adichie Olive Kitteridge. Elizabeth Strout Oscar and Lucinda. Peter Carey The Suicide Index. Joan Wickersham A High Wind in Jamaica. Richard Hughes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/28/AR2007082801575.html I love this book . She reminded me of some of the everyday saints I am priviliged to know. I love her story and am so glad she shared it with the public.I think this should be mandatory reading for those in service -secular or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauranav Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 I would recommend two that I read this fall. Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman was great. My 14 year old nephew read it in one day and loved every bit of it! I also discovered Elizabeth Goudge and really enjoyed two books by her: The Heart of the Family and The Castle on the Hill. I look forward to reading more in 2009. I've been using this thread to start my list for 2009! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Frankenstein and most recently Woman in White. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilary in MI Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 I just read and enjoyed both The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and On Agate Hill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini If you loved the Kite Runner you will LOVE this book. I did anyway. I don't read many novels but I read both of these this year and they made a powerful impact on me. Highly recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veronica in VA Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 A few this year: March Alas, Babylon Canticle of Lebowitz Peace Like a River The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Always hard to narrow the list down! Veronica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Virginia Dawn Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Hey, didn't I recommend you get this one for your son last Christmas, Virginia Dawn? How'd he like it? He just started reading it last week. All things college consumed him for a while. His father read it in October and I read it in November. Ds got so tired of hearing us rave about the book that he finally picked it up when he was home for Thanksgiving break. Great book! Too bad I can't go bury my head in the sand now. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Virginia Dawn Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 I've been using this thread to start my list for 2009! Why do you think I asked the question? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacey in MA Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Will you tell me more about Mere Christianity.....? I have that book, started it once, and couldn't get into it with the time I had. It seemed very interesting though! Also, coincidentally, my DH is an engineer, but was formerly a physics professor like your DH! He considered along the way becoming a private school physics teacher during a career switching time. He still loves teaching, and would go back to it if the opportunities were just right, but has moved on to other things for now....but his love is in teaching. Thanks! - Stacey in MA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paisley Hedgehog Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 I read some really great books in 2008. Here are some that stick out: The Twilight saga -- not great writing, but I was totally absorbed. I read all four books, then went back to the beginning and read them again! I guess I'm still a teenager at heart! LOL Heartsick & Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain -- serial killer / Silence of the Lambs type books, but with a female bad-guy. Not for the weak stomached, but oh so good! The Likeness by Tara French -- suspenseful sequel to Into The Woods. It reminded me a bit of A Secret History by Donna Tartt, an all-time favorite book. I'm sure I'll think of more as soon as I hit "Submit". ;) Shari, I really enjoyed French's books, too. Maybe you'll like the one I listed, Child 44. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBP Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 My favorite non-fiction read was Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. My favorite fiction was The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which I read out loud to the kids. Somehow, I'd never read it before, but it was one of those (like Anne of Green Gables the previous year) that I was sneaking upstairs at night so that I could read ahead :). The book that made me go "huh?" and wish I had those hours back was Twilight. Sorry, but I just don't get what all the fuss is about with that one. :confused: SBP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 My favourites of 2008 are Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and Socrates Cafe by Christopher Philips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lorna Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 'The Summer Book' by Tove Jansson. It is at once funny, poignant and wise. A grandmother and her six year old granddaughter are summering alone on their own tiny Finnish island. There are two absent characters - the child's mother, who has died recently, and the father, who is so withdrawn into himself he is really absent too. They have many philosophical conversations and some very funny small adventures. It is full of Tove Jansson' quirky spirit and it made me feel brave enough to look forward to old age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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