Sunday, January 29, 2012

2012 Book List

Let's pretend for a moment.

Pretend that it's not January 29, 2012.

Pretend instead that it is January 2, 2012. Or anytime in that first week of January, anyway. Pretend that it is early January, and that I have my act together. The Christmas decorations have been put away since December 27 (ahem), resolutions have been made and adhered to, and my 2012 Reading List has been formulated and outlined, with an average of 2 books to read every month.

Or, not. In reality, I'm already running about 3 weeks behind with 2012. Good grief. I have been trying to put together a reading list, and have barely come up with anything. Friends will recommend books to me, which I don't write down, and subsequently forget what they are called. If one more person tells me to read The Hunger Games I will stick a pencil in my eye. Just can't do time travel people, sorry.

So here's what I've come up with for 2012: a mixture of favorite authors, books from my 2011 list that didn't get read, recommendations from facebook friends, and "assigned" reading.

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

I have heard nothing but great things about this book. And I have no idea what it's about. It's in my amazon shopping cart (because some books are better "flipped through" than read on Windell the Kindle), so hopefully this will be a February or March read.

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick

Yeah, this one was on my 2011 list. I still want to read it, I just never got around to it last year.

The Drop by Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly is one of the authors I read every time he writes something, but I've been trying to be a bit more patient when a newly released book comes out. I would love to borrow this, or find it at the library, since I only read these "mystery/suspense" type of books once.

Radical by David Platt

Another 2011 leftover. I've heard great things about this book, but I also know that it will be a hard one to read, so I'm looking forward to it but dreading it at the same time. We'll see if it's on the 2013 list.

Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

I'm reading this one now on the Kindle. I was also hoping to borrow this one from the library, but Windell and I caved the other night during a bout of insomnia. Hey, has anyone seen the One For the Money movie yet? Was it good?

Bossypants by Tina Fey (finished 1/25/12)

Not last summer but the summer before that I watched every episode of 30 Rock on Netflix during a few long night shifts. (If anyone I work with is reading this, I meant to say "afternoons at home" instead of "night shifts". It's just a phrase I use for "kids' naptime".) I am hooked, and I pretty much think Tina Fey is a comic genius. No surprises to the book, it was exactly what I expected: humorous, entertaining, not meant to be taken too seriously.

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Recommendation from a friend, it sounds like something I will enjoy.


Another tip from facebook. Loved Blue Like Jazz when I read it many, many moons ago, didn't make it through the next book of his I read, so we'll see how I do with this one.

Forgotten God by Francis Chan

One of my "assigned reading" books. My d-group girls (have I mentioned here that I meet with a group of high school girls from church every week? I love them to pieces) are going through this book together. We like to talk about boys and prom dresses and the holy spirit over chicken sandwiches once a week. Good times.

The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges

Another assignment, Brandon has his youth leaders reading through this book right now, and it's a surprisingly easy read given the subject matter. Nice short chapters, interesting stuff.

Okay, blog readers. 10 books. I need about 15 more for 2012. Any suggestions? Please don't say Harry Potter, Twilight, or Hunger Games. I'm not a fan of wizards, vampires, time travel, or basically fantasy of any kind. Also not a fan of manipulative stories intended to make me cry while simultaneously making me dislike every single character in the book(I'm talking to you, Jodi Picoult.)

Any great authors you've read lately? Books that sucked you in while your laundry piled up and the dishwasher went unloaded? My favorites from 2011 were Unbroken and Cutting for Stone. Just get your laundry done before you pick either of these up.

2 comments:

Stephany said...

The hunger games are not time travel books! They might not be up your alley, but they aren't sci-fi, I assure you!

Happy reading-let me know if you read anything I would like, and we really need to go see One for the Money after the musical is over. Miss you so much!

Steph

Emily said...

Haha well allow me to apologize for any potential injury to your eye because of my latest blog post! Those were, indeed, the ones I couldn't put down- my stomach hasn't been in knots that badly since I read the 7th Harry Potter book. I was up until 6:30 in the morning one night reading the first one. But if that's not up your alley, have you read The Poisonwood Bible? It's not really happy-go-lucky and it's sometimes difficult to read, but it's one that definitely made its way onto my shelf as opposed to my Kindle, haha! I liked The Bean Trees, too. But I can't promise that one won't make you cry. Hope that helps. : )