When I maintained my other blog at that place I never mention, I used to keep a book blog and a running list of the books I read.  I’d usually review the book I read, giving it a brief plot synopsis and a few notes on whether or not I liked it, etc.  But I stopped, probably around the time that I realized that being a parent of small children pretty much precluded me from reading 100 books in a year, even though I read fast enough and totally COULD do it.

I was reading a blog recently, that reminded me of how much I loved keeping that book list and there’s no real reason why.  I don’t read 1/4 as much as I used to or 1/8th as much as I’d like to, but I still enjoy reading.

So, without further ado I give you :

Books I read in 2011

non-fiction will be underlined

juvenille/young adult books will be in italics

The books I loved the best will be in bold.

1) Ender’s Game-Orson Scott Card

I won’t type out much of a review, because a lot of people have read this book and if you haven’t read it I don’t want to spoil it.  There’s an element of surprise to the end of the book that’s fun (well, from the plot twist/surprise aspect).  I was a bit…underwhelmed by the conclusion of the book, however.

2) The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

Read aloud to the girls.  Sweet story.  Religious focus without being preachy, which I appreciate.  It was funny and kept the girls entertained and it wasn’t too long so easy to read aloud

3) Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Oh gosh, so conflicted about this book.  Loved it, was bored by it, loved characters, hated characters.  Well worth the read, but I can’t foresee myself ever reading this book again and I’m not even sure I can recommend it.

4) The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoot by David Mitchell

Let me start off by admitting that I forgot what this book was about before I downloaded it for my kindle app so I was little disappointed that Jacob de Zoot wasn’t an immortal or something. Now that I’ve gotten that blonde moment admission out of the way, let me say that after my initial disappointment that the book lacked immortals, I really liked the story.

5) Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin.

If you haven’t read this book, I don’t want to spoil anything so I’m going to be vague and just encourage you to read the book.  It is the retelling of the life of Alice Liddell, the woman who inspired Lewis Carroll to write Alice in Wonderland.  Benjamin did a great job blending fact with fiction and it was a truly fantastic read.

6) Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern

While not as funny as the twitter/facebook one-liners, it’s a fun little book for light reading.  Not recommended if you’re at ALL offended by the eff word.

7)The Passage by Justin Cronin

Okay, so, it’s like The Stand meets some vampires (I haven’t read a vampire book that would compare to the vampires in this book, so I’m not going to try).  It’s engaging, engrossing, exciting and long.  But it reads like a Little Golden Book (not in simplicity of writing or because there are cute pictures, but because you can burn through the chapters like a hot knife slicing through butter).  If you like apocalyptic fiction(and for some reason, I do despite anxiety over apocalyptic situations), this books is for you.  If you only like sparkly vampires, skip this.

8) Those Who Save Us-Jenna Blue

Well written story of the Holocaust as it affects a German woman and her now middle aged daughter.  Told in flashback/flash foward it was a touching, moving and dark story.  Uber serious read.

9) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer

The only reason I stuck with this one is because I like books written in letter form.  Otherwise?  Super flat story.

10) Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass

Pretty good YA book.  Nice story line, good characters, no sex or violence which makes this book an excellent choice for advanced younger readers.  Nice coming of age story and pretty light reading after the holocaust and vampire stuff.

11)Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

Re-read.  I was not into this book for the first chapter and I thought about trying a re-read later, but I gave it a another chapter and I was back in love.  I don’t know that there are characters that I love more than the ones in this series.

12. Devil in the Details by Jennifer Traig

Okay.   More disturbing and less funny than I expected.

13. Falling In by Frances O’Roark Dowell

Cute, short and very YA.  A good book for more young, advanced readers.  Good vocabulary, but there’s no difficult subject matter

14-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling

My least favorite Potter book for about a million reasons

15. Grip of the Shadow Plague by Brandon Mull

Third in the Fable Haven series.  I like this series as a read alike for Percy Jackson lovers.

16. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling

In writing up this blurb, I tried to rank Harry Potter books by favorite.  Turns out, I cannot.

17. Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull

One of the more violent/gory of the Fablehaven series, but still a good read alike series.

18. Keys to the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull

Last entry in the Fablehaven series.  Really worth a read for YA fantasy lovers.

19. Two Kisses for Maddy by Matt Logelin

Beautifull written, but painfully sad.  Just like a good memoir should be.

20. The Doomsday Book  by Connie Willis

The plague is a lot worse than you thought it was, but there were enough facets of the book that I didn’t like that it really over powered the things I did.

21. Bossy Pants by Tina Fey

Funny.  Funny, funny, funny.  I haven’t ran into to anyone who has read this book that has not liked it.

22.Room by Emma Donoghue

Okay, I know I’m late reading this book, but it was really, really a WOW book.  The book is written from the perspective of five year old Jack who has spent his entire life locked in Room with his mother.  I don’t want to give too much away if you haven’t read the book except to say READ IT!

23. Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres

Not a book I can call my favorite for sure, but really riveting and really REALLY worth the read.