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Thursday, January 8, 2009

Booking Through Thursday and a book review



The Best?

It’s a week or two later than you’d expect, and it may be almost a trite question, but … what were your favorite books from 2008?

(It’s an oldie but a goodie question for a reason, after all … because, who can’t use good book suggestions from time to time?)

Well, I had to go back through my list from Goodreads to see what I'd read last year and then to decide what were really my absolute favorites. This was a little tough because I read so many great books but after serious considertion I was able to come up with my list. Here they are in no particular order.

  • Tethered by Amy MacKinnon- excellent book from a first time author. I was pulled in from the very first page and finished it within a day!!
  • Good Things by Mia King-just a truly easy, enjoyable read that I when I finished it made me feel truly satisfied.
  • Identical by Ellen Hopkins-She's a very talented YA author whose poetry style totally intrigues me. After reading a few of her books I realized that her prose actually takes the shape of objects talked about in the book. I'm not too bright sometimes!!
  • Looking For Alaska by John Green- one of the BEST YA books I've ever read. Period.
  • Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran- I love books based around food, probably because I have absolutely no talent for cooking!! but I totally fell in love with the location, Ireland, and all the truly believable characters.
  • Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson-She's one of my favorite authors of YA, Children's book...ever!! She didn't let me down with her historical fiction book based on a young female slave living in New York during the Revolutionary War. EXCELLENT!!
  • Maus I: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman-This was my first foray into the Graphic Novel genre and I was instantly attracted to the black/white drawings, the depiction of Jews as mice and Nazis as cats. This book touched me emotionally. If you want to try a graphic novel then I say start with this one!
  • Kindness of Strangers by katrina Kittle-another excellent book. Touchy subject, child porn, but one that certainly should be addressed.
  • Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli- I have to thank Kim from Goodreads because she threatened me with much bodily harm if I did not read this book. I'm so glad that she forced me to read this. Stargirl is unique. Someone that you would love to know and sometimes want to be like. A wonderful YA that I would recommend for moms and daughters to share!
  • 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff- This book is written as letters being exchanged over a period of time. Absolutely charming and wonderfully done. It made me sad that we no longer value the written correspondence as we once did.
  • Persepolis 1: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi- another excellent graphic novel. I was and still am very ignorant of life in Iran. Marjane's no holds barred attitude gives you a glimpse into her young life during times of extreme upheaval. Another excellent graphic novel.
  • Love Walked In- by Marisa de los Santos- All I can say is I loved this book!!!! Loved the characters, the setting, the storyline, the voices....just everything!
  • Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen- I truly enjoyed every single minute of this book. What a witty person Jane Austen was and such a true voyeur of society.
That was fun!! I hope that you enjoyed the list and if you haven't read some of these that I might have been able to give you some reading suggestions. I know that each blog I visit I leave there with more books on my list!!


Now for my book review:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
From the back cover: It's January 1946, and London is emerging from the shadow of World War II. Author Juliet Ashton is having a terrible time finding inspiration for her next book when she gets a letter from Dawsey Adams from Guernsey, a British island that has been occupied by the Nazis. He found her address in an old Charles Lamb volume and thinks she might be able to help him learn more about the author.

As Juliet and Dawsey exhange letters, she learns about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a unique book club formed on the spur-of-the-moment , as an alibi to protect its members from arrest by the Germans. Captivated, Juliet sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds there will change her life forever.

rating: didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing (my current rating)
bookshelves: read, indiebound-org, next-best-book-club, winter-reading-challenge-2009 (edit)
status: Read in January, 2009
recommended by: JoAnn
updates: view all 2 status updates
review: I must say that I found this book to be utterly charming!! I loved the whole premise of the book and that the authors wrote it in as correspondence between the characters. This book reminded me so much of 84 Charing Cross Road, which I adored. It makes you long for the day when the only way to communicate with each other was by post. I love computers and email but we just don't write letters to each other like they did in the past. Each entry is so lively and descriptive. I could picture the people, places, and even the smells. It is sad to know that Mary Ann Shaffer didn't live long enough to see how wonderfully successful her novel became but I'm so glad that she was able to get her manuscript to her niece so that she could put the finishing touches on it. It would have been truly sad to think that we may have never experienced such a heartfelt book. If you've been thinking of reading this book, STOP thinking and check it out from the library, borrow it from a friend, or buy it from an INDIE bookstore!! You won't regret one minute that you spend with these wonderful characters!!

7 comments:

  1. Funny - we live on Charing Cross Road, in Glasgow!

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  2. I don't think I've read a one of your bests, but several are on my TBR. :)

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  3. You've got some good ones on your list. I really liked Kindness of Strangers too. I also have Tethered and Pomegranate Soup to read yet. The Guernsey book is one that I still have yet to read. Maybe I'll get it from the library for the library challenge. Everyone seems to love this book.

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  4. Charing Cross Road seems to strike a chord in a lot of people. It's one of my favourites too. I read it for the 2nd time this past year. And your right, the first thing I thought of when I read the Guernsey book was how much it reminded me of 84 Charing Cross Road. I didn't rate Guernsey quite as high as you but I did enjoy it. Coincidentally, at my RL book club (which was this evening) someone chose it as our next read!

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  5. I just popped over from JonJon's, she mentions you in her posting today. I was tickled to find among your 2008 reads the book '84 Charing Cross Road'.... one of my favs! (I love the movie too) I haven't read it in a while, but since you joggled my memory, that will have to go on the pile of 'must reads' for 2009!

    Happy Reading!

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  6. Great list! I've marked several of them to read. I also really enjoyed "Love Walked In."

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  7. I have the Hanff book on my must read list for this year. Haven't seen a bad review of it ever.

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