Books I've Read in 2009

I have a great friend, Madelaine, who is an avid book reader. I would not even want to guess how many books she might read in a year. When we see each other (which is only once or twice a year), we always manage to find a way to shop for books. She is very helpful in deciding what to purchase. She started including a book list with her Christmas cards one year and has done it every year now for 3 or 4 years. I thought that was a wonderful idea. I decided to keep track of what I read in a year, the title, the author and a bit of description. Now my list does include most of what I read, which probably is not a lot compared to some of you readers. I am amazed though how many I do get to enjoy considering I work full-time at the shop, am a homemaker and am helping Hubby build the house. Most reading is done late in the evening or while travelling when Hubby drives. My favourite books are always the ones that are true.

Here is my list for this past year:
BOOKS I’VE READ IN 2009:
Sweeter than all the World Rudy Wiebe
Hard book to read, had to start over when I was half way done, interesting if you want to know some Mennonite history. Swings back and forth between different generations. Helps to make some notes so you can track the people in it.

The Shipping News E. Annie Proulx
Book about life on Newfoundland, found it interesting but was difficult to read with the dialects. If this is an accurate account then it is almost as if Newfoundland is a country all on its own with its own language.

Faith when Dreams Die Olaf Friggstad True story
Saskatchewan farmer who turns to manufacturing but loses it all. Flexi-coil buys his company. He has to learn to accept God’s way when he is deeply hurt.

Vinegar Hill A. Manette Ansay
Story of Ellen Grier and her family who have to move in with her in-laws. Cruelty is a way of life in this loveless home.

We Were the Mulvaneys Joyce Carol Oates
I had to start twice to get through it. Lots of descriptions. Interesting story but did not captivate me. Family life with tragic consequences.

The Orange Trees of Baghdad Leilah Nadir True story
Memoir of author’s Iraqi roots. Current regarding the USA invasion. Harrowing, touching and painfully human.

The Man who Lost Himself June Callwood
The Terry Evanshen Story
CFL Hall of Famer sustains severe brain damage from a car accident. True story of courage, loss and love.
44 years of memory wiped out! He must relearn life.

I am a Hutterite Mary Ann Kirby True story
Couldn’t put the book down. Lots of insight into Hutterite Colonies. A story of love, courage and faith.

The Hundred Secret Senses Amy Tan
A challenging book to read – took me over a year of going back to it. A story of sisters and ghosts set in San Francisco and China.

Sweetness in the Belly Camilla Gibb
Hard to put down. Set in Ethiopia during Emperor Haile Selassie’s rule. Lilly, born to British parents becomes a white single young Muslim woman. Lots of hardships, with war, poverty and exile.

Man and Boy Tony Parsons
A father learns how to parent and look after a young son after a separation and divorce. Story line good but lots of the “f” word which did not sit well with me.

The Undomestic Goddess Sophie Kinsella
A lawyer gets thrown into a domestic job with hilarious results. Nice light reading.

Confessions of a Shopaholic Sophie Kinsella
Being a writer about financial situations and being a shopaholic just don’t go together. More light reading but fun.

The Heart of a Woman Maya Angelou True story
Maya marries an African man and moves to Africa with her teen-age son. Interesting but not captivating.

Three Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin True story
Amazing true story of Greg’s mission to promote peace by building schools in Pakistan and Afganistan.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place Aron Rolston True story
Aron Lee Ralston (born October 27, 1975) is an American mountain climber who became famous in May 2003 when he was forced to amputate his lower right arm with a dull knife in order to free himself after his arm became trapped by a boulder when he was mountaineering in Utah.

The Outcast Sadie Jones
Story of Lewis Aldridge, who had love denied to him and it had brutal consequences. Set in the 1950’s in England.

The Time Traveler’s Wife Audrey Niffenegger
A love story of a different kind. Henry finds himself periodically displaced in time, sometimes in the future and sometimes in the past. Clare has to learn to deal with many times of Henry missing. The odd thing is he always leaves and returns naked. An author with an imagination.

Suite Francaise Irene Nemirovsky
Written in 1941 but only published 65 years later. Irene died in 1942 at Auschwitz. This book is set during the time that France fell to the Nazis and is outstanding considering when Irene was writing this. The writings were saved by her young daughters as instructed by their father who was also killed by the Nazis.

Vision in White Nora Roberts
This what I would call a fluffy book – easy read in one day – four girls play wedding as children endlessly and land up running a company called Vows, where all you wedding dreams can come true.

Their Eyes were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston
Published in 1937 and is the story of Janie Starck, a black woman with dreams. Kind of hard to read as written with the black accent eg: “De nigger woman is de mule ah de world”. Interesting in terms of what black people went through.

Postcards E.Annie Proulx
New England farmers who must confront the twentieth century. As the family slowly disintegrates, its members struggle valiantly against the powerful forces of loneliness and necessity, seeking a sense of home and place forever lost.

The Christmas Shoes Donna VanLiere
If we’re open to it, God can use even the smallest thing to change our lives…. To change us. It might be a laughing child, car brakes that need fixing, a sale on a pot roast, a cloudless sky, a trip to the woods to cut down a Christmas tree, a school teacher, A Dunhill Billiard pipe… or even a pair of shoes.

Gianna Jessica Shaver True story
As an unborn baby she survived abortion. God is using Gianna Jessen to remind the world that each human being is precious to Him. It is beautiful to see the strength of the love of Jesus which He has poured into her Hear.

Hope there may be some books in here that you might enjoy reading. Today I bought another 4 to get me started on my 2010 list.