Sunday, January 9, 2011

Books of 2010

Its the cool thing to do in my husband's family to read a whole lot of books every year, like 50 or 100.  But I'm pretty sure most don't actually read that much, just the ones who try really hard to look cool. Since its so cool, I counted up how many books I read last year.  I didn't try hard to achieve a big number, I just read what I read when I wanted to read.  But I am super cool, because I got a great number without trying 25, when I include the Old Testament in the number, and Jehovah and the World of the Old Testament, a LDS reference book. Which I do include, because I read every chapter and page of the Old Testament and that is 1184 pages.  I didn't actually read all of the Jehovah and the World of the Old Testament, quit after about 350 pages because the chronologically got so screwy.  But that isn't the reference book's fault that would be King James's workers I guess.  But I still count it, and you would too if you saw the size of this reference book.  Actually now that I'm thinking about it, I read the Book of Mormon again this year with my husband, so I actually read 26 books this year, which is really cool because I'm 26. So I am really cool which is the moral of the story.
In other really coolness, Brent and I take about a year to read the Book of Mormon as a couple, and I know this because every Decemeber we end up reading 3rd Nephi which is really cool because December is Christmas, and 3rd Nephi is about Jesus's sign of his birth in the Americas and him coming to visit after his death.

 Here are my reviews for my most recent books.  As you can tell I did not list all 26 books, because over the past year I think all 26 books were reviewed on my blog.

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting BoyThe Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought this was a super cute book for kids.  A perfect book for a girl ages 8-14 probably, but I bet a boy who liked to read could enjoy it too, it is about a "very interesting boy".  It was predictable, but not too predictable, it was happily ever after, with not too perfect of a happy. It all worked out in the end, but not everything was perfect for everyone. It was just a good book about some sisters on summer vacation.  It falls under the archetypal of girls who's mother passed away, and a boy who never met his father. But no it does not end with the girls' dad and the boy's mother marrying, the book never even goes that direction, so it doesn't count as a spoiler.

I'm not quite sure what year this book counts for, I guess 2011.  I read 3/4 before Christmas but didn't finish because I was on vacation and didn't want to bring a library book out of town.
Haroun and the Sea of StoriesHaroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book more than I actually did because I think the author is so interesting.  I got this book after hearing an interview with Rushdie on NPR about Luka and the Fire of Life.  It was a fun adventure book, but I think there might have been a culture gap with some of the humor, and other points of the story.  It is an allegory about some of India's problems, and I'm embarrassed to say, I am not informed on India.  But I did enjoy the book and I would recommend it, the author wrote the book for his son when he was around 9. Maybe I'm just too far removed from a 9 year old boy.  Maybe my nephews would like it more.  Maybe their parents should see if they like it?  Not to mention even if I had a culture gap problem all the more reason to read another book by Rushdie or another author not from the Western World.  Although he is from the Western World now, he's lived in England for decades.
I didn't tell you anything about the plot want more info, here is wikipedia's post on it.  How about their article on the author.


View all my reviews

1 comment:

  1. Good job! Did you like the Einstein one?
    I wanted to read the one that takes place in Texas, I can't remember what it was called, it has the yellow cover with alittle girl.
    We are reading the New Testament this year with the kids. Anyone that finishes it by June 7th gets to go get Ice Cream at the Blue Bird in Downtown Logan. Are you in?

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