Read More Books!

I believe that my love of reading came from my grandmother who passed it on to my mother and to me. I can still picture my grandma sitting in her chair totally engrossed in a book. She was such a cute little woman and had this big chair that she would turn sideways in so she could rest her legs on one arm. She did this into her 80s and it was always so cute to see her in this position. She must have sat like this as a teenager.

After reading a book she would give it to me with a small note written in the front cover. It would say “read this” or “good book” something simple and to the point. She passed away a few years ago and in my cedar chest I have one of her jackets and a book that she passed on to me that says “Kat read this book!” I can’t tell you the name of the book, but I can tell you that those words written by her are so special to me.

This year I am going to read more books! I learned to knit and crochet 4 years ago and this really cuts into my reading time. That and the fact that I am out of shape and so tired that when my head hits the pillow at night I can’t stay awake long enough to read a page. (See previous resolution about getting into shape) I read a lot of books throughout the day with the children, but this year I plan on reading at least 12 books that are just for me! Yippee!

I will be posting the books I read along with a short review of each book. Right now I am reading Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides. This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for years and for some reason I just never picked it up. So far it is a pretty good read!

Here are some of my favorite books in no particular order…I say no particular order, but Lonesome Dove is my all time favorite book and Pillars of the Earth is a very close second.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Fall on Your Knees by Ann Marie MacDonald
One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
The Diary of Mattie Spenser by Sandra Dallas
One Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
The House of Gentlemen by Kathy Hepinstall
The Absence of Nectar by Kathy Hepinstall
These is My Words by Nancy Turner
Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve
Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwartz
The Mermaid’s Singing by Lisa Carey
In the Country of the Young by Lisa Carey
Snowflower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith
The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Saije
Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
The Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult – actually any book by her.
Cider House Rules by John Irving
The Color Purple by Alice Walker