The Third Degree

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Books in 2009

1. The Elegant Gathering of White Snows – Kris Radish: my mom gave me this book, and while I was reading it in 2008, I’m still working through it right now. It’s heavy, moving, and has already made me cry. I’m pretty sure I could have written at least one of the chapters. My mom may have written one of the other chapters, and I’m pretty sure that Grams wrote one, too. I recommend this book to any woman looking for a book that means a little more. I finished this book in a couple of days and am pretty impressed by it. (January)
2. You Slay Me – Katie MacAlister: my mom gave me this book, too, and it’s fluff. It’s an easy reading bit of fluff, but it’s what I needed after TEGoWS! (January)
3. The Truth Is … My Life in Love and Music – Melissa Etheridge: borrowed this quick read from Sara and tore through it. Easy to read and interesting. Never was a huge ME fan (just know a couple of her songs) but really enjoyed the book. (January)
4. The Innocent Man - John Grisham: not your typical Grisham book. True-crime novel about a man who didn’t do it but got blamed for it anyway. Easy reading but seemed to take me a long time to finish! (January)
5. Chill Factor – Sandra Brown: so far it’s a super-quick read. 100+ pages in one night. Crime novel. Typical Brown book. Good so far, though. Okay, I finished this book in two sittings. It took me a total of 4 hours. 530+ pages. Pretty predictable but a good read anyway. (January)
6. Bel Canto (P.S.) – Ann Patchett: FABULOUS book. Recommend to anyone looking for a good read. It took me a while to get into it, but once you hit chapter three, it’s amazing! (February)
7. Deception Point – Dan Brown: quick and easy thriller novel. Not a bad read, nothing spectacular, though. (February)
8. The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing – Melissa Bank: another quick read. Nothing to write home about but it was a decent book. (February)
9. Blue Shoe – Anne Lamott: fantastic book about healing from a divorce and moving on. While it wasn’t quite my situation, it was a great reminder that I had it pretty easy compared to a lot of families. Absolutely recommended. (March)
10. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress – Dai Sijie: I read this book in an pre-surgery anxiety-haze. It wasn’t what I was expecting and while I can’t say that I didn’t like it, I didn’t thoroughly enjoy it, either. (March)
11. The Tale of Despereaux – Kate DiCamillo: Sara lent me this book and it was a super-quick, super-cute read. It was great for after surgery recouperating. I haven’t seen the movie so I can’t compare, but I enjoyed the fluff read! (March)
12. Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood - Koren Zailckas: One of my favorite book genres is memoirs of women who have had bad issues; part of me connects with them and part of me is thankful I can’t connect with them all. (This book is along the same lines as Marya Hornbacher’s Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia.) I’m tearing through it, and if my eyes weren’t crossing as I was in bed at night (thank you pain meds), I’m sure I’d be done with it already. (March)
13. Left Behind – Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins: These are fiction books that Amazon describes well with “a gripping thriller that captures the anxiety and fear that interpretations of Revelation often inspire.” These books are based on the interpretations of the book of Revelation – the second coming of Christ. The other 11 books will be soon to follow as I “plan” to read them in the series order! Finished the book, although it took a little longer than I had hoped. Surgery and total need to sleep got in the way!
14. Tribulation Force – Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins: second in the “Left Behind” series. I’m realizing that I don’t remember much from ANY of these books so it’s like I’m reading them fresh all over again!
15. Nicolae – Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins: third in the “Left Behind” series. This book took me less than three hours to get through again. It has been fantastic.
16. Soul Harvest – Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins: fourth in the “Left Behind” series. This one made me have weird dreams, made me anxious for those who I believe will be left behind and started me on a quest to re-read and understand the book of Revelation.
17. Apollyon – Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins: fifth in the “Left Behind” series. About 1/4 of the way through and it’s slow moving so far. Loving re-connecting to these books!
18. Assassins – Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins: sixth in the “Left Behind” series. This one was a super-fast read since it’s all I did one Saturday!
19. The Indwelling – Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins: seventh in the “Left Behind” series. Reading it in the sunshine and really enjoying it.
20. The Mark – Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins: eighth in the “Left Behind” series. This books scares me the most as I can see it happening in any sort of time, not just during the Tribulation. When I was in high school/early college, this was as far as I got with the books, so the remaining four are “new” to me!
21. Desecration – Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins: ninth in the “Left Behind” series. The Anti-Christ desecrates the Holiest of Holies and I couldn’t put it down. (April)
22. The Remnant – Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins: tenth in the “Left Behind” series … working my way through it quickly like the others. I’ve passed my “book a week” goal already. Let’s see if I can keep it up!
23. It Sucked & Then I Cried: How I had a Baby, a Breakdown and a Much Needed Margarita – Heather B. Armstrong (author of Dooce.com): flew through this book in about three hours of reading. While I enjoyed reading it, like other reviewers have said, it’s most a regurgitation of her blog posts. Very little “new” material, but seeing the raw emotional connection between her and Jon during Heather’s post-partum depression was moving. (May 3)
24. Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools – John Kozol: a heart-wrenching book about the obvious inequalities in the American school system. Angered me to no end.
25. Brothers & Sisters – R.F. Whaley: close friend wrote this book and whlie it’s not in my regular genre (historical fiction) I am LOVING it like I loved his first one. A story about how families change and morph through time. Easy to read and convincing characters.
26. You’d Be So Pretty …: Teaching Our Daughters to Love Their Bodies–Even When We Don’t Love Our Own – Dara Chadwick: I have the honor of interviewing Dara Chadwick in the very near future and am tearing through her book about how mothers (and fathers) can really change the way a young girl thinks about her body. It makes me scared to have children. I will ruin them.