Another Mini-Challenge

"Best of Your Reading Year"
Hosted by Lisa's World of Books
I'm all about book lists, so I'm happy to share a few of my "bests" of 2013 (so far):

Best YA Book of Your Reading Year
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow RowellAn almost perfect read, this is a gritty yet tender YA love story set in the mid-1980s (when I wasn't much older than the main characters are).

Best Non-Fiction Book of Your Reading Year
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunnI was first exposed to this important book at a women's retreat I attended in 2010, and I was deeply moved when I "read" it on CD at the beginning of this year. By Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, this is a call to action I can't forget.

Best Children's Book of Your Reading Year
The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin LevineI absolutely loved this exploration of racism in the late 1950s. The main characters - Marlee and Liz - are terrific, and Marlee's "voice" is just perfect. I highly recommend this to both middle grade students and adult fans of historical fiction.

Best Fiction Book of Your Reading Year
Flight Behavior by Barbara KingsolverI've been a fan of Barbara Kingsolver's fiction for a long time, and her most recent novel did not disappoint. It's beautifully written as well as a meaningful exploration of today's social issues.

Best Title Character of Your Reading Year
The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel SimonSpanning 50 years, the story of Beautiful Girl - and those in her life - is a compelling tale of love, social justice, faith, and choices. I loved this one!

What are the "bests" of your reading year?

What I Am Reading

In my car: Life of Pi by Yann Martel.

In my kitchen: U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton.

On my Kindle: Doomsday Book by Connie Willis.

With the Book Buddies: Christianity for the Rest of Us by Diana Butler Bass.

For my young adult literature class: Return to Exile by E.J. Patten.

Via DailyLit: The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence by Tom Peters.

With my scripture study: 21 Days Closer to Christ by Emily Freeman, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver, and Whom the Lord Loveth: The Journey of Discipleship by Neal A. Maxwell.

In conjunction with my happiness project: Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin.

Yes, I am reading ten books all at the same time!

What are you reading?

Oh, To Be Young

Back in 2008, I wrote a post in which I claimed that I am "Not Too Old" for young adult literature. Today I'm gratified to hear that NPR supports me in that claim!

Like I do, young adult author Gayle Forman, author of If I Stay, reads a lot of young adult novels, and she has identified five favorites of 2010 in article entitled "Oh, To Be Young" "because really," she says, "at the end of the day, don't we all have a 17-year-old somewhere inside of us?"

The five titles she picked are as follows:

• The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson


• Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver


• The Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhardt


• The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney


• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

I've not read any of these yet - although four of the five have been on my to-read list for a while, with The Sky is Everywhere currently on my nightstand. I'm looking forward to some good YA reading for the holidays!

Good Picks for Book Clubs

As the member of several book clubs, past and present, I was interested by the Top Ten Discussion Books list compiled by Reading Group Guides. I have read eight of the ten, all with a book club of one kind or another:

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (I read this one on my own at the end of 2009, and it made the list of my favorite books of the year. It was also a pick of the Book Buddies online book group this year.)
2. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (I read this one with my long-time book club in January and posted a review.)
3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (I read this one with my long-time book club, back in October 2006 before I started book blogging. I did post a few thoughts on my "other" blog. In January 2007, another book club I met with briefly read the book, but the discussion was less than satisfying for me, as I explained here, and I stopped attending this book club.)
4. The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls (This was a pick for my long-time book club in 2006, and in January 2009 I re-read it with my church women's group book club, which is now defunct, and posted a review.)
5. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (This was the "book club" read for my annual women's retreat in June 2008. I started it there and continued reading it through the summer.)
6. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (I read this with my "book lunch girls" in February 2009 and posted a review. Then in June this was the "book club" read for my annual women's retreat.)
7. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (I first read this one with my long-time book club in the summer of 2005. My church women's group book club read it in January 2007, and I posted a few thoughts.)
8. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (I haven't read this one yet, although my mom recommended it to me not too long ago.)
9. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (I read this one with my long-time book club in May 2009 and posted a few thoughts about it.)
10. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant (This one has been on my to-read list for several years, but I've not yet read it.)

As a fan of young adult and children's novels, I was also interested in the Top 10 Young Adults/Kids Books list. Of these, I've read eight, many of them with a reading group:

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (I read this one on my own at the end of 2009 and posted a review.)
2. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Although I read two of DiCamillo's other books in a mother-daughter book club - The Tale of Despereaux and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - this one remains on my to-read list.)
3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (I read this with the "book lunch girls" early in 2009 and posted a review. It was also the 2008 Salt Lake County "One County, One Book.")
4. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (I read this one with the Book Buddies in November 2007 and posted a review.)
5. The Giver by Lois Lowry (I've never discussed this all-time favorite with a group but have always wanted to. I posted a few thoughts on re-reading in January 2008.)
6. The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman (I've not read this one yet.)
7. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (I read this one with the "book lunch girls" in the summer of 2009 and posted a few thoughts.)
8. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (I read The Deathly Hallows - the seventh book of the series - during the summer of 2007 and posted my review. My church women's group book club met to discuss it shortly thereafter. I read all the other books in the series on my own, pre-book blog.)
9. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins (I picked The Hunger Games for both the "book lunch girls" and my long-time book club in the summer of 2009, and I posted some discussion questions. I've since read the other two books in the trilogy on my own.)
10. Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer (I chose Twilight for my long-time book club in June 2007 and posted a few thoughts and some discussion questions. My church women's group book club met to discuss Twilight a few months later. I read the rest of the series along with my daughters, including a formal discussion of New Moon at a lunch outing.)

What books have you enjoyed reading and discussing with a book group?

A Book List

My husband - who is a self-described non-reader - recently wrote a post about USA Today's 100 best-selling books of 2009. He said he'd be interested in knowing how many of those I have read. So, WhiteRabbit, this is for you:

(Books I've read are bolded and, where applicable, linked to my reviews. Books on my to-read list are italicized.)

1. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer


2. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer


3. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer


4. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer


5. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown


6. The Shack by William P. Young


7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney


8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney


9. Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey


10. Going Rogue: An American Life by Sarah Palin


11. Glenn Beck’s Common Sense by Glenn Beck


12. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult


13. The Associate by John Grisham


14. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger


15. Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto by Mark R. Levin


16. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin


17. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell


18. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney


19. The Host by Stephenie Meyer


20. The Help by Kathryn Stockett


21. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows


22. Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom


23. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak


24. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney


25. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan


26. The Love Dare by Stephen Kendrick and Alex Kendrick


27. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown


28. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson


29. Eat This, Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding


30. Arguing With Idiots by Glenn Beck


31. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks


32. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris


33. I, Alex Cross by James Patterson


34. Under the Dome by Stephen King


35. Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast


36. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan


37. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow


38. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling


39. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris


40. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold


41. Push (Precious) by Sapphire


42. True Compass by Edward M. Kennedy


43. Hunted by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast


44. Vision in White by Nora Roberts


45. What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel (Actually it's an earlier edition that I read; it's been a while since I've been "expecting.")


46. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons


47. Eat This, Not That! by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding


48. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith


49. Betrayed by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast


50. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris


51. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris


52. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink


53. Tempted by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast


54. Chosen by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast


55. Untamed by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast


56. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout


57. Sundays at Tiffany’s by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet


58. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich


59. Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult


60. The Road by Cormac McCarthy


61. StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath


62. Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts


63. Cross Country by James Patterson


64. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris


65. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah


66. South of Broad by Pat Conroy


67. Ford County: Stories by John Grisham


68. The Appeal by John Grisham


69. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max


70. The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer (Although I didn't read the four books as a set.)


71. Night World: Volume One by L.J. Smith


72. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay


73. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris


74. Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell


75. Evermore by Alyson Noel


76. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan


77. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein


78. Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell


79. Guinness World Records 2010


80. 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life by Don Piper and Cecil Murphey


81. The Calorie King Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter, 2009 Edition by Allan Borushek


82. The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle by L.J. Smith


83. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho


84. Dead As a Doornail by Charlaine Harris


85. Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama


86. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan


87. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne


88. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis


89. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris


90. New Moon: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion by Mark Cotta Vaz


91. Run for Your Life by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge


92. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks


93. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee


94. Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan by Suze Orman


95. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert


96. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell


97. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates


98. A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity by Bill O’Reilly


99. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris


100. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

That's 26 that I've read (if I count The Twilight Saga), and another 25 on my to-read list. What about you? How many of you read? Are there any you think I ought to add to my to-read list? Can you identify the four or five that will never be on my to-read list?

NPR's 100 Best Beach Books Ever

I saw NPR's list of the 100 Best Beach Books Ever (compiled from a survey of nearly 16,000 "book-loving NPR-types") at The 3 R's. Florinda, in turn, saw it at Musings of a Bookish Kitten. Since it's hard for me to pass up a good book list, here it is again - with the ones I've read in bold:

1. The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
2. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
3. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
(A few of my thoughts.)
4. Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding
5. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
6. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells
7. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
8. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
9. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg
10. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver

11. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger (My brief review.)
12. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
13. The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
14. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
15. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
16. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
17. Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett
18. The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
19. Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
20. Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen (My review.)

21. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
22. The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver
23. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
24. The World According to Garp, by John Irving
25. Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
26. The Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy
27. Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel
28. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
29. The Accidental Tourist, by Anne Tyler
30. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer (My review.)

31. A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
32. East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
33. The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant
34. Beach Music, by Pat Conroy
35. One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
36. Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier
37. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
38. Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry
39. The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough
40. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon

41. Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
42. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
43. Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice
44. Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier
45. Empire Falls, by Richard Russo
46. Under the Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes
47. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
48. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, by Tom Robbins
49. I Know This Much Is True, by Wally Lamb
50. Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie

51. Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
52. The Stand, by Stephen King
53. She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb
54. Dune, by Frank Herbert
55. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (My brief review.)
56. Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
57. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
58. Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
59. The Godfather, by Mario Puzo
60. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith (My review.)

61. Animal Dreams, by Barbara Kingsolver
62. Jaws, by Peter Benchley
63. Good in Bed, by Jennifer Weiner
64. Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner
65. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
66. The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway
67. The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand
68. Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut
69. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
70. The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler

71. The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
72. The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy
73. Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns
74. The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
74. Bonfire of the Vanities, by Tom Wolfe [tie]
76. Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
77. Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon
78. The Shell Seekers, by Rosamunde Pilcher
79. Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver
80. Eye of the Needle, by Ken Follett

81. Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck
81. The Pilot's Wife, by Anita Shreve [tie]
83. All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy
84. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
85. The Little Prince, by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
86. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
87. One for the Money, by Janet Evanovich
88. Shogun, by James Clavell
89. Dracula, by Bram Stoker
90. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera

91. Presumed Innocent, by Scott Turow
92. Franny and Zooey, by J.D. Salinger
93. The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
94. Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris
95. Summer Sisters, by Judy Blume
96. The Shining, by Stephen King
97. How Stella Got Her Groove Back, by Terry McMillan
98. Lamb, by Christopher Moore
99. Sick Puppy, by Carl Hiaasen
100. Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson

That's 31 for me! (A lot of the others are on my to-read list.) Which of them have you read? What is your favorite "beach book"?

New Discovery

Last Sunday morning I discovered another of Wendy's fabulous blogs! This one is called

The Lists - Books for the Obsessive Reader.

One of those lists is the

100 Most Influential Novels By Women.

I've only read eleven of the 100 to date. These are the books:

1. Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind
2. Anne Rice, Interview With the Vampire
3. Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse
4. Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
5. Virginia Woolf, The Waves
6. Virginia Woolf, Orlando
7. Djuna Barnes, Nightwood
8. Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth
9. Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence
10. Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome
11. Radclyffe Hall, The Well of Loneliness
12. Nadine Gordimer, Burger's Daughter
13. Harriette Simpson Arnow, The Dollmaker
14. Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
15. Willa Cather, My Ántonia
16. Erica Jong, Fear of Flying
17. Erica Jong, Fanny
18. Joy Kogawa, Obasan
19. Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook
20. Doris Lessing, The Fifth Child
21. Doris Lessing, The Grass Is Singing
22. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
23. Marge Piercy, Woman on the Edge of Time
24. Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres
25. Lore Segal, Her First American
26. Alice Walker, The Color Purple
27. Alice Walker, The Third Life of Grange Copeland
28. Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Mists of Avalon
29. Muriel Spark, Memento Mori
30. Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
31. Dorothy Allison, Bastard Out of Carolina
32. Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea
33. Susan Fromberg Shaeffer, Anya
34. Cynthia Ozick, Trust
35. Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club
36. Amy Tan, The Kitchen God's Wife
37. Ann Beattie, Chilly Scenes of Winter
38. Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
39. Joan Didion, A Book of Common Prayer
40. Joan Didion, Play It as It Lays
41. Mary McCarthy, The Group
42. Mary McCarthy, The Company She Keeps
43. Grace Paley, The Little Disturbances of Man
44. Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
45. Carson McCullers, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
46. Elizabeth Bowen, The Death of the Heart
47. Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood
48. Mona Simpson, Anywhere But Here
49. Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon
50. Toni Morrison, Beloved
51. Stella Gibbons, Cold Comfort Farm
52. Sylvia Townsend Warner, Mr. Fortune's Maggot
53. Katherine Anne Porter, Ship of Fools
54. Laura Riding, Progress of Stories
55. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust
56. Penelope Fitzgerald, The Blue Flower
57. Isabel Allende, The House of the Spirits
58. A.S. Byatt, Possession
59. Pat Barker, The Ghost Road
60. Rita Mae Brown, Rubyfruit Jungle
61. Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac
62. Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus
63. Daphne Du Maurier, Rebecca
64. Katherine Dunn, Geek Love
65. Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle
66. Barbara Pym, Excellent Women
67. Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony
68. Anne Tyler, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
69. Anne Tyler, The Accidental Tourist
70. Nancy Willard, Things Invisible to See
71. Jeanette Winterson, Sexing the Cherry
72. Lynne Sharon Schwartz, Disturbances in the Field
73. Rosellen Brown, Civil Wars
74. Harriet Doerr, Stones for Ibarra
75. Harriet Doerr, The Mountain Lion
76. Stevie Smith, Novel on Yellow Paper
77. E. Annie Proulx, The Shipping News
78. Rebecca Goldstein, The Mind-Body Problem
79. P.D. James, The Children of Men
80. Ursula Hegi, Stones From the River
81. Fay Weldon, The Life and Loves of a She-Devil
82. Katherine Mansfield, Collected Stories
83. Rebecca Harding Davis, Life in the Iron Mills
84. Louise Erdrich, The Beet Queen
85. Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness
86. Edna O'Brien, The Country Girls Trilogy
87. Margaret Drabble, Realms of Gold
88. Margaret Drabble, The Waterfall
89. Dawn Powell, The Locusts Have No King
90. Marilyn French, The Women's Room
91. Eudora Welty, The Optimist's Daughter
92. Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries
93. Jamaica Kincaid, Annie John
94. Tillie Olsen, Tell Me a Riddle
95. Gertrude Stein, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
96. Iris Murdoch, A Severed Head
97. Anita Desai, Clear Light of Day
98. Alice Hoffman, The Drowning Season
99. Sue Townsend, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole
100. Penelope Mortimer, The Pumpkin Eater

That's a list I'd like to read. Over time. Over a long period of time.