For the last couple weeks, I have had a plethora of blog ideas. I usually think of them as I am driving home. Upon sitting down to type, I would realize that none of them work out as well as I had anticipated.
For example, I went to Hawaii (Maui) with Adam for our one-year-anniversary. It was fabulous. Absolutely fantastic. But, as my friend's mom informed me at a wedding shower, "nobody wants to read about how wonderful your life is." So true. Plus, I lost the cord to download pictures from my camera, so I would not be able to post the stellar photo of myself, surfing...
After thinking it over, I was planning on writing not necessarily about my great time visiting the 50th state, but a blog comparing Seattle to Hawaii. I know what you are thinking-that sounds odd. It was, so I have yet to post that entry.
There were other possibilities but, in the end, none worked out the way I had envisioned in my mind.
Since I LOVE to read, I decided in the end, this entry would be a list of my personal favorite books.
Here it is. A list of the best books I have ever read.
1) Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
This is a memoir about a boy's miserable childhood in Ireland in the 1940's. His family is dirt poor, and cannot even afford shoes. To make matters worse, his good-for-nothing father spends the little money they do have at the pubs. Oh, and they keep having more children. And half of them die before the age of three. Sounds depressing, but McCourt writes in a way that makes it almost humorous.
2) Jemima J By Jane Green
This is one of my favorite "chick lit" reads. A girl living in London wants to lose weight and get a boyfriend. She meets a man (who lives in California) online and leads him to believe she is thin. Jemima does lose the weight right before she takes off on a journey to Los Angeles to meet him. I know this plot sounds dumb and cheesy, but trust me, it is incredibly well-written. In fact, I literally devoured it in one night!
3) 19 minutes by Jodi Picoult
Most people are more familiar with Picoult's book, My Sister's Keeper, but in my opinion, 19 Minutes toally blows it out of the water. This book is told in multiple points of view (which I LOVE) as they unravel the events leading up to, and following a school shooting. Picoult's uncanny ability to develop many characters is amazing and a difficult task, and she nails it!
4) Sex Wars by Marge Piercy
Before you start raising eyebrows at me, this is NOT a book about sex. Not really anyway, although there is certainly a lot of it in the story. It is an historical fiction novel set in the time of women's suffrage, and showcases some of the era's well-known figures-Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Victoria Woodhull, and Cornelius Vanderbuilt...and the villain, Anthony Comstock (famous for his laws banning porn and birth control). I actually learned a great deal while reading this, and also was completely enveloped in the story.
Other recommended reads (because I am too lazy to write anymore reviews, this is just a list). Again, these are all books SO outstanding, I have read them multiple times:
5) Firefly Lane by Kristen Hannah (have Kleenex ready)
6) The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (long, but a fast read...I promise)
7) The World without End by Ken Follett (the sequel to Pillars.)
8) The Help by Kathryn Stockett (better than the movie...and I thought the movie was fairly decent, as far as movies modeled after books go...)
9) Harem by Dora Levy Mossanen (Great historical fiction read about life in a Sultan's Harem, and I learned a great deal about Eunuchs as well)
10) Courtesan by Dora Levy Mossanen (follows a woman's life as, well, a Courtesan)
11) The Queen's Fool by Phillipa Gregory (can you tell I enjoy historical fiction?)
12) Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi (great read for guys too! Learned a great deal about the man behind the racket, including some interesting bits about his hair!)
13) Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner (again, not a sex book! She has many other great reads too)
14) Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult (because everybody likes to read about Amish community)
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