2009 Year In Review- Book

December 4 Book: What book - fiction or non - touched you? Where were you when you read it? Have you bought and given away multiple copies?

This is the year of unfinished books for me. I still have Dracula, The Power of One, People of the Book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Zookeeper's Wife and Kitchen Table Wisdom, just to name a few, near my bed in hopes of finishing them "soon." That I have not finished these books is by no means an indication of how I feel about them. Dracula is still in my top ten of all-time favorite books! But for some reason, I have not been able to finish many books this year. Blame the burn-out I guess.

I also have an even larger stack of books I wanted to start but never got around to including Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Fablehaven, the Percy Jackson series, something by Shannon Hale and The Hunger Games.

Even though it was a rough year for reading, I do have a favorite. My best read this year was The Count of Monte Cristo. It was beautifully written and the characters were fascinating. It gave me a lot to think about and talk about. I read an abridged version for Debbie's book club and have added the unabridged version to my list of "must reads." I would highly recommend this book and am so grateful for my bookclubs that push me to read more than I would on my own.

As a note- East of Eden was a great read too. One specific idea has come up repeatedly in my thoughts and conversations since reading the book- that of Tom's inner wrestle with greatness. I too have a personal battle over the greatness the Lord offers through obedience and doing things my way... but that is another post.