Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Halfway...

As of March 29, I am halfway to my goal of 100 books in 2010.



HUZZAH



Originally, I was going to post a whole collage of the book covers of the 50 books I have read. Then I remembered that I don't have time for that kind of nonsense. SO, we are giving out prizes instead for books that stood out to me. We'll call them the Raizers



In the category of Cried-Like-A-Baby

Nominees:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Redeeming Love

Odd Thomas

Echo in the Darkness



Winner: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Without giving away the ending, I cried for, triumphs as well as tragedies, for joy and for sadness, and was left with a sense of loss as well as fulfillment when I put the book down. Odd Thomas gets an honorable mention for making me bawl my eyes out in the front seat of my car, in my driveway, making my neighbors think I am mentally unhinged,



For Made-Me-Paranoid-as-an-Agoraphobic-Chihuahua

World War Z

Shutter Island

I, Robot



Winner: Shutter Island. While World War Z did make me a bit wary of the woods and cause me to check my back seat for the undead, Shutter Island had me seriously contemplating my own sanity and wondering if everything happening was only a part of my own psyche. I have never been so suspicious of my husband in my life.



For I-Had-A-Hard-Time-Not-Lighting-the-Book-on-Fire

Never Let Me Go

InkHeart

Multiple Blessings



Winner: Just all of them. Never Let me Go was horrific, and Multiple Blessing was an eyeroll beginning to end. InkHeart was redeemable only because it was an interesting plot made horrible by sub par writing.



Top Five Books of THE FIRST HALF:



5. Water for Elephants - Beautifully engaging, richly charactered, sentimental without being sappy, and an elephant as a heroine. How can you go wrong?



4. Life of Pi - I believe this book is on the 1001 books to read before you die list, and for good reason. So imaginative, and thoughtful enough to make you wonder if you are living your life purposefully and with love and faith. Beautiful.

3. Outlander - I have never fallen in love with a hero quicker than I fell in love with Jamie Fraser. Even when he's beating Clare senseless, I couldn't help but love him. The story is intricate, sometime maddeningly so, but the beauty of the storytelling and the romance of the love story makes it completely worth it

2. Redeeming Love - Francine Rivers is one of my favorite authors, and this is only one of three of her books that I read this half. The love between the two main characters (or, more accurately, the love the male lead has for the female lead) is so pure, so beautiful, so selfless. The idea of taking someone back, no, actively seeking someone who has betrayed you, with the intention of taking them back and loving them, is so foreign, but at the same time so perfectly right. I cried buckets at the end, by the way.

1. Odd Thomas - I cannot say enough about this book. I don't even know what to say other than READ IT.

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