Book List 2010

Book List 2010! Last year I read fifty-three and this year my numbers were lower with a mere forty-eight, but I still think it's respectable. I was aiming for a book a week, missed it by four, but I still think I had a good year. Maybe this year I'll hit fifty-two, or exceed it. Whatevs.

Non-fiction Books
1. Counterfeit Gods – Timothy Keller
2. Introducing Covenant Theology – Michael Horton
3. Trusting God in a Twisted World – Elisabeth Elliot
4. The Law of Perfect Freedom – Michael S. Horton
5. The Call – Os Guinness
6. The Reason for God – Timothy Keller
7. The Cross Centered Life – C.J. Mahaney
8. In My Place Condemned He Stood – J.I. Packer & Mark Dever
9. The Making of Evangelicalism – Randall Balmer
10. Eden’s Outcasts – John Matteson
11. If – Amy Carmichael
12. Dug Down Deep – Joshua Harris
13. The Vanishing Conscience – John MacArthur
14. Hard to Believe – John MacArthur
15. Shadow of the Almighty – Elisabeth Elliot
16. The Total Money Makeover – Dave Ramsey
17. The Great Gain of Godliness – Thomas Watson
18. Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis
19. Taste and See – John Piper
20. Singled Out for Him – Nancy Leigh DeMoss
21. Come Ye Children – C.H. Spurgeon
22. Addictions - A Banquet in the Grave – Edward T. Welch
23. All of Grace – C.H. Spurgeon
24. When People are Big and God is Small – Edward T. Welch

I make it a goal to read at least one biography a year, and this year I read "Eden's Outcast", a biography about Louisa May Alcott and her family, most notably her father, an author and thinker in his own right. I loved this biography, even though I don't like "Little Women", Alcott's most well-known book. It was fantastic! I thoroughly recommend it. It also gives a fascinating look at the beginning of the Transcendental movement and the Alcott family's involvement in it.

This year I read two books by Spurgeon. I had never read anything by Spurgeon until this year. Why? His writing is so gospel-soaked that it makes my heart sing. Spurgeon will definitely be included in next year's list!

Love me some lovely CCEF. I read two books ("Addictions - A Banquet in the Grave" and "When People are Big and God is Small") by a faculty member and they both slayed me with their gospel-centered counsel. It was hard to hear, but needful. I will be hopefully reading more from CCEF's bookshelf in the coming year.

Other notable non-fiction books: "Counterfeit Gods" by Timothy Keller (really good!) and "If" by Amy Carmichael (convicting in a great way!).

Fiction Books
1. Life among the Lutherans – Garrison Keillor
2. A Good Man is Hard to Find – Flannery O’Connor
3. And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie
4. Housekeeping – Marilynne Robinson
5. Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
6. Arranged Marriage – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
7. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – J.K. Rowling
8. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J.K. Rowling
9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J.K. Rowling
10. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J.K. Rowling
11. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling
12. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling
13. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling
14. A Painted House – John Grisham
15. Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout
16. Gilead – Marilynne Robinson
17. One Amazing Thing - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
18. Idyll Banter – Chris Bohjahlian
19. The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax – Dorothy Gilman
20. Midwives - Chris Bohjahlian
21. The Murder at the Vicarage – Agatha Christie
22. Something Special: A Story – Iris Murdoch
23. Jeeves in the Morning – P.G. Wodehouse
24. A Murder is Announced – Agatha Christie

I've been sort of an Anglophile this year, and I have discovered golden nectar in the form of Agatha Christie novels (especially any that involve Miss Marple). Seriously, those books are like candy. I used to snob mystery novels because they weren't "real" literature, and maybe they aren't, but I do love reading them.

Every year I also try to read a children's series. This year, under some protest, it was the Harry Potter series. I was hesitant to read them but after listening to a lecture by Jerram Barrs, a professor at Covenant Seminary here in St. Louis, I was persuaded to give them a try. I LOVED them. Let me repeat: I loved those books. As soon as I was finished with them I wanted to read them all again. If you want to check out the lecture I believe it can be found on Monergism under Jerram Barr's name.

Notable fiction books: "Arranged Marriage" by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (but anything by Divakaruni is AMAZING. Seriously, do yourself a huge favor and read one of her books either "Arranged Marriage" or "The Unknown Errors of our Lives". Doesn't that title give you a thrill?!) and "Rebecca" by Daphne Du Maurier.

And that's it. In 2011 I want to read the children's series "A Series of Unfortunate Events". I read it many years ago, but I don't think I finished the very last books. The series has lots of delectable words, and I love delectable words. I'm not sure what biography I want to read, but I think maybe a political figure? And my first non-fiction book of the year will be a book on celibacy. I think. If it doesn't depress me too much. And of course MORE AGATHA CHRISTIE! I love you, Agatha Christie, so much.

Well friends, any suggestions for my book list this year? I want to hear what you want to, or are planning to, read in the coming year. And as always...

Happy reading!

Snow Day

I love snow like I love New York City - from a comfortable distance. The sound of snow gently falling onto trees and ground, a comfy place to curl up in, and a good book is my idea of a perfect snow day. Thankfully, others (namely Nancy) are willing to brave the cold, wet snow in order to build a snowman and his wife so that someone (namely me) could take a picture of it and post it to their blog. So quaint, so picturesque is my life in the country. What a relief that I don't have to actually participate!

Yay Books!

Books are my obsession: I love them. When I go over to a friend's house you can usually find me lurking somewhere near his or her bookshelf. One friend says I only love her for her books, which is not true (but maybe a little). Yesterday I found a fabulous site for fellow book lovers. When I explained to my seventeen year-old sister that the premise for the website involved, not buying books from others but trading them, she snidely said: "is the website called 'trade-my-lame-books-dot-com'"?

She will never understand.

Anyway, I wanted to alert those interested to the existence of this website. I put up fourteen of my books for trade (snide little sister: "I don't even own fourteen books! You are so lame!") and already I have requests for seven of them. Although now I have to send those seven to different parts of the US. Hm. Well, the good news is I have one of my book requests coming from Greece! So, if you have the cash to send your old books to others (you don't have to send them overseas), I would recommend this site. Postage is so much cheaper than a trip to Borders!

Although maybe not for the guy in Greece...