Confessions of a bookworm

My husband has been deployed for almost 11 months, and should be home in just a few more. As we near the end, I'm looking back at the highs and lows. Many of the lows were soothed by an escape from my own reality into a book (or a pile of them). I think I've read more this year than any other year of my life. I thought it might be fun to produce my reading list here. I know this is not a complete list - many of the books I've read I've sent back to my mother and sister (who love me and keep me in reading materials). As I remember them, I'll add them.

I love fiction, and tend to stick to YA (young adult literature) mainly for content (plus great writing). I find that I'm just not up for the adult content in adult fiction nowadays.

YA fiction:

*Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
*New Moon - Stephenie Meyer

Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - Ann Brashares (great characters)
Second Summer of the Sisterhood - Ann Brashares
Girls in Pants - Ann Brashares
Forever in Blue - Ann Brashares

Eragon - Christopher Paolini
Eldest - Christopher Paolini

Sorcery & Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot - Patricia Wrede & Caroline Stevermer

Keturah and Lord Death - Martine Leavitt

Son of the Mob - Gordon Korman

The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman (a little creepy)

Chasing Vermeer - Blue Balliett

Al Capone Does my Shirts - Gennifer Choldenko

Saving Francesca - Melina Marchetta

Princess Academy - Shannon Hale

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix (re-read via audio tape)
Harry Potter & the Half-blood Prince (ditto)
Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban (reread)

Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson
The Great Gilly Hopkins - Katherine Paterson

*Sarah, Plain and Tall - Patricia MacLachlan

The Boxcar Children - Gertrude Chandler Warner (for my second grader)

My Mom's a Mortician - Patricia Wiles
Funeral Home Evenings - Patricia Wiles
Early Morning Cemetery - Patricia Wiles

Joey Pigza Loses Control - Jack Gantos (didn't like at all)

Becoming Naomi Leon - Pam Munoz Ryan

*Soldier Mom - Alice Mead


Adult books

Cry, The Beloved Country - Alan Paton

Heroes at Home - Ellie Kay

The Work and the Glory: Pillar of Light - Gerald N. Lund
The Work and the Glory: Like a Fire is Burning - Gerald N. Lund
The Work and the Glory: Truth Will Prevail - Gerald N. Lund

A Sense of Wonder - Katherine Patterson

Far from Cactus Flat - Lyman Hafen

*ADHD with Comorbid Disorders - Steven R. Pliszka, Caryn Carlson, James Swanson (CE credit)

I'm also halfway through Patriots -by A.J. Langguth
I read a good chunk of the Old Testament before moving on to the New Testament
Read a bit of A Mormon in the White House? 10 things every American should know about Mitt Romney - Hugh Hewitt (though it seemed redundant so I quit)

As of 6/17/07
I forgot a few:

The Samauri's Garden
The Toughest Show on Earth? (Autobiography of Joseph Volpe - Metropolitan Opera)

New Reads:

Crispin: The Cross of Lead - Avi
The Thief Lord - Cornelia Funke
Mothering with Spiritual Power - Debra Woods (comes out in a few months, gave endorsement)
The Minstrel's Tale - Berit Haahr (a classmate from Bryn Mawr)