January Book List

Learning to Sing by Clay Aiken
After reading this, I really appreciate how weird this celebrity thing must be for Clay. It was inspiring, but sad, to hear about his life. I'm glad things are going better for him now.

The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
I'd been hearing about this novel for years. To me it read more like a collection of short stories about the same character (and one of them, inexplicably, wasn't about her at all). Even though it was a little confusing chronologically, I really enjoyed it.

Jennifer Government by Max Barry
This book gets my Book of the Month award. I was a little skeptical about it, but ended up reading almost the whole thing in one sitting. It's a novel about a future in which most of the world's nations are American colonies, everything is privatized, and people take their company's name as their last name. You can't even call an ambulance without a credit card. I was horrified and fascinated. At the same time, there are funny and emotional scenes. I had the same reaction to this that I have to the Terminator movies - if people aren't careful, I can almost see a society like this evolving. Scary.

Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot
Okay, really. An entire novel written in e-mails? I like Meg Cabot and I liked this book, but gosh, it was off-the-scale fluffy. I think she's pushing the journaling narrative style a little too far.

The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge
I randomly chose this from our church library and was pleasantly surprised. At first it seemed pretty schlocky and I almost gave up on it, but by the end I was nodding a lot and thinking "Wow." :) For those who enjoy more meaty theology books, I think you'll get something out of this one if you can just hang with it.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Another one I'd been meaning to read for a long time. I wholeheartedly recommend it to women (men would probably feel a little squicky). It's a creative interpretation of the story of Jacob's wives, with Dinah as the narrator. It's basically a book of womanhood. I loved it. Leah stood out most to me. I've always interpreted her as pitiable, unloved and kind of whiny, but I really liked Anita Diamant's Leah, who isn't any of those things.

The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
This book is about a man who ages backwards (i.e. he's born as an old man and will die as a baby), and the extraordinary life he has as a result. Very creative, but very sad; it's sort of hopeless-feeling and everyone is in love with the wrong person. His writing is beautiful, though...like poetry.

The Yada Yada Prayer Group by Neta Jackson
A Christian novel about an unlikely prayer group that forms at an urban women's conference. I liked it and found it convicting, prayer-wise.

Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella
I just finished this one yesterday. The plot is pretty unrealistic, which is typical of Sophie Kinsella, but fun and enjoyable. Chick lit at its finest.

Leap Day by Wendy Mass
A YA novel about the 16th birthday of a girl born on Leap Day. The premise is that she can "see into" her friends' thoughts for that one day, but actually, only the narrator can - the girl remains clueless. It jumps around so fast that it's hard to remember things about the characters, but it's an interesting idea. Also, it's set in Orlando and Disney-oriented, which creates some extra amusement.

The Intimate Marriage by R.C. Sproul
A helpful and quick read. It made me happy, probably because Evan and I haven't yet had any of the problems the book describes. :)

I don't think I'm going to do this digest format again. It's too hard for me not to talk about what I'm reading at the time!

January Book List

Learning to Sing by Clay Aiken
After reading this, I really appreciate how weird this celebrity thing must be for Clay. It was inspiring, but sad, to hear about his life. I'm glad things are going better for him now.

The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
I'd been hearing about this novel for years. To me it read more like a collection of short stories about the same character (and one of them, inexplicably, wasn't about her at all). Even though it was a little confusing chronologically, I really enjoyed it.

Jennifer Government by Max Barry
This book gets my Book of the Month award. I was a little skeptical about it, but ended up reading almost the whole thing in one sitting. It's a novel about a future in which most of the world's nations are American colonies, everything is privatized, and people take their company's name as their last name. You can't even call an ambulance without a credit card. I was horrified and fascinated. At the same time, there are funny and emotional scenes. I had the same reaction to this that I have to the Terminator movies - if people aren't careful, I can almost see a society like this evolving. Scary.

Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot
Okay, really. An entire novel written in e-mails? I like Meg Cabot and I liked this book, but gosh, it was off-the-scale fluffy. I think she's pushing the journaling narrative style a little too far.

The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge
I randomly chose this from our church library and was pleasantly surprised. At first it seemed pretty schlocky and I almost gave up on it, but by the end I was nodding a lot and thinking "Wow." :) For those who enjoy more meaty theology books, I think you'll get something out of this one if you can just hang with it.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Another one I'd been meaning to read for a long time. I wholeheartedly recommend it to women (men would probably feel a little squicky). It's a creative interpretation of the story of Jacob's wives, with Dinah as the narrator. It's basically a book of womanhood. I loved it. Leah stood out most to me. I've always interpreted her as pitiable, unloved and kind of whiny, but I really liked Anita Diamant's Leah, who isn't any of those things.

The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
This book is about a man who ages backwards (i.e. he's born as an old man and will die as a baby), and the extraordinary life he has as a result. Very creative, but very sad; it's sort of hopeless-feeling and everyone is in love with the wrong person. His writing is beautiful, though...like poetry.

The Yada Yada Prayer Group by Neta Jackson
A Christian novel about an unlikely prayer group that forms at an urban women's conference. I liked it and found it convicting, prayer-wise.

Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella
I just finished this one yesterday. The plot is pretty unrealistic, which is typical of Sophie Kinsella, but fun and enjoyable. Chick lit at its finest.

Leap Day by Wendy Mass
A YA novel about the 16th birthday of a girl born on Leap Day. The premise is that she can "see into" her friends' thoughts for that one day, but actually, only the narrator can - the girl remains clueless. It jumps around so fast that it's hard to remember things about the characters, but it's an interesting idea. Also, it's set in Orlando and Disney-oriented, which creates some extra amusement.

The Intimate Marriage by R.C. Sproul
A helpful and quick read. It made me happy, probably because Evan and I haven't yet had any of the problems the book describes. :)

I don't think I'm going to do this digest format again. It's too hard for me not to talk about what I'm reading at the time!