2014

Jaxon reading a book from Bonnie ~ January 23, 2012
Bonnie reading to Raegan ~ October 31, 2011
My rating system
10 - Loved it!! Couldn't put it down!!
9 - Excellent!
8 - Very Good
7 - Good
6 - Above Average
5 - Average
Anything lower - Nah
* DNF - Did Not Finish
JANUARY
January favorite (#4)

1.  Whistling in the Dark: A Doubter's Dictionary ~ by Frederick Buechner, 1993, religion, 8/10
2.  In the Country of the Young ~ by Lisa Carey, 2000, fiction (Maine), 6/10
3.  The Story of Holly and Ivy ~ by Rumer Godden, illustrated by Barbara Cooney, 1985, children's, 8/10
4.  Knocking on Heaven's Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death ~ by Katy Butler, 2013, memoir, 9/10
5.  Not All Princesses Dress in Pink ~ by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple, illustrated by Anne-Sophie Lanquetin, 2010, children's, 7/10
6.  The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes ~ by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein, illustrated by Mark Pett. 2011, children's, 10/10
7.  Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 ~ by Michelle Markel, 2013, children's history, 9/10

FEBRUARY
February favorite (#10)

8.  A Perfectly Good Family ~ by Lionel Shriver, 2007, fiction (North Carolina), 9/10
9.  Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman ~ by Kathleen Krull, 1996, children's, 8/10
10.  The Housemaid's Daughter ~ by Barbara Mutch, 2012, fiction (South Africa), 10/10
11.  The Sunday Philosophy Club ~ by Alexander McCall Smith, 2004, mystery fiction (Scotland), 7/10
12.  Five Famous Mice Meet Winston of Churchill ~ by Jean Davies Okimoto, illustrated by Jeremiah Trammell, 2014, children's, 10/10
13.  The Dovekeepers ~ by Alice Hoffman, 2011, fiction (Israel), 9/10

MARCH
March favorite (#14)

14.  The Invention of Wings ~ by Sue Monk Kidd, 2014, fiction (South Carolina), 10/10
15.  Leaving Home ~ by Anita Brookner, 2005, fiction (France), "nah"
16.  Living Buddha, Living Christ ~ by Thich Nhat Hanh, 1995, religion, 7/10
17.   Life After Life ~ by Kate Atkinson, 2013, fiction (England), 7/10
18.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar ~ by Eric Carle, 1969, children's, 10/10
19.  Still Life with Bread Crumbs ~ by Anna Quindlen, 2014, fiction (New York), 8/10
20.   The Book of Jonah ~ by Joshua Max Feldman, 2014, fiction (New York, Amsterdam, Las Vegas), 7/10

APRIL
April favorite (#24)

21.  Lost Lake ~ by Sarah Addison Allen, 2014, fiction (Georgia), 9/10
22.  Elena's Serenade ~ by Campbell Geeslin, illustrated by Ana Juan, 2004,  juvenile/women's studies (Mexico), 9/10
23.  The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate ~ by Jacqueline Kelly, 2009, YA fiction (Texas), 9/10
24.  The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image ~ by Leonard Shlain, 1998, language and culture, 10/10

MAY
May favorite (#30)

25.  Sisterland ~ by Curtis Sittenfeld, 2013, fiction (Missouri), 9.5/10
26.  The Elephant Scientist ~ by Caitlin O’Connell, 2011, children's (Namibia), 9/10
27.  The Listening Walk ~ by Paul Showers, 1961, junvenile, 10/10
28.  Don't You Know There's a War On? ~ by Avi, 2001, YA fiction (New York), 10/10
29.  Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis ~ by Jimmy Carter, 2005, political science, 9/10
30.  Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity ~ by James D. Tabor, 2012, history of religion, 9/10
31.  Writing as a Second Language: From Experience to Story to Prose ~ by Donald Davis, 2000, writing, 10/10
32.  Dreams and Dreaming (Mysteries of the Unknown) ~ by the Editors of Time-Life Books, 1990, psychology, 9/10
33.  The Enoch Factor: The Sacred Art of Knowing God ~ by Steve McSwain, 2010, religion, 9/10
34.  Writing a Woman's Life ~ by Carolyn G. Heilbrun, 1988, women's studies, 8/10
35.  Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life ~ by Karen Armstrong, 2010, religion, 9/10

JUNE
June favorite (#39)

36.  The Practice of the Presence of God ~ by Brother Laurence, 1692, read by Bob Tetreault, 2000, memoir, 8/10
37.   The Homesman ~ by Glendon Swarthout, 1988 (Afterword, 2014, by the author's son Miles Swarthout),  fiction (Nebraska), 8/10
38.  Pitching My Tent: On Marriage, Motherhood, Friendship, and Other Leaps of Faith ~ by Anita Diamant, 2003, essays, 9/10
39.  The Pink Party ~ by Maryann Macdonald, illustrated by Abby Carter, 1994, children's, 10/10
40.  How to Talk to Your Cat ~ by Jean Craighead George, illustrated by Paul Meisel, 2000, children's, 8/10
41.  Awakening Compassion: Meditation Practice For Difficult Times ~ by Pema Chödrön, 1995, religion, 7/10

JULY
July favorite (#44)

42.  Tapestry of Fortunes ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 2013, fiction (Minnesota), 8/10
43.  Brothers on the Run: Based on a True Story ~ by Pat Lorraine Simons, 2013, historical fiction (Germany), 7/10
44.  Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A Story ~ by Richard Bach, photos by Russell Munson, 1970, fiction, 10/10
45.  Where Earth Meets Water ~ by Pia Padukone, 2014, fiction (India), 8/10
46.  Unless ~ by Carol Shields, 2002, fiction (Canada), 8/10
47.  Unveiled ~ by Francine Rivers, 2000, fiction (Canaan), 8/10
48.  Selected Writings of Bahá'u'lláh ~ translated by Shoghi Effendi, 1979, religion, 7/10

AUGUST
August favorite (#49)

49.  Goodnight June ~ by Sarah Jio, 2014, fiction (Seattle, Washington), 10/10
50.  The Way ~ by Kristen Wolf, 2011, fiction (ancient Palestine), 9/10
51.  Rich in Love ~ by Josephine Humphreys, 1987, fiction (South Carolina), 7/10
52.  Dog Heaven ~ Cynthia Rylant, 1995, children's, 5/10
53.  Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors? : The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell ~ by Tanya Lee Stone, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman, children's, 9/10
54.  Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker ~ by Jennifer Chiaverini, 2013, fiction (Washington, DC), 9/10
55.  The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are ~ by Brené Brown, 2010, wholehearted living, 9/10
56.  A Good Horse ~ by Jane Smiley, 2010, juvenile fiction (California), 8/10

SEPTEMBER
September favorite (#60)

57.  St. Louis: Yesterday and Today ~ by Betty Burnett, 2009, history, 8/10
58.  Tanglewreck ~ by Jeanette Winterson, 2006, children's fiction, 7/10
59.  Always We Begin Again: The Benedictine Way of Living, Revised Edition ~ by John McQuiston II, 2011, spirituality, 9/10
60.  The Story Hour ~ by Thrity Umrigar, 2014, fiction (USA and India), 10/10
61.  Learning to Walk in the Dark ~ by Barbara Brown Taylor, 2014, spirituality, 9/10
62.  The Cat, the Vagabond, and the Victim ~ by Leann Sweeney, 2014, mystery (South Carolina), 8/10
63.  Forever Lily: An Unexpected Mother's Journey to Adoption in China ~ by Beth Nonte Russell, 2007, memoir (China), 9/10
64.  The Dwelling Place ~ by Elizabeth Musser, 2005, fiction (South Carolina), 9/10
65.  We Were Liars ~ by E. Lockhart, 2014, YA fiction, 8/10
66.  Recipe for Life: Feasting on God's Grace ~ by T. Weseann, 2006, recipes, 6/10

OCTOBER
October favorite (#77)

67.  Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good ~ by Jan Karon, 2014, fiction (North Carolina), 9/10
68.  Say What You Will ~ by Cammie McGovern, 2014, YA fiction (California), 9/10
69.  Men Explain Things to Me ~ by Rebecca Solnit, 2014, essays, 8/10
70.  Interrupting Chicken ~ by David Ezra Stein, 2010, children's, 9/10
71.  The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer ~ by Anne-Marie O'Connor, 2012, history, 8/10
72.  Bunny Loves to Read ~ by Peter Bently, illustrated by Deborah Melmon, 2011, children's, 8/10
73.  Away in My Airplane ~ by Margaret Wise Brown, 2013, children's, 8/10
74.  Dog Heaven ~ by Cynthia Rylant, 1995, children's, 8/10
75.  The Red Thread ~ by Ann Hood, 2010, fiction (Rhode Island), 8/10
76.  Get Poi? ~ by Lowell Uda, 2013, memoir (Hawaii), 8/10
77.  Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet ~ by Jamie Ford, 2009, fiction (Seattle, Washington), 9/10

NOVEMBER
November favorite (#78)

78.  My Beloved World ~ by Sonia Sotomayor, 2013, memoir, 9/10
79.  Rose Harbor in Bloom ~ by Debbie Macomber, 2013, fiction (Washington state), 7/10
80.  Leaving Time ~ by Jodi Picoult, 2014, fiction, 9/10
81.  When I Was a Child I Read Books ~ by Marilynne Robinson, 2012, essays, 8/10
82.  Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces ~ by Radley Balko, 2013, sociology, skimmed 7/10
83.  The Age of Miracles ~ by Karen Thompson Walker, 2012, fiction (California), 8/10
84.  Lila ~ by Marilynne Robinson, 2014, fiction (Iowa), 8/10
85.  Night of Pan ~ by Gail Strickland, 2014, fiction (Greece), 8/10

DECEMBER
December favorite (#88)

86.  Turn of Mind ~ by Alice LaPlante, 2011, fiction, 7/10
87.  The Day the Crayons Quit ~ by Drew Daywalt, 2013, children's, 9/10
88.  A Friendship for Today ~ by Patricia C. McKissack, 2007, YA fiction (Missouri), 10/10
89.  The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics ~ by Daniel James Brown, 2013, history (Washington state), 8/10
90.  The Afterlife of Billy Fingers: How My Bad-Boy Brother Proved to Me There's Life After Death ~ by Annie Kagan, 2013, spiritual biography, 9/10
91.  Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything ~ by Barbara Ehrenreich, 2014, memoir, 8/10
92.  Pearl of China ~ by Anchee Min, 2010, fiction (China), 9/10
93.  A Charlie Brown Christmas (miniature edition) ~ by Charles M. Schultz, 2007, cartoons, 8/10
94.  The Signature of All Things ~ by Elizabeth Gilbert, 2013, fiction (Pennsylvania, Tahiti, the Netherlands), 8/10
95.  Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It ~ by Lisa Bloom, 2014, history, 9/10
Most fun (#93) because of the Charlie Brown tree and Linus's blanket

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