Thursday, December 27, 2012

What's on My Nightstand?

What's On Your Nightstand

With everything that's happened in the month of December (my husband being gone a weekend, a two day trip to Phoenix, Christmas, couch shopping, etc), I'm surprised that I finished so much. Most of the reading was fairly light because I was trying desperately to finish The Brothers Karamazov by the end of the year. Success!

As always, links are to my full reviews on Goodreads.

Bible Reading
  • Hosea
  • 1-3 John

Christian Fiction
  • A Time to Heal (Quilts of Lancaster County, #2) by Barbara Cameron - 3 stars. An easy weekend read.
  • Ten Thousand Charms (Crossroads of Grace #1) by Allison K. Pittman - 3.5 stars. Similar to Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, though not as well written.
  • The Missionary by William Carmichael, David Lambert - 2 stars. Maybe a guy would like it better? Tons of action and no character development.
  • She Walks In Beauty by Siri Mitchell - 3.5 stars. Another solid read by Mitchell. So far, all of Mitchell's books have been good.
  • Courting Cate by Leslie Gould - 3.5 stars. An Amish setting of a modern retelling of The Taming of the Shrew.
  • Before the Season Ends by Linore Rose Burkard - 3.5 stars. A Jane Austen style read, though not as good. Very clean period romance.

Classics
  • The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Unrated for now. I finished this classic last weekend and am still putting together my thoughts. I didn't really enjoy the story but I thought the author included some timeless observations about morality, society, and everyday life.

General Nonfiction
  • Think Like a Cat: How to Raise a Well-Adjusted Cat--Not a Sour Puss by Pam Johnson-Bennett - 4 stars. A great cat care book.
  • The Older Cat: Recognizing Decline & Extending Life by Dan Poynter - 1 star. A horribly written and poorly organized book on caring for an older cat.

Memoir
Secular Fiction
  • The Giving Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel by Jennifer Chiaverini - 4 stars. Finally! I was wondering if Chiaverini had written too many books in this series but this was a fun read, way better than the last two.

Currently Reading
I hope to finish the Christmas collection and possibly one more book before the end of the year. I have fun plans for my 2013 reading and can't wait to start!

Happy January reading!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I Loved She Walks in Beauty. So far I have loved the 3 or so of Siri's books that I've read.

Courting Cate is next on my list.

Lisa notes... said...

Congrats on finishing The Brothers Karamazov! I'm still too scared to even begin it. ha.

Nancy said...

LMA's Christmas Treasury sounds wonderful, I read a collection of L.M. Montgomery Christmas stories and really enjoyed it. Happy reading!

Nancy@5M4B

Beth said...

I would recommend Syrie James book about Jane Eyre. It was much better than the Jane Austen book.

Courting Cate looked interesting since I am doing Shakespeare with my kids, but after reading your review I think I'll pass since I am not a fan of Amish fiction.

Carrie said...

I have long wanted to read The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky but haven't done it yet.

I just accepted The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen (same author) and it fell remarkably flat to me. I was very disappointed because I thought it would be a very fun read! bah. On to something else . . .