Welcome to my World!: Its all happening at the Zoo!

I am thankful for a sunny, mild temperature day to enjoy the zoo with my kids. We had a great time!! I'll post photos later.

Book List for 2011

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner (341 pgs.) I'm not sure I can even count how many times I've read this book, its definitely one of my favorite books. Rereading it is like visiting old friends, and Stegner writes so descriptively, I feel like I take something new out of it each time I read it! But that's just me!
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (85 pgs.)
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (270 pgs.) A Pulitzer Prize winner, beautifully written, mesmerizing--makes me want to write my own book!
The List by Martin Fletcher (334 pgs.) Books about WWII have taken on new meaning after this last trip to Germany and seeing so many historic sites. Deals with the post WWII situation in London, England and Palestine. Good book.
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (473 pgs.) This may be my new favorite book of the three she's written, she's definitely one of my top favorite authors!
The Distant Hours by Kate Morton (loved this book, a new favorite book and author)
A Secret Gift by Ted Gup (359 pgs.) This a great non-fiction read about the author's Grandfather making an anonymous gift to his community during the Great Depression. I really enjoyed reading this book, very motivating to help other and build personal character. Will help you understand your grandparents!
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett (985 pgs.) Great book about the 20th century. First book in the trilogy, and I'm really looking forward to the second coming out. Really helps build understanding of the world events that lead up to the Great War (WWI).
Flirting with Disaster by Sherryl Woods (392 pgs.)
Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr (373 pgs.)
The Tower, The Zoo, and the Tortoise
Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls
The Lost Wife (excellent book set in Prague during WWII; I read it while I was visiting Prague and also the Terezin Concentration Camp, so it was especially poignant for me.)
The Gentleman Poet: A Novel of Love, Danger, and Shakespeare's The Tempest by Kathryn Johnson (319 pages)
City of Ash by Megan Chance (432 pgs.)
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin (272 pages), good book, mystery, intrigue, descriptive, but some strong language and situations.
Beach Lane by Sherryl Woods (360 pgs.)
The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand (437 pgs.)
Emma by Jane Austen
The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen (454 pgs.), great book if you like historic fiction, this one was set during the Renaissance.
Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, 391 pgs.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, 374 pgs.
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson (Great book, non-fiction), 375 pgs.
The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted by Bridget Asher, 438 pages (Loved it! Great summer read-chic lit!)
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Eummuska Orczy
A Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Chocolate Run by Dorothy Koomson
Treason at Lisson Grove by Anne Perry 306 pgs.
Bossypants by Tina Fey, 275 pages
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah (loved this book!)
Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner, 362 pages
The Island by Elin Hilderbrand, 407 pages
Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult (434 pages)
The Known World by Edward P. Jones (Pulitzer Prize winner), 388 pages
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (361 pages)
The Pact by Jodi Picoult (496 pages, very compelling, though sad subject matter, may be her best book).
Wit's End by Karen Joy Fowler (325 pages)
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (262 pages)
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, 552 pages. (This is one of my favorite books I've read in a while. Its a bit historical, beautifully written, full of mystery and intrigue, great character development and compelling. I hope you're not disappointed when you read it. I always hesitate to give to glowing of a report, so others won't be disappointed. Probably more appealing to women.)
A Night to Remember: The Classic Account of the Final hours of the Titanic (another great book, written in 1955 with help from 65 survivors) by Walter Lord, 159 pages
The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother's Hidden Life by Jasmin Darznik (great book about life and culture in Iran). 324 pages
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman (****Great book!, 936 pages)
Forge by Laurie Halsie Anderson (280)
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah (394)
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (353)
Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson (406)
Three Black Swans by Caroline B. Cooney (276 pages)

Book List for 2010

The Lace Makers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri
House Rules by Jodi Picoult (very compelling, easy read).
Little Bee by Chris Cleave (great book, a bit depressing with a heavy topic, but very well written and compelling).
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
Escape: Children of the Holocaust edited by Allan Zullo
The Christmas Stone by Liz Carlston
Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood
The Promise in a Kiss by
A Secret Kept by Tatiana De Rosnay (big disappointment since I loved Sarah's Key. This book was just okay.)
An Amish Christmas by Cynthia Keller
Aristocrats, Power, Grace, and Decadence: Britain's Great Ruling Classes from 1066 to the Present by Lawrence James
The 13th Hour by Richard Doetsch
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (most talented Bronte sister by far!)
And Only To Deceive by Tasha Alexander (really liked this one)
Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich
Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
The Accidental Family by Rowan Coleman
Mother by Mistake by Rowan Coleman
The $64 Tomato by William Alexander (A fun, light read--a gardening memoir)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
World Without End by Ken Follett
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle (made me want to take French lessons and move to Provence for a summer).
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (great book, I thought it would make a great musical adaptation or play, then found out Oprah already beat me to it!)
The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914 by David McCullough (He's my favorite history author, hands down!)
The Doctor and the Diva by Adrienne McDonnell (No, I do not consider myself a diva!)
Unfinished Portrait by Anthea Fraser
Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason
Death in the Devil's Acre by Anne Perry
The Rebellion of Jane Clarke by Sally Gunning (Historical fiction set in Boston and Cape Cod just prior to the Revolutionary War. Good, not great, but fun to read after a vacation to those areas.)
The Best of Times by Penny Vincenzi (light summer read)
Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson & Richard Dilallo
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (non-fiction, interesting read)
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of the Salem Witch Trials
Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt (Okay, I loved this book. Its a historical novel about witch trials in Lancaster, England around 1612. This is a topic I find very interesting, and I thought this book really helped you to understand the cultural and religious environment that led to the accusations of witchcraft. Hard to put this one down!)
Coventry by Helen Humphreys (a beautifully written WWII story).
The Sweet Far Thing by LIbby Bray (a female Harry Potter, very entertaining, though long . . . 819 pages).
The Feast of Roses by Indu Sundaresan (Second book in the series--also a great read!)
The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan (Great historical novel about India during the Mughal Empire).
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (Great read about the Salem Witch Trials).
Water, Stone, Hearty by Will North
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Home by Marilynne Robinson
The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens (a classic, only half written before Dicken's passed away. Hard to read a mystery with no conclusion.)
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff (Novel about polygamy--pretty rough language in the modern tale, interesting church history, but I caution you that there are some pretty hard to take things in this book.)
Another Mother's Life by Rowan Coleman
These is my Words by Nancy E. Turner (This was a fantastic read--dealt with the Arizona Territories from 1881-1901; I would have been a terrible pioneer woman).
Dear John by Nicholas Sparks (hate to admit it, but I actually liked this one).
The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean (a beautifully written novel that shifts focus between Russia in WWII and the issue of Alzheimers.)
New York by Edward Rutherfurd (Great historical novel about the history of New York City. A bit slow in the first two chapters, but loved it after that.)
The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton (This is great chick lit! Would love to read this with a book club!)
City of God by Beverly Swerling (historic novel about NYC during the 1800's; I previously read City of Dreams by this same author).
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova (great book by the same author as The Historian. I actually liked this book better, maybe because its about Impressionist painters. Definitely recommend.)
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende (I really enjoyed this book.)
Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon
Letters for Emily by Camron Steve Wright (another Utah author)
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (A novel set in Jackson, Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. This is a great book.)
Remembering Isaac by Ben Behunin (Salt Lake author)
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Pulitzer Price winning author, excellent history of Lincoln. Highly recommend if you like reading history.)