3) The Princes of Ireland, Edward Rutherfurd
2) Stealing Athena, Karen Essex
1) Her Fearful Symmetry, Audrey Niffenegger
Read in 2009:
50) Running with Scissors, Augusten Burroughs
49) Along Came A Spider, James Patterson
48) Daughter of Time, Josephine Tey
47) Innocent Traitor: An Novel of Lady Jane Grey, Allison Weir
46) The Crimson Petal and The White, Michael Faber
45) London: The Novel, Edward Rutherfurd
44) The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
43) Sarum: The Novel of England, Edward Rutherfurd
42) Taking Liberties, Diana Norman
41) A Concise History of the Hawaiian Islands, Phil Barnes
40) Social Studies for the Elementary and Middle Grades, Cynthia Sunal
39) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shafer
38) A Cup of Tea: A Novel of 1917, Amy Ephron
37) Assessing English Language Learners, Margo Gottlieb
36) 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with the SIOP Model, MaryEllen Vogt
35) The Glassblower of Murano, Marina Fiorato
34) Gap Creek, Robert Morgan
33) Midwives, Chris Bohjalian
32) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J. K. Rowling
Loved it just as much this time as I did the first time through!
31) Pack Up the Moon, Anna McPartlin
30) Drowning Ruth, Christina Schwarz
29) The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barber
I wanted to like this more than I did. Certain sentences and thoughts were absolutely jarring in their insightfulness. Was a bit bored throughout and then the ending was incredibly jarring. Strange little book.
28) The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follet
Yeah, I read these two out of order. Yes, there are a lot of similarities between them. Still, both were very enjoyable reads.
27) World Without End, Ken Follett
26) Emma Brown, Clare Boylan
25) Literacy for the 21st Century, Gail E. Tompkins
24) Classroom Reading Inventory, Wheelock, W.H., Campbell, C.J., and Silvaroli, N.J.
23) Understanding Reading Problems: Assessment and Instruction, Gillet, J., Temple, C., & Crawford, A.
22) Wise Children, Angela Carter
21) A Lion Among Men, Gregory Maguire
Not as good as Wicked, better than Son of A Witch.
20) The Mechanics of Falling, Catherine Brady
19) The Dante Club, Matthew Pearl
Creepy. Haunting. Disturbing. Awesome.
18) The House at Riverton, Kate Morton
17) The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
Who knew that a retelling of a Bible story from a woman's perspective could be so fascinating! They should have read us this at our youth group...
16) The Secret History, Donna Tartt
Follows the lives of five deeply twisted classics students at a small college in the Northeast and the outsider who befriends them and is sucked into their mysterious world. Absolutely loved this, but I would recommend at least a basic knowledge of mythology to get the most out of it.
15) The Savage Garden, Mark Mills
An unmotivated English student in the 50s gets the chance to travel to Tuscany to write his thesis on the garden of a wealthy estate owner. While he's there he uncovers centuries of family secrets, including--MURDER! This was a quick read, and while some of the twists were a little easy to see coming, I still enjoyed the unraveling of the plot.
14) The Painted Kiss, Elizabeth Hickey
This follows the relationship of Emilie Floge and Gustav Klimt (most famous for his painting, The Kiss) from her childhood through his death and into her old age. A very intriguing look at a man I knew little about and woman I'd never heard of before.
13) Bilingual & ESL Classrooms, Carlos Ovando, et al
So boring, I seriously contemplated gouging my eyes out, just so I'd have an excuse not to read it.
12) Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model, Jana Echevarria, et al
Um, you'd probably like this if you're planning to teach English Second Language students!
11) The Drowning Tree, Carol Goodman
I picked this one up in the morning and couldn't put it down until I'd read it all the way through. The plot twists and turns throughout the novel and the descriptions of paintings and stained glass windows made me feel as though it was part story and part museum. It kept me guessing until the end, and I'm sorry that I only have one Carol Goodman novel left unread.
10) The Seduction of Water, Carol Goodman
This is another book that incorporates fairy tales and gives them a darker, more morbid twist. One of my favorites of Goodman's books, I liked the depiction of a mysterious, but beloved mother and the search through the past her daughter goes on in hopes of finding answers. Again, one of the plot twists was a wee bit transparent, but overall, a beautifully told story.
9) The Gravedigger's Daughter, Joyce Carol Oates
Gritty, raw, violent, funny, disturbing, touching, heartbreaking. I can't say that I loved reading this book, but it enthralled me, fascinated me, and wouldn't let go when I finished it. The novel follows the life of a young girl born on a refugee ship from Germany just prior to the start of WWII, and the secrets that she and her family harbor that threaten to destroy them all.
8) The Lake of Dead Languages, Carol Goodman
This was the third Goodman that I've read in the past few months and I'm already working on a fourth, so on the one hand, obviously I enjoy her method of storytelling and writing, but on the other hand, this was my least favorite of her offerings that I've read thusfar. Although there was still a little interplay between past and present, I had a difficult time finding any of the characters particularly relatable or sympathetic and I knew how the book was going to end by the time I was about 1/5 of the way through. I do think this was her debut novel, though, so I'm guessing she was still working on developing her voice and style.
7) The Ghost Orchid, Carol Goodman
I discovered Carol Goodman when I read The Night Villa last year, and totally fell for the way that she intertwines the past and the present. The Ghost Orchid follows a group of modern-day artists at an artists residency program who become involved in the history of the mansion where they are staying. The novel is intercut with the story of the past owners mysterious circumstances and the readers discover the secrets of the past along with the main character. I loved the spooky atmosphere of the writing, and the constantly twisting and turning narrative that kept me guessing up until the end of the book.
6) Change of Heart, Jodi Picoult
I tore through this 400+ page book in three days, and was completely riveted and intrigued from the first page on. I'm a girl who struggles with religion on a near daily basis, and the way Picoult weaves together faith, morality, and how you let those factors guide your life struck a chord in me. I can't stop thinking about this book--not necessarily the capital punishment aspect but certainly the religious. The one downfall is that I had the "twist" figured out about a quarter of the way through the book, but it didn't ruin the story for me.
5) The Street of A Thousand Blossoms, Gail Tsukiyama
Beautiful story of a Japanese family spanning the 3 decades before, during, and after WWII. One of those stories where every time something good happens to someone, something heartbreaking happens shortly after, but the characters are fascinating, the prose is the perfect combination of imagery and plot, and it ends on a hopeful note. Give it the first 100 pages to really suck you in. Reminded me a bit of Memoirs of a Geisha.
4) The Other Queen, Phillippa Gregory
I love historical fiction. I am fascinated by Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I. I adore Phillippa Gregory. Imagine my excitement when I was wandering through the airport and this wondrous book caught my eye. It should have joined the ranks of my favorite books EVER. Sadly, it was incredibly disappointing. I really disliked the way Mary was portrayed. Elizabeth was hardly in the book at all. And really, in over 400 pages it feels like hardly anything happens. I wanted so badly to give this one 5 stars, but sadly, it's lucky to get 2.
3) The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carter
I love how macabre and creepy many of our favorite fairy tales are in their original tellings, and these even more haunting and spooky retellings were absolutely fascinating. Carter includes her versions of Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Red Riding Hood, and Blue Beard just to name a few, and her stories are beautifully eerie and remarkably fresh.
2) Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates
Fantastic
book that I probably never would have read based on the blurb on the
back of the book. It's the story of the perfect couple, living the
American Dream and hiding their utterly miserable existence behind the
perfect 1950s facade. But somehow the characters manage to be both insufferable and sympathetic, and while
there's no big twist at the end I still stayed hooked all the way
through, laughing on one page, then finding myself squirming
uncomfortably on the next. Great book, that I don't think I'd have
read if the movie trailer hadn't intrigued me!
1) The Tales of Beedle the Bard, J.K. Rowling
Short, quick read. The stories were cute, but the highlights were the notes written by Dumbledore at the close of each tale. Mostly though, this just made me want to read Harry Potter for the frillionth time.
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