I read some great books this year. I really found some great memoirs/autobiographies I enjoyed. Here's a list some of my favorites this year with a link to the Barnes and Noble site to the Overviews...just click on the bolded and highlighted book titles.
Some would say I have a problem. I wake up earlier than necessary so can I read while I get ready for work. And until recently, I slept only four hours a night so I could get my read-on before bedtime.
Some people like television, I love my Nook.
I love Grisham's legal thrillers. But William Landay did an excellent job on this story. Imagine the emotional and financial turmoil of having your teenage boy be accused of killing one of his classmates. It could happen to you.
This is the first time I've read Maya Angelou but it won't be the last. Here's an autobiography about this authors early years during the Depression. It touches on racisim, family, personal dignity, and many traumas. I can't wait to start on another of Angelou books.
The AlchemistI kept seeing this book pop up on bestseller lists, bookclub lists, as an international best seller, and apparently the best selling books in history. So what was I missing? So I decided to see what all the hype was about. Plus being less than 200 pages, why not?!
This fable got me thinking about my life choices and made me wonder WTH I'm still doing in Utah?
This is an autobiography by Jeannette Walls that recounts Walls' and her siblings unconventional, poverty-stricken upbringing at the hands of their deeply dysfunctional parents. This book is now under development as a film.
Reading about people dealing with hardships helps me appreciate my life so much more.
This is story is about a mother's loss and the toll that it takes on her children. This book was on Oprah's book list; I've been disappointed reading from her list before but I liked the overview.
Each of my parents are from a family of nine, surviving, siblings. My grandparents raised children from 1920-1960. I could only imagine the emotional and financial struggles my grandparents must have experienced. This story tells about such a family's experiences during that era.
Another memoir I couldn't put down. Can you even imagine????? Here's the author's description of her experience/book:
One day, I woke up in a strange hospital room, strapped to my bed, under guard, and unable to move or speak. My medical records—from a month-long hospital stay of which I have no memory—showed psychosis, violence, and dangerous instability. Yet, only weeks earlier I had been a healthy twenty-four year old, six months into my first serious relationship and beginning a career as a cub reporter at the New York Post.
My memoir Brain on Fire chronicles the swift path of my illness and the lucky, last-minute intervention led by one of the few doctors capable of saving my life. As weeks ticked by and I moved inexplicably from violence to catatonia, $1 million worth of blood tests and brain scans revealed nothing. The exhausted doctors were ready to commit me to the psychiatric ward, in effect condemning me to a lifetime of institutions, or death, until Dr. Souhel Najjar diagnosed me with a newly discovered autoimmune disease in which my body was attacking my brain, an illness now thought to be the cause of “demonic possessions” throughout history.
I like reading before an upcoming movie. The story explores topics such as introversion, abuse, drugs, sexuality, and the awkward time of adolescence. This one took me back in time to past experiences and awkward moments. I enjoyed the movie too.
Went to a flick and saw this as an upcoming film. My companion asked if I'd read the book and I hadn't so of course I was curious. When I saw the previews to the movie, it didn't seem I'd be interested but I downloaded the book anyways. Turns out I was pleasantly surprised.
I reached out to my Facebook friends asking for any recommendations for a good futuristic read and several introduced me to Ender's Game. After I downloaded it, I was a little skeptical and thought I was reading a young adult novel but then the storyline started to develop and caught me hook, line and sinker. Afterall, I loved the Hunter Games young adult series too.
A fable about the first man on earth to count the hours. The man who became Father Time. This story became compelling to me as the author takes a simple concept and creates a story that show a new aspect of it to ponder. There's a bit of sadness, a bit of thoughtfulness, and an ending that changes the common notions of time and how it's spent.
Turns out i had more favorites than i thought so I'll stop there. Ok, I just want to add something else... I love to listen to Sophie Kinsella's chick-lit novels via audiobooks simply for the darling British accents. After I've just finished a very serious or disturbing book, I try to find light-hearted, funny ones to follow. Kinsella always comes through. This year, I read "I've Got Your Number", "Shopaholic Ties the Knot" and "Shopaholic & Baby" and wasn't surprised that they had me laughing and driving around a lot just to finish the dvds.
So that's good for 2012. Hope you try one of these good books and enjoy them as much as i did.
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