What's On My Nightstand - January

I was so proud of myself as I finished nearly all of my "To Be Read" pile in December. I had one, count them, one book left...and no it wasn't 'The Centurion's Wife'. I actually read that one, which had been in the stack for months and months, while on the deer stand back in November! The only book left was 'Rooftops of Tehran'.

As you can see, I have been in a lot of bookstores since Christmas. Half Price Books, Barnes and Noble, Twice Told Tales and even amazon.com for a few that I didn't want to pay full price for but couldn't find in the secondhand bookstores.

It is not my goal to read all of these books over the next month...I will not even get through a quarter of them, I am sure. These are just a few that have caught my attention and thus earned a spot on my nightstand. (Though to be quite honest with you, they do not permanently reside on my nightstand, but under it. If Jim saw such an obvious stack, he would really complain that I read too much! He says it's bad for me.)

Read Since This Picture Was Taken:
Up For Renewal: What Magazines Taught Me About Love, Sex And Starting Over - Cathy Alter (This one had me thinking...and that is a dangerous thing to do! The author is quite honest with her life, even when it would have been prettier not to be. I read the review over at 5 Minutes for Books last September.)

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland & Through The Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll (I have tickets to see the musical Wonderland in a few weeks. Since I had never read the book, only knew the story through the Disney movie, I decided to read it before the play.)

Going Rogue: An American Life - Sarah Palin (I like Sarah Palin. I voted for the McCain/Palin ticket. I enjoyed getting to know her better through the pages of this book. I was just a little disappointed with the flow of the book and felt that she did herself a disservice by telling her story in such a way as to knock down the accusations against her instead of just telling her story as that...HER story, whether or not anyone knew of the accusations.)

To Be Read:
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (I know, I am late and it is controversial...but for $1 in hardcover, I thought I would see what all the fuss WAS about.)

The White Queen: A Novel - Phillipa Gregory (This has been on my list for awhile now. I first saw it reviewed over at 5 Minutes for Books last September and I finally found it at Half Price Books just after Christmas.)

The Help - Kathryn Stockett (This one has been on my list since I saw it reviewed last February. I tried to wait it out at Half Price Books, but when I walked into Barnes &Noble for reading material for our New Year's trip to Arkansas and it was sitting right out front...I couldn't help myself, I bought it.)

101 Most Powerful Verses In The Bible - Steve and Lois Rabey (My occasional devotional read.)

Becoming Jane Austen - Jon Spence (I picked this up at Twice Told Tales. It looked interesting and needed a home.)

Creative Journal Writing: The Art And Heart Of Reflection - Stephanie Dowrick (A Half Price Books find that I thought might give me some ideas for both my blog and my personal journal writing.)

Camille - Alexandre Dumas (This is an old book that caught my eye in Twice Told Tales. I keep an eye out for the old covers while I shop. Plus, I have an aunt named Camille, so I thought I would see what this classic is about. The only other Camille I knew about was the hurricane!)

Idols Of The Heart: Learning To Long For God Alone - Elyse Fitzpatick (This one I am taking in bite sized pieces.)

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - Malcolm Gladwell (I picked this one up after reading a review at 10 Million Words about his newest book, What The Dog Saw.)

The Senator's Wife - Sue Miller (I have had this one on my list longer than any other. I read a review in Southern Living magazine the summer of 2008...but didn't get around to picking it up until just last week. It was on the buy 2 get 1 free table at Barnes and Noble... so I picked it up along with...

Snowflower and The Secret Fan - by Lisa See and...

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts On Being A Woman - Nora Ephron (just because, quite honestly, I do!!!)

The Ghost In The Gallery - Carolyn Keene (Another old book that just needed a home. It is #17 in the Dana Girls Mysteries. I am looking for old (1930's or 1950's) Nancy Drew books and I ran across this Dana Girls book.)

and finally:
The first three books in the Stephanie Plum mysteries by Janet Evanovich. I bought these from amazon in a package. I have been looking for book one in used book stores for ages, but can never find anything before book #5. It was cheaper to order all three...just in case I like them. So, next time I need a stormy night read, I will check out One For The Money, and it I like it, I will go on to Two For The Dough and Three To Get Deadly. If I don't like them, I will pass them along.

This will be my list for months to come, I am sure. Especially with a new Bible study starting up next week. (They start tonight, but I am leaving town in just a few hours...so next week will be my start.)

Thanks for taking the time to look over my Nightstand.