Tuesday, January 26, 2010

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.

11 comments:

Amy said...

I listened to Nora Ephron's book a couple of years ago and thought it was hilarious! Have fun reading!

Susan said...

Oh my, so many books! I love how we both had the same reaction to Sarah Palin's book :) The Jane Austen one sounds really interesting. I was late reading Da Vinci Code as well - I enjoyed it, and it didn't shake my faith. Enjoy!

Carrie said...

Seriously - EVERYone is reading or HAS read The Help but me! I am really starting to feel left out here!

Oh, I so miss Half Price Books. It's a dangerous place so I suppose that I should be grateful that there is not one nearby but nevertheless - I miss it!

Nise' said...

You are not the last one Carrie. I have yet to read The Help.

Enjoy Stephanie Plum, she's a riot

Brittanie said...

I have not read The Help either. I hope to one day.

Melissa said...

What a list! Wow! So many books I'd like to get now. I think I need to make more time to read. ;)

Bev said...

Let's see - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - deep, rich - not easy to read but really, really good. DaVinci Code - could not put it down; I Feel Bad About My Neck - read but don't remember much about it. I'm on the waiting list for The Help which I've heard is really good - happy reading!

Anonymous said...

I've read the Senator's Wife. I enjoyed the book. Nothing earth shattering but without giving too much away it tells the good and bad of a marriage. From newlyweds to us old timers. From faith to allowing your emotions to rule.

I haven't read any of Phillipa's books but I did see the movie The Other Bolyn Girl. It was good and books are usually much, much better than movies. I should probably read one of her books.

By the way, you can never read too much. Allen thinks I read too much and don't pay enough attention to him, so I try not to read so much around him.

Enjoy your books!!!

Rita

Rita

Anonymous said...

The Help seems to be on everyone's TBR list...including mine!

Veggiemomof2 said...

I LOVE the Evanovich books! They've warned off depression many winters now.

I've considered Sarah Palin's book. I too voted for them & would love to hear her uninterrupted side of the story.

Happy Reading!

monica said...

excellent pile. I'll be looking for What the Dog Saw after I'm done with Tipping Point.

m