So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

This is a list of my favorite books, which I read in 2007. To make this list, they had to be at least four out of five stars or higher.

Books I rated 5/5:
Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Beneath the Marble Sky by John Shors
Oh My Stars by Lorna Landvik
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

Books I rated 4.5/5:
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Sunne in Splendor by Sharon Kay Penman
The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
The God of Small Things by Arundhatni Roy

Books I rated 4/5:
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Three Day Road by Joeseph Boyden
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
1916: A Novel of the Irish Rebellion by Morgan Llywelyn
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
The CrazyLadies on Pearl Street by Trevanain
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

My absolute favorite book of 2007: Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb
I highly recommend this amazing work of historical fiction! It’s one that I hope to re-visit again, which says a lot, as I rarely re-read books because of my long TBR. This is definitely among my favorites of all time!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 2:55 PM 11 comments    

Labels: Best Read 2007

Well Written With a Twist

Middlesex spans three generations of a Greek-American family, the Stephanides. Calliope, of the youngest generation narrates. Through her, we learn the history of all of the generations and their secrets. The story is really about Calliope, but we can’t learn about her without first going through her family history. You see, Callie is not your regular kind of girl.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 2:08 PM 2 comments    

Labels: Books Read 2007, Historical Fiction, Jeffrey Eugenides

Nostalgic Coming of Age Story

The novel opens with the young Jean-Luc, his mother and sister moving into a slum on Pearl Street in Albany. His father sent word to Jean-Luc’s mother to meet him there but as usual, he doesn't show up. Once again the mother and her two small children have to fend for themselves.

This richly textured coming of age story, through the depression reads more like a memoir than fiction. I listened to the audio version and Tom Bosely did an excellent job narrating. I listened to this book while working out at the gym. I could hardly wait for each workout to listen to more.

I was truly sorry that this delightful book had to end. I have never read a book by Trevanian before, but I plan to read more now.

4.5/5

Posted by Teddy Rose at 3:52 PM 3 comments    

Labels: Books Read 2007, Historical Fiction, Trevanian

Last night I had to say a sorrowful goodbye to my furbaby girl, Tina. She was very sick and my husband and I took her to the vet. There was nothing non-invasive they could do for her. Since she was almost 19year old and frail, I didn’t think it was fair to her to have the vet do anything invasive. She went peacefully in my arms as the injection went in.

Tina has been with me through good times and bad. She came into my life when I needed her most! She will be greatly missed.

I love you Tina! You will always be with me, in my heart!

Love,
Mommy

Posted by Teddy Rose at 2:49 PM 14 comments    

Labels: Teddy's Fur Children

Gone With the Wind, it is Not

I must say that I was disappointed. The writing style and the historical detail were good, although, the book did drag in a couple parts. I also found that McCaig wrapped up all of the loose ends, without leaving anything to the imagination. I find it hard for the characters to live on in the world of my imagination, when an author wraps up everything so neatly.

Some of the characters seemed to be written out of character. Melanie Wilkes is a big example of this. She was still the loving, meek woman she was in Gone With the Wind; however, Craig has us believe that she wrote intimate letters to a girl friend about sex. Mitchell’s Melanie would never have done this.

I did enjoy McCaig’s take on some of the minor characters, such as Wade and Belle. However, if you haven’t read Gone With the Wind and only saw the movie, you won’t know whom some of these minor characters, such a Wade, are.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 4:07 PM 7 comments    

Labels: Books Read 2007, Donald McCaig, Historical Fiction