by Wurdzgurl !!!
Member since:
January 8, 2007

An Award and Some Hot Book Porn

January 02, 2009 11:41 AM EST
views: 384 | rating: 8.9/10 (8 votes) | comments: 15

Last night I took a few pictures of the books that I read in 2008 (aka Book Porn).  The pile is a partial pile since a few of the books that I read I returned to either my sister the librarian or the library.

I've Read These in 2008

The Wurdzgurl Book of 2008 Award goes to  Leif Enger's sophmore release So Brave, Young and Handsome.  Enger has a way with language that is enthralling.  This is the story of an unlikely pairing of two men and escape from the law.  It's about relationships between men and women and is a coming of age story.   Coming into age at a place where we have families and responsibilies and still hopes, desires and adventures we want to partake in.   I am unable to do justice to this book but I'm certain that both of Enger's books (the first being Peace Like a River) will be revisited in my reading life down the line.  I look forward to each and every book that this brilliant contemporary writer sets forth.

2008 will go down in infamy as the year my children's librarian sister got me hooked on young adult fiction.  It started when I read The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld which was followed by the Lois Lowry trilogy of Giver, Gathering Blue and Messanger.  During my two weeks off in the summer I read the first in Erin Hunter's wildly popular series Warriors.  To end the year I read The Island of the Blue Dophin by Scott O'Dell.  I enjoyed each and every one of these books that I can read and discuss with my 9 year old.

Happy Reading to you All!

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Comments: 15

Wilma D. Jan 2, 2009, 11:53am EST
Ooh la la!
Kris M. Jan 2, 2009, 11:58am EST
You've got to read 13 Reasons Why. One of the best YAs I read last year.

Oh, man, if it'd been new, I would have put Dreams From My Father on my list -- it's fascinating to see inside Obama's mind like that, and it was just beautiful and moving, especially the part about his trip to Africa. The Audacity of Hope is on my to-read list for this year.
Kylee **Queen of Karaoke** S. Jan 2, 2009, 12:15pm EST
What a great selection of reading material!! I read Leif Enger's first novel in college and loved it. I am currently reading the second book in the Twilight series. I hope to finish that soon.
Doyle ( IS SOOO 7 for 7 soon... ) C. Jan 2, 2009, 1:28pm EST
Island of the Blue Dolphins? I never considered shooting the books I had read. Could be cool. Have you, by chance, checked out the delightful "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" book By Dr. Seuss? I highly recommend it! Young adult fiction was fun for me a couple years back when I would read everything my youngest (now 17) yr. old son, "Spare", read. He reads adult stuff now so for variety I have the grandchildren (hence the recommendation)....

Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~
Joseph H. Jan 2, 2009, 1:34pm EST
If I made a stack of books I read in 2008, it would be a mile high and very repetitive....Cat in the Hat, Goodnight Moon, Dinosaur Roar, Cat in the Hat, Goodnight Moon, Dinosaur Roar, Cat in the Hat, Goodnight Moon, Dinosaur Roar, Cat in the Hat, Goodnight Moon, Dinosaur Roar, Cat in the Hat, Goodnight Moon, Dinosaur Roar, Cat in the Hat, Goodnight Moon, Dinosaur Roar, Cat in the Hat, Goodnight Moon, Dinosaur Roar, Cat in the Hat, Goodnight Moon, Dinosaur Roar, Cat in the Hat, Goodnight Moon, Dinosaur Roar, Cat in the Hat, Goodnight Moon, Dinosaur Roar... and so on.
CC Miranda the artrat (or am i?) Jan 2, 2009, 1:50pm EST
and here i thought you were going to show us your erotic book collection.
CC Miranda the artrat (or am i?) Jan 2, 2009, 1:51pm EST
the other boylen girl is a book i still need to read. falls into that historical fiction category i love a whole lot.
Hmm...I've been going to the library once a week or so for the last few months. I have too much time on my hands. I haven't made any real discoveries this year although I almost got hooked on Cormac McCarthy. Mid year I got a weird super compressed--two column per page--but complete set of all Baum's Oz books. I've read about half of them. Unfortunately the book doesn't have the illustrations.

I just reserved the two Terry Pratchett books my local library system has that I haven't read.

Re-read The Name of the Rose last week for the umpteenth time. I loved it just as much as I did in the 80s.
Madame Donna C. Jan 2, 2009, 4:10pm EST
No matter how much I read, I never have enough time to read everything I want to read. I try to read at least 50 novels a year but I've also got to keep up with my "food" reading too. I've read many of the books in your photo and I'll go take a peek at the others sometime soon.
Aniko     Jan 2, 2009, 4:40pm EST
I think the YA phrase would have come without your sister's help, as your kids move into reading those books. It's happened to others... :-)
Erin O'Riordan Jan 2, 2009, 5:47pm EST
Two books I cannot recommend highly enough: *The Book Thief* by Markus Zusak and *Pretty Birds* by Scott Simon. Each follows a young woman as she navigates the landscapes of friendship and war. *Book Thief* is set in Hitler's Germany, and *Birds* is set in 1990s Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
Stephanie B. Jan 2, 2009, 8:41pm EST
I loved Island of the Blue Dolphins, though, admittedly, I was in fifth grade when I read it (but I was a precocious reader). I've read recently several of my daughter's YA books including Blue is for Nightmares and the Midnight Series.

I don't have the patience to read as many new novels as I used to. More and more, I stick with authors I love best.
Kris M. Jan 2, 2009, 8:49pm EST
Erin, thanks for reminding me about Pretty Birds! I have it around here somewhere. I think it was on my to-read list last year and it got shuffled too far to the back... Along with So Brave, Young, and Handsome, which I should also try to find...
Aniko     Jan 2, 2009, 9:12pm EST
I just bought the The Book Thief for my son. He's not reading it. I think I'll confiscate it for myself.

Another thing he's not reading is Nation by Terry Pratchett. If that's one of those Nippy is looking for, maybe I should wrap it up and send it to him...
Jim C. May 7, 2009, 12:49am EDT
The Rule of Four was decent. . .not great. Island of the Blue Dolphins was one of the books my fourth grade teacher read to the class after recess. Her name was Julie, I think.

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