#13 Devil in the White City

I really really liked this book. I love the mix of the non-fiction with fiction, because maybe things really did happen this way. I think authors are brave to take that on. I had never really cared about eighteenth century America very much. It just seemed very industrial to me. But this book revealed to me all the wonderful things that came from the world's fair that I still appreciate today. Then set against that backdrop the story of a serial killer who was just conniving and evil. I listened to most of this book on c.d. and it made it more enjoyable than reading. The history came to life for me and then it was so eerie, like listening to a scary story when the tale reverted to the serial killer. It was so well written and done. Even though the two stories are intertwined, there is still a separateness which at time became confusing, but I forgave it that pretty quickly. I look forward to reading more from this author.

#12 Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

I read this book last year and I loved it so much that I picked it for my book club book. There were mixed reviews with it. I think most people couldn't keep up with the different story lines and the British wit. It was just as fun to read the second time and I picked up on even more. It really has become a favorite.

#11 The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

This is my first into venturing into the Discworld series. It was interesting and I like Pratchett's style mostly. There are just a few times where the story suddenly changes and it's almost like brain whiplash trying to figure out what just happened. I had to read one part several times to figure out what just happened. I'll probably read a couple more books in the series to determine if I want to keep going. I love the wit and humor in the book, which could make up for the random, chaotic storytelling style. The whole story was very imaginitive.

#10 Lone Survivor by Marcus Lattrell & Patrick Robinson

This book was a little hard to get into, but once I got to the meat of the story, it was a little more interesting and pretty amazing. It's an autobiographical account about the survival of one man and the brave deaths of four his fellow navy seals after a mission in Afghanistan goes really bad. It was an alright read if you like military books. A couple people in my book club thought Marcus Luttrell, the survivor, extremely arrogant in his writing. We had a pretty good discussion about what we we would have done in his position and what choices we would have made. Definitely a different book than I used to.

#9 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

This book was given to me by two people a year or so ago and i figured I should get it read. It was quite a beautiful story and elegantly written I think. It's the point of view of a young girl in China in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. It's a whole coming of age process from her having her feet bound to make tiny feet where the the four small toes are forces to wrap under the foot. Oh that chapter was painful to read. Then she goes through her life with her arranged best friend. I didn't realize that they even arrange best friends, but they love each other and are there for each other or try to be. It's quite sad and painful the way things end up but their friendship is really beautiful to read about.

#8 As Shadows Fade by Colleen Gleason

The final and completely non-dissapointing conclusion to the Gardella series. I really loved this whole series. Vampires, hot vampire hunters led by a sexy, powerful woman in Victorian England, what's not to love? I think the plot was really good throughout the whole thing and really kept you guessing most of the time. Plus, the steamy sex scenes were nothing to sniffle at either but they are so well done for a romance I think. They still leave a lot to the reader's imagination and they don't occur every other page just to fill up the story, they have a purpose. So a romance, sure but a very enjoyable read nonetheless.

#7 Confessions of a Shopaholic

I decided I wanted to read this book before I saw the movie, so I started reading the day before I was going. My roommate told me it was nothing like the movie so I would be okay, good thing because the book was bigger than I thought. And she was right, there were lots of differences. The gal, umm I can't remember her name was actually a little more likeable than in the movie and seemed smarter. The romance part also didn't just suddenly happen like it did in the movie so that was more enjoyable to read. I don't know if I'll read the sequels but it was a fun little read.

#6 The Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

When I saw the previews for the upcoming movie I was really excited. It looked super cool. Then when I found out it was based on a graphic novel, I thought neat, maybe I should read that. I wasn't really planning on it but the preview was so obscure and the more I heard about it the more I thought that I might be lost if I don't read the graphic novel. So I read it and it was really good and now I am super excited for the movie. Looks really good. The imagery in the illustrations are amazing. The level of detail that goes into each panel. I used to really love to read comics. I wasn't super into them but I loved Archie and spiderman. But access to them was kind of difficult so I didn't read very many. I got most of my super-hero knowledge from the cartoons. I love almost all of the new comic book movies. Reading this novel was liking looking at storyboards for the movie and I've seen several shots that mirror exactly whats in the book. I'm really excited to see it on the big screen.

#5 The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde is another arthur who I really enjoy their writing. He is probably one of the wittiest writers I have read. As I think about it, it's amazing to me that I haven't read more of his work. I read Picture of Dorian Gray in highschool. I don't remember if it was witty but I remember really enjoying it, mostly because it was really dark. Anyway, Loralee wanted to pick this for bookclub however she didn't realize it was a play and that it was very very small. So she combined it with The Great Gatsby. I had already seen the movie version and really enjoyed it and already knew a lot of the witty lines and repartee. But it was fun to read to. I think it would be so fun to perform. I plan on reading An Ideal Husband soon.

#4 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I love Fitzgerald. Ever since I got a copy of his collection of short stories I have really enjoyed his writing so I was excited when The Great Gatsby was picked for our February book club book. It did not disappoint. Though I thought the plot of the story wasn't really up to par with some of his short stories, the way he tells it makes it still very enjoyable. He has such a way with phrases and descriptions. Really enjoyed reading this book and it gave me more motivation to read on in my short story book (it's quite large).

#3 Tess of the D'Ubervilles

I've seen two versions of this book made into a film so I knew what happened. Though I was surprised that the heinous act of her losing her innocence was only alluded to. And how much she thought it was her fault. It's quite a sad story with only a small moment of happiness in it. I'm not sure how much I liked the writing style. And unfortunately I read this book a few weeks ago and now I can't really remember too much of what I thought of it. Could be the fact that I pretty late as well.