top ten tuesday: books i'm not sure i want to read

Obviously, I missed the "Tuesday" part of Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke & The Bookish—I worked about 12 hours on Tuesday because it was our back-to-school night at the school I work at. But I knew I still wanted to participate in this week's topic, so here's my Top Ten Tuesday ... on Wednesday.

This week's topic is Top Ten Books I'm Not Sure I Want To Read (books you may have bought but aren't sure if you are into it anymore, books you wanted to read but heard mixed things about, hyped books you aren't sure about—basically any book that has you going, "TO READ OR NOT TO READ?").

I decided to go with books that I already own but haven't read yet ... and might not ever. I own way more than 10 books that I haven't read, but these were the first to come to mind.

Divergent by Veronica Roth
I bought Divergent about two years ago—after I heard there would be a film version. I loved The Hunger Games trilogy, and people kept saying that if you loved The Hunger Games, then you'd love Divergent. I didn't read it right away, but I always intended to read it before watching the film. Then my sister told me that she couldn't stand Tris in the book, and she thought it was kind of dumb. Now that I've seen (and loved!) the film, I don't see any reason to go back and read the book. The jury's still out on whether I'll read Insurgent and Allegiant before those films release.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Honestly, I'm not sure why I own this book. I bought it on a whim, but I don't really want to read it. I haven't seen the movie, either, and I'm not sure I want to. Hearing that my one sister sobbed her way through the book and the non-crying sister teared up at the movie makes me think I'd be an utter mess. I like happy things, you know?

Matched, Crossed, and Reached by Ally Condie
After I powered through the whole Hunger Games trilogy in like four days, I was looking for something similar to read. I saw an ad for Matched in Entertainment Weekly and bought it immediately. And then it sat on my shelf ... and it's still sitting there. It's been read, but not by me. My coworker's daughter borrowed the series (yes, I bought the other two books as they released, even though I hadn't yet read Matched), and her apathy toward them after she finished them made me even less inclined to read them.

Coming Home by Karen Kingsbury 
This novel wraps up the Baxter series, most of which I adored ... and I might not ever read it. 1. I've heard it's sad. 2. I'm still mad about Bailey/Brandon/Cody in the Bailey Flanigan series.

Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas 
I've heard fabulous things about this biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I bought it on sale, and I felt very intellectual when I did. Chances are, I'll never read even one page.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
I bought Crime and Punishment for a world lit class in college. Then it turned out that the non-western lit class I took at community college transferred in as world lit, and I was able to drop the class. I kept the book—because, you know, it makes me look cultured and stuff. I'm not really a classic lit kind of girl, though, so I doubt I'll ever read it.

Naked Heat and Heat Rises by Richard Castle
I'm a huge fan of the TV crime dramedy Castle, so when I heard the Nikki Heat books that factor into the plot would really exist, I was on board. I bought and read Heat Rises, and while I enjoyed it, crime novels aren't really my thing ... which is why the next two books in the series, though purchased, have gone unread. I do think if I ever opened them, I'd enjoy them. We'll see!





There's my list. Do you agree? Disagree? Want to talk me into reading one or more of the above? Let me know in the comments! And if you've made your own list, be sure to link up here.

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top ten tuesday: authors i own the most books from

The blog has been silent lately, mainly because I just got back from a week in Indiana, where my sister married the love of her life. (Trust me, a post is forthcoming.) While on said "vacation," I read a total of 1-1/2 books. That's it! It was nice to have a break, and now I'm ready to jump back into my normal insane reading schedule :-) I'll have a slew of reviews in the next several weeks, but for now, I thought it would be fun to do something different.

I've never done one of these weekly memes before, but several bloggers I follow have started doing Top Ten Tuesday from The Broke & The Bookish, and I thought it looked like fun! I'm sure I won't be doing these all the time, but if a Top Ten Tuesday catches my eye, then I'll jump in.

This week's topic is Ten Authors I Own The Most Books From. Since I didn't really feel like going through my bookshelves and Kindle to count everything, this is just an estimate. I'm very confident in the top five, but the rest are guesses :-) I thought it might be fun to give you a glimpse at my bookshelves as we go along. (If the pictures are too small, click on them, and they'll get bigger.)

This is just the 1st shelf—the shelf below
is about half full of Kingsbury books!

1. Karen Kingsbury—There was a time when I bought each and every Kingsbury book as soon as it released. That all ended with Loving, the last book in the Bailey Flanigan series. I began reading, then I flipped to the end to find out who Bailey chose in the end: Cody or Brandon. The result was what I feared. I put the book down and haven't read another Kingsbury book since. I know it's ridiculous, but I spent so much time (and money) invested in Bailey's journey, and I just can't get over the way it ended. (Full disclosure: At one point in the series, I wanted Kingsbury to end it exactly as she did, but then things changed, and I felt betrayed as a reader.) I do have two Kingsbury books that I haven't read yet, including Coming Home, which wraps up the Baxter series. I should really read them ... someday.

I just counted, and I have 44 Karen Kingsbury books. Goodness!

Lori Wick & Dee Henderson. For
a while, I kept all my Wick books.
Recently, though, I decided to just
keep my favorites and try to sell
the rest. So if you're in the market for
cheap Lori Wick books, check out
my half.com shop!

2. Lori Wick—From 7th grade until I discovered Karen Kingsbury in college, Lori Wick was my favorite author. I loaned out Sophie's Heart so many times that it's practically falling apart, and I've still read it more times than any other book. Fun fact: Wick is the only author on this list that I've seen in person. Her son attended the same college as I did, and one Sunday morning I turned around in church and saw her about six rows back!

3. Susan May Warren—I liked the first few Warren books I read, but I didn't love them. Then I read Sons of Thunder. I was hooked, and now I read everything she writes. I just finished When I Fall in Love, and I absolutely could not put it down. (Review coming next week.) I can't wait for the next in the series!

It doesn't look like many books, but
The Chronicles of Narnia and The
Essential C.S. Lewis both contain
several books.

4. C.S. Lewis—Lewis is the only author on the list whose fiction and non-fiction I own. Of course The Chronicles of Narnia is a favorite; I also love Mere Christianity and Till We Have Faces.

I've loaned out several Dekker books. They go
(of course) where the gaps are. If you're interested
in the book flowers, you can see how I
made them here.

5. Ted Dekker—My friend Jodi gave me Green, my first Ted Dekker novel, about 10 years ago. After devouring the Circle trilogy (now a quartet), I moved on to his other novels. Some I loved (Skin, Immanuel's Veins), some I loathed (Boneman's Daughters). I haven't read any of his newer novels ... or even all of the novels that are on this shelf!

The end of Susan May Warren &
most of my Robin Jones Gunn.

6. Robin Jones Gunn—What Christian teenage girl in the 90's didn't love the Christy Miller series? I got into the game a bit late—Book 8, Starry Night, is the first book I read in the series. Then in high school, I started reading the Glenbrooke series, and I own all eight books. Most recently, I read the Katie Weldon series and was surprised at how much I liked Katie, as I didn't really enjoy her in the Christy Miller series. I also have a couple Robin Jones Gunn books on my to be read shelf.

I have two types of bookshelves:
those that hold books I want to
display, and those that hold books
I keep for sentimental reasons. This
shelf holds the latter.

7. Lisa T. Bergren—I first came across Lisa T. Bergren in high school. My high school library had the Full Circle series, and reading Refuge made me really, really want to visit Montana! I didn't read any more of her books for a long time, but I recently reviewed the Grand Tour series and loved it. I also have a few books from her River of Time series on my Kindle ... must make time to read them! (Hello, it's YA and time travel. Of course I'm going to love it!)

The end of Karen Kingsbury, a few Denise Hunter,
and the beginning of Susan May Warren. I've
loaned out a ton of my Hunter and Warren books.

8. Denise Hunter—Hunter is, hands down, my favorite romance writer. I got started with her Nantucket series, and I've read practically everything she's written since. The Convenient Groom is one of my all-time favorite books, but I haven't reviewed it. I should probably read it again and remedy that!

The Austen shrine.

9. Jane Austen—Is it OK to admit that the only Jane Austen book I've ever read is Pride & Prejudice, and even then, I skipped some in the middle? But I display the books prominently, right beside the film adaptations of her novels. (My favorite? The BBC production of Emma.)

10. Dee Henderson—Henderson's O'Malley series remains is one of my all-time favorites. I also read some of her True Devotion series and enjoyed them. I haven't read any of her recent novels—I've read some negative reviews, and I don't want to spend money on books I may not like.

So there's my list. What about you? Leave your top ten in the comments, or leave a link to your own top ten post.

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best books of 2011

I intended to post this before the new year ... obviously, I didn't quite make it!

I read a ton of books in 2011. I reviewed 59 of them, and I probably read at least 10 that I didn't review. If you figure an average of 5 hours per book, that comes to a whopping 345 hours—or just more than 14 days! When you read as much as I do, it's hard to remember which books you liked the most. So I've compiled a list of my favorite reads of 2011 in several different categories (some are a bit contrived so that I can include more books). If I reviewed the book, I've included a link. Note that these are books that I read in 2011—they may have been published earlier.

Historical Fiction
Heiress by Susan May Warren (review)—This is my favorite of all of Susan May Warren's books, which is saying something, since I've enjoyed most of her work. I love how real the characters seem, and it's a great mix of high society and the Wild West. (Sounds strange, I know, but Warren makes it work!)

Contemporary (non-Romance) Fiction
The Fine Art of Insincerity by Angela Hunt (review)—This is the story of three sisters who gather to go through their deceased grandmother's things. The Fine Art of Insincerity certainly isn't "fluff"—and the book caused me to think about the way I relate to my sisters.

Romance
The Art of Romance by Kaye Dacus (review)—Anyone who's tired of reading about 22-year-old heroines should check out Kaye Dacus's books. She writes about real women. Women who wear a size 14. Women who didn't get married straight out of college. Women who live their lives, rather than waiting around for the "perfect" man. The Art of Romance is the first Dacus book I read, but it won't be the last!

Science Fiction/Fantasy
Forbidden by Ted Dekker & Tosca Lee (review)—Ted Dekker is a masterful fantasy writer. (His crime novels? I could do without those.) The Circle series (and all the other connected books), Immanuel's Veins, and now The Books of Mortals feature well-constructed worlds that sweep the reader into them. Forbidden, the first in The Books of Mortals, is my favorite Dekker book since Black—it's that good! 

Romantic Comedy
Save the Date by Jenny B. Jones (review)—The time I spent reading Save the Date was probably the most fun I had reading all year! One of those implausible yet hilarious stories, Save the Date is pure fluff and pure enjoyment.

YA Fiction

Prom & Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg (review)—It's Pride & Prejudice set in an elite boarding school. Such fun!

Anthology
Jane Austen Made Me Do It edited by Laurel Ann Nattress—This is the only book on the list I haven't reviewed (though I may still get around to it). It's a series of short stories inspired by Jane Austen's books. Not all of the stories are winners—"Waiting," a continuation of Persuasion, just about put me to sleep—but most are lighthearted and fun.

Nonfiction
Growing up Amish by Ira Wagler (review)—Ira Wagler's memoir chronicling his life in and journey out of the Amish church is an incredibly fascinating look at the Amish faith.

Amish Fiction
Beside Still Waters (review) and Along Wooded Paths (review) by Tricia Goyer—In a sea of Amish fiction, Goyer's Big Sky series stands out. First of all, it doesn't idealize the Amish lifestyle. Instead, it features real characters grappling with issues of faith. I can't wait to read the third book this spring!

Suspense
Indelible by Kristen Heitzmann (review)—A character-driven mystery featuring a protagonist with an eidetic memory. Very interesting and quite suspenseful.

Book I Talked about Most
Longing by Karen Kingsbury (review)—I talked about this book so much because it made me so mad! And now I'm scared to read the final book in this series, Loving, because I just know I'll be really upset if Bailey & Cody don't end up together. Never before have I had such strong feelings for book characters!

Literature
The Opposite of Art by Athol Dickson (review)—I'm not even sure how to describe this book, other than to say that it is art in words. It is well worth your time.

Self-Published
Forsaken Kingdom: City of Prophecy by Peter Dudek (review)—In my time as a book blogger, I have read some absolute drek that is self-published. City of Prophecy is not one of those books. If you just picked it up and started reading, you would have no idea it hadn't come out of a traditional publishing house. I really enjoyed this story, and I hope to be able to read the second book in the series soon!

Favorite Book of 2011
Blue Skies Tomorrow by Sarah Sundin (review)—A World War II story with a timely subplot, Blue Skies Tomorrow is absolutely captivating. I completely devoured the book, and I look forward to reading more books by Sundin!

Any thoughts on my picks? What were your favorite books of 2011?

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new and upcoming fiction

Believe it or not, I do occasionally read books I haven't agreed to review, and I have an extensive list of books I want to read when I'm not facing a review deadline. Here are a few books that either recently released or will soon release that I'm anticipating reading—whether I get to read them for "free" or not.

Longing by Karen Kingsbury. (Releases 11-22-11.) Longing continues the story of Bailey, Brandon, and Cody. (If you don't know who these people are, go back to the book that started it all—Redemption—and enjoy the ride!) I still haven't read Learning, the previous book in the Bailey Flanigan series, but my goal is to have it read before Longing arrives on my doorstep—which will be Nov. 22, thanks to Amazon's release-day delivery service. My friend Holly at The Bookshelf was able to read an advance copy, and you can see her review here. On a fun note—the people who play Bailey and Brandon in the book trailers recently got engaged in real life! If the pretend Bailey and Brandon can get married, can't the "real" ones? (Alas, I'm afraid Kingsbury isn't going to bend to my wishes on this one!)

Love Finds You in Sunset Beach, Hawaii by Robin Jones Gunn. (Released 10-1-11.) This is for all the Christy Miller/Sierra Jensen fans out there—and I count myself among them! I never actually read all of the Sierra Jensen books, but I did skim the last one ... I wanted to know if Sierra ended up with Paul, the "Todd" of her series. (If you're lost, it's okay, just indulge me!) I don't remember how the book ended, but I do remember being disappointed. Well, now Gunn is giving all of the Sierra fans the resolution they wanted way back when, as Love Finds You in Sunset Beach, Hawaii is all about love finding Sierra! Here's hoping some characters from Gunn's other books make cameo appearances ... and even if they don't, I'm sure it will be a satisfying read.

The Accidental Brideby Denise Hunter. (Releases 1-3-12.) I am a big fan of Denise Hunter's books—I've reviewed one, and several others made my list of recommended books. The Accidental Bride is book two in Hunter's Big Sky series. It appears to be a twist on the "marriage of convenience" plot device, which is a favorite of mine. I'm hoping to get it free from Booksneeze, but if I don't, I'll definitely be buying it. 

Turnabout's Fair Playby Kaye Dacus. (Releases 11-1-11.) I have to give a big shout-out to Peter at christian-fantasy.com on this one. Had he not blogged about meeting Dacus, I wouldn't have known she existed—and I would have been missing out. I found The Art of Romance, book two in her Matchmakers series, for review on NetGalley, and I read it in just a few hours; I currently have book one, Love Remains, waiting on my shelf of "read when I don't have a deadline" books, and Turnabout's Fair Play is on my Kindle awaiting my attention. I love that Dacus's heroines—at least the ones in the Matchmakers series—aren't the normal young, thin, gorgeous women with multiple suitors found in so many modern romances. (Sometimes I feel like if I read about one more 22-year-old falling in love, I'm going to throw up.) I know these characters are fictional, but they give me hope—hope that someday, some man will see me for who I am and will love me for me. (I feel like I should instruct my mother to stop crying now. Mom, stop it.)

Beyond Hope's Valleyby Tricia Goyer. (Releases 4-1-12.) This release is a bit farther out than the rest, but I'm eagerly anticipating it, so I wanted to mention it. Beyond Hope's Valley is book three in Goyer's Big Sky series. I sometimes read Amish fiction because it's offered to me for review, but I wouldn't normally seek it out. This series, however, is worth looking—and paying—for. I've said it before, but it bears repeating: Goyer doesn't idealize the Amish lifestyle. She clearly shows its positive and negative sides—and I think that's because some of the characters in this book are based on friends of hers. Their journey to a real, living faith took them out of the Amish church. She interviewed these friends on her radio show a few months ago, and I just listened to the podcast.  If you're interested, you can listen here (scroll down to Thursday, 14th of April, 2011).

So there you have it: my top five "can't wait to read them" books. What books are you looking forward to?

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