January Book List

I'm definitely not finishing a book tonight, so...

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
When this book came out, I heard it described as Twilight meets To Kill a Mockingbird. That's pretty apt. It's about a teenage boy in a small South Carolina town, which is turned upside down by the arrival of Lena, a volatile girl with strong, mysterious powers. It wouldn't necessarily make my all-time favorites list, but while I was reading it, I couldn't get anything done. Really great.

The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Decked Out by Neta Jackson
The Yada Yada series ends with a wedding! I enjoy these characters, but I had to shake my head at some of the goings-on in this book. Thankfully, some of the characters were shaking their heads too. All in all, a good ending.

When Life and Beliefs Collide by Carolyn Custis James
Based on the title of this book, I assumed it was about trusting God in hard times. It sort of is, but the real focus is the importance and influence of a woman's theology (what she believes about God) to her faith walk, her life, and everyone around her. It's structured around the story of Mary of Bethany (sister of Martha and Lazarus). This is one of the most important, and empowering, books I have ever read. I could talk about it for hours (I already started to here) and want to buy a copy for every Christian woman I know. Now I need to get the rest of CCJ's books.

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
This is a short and beautiful novella about a teenage dad and his baby daughter. The action is divided between past and present, so you get gradual snippets of what happened and why he's raising a baby by himself. It seemed very realistic, and the hopeful, pro-life message was strong but subtle. The Printz Award was well-deserved!

Eleven Kids, One Summer by Ann M. Martin
A nostalgia read - I loved Ten Kids, No Pets as a kid and I was happily surprised to find a sequel at a thrift store. It's about the now eleven-kid family's summer adventures on Fire Island. It was cute, but I'm not sure I would have loved it even in my younger days. It lacked the structure and plot follow-through of the original.

The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith
This month was fairly bleah for me emotionally, so I decided I needed a good dose of the Ladies' Detective Agency. This is the most recent installment, which I hadn't read yet. I love these books SO MUCH. They're funny, comforting windows into a simpler (but not sugar-coated) life. I was excited to discover that the next book will be out in March, and I have high hopes that Mma Makutsi and Phuti Radiphuti will get married at last.

Books for January / 2011 year to date: 6