Books I Read Last Year

I'm a slacker and I've really fallen behind on my book reviews.  But in an effort to make a fresh start I'm just going to list the books I read last year.

1. Dragon Kiss by E D Baker--Love this series.
2. The Winter of Our Disconnect by Susan Maushart--Really interesting, well worth the time.
3. The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time by David Ulin--Interesting but very scholarly.  I would definitely classify this as literary criticism, which isn't for everybody.
4. Forest Born by Shannon Hale--Really good. Loved this series but you have to give it 100 pages because it is a little slow at the beginning.
5. A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters--Historical mystery set in 1100's in European monastery.  Very interesting and well written.
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J K Rowling--Ruth and Lily begged me to read this to them so they could watch the movie.  I did and we all enjoyed it another time.
7. Suspense and Sensibility by Carrie Bebris--Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mystery series that I love.  This one is great.
8. North by Northanger by Carrie Bebris-- The next one in the series and probably my favorite in the whole series.  It won some kind of mystery award.  It's really good.
9. The Matters at Mansfield by Carrie Bebris--The next one after that. Pretty good.
10. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White--A funny take on the whole supernatural trend, like Twilight but really funny.
11. I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter--A young adult spy series that my girls love.  It's smart and funny and not as violent as the title sounds.
12. Peeled by Joan Bauer--Joan Bauer is probably my favorite YA author.  Everything she writes is amazing and this is no exception.  This one is about a girl who is an aspiring journalist and investigates the relationship between failing apple farms in her area and a haunted house.
13. The Intrigue at Highbury by Carrie Bebris-- The next in the Darcy series. Pretty good.
14. Sorcery and Cecelia, or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot--by Patricia Wrede and Carolyn Stevermer--Jane Austen meets Harry Potter.  One of the most awesome books I've read.  This was my third time reading it. I love it.
15. The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall-- a really cute book that I read to the girls and they all liked it.  They could really relate to the big family of girls and the dynamics of it all.  We laughed a lot.
16. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster--We read this for our mother-daughter bookclub and it was fun.  It is very witty in a math and english kind of way.  If you haven't read it you should.
17. Family Ties by Elder Perry--John got this for father's day, so I picked it up and read it.  It's a great little book about fatherhood and men's roles and responsibilities.  I liked it.
18. The Grand Tour by Patricia Wrede and Carolyn Stevermer--This is the sequel to Sorcery and Cecelia and is just as funny and good. Very well done.
19. Created for Greater Things by Elder Holland--I received this book for Mother's day and absolutely loved it.  It is so uplifting.  I sent it to my brother who struggles with depression and he loved it too.
20. The Mislaid Magician or Ten Years Later by Patricia Wrede and Carolyn Stevermer--This is the last in the Sorcery and Cecilia series. Still super good.
21. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White--I reread this book so I could remember it before reading the sequel.
22. Supernaturally by Kiersten White--The sequel. It was pretty good, but these books are pretty silly.
23. Jane and Man of the Cloth by Stephanie Barron--This is the second in the Jane Austen mysteries series.  These are really good historical mysteries where Jane Austen is the detective.  Very well written.
24. Close to Famous by Joan Bauer--Another great book.  This one is about a girl who wants to be on The Food Network but has to work through her struggles with dyslexia, her father being killed in Afghanistan, and her mother running from an abusive relationship. Fantastic!!
25. The Secret of the Sealed Room: A Young Benjamin Franklin Mystery by Bailey MacDonald--A cute little mystery series.  I read it with the girls for a mother-daughter bookclub.  It was fun.
26. Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron--The first in Jane Austen mystery series. Very good.
27. Bluestem by Frances Arrington--I just picked this up off the library bookshelp but I really liked it.  It's about two girls who fend for themselves on a prairie homestead after their mother dies and their father goes to try and get work. Interesting.
28. The Deception at Lyme by Carrie Bebris--This is the last in Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mysteries.  It is also very good.
29. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins--I had to reread the books after seeing the movies.  It had been a while.  Still really good.
30. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins--I couldn't stop after the first. Pretty good.
31. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins--I had to get to the end. Interesting.  I liked the ending.
32. Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum--We read this for my book club.  I loved this series as a kid and still find it great as an adult.  Lots of hidden satire for adults.
33. Murder in the White House by Margaret Truman--I read this for my book club too.  Interesting murder mystery without a lot of gore.
34. The Dog Who Saved Christmas and other True Animal Stories by Allan Zullo--Emma chose this for her bedtime stories and I thought it had really interesting stories, especially for pet lovers.
35. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell--This is the English one, not the steamy American John Jakes one (although I've read that too, just not this year). Really great. Read it on my kindle and loved that format.  I think it is easier to read long books that way.  Somehow they don't seem so long when you can't see how many pages it is.  Loved it more than the movie and felt like I learned a lot.
36. Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott--Another book I read on my kindle. Pretty good. Not a book I would read twice though. It took lots of brain power.
37. Stand Tall by Joan Bauer--Another great book.  This one centers on the difficulties of being really tall, the fallout after Vietnam, and the aftermath of divorce.  So interesting.
38. Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst--Another book that Emma picked out.  Hilarious and might be really good to read with demanding children--just saying.
39. Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins--I liked the Hunger Games series so much that I had to try her other series aimed toward a younger audience.  It was fantastic.  You almost don't remember you're reading about a boy fighting rats.  Loved it.
40. Curse of the Warmbloods by Suzanne Collins--the second book in the Gregor series.  I love it too.  I love Collins portrayal of family relationships.  The families actually get along and help each other.  I think that is true of all her books.
41. Marks of Secret by Suzanne Collins--the third book in the Gregor series.  Also very good, and really a good mystery and adventure story.
42. Georgiana Darcy's Diary by Anna Elliott--A great Pride and Prejudice sequel that I think really works.  Plus it is written as a diary which I love.
43. Dalek, I Loved You by Nick Griffiths--This book helped me understand Doctor Who in a way I'd never imagined and really made me realize how little I know about the UK. Quirky but fun.
44. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell--Not as good as North and South but interesting.
45. Forget Me Not by President Uchtdorf--I could read this book over and over.  It's a great pick-me-up.
46. Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale--A great sequel to Austenland.  Great for Austen fanatics like myself.
47. Icefall by Matthew Kirby--This is another book that I probably would have never read by myself, but I read it for a mother-daughter bookclub and really liked it.  It is based on Nordic mythology.  Fascinating.
48. Jane Goes Batty by Michael Ford--This is the sequel to Jane Bites Back which introduces Jane Austen as a vampire and living in upstate New York.  These books are hilarious and a little irreverent if you take your Austen too seriously. I don't.
49. Lawnboy by Gary Paulsen--This book is also hilarious.  It tells the story of a boy who starts out mowing neighbors' lawns for extra money, and ends up owning a lawn service empire. Very funny.
50. Georgiana Darcy: From Pemberley to Waterloo by Anna Elliott--This is the sequel to the Georgiana Darcy Diary book.  This is also very well done.
51. Lawnboy Returns by Gary Paulsen--This is the sequel to Lawnboy and explores what happens when Lawnboy gets too big, sponsors a boxer, and has a run-in with the mafia.  Super funny.
52. Nothing But the Truth by Avi--I love this book. It explores the volatile issues of patriotism and publicity in education.  Very well written and interesting.  A quick read.
53. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale--I really liked this book but it is a little slow at the beginning.  It was easier to read on my kindle than in book form.
54. Central Park by Debra White Smith--This is in a series of Jane Austen rewrites set in modern times.  This is a reworking of Mansfield Park.  It is interesting.
55. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens--If you haven't read this book you should.  It is awesome.  There's a reason it has lasted forever.
56. Matched by Ally Condie--This is another distopia book.  It is really interesting and fast-paced. I liked it.  My girls loved it.
57. Crossed by Ally Condie--The sequel to Matched.  Also interesting and unexpected.

I think that's it.  It was a good year of reading.  I hope to get more in this year, but we'll see.