93. Scripture Power: Helping Kids Love the Scriptures by Dennis Wright

This is a fun little book full of suggestions on how to teach the scriptures to your kids. The book is divided up into chapters that discuss each age group according to child development stages. To be honest, it is a little overwhelming. I'm not sure I have the energy for most of the suggestions in the book, but it really has some good ideas. Might be worth a glance if you are looking for some new ideas for family scripture study.

92. The Plight of the Darcy Brothers by Marsha Altman

This is a sequel to a sequel, but I actually really like it. I like the author's adaptation of the characters. This time Mary Bennet is in trouble and in need of help. Darcy, of course, comes to the rescue. However, rescuing Mary requires a trip to the continent with Elizabeth. Along the way, he discovers some unsettling things about his own family that he must come to terms with. It is a fun story and moves as quickly as Austen style novels usually move. I like it, probably even better than her first sequel.

91. The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman

This is another continuation of Pride and Prejudice, if you couldn't tell by the title. It starts a couple days before the weddings and continues through about the first year of marriage. It is pretty good. The characters all seem pretty true to Austen's characters without being boring. The author seems to have a gift for making even the unlikeable characters likeable. For instance Caroline Bingley ends up tolerable and so does Mr. and Mrs. Bennets' marital relationship. I don't know about her interpretation of Darcy as someone who can't hold his liquor (thus usually avoids drinking) but it does provide some comic relief and I think all authors have to come up with a fault for Darcy to make him a little more human. This was suggestive though. I would definitely rate it PG-13. This actually was one of the more interesting adaptations I've read though and, in the end, I liked the way she treated the original characters. Might be worth a try.

90. Mercedes' Mountain: A Love Story by Jewel Adams

This book tells the story of a black woman who moves from Brooklyn to a cabin in the middle of nowhere in North Carolina. There she meets and marries a Cherokee man. Her father basically disowns her because she married outside her "own" people. The couple also encounters a small amount of prejudice within the Cherokee community. So the question of prejudice within their own minorities was interesting. And the story was ok. At times though, it was a little too cheesy, even for me. This is an LDS book so there was nothing inappropriate in it, but again, it was a little cheesy. I'd say it was ok.

89. Esther's Gift: A Mitford Christmas Story by Jan Karon

This is the second Christmas short story based on Jan Karon's Mitford series. This time, one of the residents of Mitford, Esther Bolick is contemplating her annual baking of several orange marmalade cakes as presents for her neighbors. However, she makes the mistake of asking her husband to figure out exactly how much each cake is costing to make. It turns out to be a staggering amount and she must decide which is more important: the money or the joy the cakes bring her neighbors. It is really a fun book and made me think about the intangibles at Christmastime.

88. The Mitford Snowmen: A Christmas Story by Jan Karon

This is a cute little Christmas short story based on Jan Karon's Mitford series. If you haven't read any of this series, it might be worth your while to try it out. Jan Karon is a great Christian writer. The main character in the series, Father Tim, is an episcopalien (I think) priest. The stories are set in a little North Carolina (again I think, I haven't read them in a while) town, very small town South. This little book was made as a gift book and has some really cute snowmen pictures in it. Hallmark also did a series of snowmen ornaments based on this book. The book itself tells the story of a spontaneous snowman building contest that takes place on Mitford's main street. It is very cute.

87. Let It Snow by Debbie Macomber

This is a short little romance story. It reminded me of one of the stories you would read in Woman's Day or something. It was cute and really short. It is the story of two people who meet on a plane that gets stranded at an airport. They decide to share the last rental car available and hilarity ensues (or romance or something). I think it was originally put out as some kind of promotional thing at Christmas. I picked it up off the library's Christmas display. I liked it. John would have said that it was very cheesy but I say that Christmas is just the right season for cheese.

86. Sackett's Land by Louis L'Amour

I picked this book because I remember really enjoying the Sackett series of Louis L'Amour's books when I was younger. My older sister married a Louis L'Amour fanatic when I was in junior high and he got me started on some of his books. I remember liking the Sackett books the best so I decided to try them again when I saw them a few weeks ago in the library. It was just as good as I remember. It is your classic adventure story. This one is the first in the series and is set in Shakespearian England. Barnabas, the main character, is an honorable, ambitious, fenman who crosses a nobleman and then is forced to flee his home. Eventually he ends up in the new world and along the way crosses some powerful pirates. But he survives to fight another day and he gets the girl, so it was an enjoyable story.

85. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

I can't say enough good things about this book and the whole series (also called the Dark is Rising Sequence). Every time I read it I am amazed by how complex and deftly it is written. The author weaves the mythology into an original story. This time I listened to it on CD and the guy who reads it does a really good job. It is a little intense, probably not for really small kids, but I would say about 10 and up would really like it. This is the second book in the series and about the only continuing elements from the previous book are the Merriman ( a version of Merlin) and the overall good versus bad storyline. I love this book because it gives you a lot to think about. But most of all I like it because it is just an incredible story. I would highly recommend it to anyone, especially if you liked the Narnia books or Harry Potter. Oh yeah, there was a movie made of this book, but it really was loosely based on the book. So if you saw the movie and didn't like it, you should still give the book a try because it is about a hundred times better.

84. I Hate It When Exercise is the Answer: A Fitness Program for the Soul by Emily Watts

This is a really cute little book. It is organized into 31 chapters of spiritual insight and goals. Each chapter tells some personal stories of how the author came to each insight and then at the end of the chapter there is challenge or goal for the reader to try to improve in that area. It was funny and made you think. I didn't actually try many of the goals but I wouldn't mind going back and rereading and rethinking the book. I liked it.

83. Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

This is the kind of book that makes me remember while I LOVE children's literature. It is basically a collection of letters from a boy to his favorite author. The letters begin when the boy is in 2nd grade or so and continue through 5th or 6th. The letters also chronicle the changes in the boy's life and eventually become his journal (his parents divorce and he moves to a new house and a new town). It won the Newberry and I can totally see why. The boy's voice comes through so cleanly. I don't know what else to say except that you should take a day and read it. It will make you love children's lit if you don't already.

82. Esio Trot by Roald Dahl

I liked the last Roald Dahl book I read so much that I decided to give another one a try. (Who knew I owned a whole collection of them?) This book was also super cute. It is the love story of a little retired man and the middle-aged tortoise lover lady that lives below him. (In case you didn't notice, the title is tortoise spelled backwards.) It's really a pretty silly story about how the man, Mr. Hoppy, tricks the lady, Mrs. Silver, into noticing him and at the same time, works up his own courage to make his move. It's really short and the pictures are cute and it has a funny note at the beginning basically saying that no tortoises were harmed in the creation of this book. I guess I like Roald Dahl after all.

81. Redefining Joy in the Last Days by Chris Stewart

This was another book in Deseret Book's Time Out Classics series. And, just like all the others I've read, I really liked it. (One of the reasons I picked it out at the library was because it was in this series.) The author explores what it means to be happy, and how we can be happy when everything isn't necessarily going the way we think it should. He had some interesting points and I found the book hopeful and would recommend it. I like these little books because they make me think more positively about life in general.

80. When You Can't Do It Alone: Take the Savior's Hand by Brent L. Top

I really, really liked this book. It wasn't what I was expecting but I really liked it. Basically, the author tells about how he had a nervous breakdown when he was serving as a mission president, and how he made it through. I think I could relate because I feel like I'm always on the verge of a breakdown with my kids, so it was interesting and informative to read his story. He had some great insights on mental illness, depression, etc. Anyway, the book really made me think and I would recommend it to anyone.