... A Book A Week

That comes to 52 books a year. It's also how many books I read in 2007 and it's time to review them.

Oh, just in case some of you don't read to the end (I wouldn't blame you), I'll ask you now to post a comment and share with me what book you read in 2007 that you would recommend to me and why.

An Excellent Read ****
A Good Read ***
When You Find the Time **
If You Must *

Water For Elephants: A coming of age/love story in the depression era. I posted on this earlier in the year and I still get the warm and fuzzies when I think of it.****

Beloved: A weighty story of a woman in slavery and the desperate acts she takes to escape. ***

Till We Have Faces: Mythology CS Lewis style. I've read it twice, need I say more? ***

Special Topics In Calamity Physics: As if sounding way smart when telling people you're reading this book isn't enough, read it because it's fantastically written. (Abi, if you're one of my blurkers, this is my recommendation to you.) This book is Marisha Pessels first attempt at a novel and she hit it out of the park. There is nothing to compare it to. I also wrote more here. ****

The Memory Keepers Daughter: The story follows a families heavy, emotional journey as they respond to a poor decision made by the father early on in the book. It's one of those books that helps you to see through other peoples eyes. **

If I Perish: A biography of a Korean woman who takes it upon herself to bring to light the atrocities that Korean Christians are facing. **

The Heart of Christianity: If you're longing to consider some points of views in your Christian walk that are likely going to be different than where you are now... but it didn't speak to me so much. *

The Omnivores Dilemma: It changed my life. The author follows the natural path of four meals from origination to his table. So so fascinating. I wish everyone would read it. Corn-- who knew it was so interesting. ****

The Secret Life of Bees: I'm not sure why this was talked about so much. I wasn't particularly moved. *


March: The author takes the fictional character Mr. March -- as in the father in Little Women-- and tells his side of the story. Ingenious. Geraldine Brooks is quickly becoming a favorite author. And guess where she lives? Charlottesville. Do all authors live there or what? ****

How I Learned to Cook: A fun collection of essays from a number of the top chefs in the world. *

Lamb: I laughed out loud when I read this book. I still chuckle when I remember it. Warning: don't read if you get easily offended. There, now you can't blame me. ****

The Civil War Diary of Sarah Morgan: Not quite Anne Frank but not too bad. *

The Bookseller of Kabul: A biography of an Afghan family. Pretty eye opening. **

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: The coming of age of a young Chinese girl with a moral for all of us. ****

The Wal-Mart Effect: Gather the knowledge then decide for yourself. ***

The Grapes of Wrath: Another book whose effects on me are far reaching -- likely life changing. I can't recommend this book enough. Read it every other year lest you loose perspective. ****

Gilead: A mans journal to his young son. Friends of mine loved it. I could barely finish it. Maybe it was me. *

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: The story is as cute as the title. Its about an autistic boy as he works through the death of his neighbors dog. It honestly helped me to understand how autism effects thought processes. **

9 Marks of a Healthy Church: Maybe if you have no idea what you are looking for. *

Madame Bovary: The fall of a spoiled rotten girl. *

The Namesake: A Bengali couple moves to America and raises their family here. The story follows their lives and the adjustments they make. **

Blood Done Sign My Name: Non-fiction account of a small southern town in the civil-rights era. **

The Good Earth: The life and labors of a Chinese farmer and his family. Slow at points but stick with it. ***

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency: A female detective solving mysteries in South Africa. *

The Unbearable Lightness of Being: I've no idea what it was even about. It was torture to finish. *

Grace (Eventually): More thoughts by Anne Lamott. Always refreshing. **

Good News about Injustice: I wrote a rather lengthy post about it here. ***

School(s) for Conversions: 12 essays highlighting the marks of New Monasticism. Another life changing book. Convicting. Compelling. Radical. Hosanna, you should pick it up. ***

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Add me to the list of millions of potter fans. ***

Middlesex: The story of Calliope's journey. It's a Pulitzer Prize Winner for a reason. The author did an amazing job at giving his characters life and depth. He delicately navigates through a potentially uncomfortable topic. He fills his story with so much truth and history you wonder if it's really fiction. This is what story telling should be. I look forward to reading him more. ****

Holy Cows and Hog Heaven: A somewhat radical view of the farming world. *

You Suck: Vampires in love. Lamb was better. *

The Man Who Was Thursday: An alligorical tale, but who here knows what that ending meant? **

White Oleander: Astrids mother goes to jail for murdering her boyfriend and Astrid is left bouncing between foster homes trying to figure life out. I started off liking it but by the end was counting down the pages until it was finished. *

What Every Church Member Should Know About Poverty: The parallels between lower class and middle class really bring to light the different ways of thinking. I think that's necessary for us to know. **

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius: When I read the forward I thought this was going to be the best book ever. I wish the rest of the book lived up to it. *

The Dante Club: Shirlock Holmes meets Stephen King. *

Angela's Ashes: Wonderful autobiographical story of an Irish family. Add it to your list. ***

Freedom from Fear: If you struggle with anxiety or fear, you may want to look into picking this book up. **

The Prince: If you've haven't heard of Machavelli by now, you likely don't want to read this. *

The Scarlet Letter: Adultery. Guilt. Revenge. Insight into us all. **

Tuesdays with Morrie: Life lessons from a dying man. This book got a lot of press a few years back. It's some good food for though, but not that radical in my opinion.*

A Long Way Gone: An autobiography of a boy who is recruited to fight as a soldier in his home country of Sierra Leonne. Sad. Educational. I hope those that read this follow through with it and don't forget. ***

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Sad that it ended but happy with the ending. ***

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: It's always good to remember ol' Tom and his shenanagins. *

Super Natural Cooking: Already said what I had to say here. ***

Innocent Traitor: I have this not-so-little obsession with the Tutor reign. The author does a great job at chronicling the 9-day queens life and death. **

Cheap Talk with Frugal Friends: Want ideas on how to save money. This is the book for you. *

Loaves and Fishes: The history of the Catholic Workers movement. **

Supercapitalism: Read this post. ***

Confessions of St. Augustine: Oh that I could think this way. *