January and February, 2010

Just a personal list of the books I've read so far in 2010 for our Caldwell Public Library's challenge to read 52 Books in 52 Weeks:
So Week 1 ( 1/2 - 1/9) - The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
A bizarre journey of redemption and love that spans 1500 years or more of western history. If you can persevere through the first 150 pages to get to the great storytelling of Marianne Engel, this really is a pretty good read. The first person account of being a burn victim is gruesome (and his shallowness as a porn star is ucky) but all necessary to make the story work overall. I'll probably like it even better after my book club discusses it on Sunday. Judy - we are reading The Help for our April book club. It really is a different book for me but glad the book club chose it.
Week 2 ( 1/10 - 1/16 - Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus by Thomas Cahill is the third in Cahill's series, The Hinges of History. I have enjoyed all three so far and look forward to the two still sitting in my To Be Read pile! Cahill takes history and turns it into great storytelling.
Week Three ( 1/17 - 1/23) - The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry This is also for my book club. Very interesting and different. Good suspense and love story wrapped up in the mysteries and conflicts of Salem, MA.
Week Four (1/24 - 1/30) - In honor of the last week of January, I chose to read The History of the Snowman by Bob Eckstein(2007). It is an interesting and quirky look at the popular and cultural history of the snowman through the centuries and through a myrrid of media. Glad I read it but glad to be onto other reading!
Book 5 ( 1/31 - 2/6) - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937) written in the black vernacular of the southern United States about a girl's journey from childhood into womanhood in a vain search for true love. Powerful for such a short book. Well written and thought-provoking.
Book 6 ( 2/7 - 2/20) - I just finished Ivan Doig's This House of Sky. It has taken just over two weeks to read so will have some catching up to do, but what a wonderfully written book, full of soul-satisfying stories and details of life in Montana. More importantly, the determination of families to make things work, come what may! I had forgotten how enriching literature of our West can be!

Read, Read, Read a Book

What are you reading? How are you finding the time to read? What helps you choose a book?