What I've Been Reading

A quick skim through the pages of this blog made me realize its been two months today since I last posted about books. Granted, I haven't read as much as I usually do -- it's the holidays, after all, and my new iPad has eaten up some of my reading time -- but I've managed to read at least a few chapters every single day. So, considering that we're right here at the end of the year, I'm just gonna dump all those books into this one post and start with a clean slate in the new year. Here goes:

For a description and reviews of any of these books,

click on its image below.

Auschwitz by Laurence Rees:

This book was lent to me by a neighbor, who highly recommended it. I found it hard to read on a couple of levels. First, it read like a textbook: lots of dates and place names, characters (real people) mentioned only anecdotally. Also, the subject matter was so atrocious that I had to read it in small doses. Read it I did, though, every last word. My thinking was that if all those human beings lived and died in the horrible circumstances of a Nazi concentration camp, then I, in their honor, could certainly suffer through reading about it in the comfort of my own home. It's informative, but not something you'd want to read for pleasure or entertainment.

Taken by Barbara Freethy: 

Hide in Plain Sight by Marta Perry: 

A Family Affair by Mary Campisi:

Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult:

When Calls the Heart by Janette Oke:

Ferris Beach by Jill McCorkle:

In the Midnight Rain by Barbara Samuel:

Rock and a Hard Place by Angie Stanton:

Collision Course by S. C. Stephens:

The Hurricane by Hugh Howey:

What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman:

Long Time Coming by Edie Claire:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern:

I've only begun reading this one, but it may be the last book I finish in 2012, so I'll include it here. Let me say that I am loving this book. It is so different, so intriguing, so well written that I'm torn between racing through the pages and pacing myself to savor every morsel. There is nothing normal about this book. If you value imagination as highly as I do, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

For a description and reviews of any of these books,

click on its image above.

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Note:  I read all the books on this list except the first and last ones as Kindle downloads. Some were quite good and none was so unimpressive that I regretted the time spent reading it. (I did encounter one book of the latter description recently but chose not to waste my time either by finishing it or by listing it here.) I'm telling you this because most of them were under $5 and several were free on Amazon.com--and still are at the time of this posting. You may want to check them out for yourself.