Book Club 2012 & Book Reviews

So not only am I reading these days, I actually took charge of our little book club.  If you would have asked me 2 years ago to join your book club (let alone lead one) I most likely would have laughed in your face and then said no.  Yet here I am trucking a long and busting out a book a month.  I know that is still not a lot compared to how much other people read, but it is a pretty big deal for me.  And I love it!  I feel like I am learning so much and using this brain more than just at a toddler level.  I love feeling like I can contribute to real adult conversations.  Overall it just feels good!

I thought I'd share our book list with you and a little review of the book.  (side note, most of these I read many months ago so the reviews are not going to go into much depth, sorry.)  

So here they are:

January: We met and decided together the books we would read for the year.  We try to get a variety, memories, historical fiction, adventure, etc.

February Book

The Glass Castle: I did enjoy this book.  It was really eye opening in a lot of ways.  Super interesting and inspiring. I think it was extremely well written, especially in her ability to not let her feelings inter fear with the story.

March Book

The Alchemist:  This is a quick easy read. I really liked this book.  Very insightful.

April Book

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas:  I loved this book and hated it at the same time.  I loved the story and the perspective it took on the Holocaust but I truly despised the author's voice.  It really annoyed me.  I wish he would have taken a different approach.  But the story overall, I really did appreciate.

We also watched the movie at book club and I feel like they did a great job in regards to staying with the story.  There were only very minute changes.

May Book 

was Persuasion by Jane Austen

(May was a crazy month for me & we were out of town for most of it so I didn't get a chance to read this one.)

June Book

Heaven is for Real: I love, love, LOVED this book!  About this little boys trip to Heaven & back.  I found it fascinating!  It is the first (and only) book I have ever read cover to cover in one day.  It helped that it was a short and easy read, but really, I LOVED IT!

July Book

The Vow:  Can I just say I love, Love, LOVED this book! In a world where so many couples are so quick to give up on their marriages this book brings back what a Vow, a promise, a commitment really means. It was amazing how they relied so heavily on the Lord to make their marriage work despite the fact that she did not even know who he was let alone how to be married to him. So interesting. So inspiring. I highly recommend it!

We also watched the movie at book club.  Honestly, we did more talking then watching, but from what I did see, the movie is NOTHING like the book.  Like two totally different stories.  I'll have to go back and watch it again as a separate thought and see if I actually like the movie too.

August Book

Escape:  This book was crazy!  I don't even know how to describe it.  It was so interesting and was seriously hooked.  This woman is inspiring!  Her story is unbelievable and incredibly eye-opening.  I truly could not believe so many of the things that happened to her and her ability to keep going.  Super interesting read!

September Book

The Maze Runner: I didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it either. It was an exciting quick read and I plan on reading the rest of the series, but I just didn't love it. I'm not sure why, maybe because everyone compares it to The Hunger Games which I love so I went in with high expectations. And can see why so many make the comparison, but Hunger Games is much better. We'll see how the next book is.

October Book

25 Mistakes: Having majored in Family Life in college, I usually take these kinds of books as a grain of salt. I must say that I agree with everything this book says 100%!! It corresponds exactly to what I have studied and how I feel personally about a lot of these issues. It is eye opening & life altering. I also love the way it is written with a personal experience or two, then statics about it, and then the spiritual side. I am so glad I read and bought this book.  I have marked it up with highlights and notes and will refer back to it throughout my parenting days.

November/December Books

Since Nov/Dec are crazy months we decided on these since most people have read them already.  That way we can still get together and talk about them and then plan for next year's list.

The Hunger Games:  It has been almost a year since I read these, but I did love them and will most likely re-read them.  The Hunger Games was great but I think I liked the second book, Catching Fire even more.  I loved how it picked up right where the first ended and had just as many unexpected twists.  Mockingjay was OK   I certainly didn't love it as much as the first two.  I kind of felt like it was rushed a little.  But overall the series as a whole was awesome!

What books did you read this year?  

Any recommendations for our book list next year?

Happy Reading!