If You Were Wondering What I Thought You Should Read, Today is Your Lucky Day
When I posted about all the books I’d read so far this year, my cousin Ashley requested a list of my five favorite books out of that list.
What Should I Read
- The Book Thief. It’s a little slow at the beginning, but just cruise through it and then watch it get great. I took a break between the first 100 pages and the rest (of like. . .five months) and I would not recommend that. I had to keep going back to figure out who people where and what had happened previously.
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Really, have you not read this much? It’ll take you two hours. And you’ll just be charmed.
- The Bronze Bow. Not my normal kind of book, but really good nevertheless. Authors, take note – a really really strong main character will go a long way. It’s about a teenage boy living in about the time of Jesus. His father was killed by the Romans and so Daniel is determined to help the Jews overthrow the Roman rule. He hovers between a desire for war and a strange curiosity about the teachings of Jesus. Amazing writing, moving story. Now days I doubt that a book like this could win the Newbery award, but despite it’s topic, it is not at all preachy – just really thought-provoking historical fiction.
- Stargirl. SO good. Easy to get into and a fast read. You’ll want to be a better person after you read it. You may also want to take up the ukulele.
- The Wednesday Wars. Really a lovely book. It’s about a pre-teen boy who is the only kid in his class who isn’t Jewish or Catholic, so, while the others go to church on Wednesday afternoon, he has to stay behind with his teacher, who insists that they use the time to study the works of Shakespeare. It’s during the Vietnam war and the book weaves Shakespeare, the war, his family life, and his personal mishaps in to a really wonderful book. Quick and phenomenal.
It was amazingly difficult to pick five, since I’m always plagued by the worry that someone will read a book I raved about and then hate it. But these are the books that I loved while reading them and afterwards, the books that I’ve thought about since closing the cover and taking them back the library (every single one of these books was from the library). These are the books I am most glad I didn’t miss out on this year.
Note: I had The Other Boleyn Girl on there, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it is SO not in my top five. Somehow I’d missed Hugo Cabret and that one needs to be in there.
I really enjoyed The Other Boleyn Girl as well..I’m a sucker for historical novels that help me understand events and people and relationships and stuff.
Also, FIVE MORE DAYS
I’ll definitely put Boleyn on my list. I LOVED all the others you listed and add my recommendation to yours. Thanks, and keep reporting on your reads, please!
Five more days, mysterious…
I loved The Other Boleyn Girl, and Stargirl is very high on my to-read list right now!
I haven’t read ANY of those! I need to get cracking!
I put The Other Boleyn Girl on my pile because of your review-
My favorite 5 so far:
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Speak, 1 Dead in Attic, Iron Kissed, and gods in Alabama.
I LOVED the Book Thief. I also loved The Other Boleyn girl, but I’m going to pretend that I didn’t since it is pure smut!
That was just what I wanted! It was fun to read your summaries, but I just didn’t know where to start! I’m reading The Color of Water right now, but I’m excited to get one of your recommendations next!
I just finished The Book Thief, which I picked up at the library a few weeks ago thanks to your review earlier. I was in tears at the end. It was interesting to read about life in Germany during that war. We often hear about life in the Allied nations. Very good point made about the power of words!
If it wasn’t for the language I would have recommended it for my book club to read.
My mom totally forced me to read The Bronze Bow when I was a kid, but much to my chagrin, I ended up loving it! So good!
I’m kind of surprised that The Other Boleyn Girl is in your top five. I enjoyed it very much, but I felt like I should have taken a shower after I read it. The smut level was much higher than I anticipated.
Thanks! I really am going to write theme down and give them a read. I will have to read them gradually however, Dave gets a little jealous when I am paying more attention to a book then him…it’s true.
I haven’t read any of
those five. My mom said
the same thing about
The Book Thief…being
a little slow and all…
but once you get really into
it, it gets good.
I did however read The Other
Boleyn Girl, and liked it
a lot. Not a top five, either…
but enjoyable nonetheless!