Books read in 2009

I've read some pretty good books this year, here they are:

1. Eclipse by: Stephenie Meyer
I got sucked in to the Twilight series after I saw the first movie and the books totally did not disappoint.

2. Breaking Dawn by: Stephenie Meyer
This book I actually only read 3/4s of the way through and then we were headed to Iraq and it was too big to bring on the plane so Chelsea sent me a synopsis of the parts I didn't get to read.

3. Culture Shock by: Myron Loss
I read this book on the way to Iraq and it was a helpful tool in adjusting to life in a really different place.

4. Unveiled by: Francine Rivers
I really enjoyed this book, it was a quick read and offered a good, biblical perspective on the story of Tamar.

5.  Barefoot Language Learning by: David Larson
This was one of the most helpful resources I have come across in giving practical tips and presenting a strategy to help you learn a second language successfully.  This certainly helped me begin learning Kurdish and had I followed this principals a little more carefully, I think  it would have made a big difference in my language learning.

6.  A Thousand Splendid Suns by: Khaled Hosseini
I really loved the Kite Runner and had heard good things about this book.  This book was less disturbing in it's story and yet I felt like it gave a pretty accurate representation of what it is like to be a woman in a Muslim world.


7.  Confessions of a Shopaholic by: Sophie Kinsella
 These books are good mindless entertainment for me.  Especially in Iraq when we didn't have electricity very often in the winter.

8. The Power of a Praying Wife by: Stormie Omartin
This was a really good book for me to read.  I really appreciated her perspective and the prayers she included at the end of each chapter.  This should be a must read for every wife and a book I'm sure I will return to regularly.

9. What to Expect When You're Expecting by: Heidi Murkoff
The must read pregnancy book and it was maybe over informative for me sometimes but it really helped prepare me for what was ahead.

10. Shopaholic Ties the Knot by: Sophie Kinsella
 Honestly, I don't remember anything about this book...thinking....nope, the plot just barely rings a bell.

11. American Wife by: Curtis Sittenfeld
This book was an interesting read.  It is a fictionalized portrayal of George and Laura Bush and Laura's rise to the First Lady.  While it was a little graphic at times, I thought it was intriguing and found myself doing some research after I was finished to figure out how much of the book was fact.

12.  Created to be his Help Meet by: Debi Pearl
At first this book really rubbed me the wrong way, the author seemed really extreme in her views of gender roles.  But the more I read the more I was really challenged and convicted by the way she presented the Word of God in relation to my role as a wife.  I can honestly say this book was a real turning point in our marriage.

13. A Swiftly Tilting Planet by: Madeline L'Engle
This is a sequel to A Wrinkle in Time.  Even though it had been a couple years since I had read that book I still really enjoyed this one.  I used to read this book to Haydn at night ( this was right around the time that all the books said he got ears) and got excited about books that I can read to him when he is older that are just really good stories.

14. The Testament by: John Grisham
This was the first John Grisham book that I have read and it was really entertaining.  I can see why so many people enjoy his writing.

15. The Practice of the Presence of God by: Brother Lawrence
While I enjoyed this book as a devotional I didn't think that the translation that I had was the best.  It isn't the one pictured in the link, I couldn't find the exact one that I read.

16. Streams of Living Water by: Richard Foster
I love Richard Foster and I really enjoyed this book.  He broke down the different traditions of the Christian faith and highlighted some of the major figures in each.  It was really good to hear about new heroes of faith and  read his stories of ones I've been familiar with.

17.  In Her Shoes by: Jennifer Weiner
This was my favorite chic lit book that I read this year.  I missed the movie that was made from this book a few years back - the book was of course better!

18. Little Earthquakes by: Jennifer Weiner
I think I would have liked this book more if I hadn't read it when I was at a point in pregnancy where I was kind of panicked.  This book is all about babies and mommies.  So, maybe post baby I would have thought it was more entertaining instead of terrifying.

19. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by: Annie Barrows
I loved this book!  It is a collection of letters that tie you to a book club during world war II.  This was probably my favorite book that I read this year.

20. The Friday Night Knitting Club by: Kate Jacobs
This was a really entertaining book.  It almost made me want to knit.... except that it made knitting sounds pretty complicated.

21. Intimate Friendship with God by: Joy Dawson
This was a really challenging book dealing with the fear of the the Lord and having a deep relationship with God.  I think this is a book I will return to with regularity.  If you are looking to grow... read this book.

So that's it.  The books I read this year.  I'm noticing that I read a lot of fiction this year - more than I normally do.  I speculate that it had a lot to do with spending the year in Iraq and needing another world to live in for a little while.  The first book on my 2010 list?  Wicked by: Gregory Maguire.