More evidence that I get nothing done during the day.

I had a request that I "review" the books that I've been reading. They are all listed on the sidebar under "60 Books By 12/31/10".

In answer to one of the questions, I don't really have a way of choosing a book that I read. I walk into the library and wander from shelf to shelf, and when I see a book that strikes my fancy, I check it out. Weird? Maybe. Also, of course, there's the book club, and there was one book on the list that I tried because I knew I liked the author. But, I still think that random selections are the best. Otherwise I might just stick to things I am comfortable with. There are a few books that I haven't read in at least a decade that I would like to return to, such as The Diary of Anne Frank and Catcher in the Rye. I'm kind of excited, okay, very excited, to see where this book journey will lead me. I've already enjoyed myself tremendously!

I won't review The Ultimate Gift, since I already did on Fight The Mush!, but I will say that the movie was very different than the book, and my kids watched it twice. Once last night, and again this morning when we were all playing hookie.

Love Is Eternal has me torn. I found the book very intriguing, and it inspired me to do some minor research on the Lincoln family when I was done with the book. I found Mary Todd to be a fascinating woman. I didn't know much about her prior to reading this book. The writing itself was pretty good, I couldn't put it down some of the time. But in spite of all that, I was amazed at how slow the story went! There was a time or two when I wanted to throw the book as far as I could chuck it and yell, "I quit!". But thinking back on it now, I think that maybe the point of the drudgery was to help the reader feel the same sort of frustration that the Lincoln's did. If that was, in fact, Irving Stone's hope, then he succeeded marvelously. I think I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical novels, or would like to try one.

Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella was pure fun. I read some of the Shopaholic books a year or two ago, but the timing in my life was poor. Reading them gave me some pretty intense anxiety attacks. Pathetic, huh? But I liked the writing style of Ms. Kinsella, and so I am glad that I tried a different variety of her stories. It's a fast read and very enjoyable.

Cheaper By The Dozen made me want to spend the rest of my life saying, "By jingo!" It was a charming book. I am so glad that the Gilbreth kids wrote bits of their lives down. I have always believed that there are people who are born to have gobs of children, and I tip my hat to them. I don't know how they do it, and I know for sure that I was never intended to exceed my four. This was also a fun read, and I really enjoyed the era that it took place in. Simple times...

Harry Potter, of course, most of us have already read. I included it because a book a week is a very tough thing to do if you don't count what you read on the toilet or in the tub on the occasions that you forgot to bring your other book into the bathroom with you. I will say that J. K. Rowling is a genius. And I hate fantasy books with all the stupid names that sound the same and unicorns and wizards and magical stones and quests...blah! But these books are not like that at all.

So there you have it. My list so far. I am anxious to get back to the library and find some more treasures!