1 - The Princess Bride by William Goldman. This is one of my all time favorite books, so I was pretty happy it got picked this year. If you love the movie you will love the book even more. I just love the dry humor that runs through the book, that's my kind of humor! The books also digs deeper into all the characters in the movie. If you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for? I am positive that you will LOVE it too!
2 - Life of Pi by Yann Martel. This is a good example of why you shouldn't judge a book by its name or cover. Of the 10 books we read this year, this was 1 of only 2 that I didn't vote for. I reluctantly read it though, and I loved it. It also has some subtle humor, and I just love the way the whole book ties together. If you don't know what the book is about, it's about a young man that is crossing the ocean with his family when the ship sinks. Also in the ship was the families collection of zoo animals that they were also moving. So Pi ends up in a life boat with a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. Great story...and great ending. I promptly bought myself a copy of this book after reading it. I will be reading this one again someday.
3 - In the Heart of the Sea, The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. Scott read this book many years ago, and I have always been meaning to read it since then. Somebody suggested it last year, so I voted for it. This is a true story of the crew of the whaleship Essex that was sunk by a whale in the middle of the pacific ocean. The story of what happened after the ship sunk is very sad, but very interesting. It will make you very grateful for all the food you have in your house though!
4 - Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. This is another book that has been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read. It's a coming of age story of a young man in Cold Sassy (I can't remember which state, but one of those Southern states). There are many colorful characters in the book, and lots of great stories. It's a fun read.
5 - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I can't believe I had never heard of this book before. It seems like it is almost a classic. It is another coming of age story, but this time it is the coming of age story of a young girl in Brooklyn. It's amazing to me how poor the family was, but how they still managed to make ends meet. I believe the story is based on real events from the author's life.
6 - The Dog Says How by Kevin Kling. Kling is a contributor to NPR, and this book is a memoir from his life. They are short stories that are funny and interesting. This was the 1st book we read this past year, so I don't remember a lot of details, but I do know that I liked the book!
7 - Vienna Prelude by Bodie Thoene. This book is set in the years right before Hitler took over control of Austria. A young girl gets caught up in group of people that help Jewish children get out of Germany. The more interesting story is the story of her father in a concentration camp though. The book was alright. I think I would have enjoyed it more if the story of the father was the main highlight of the book. This is also book 1 in a 9 book series! So if you like long series, this is probably right up your alley.
8 - Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales. Now we are getting into the books that I didn't really care for at all. I really wanted to like this book, but it went too much into mountain climbing terminology, and I found myself falling asleep while reading it. There were some interesting survival stories towards the end of the book, but it took too long to get to them. It was definitely a book that was more interesting to talk about than to read.
9 - The Watermelon King by Daniel Wallace. This is one of the books I suggested, and boy do I wish I didn't. Daniel Wallace also wrote Big Fish which I really enjoyed. So I thought I would suggest this one. I started reading it before suggestion night, and some of the ideas seemed a little strange, but I enjoyed the writing style. The first half of the book is all these characters from the book telling the story of a young man's mother who had been in there little town many years ago. I loved all the different voices of the different characters. But that is as far as I got before suggestion/voting night. So I suggested it. Too bad I didn't finish reading it. The book got down right strange towards the end, and I didn't enjoy it at all. I guess you can't win em' all though can you?
10 - The Perfect Mile by Neal Bascomb. To be honest, I never finished reading this book. This was the other book that I didn't vote for, and I had no intention of reading it. It is the story of 3 runners trying to break the 4 minute mile. Running doesn't really interest me, I've never been a good runner. So reading about running really sounded like something I didn't want to do. I did start to read it, but I could never really get into it.
So there you go...10 book suggestions for you. Next month we get to vote on 10 new books, and I'm pretty excited to see what we will be reading. I have a few ideas for what to suggest, but if you have any let me know!
