#83 10-30-10

sTORItelling by Tori Spelling--Yep, I'll admit it, I love Tori Spelling. I was in elementary school when 90210 was on and never really watched it. I'm a late bloomer and did not discover Tori Spelling until Tori and Dean was randomly on my tv one night.

#82 10-24-10

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver--- who would have thought that someone who doesn't particularly care for the great outdoors (me) would love a book about caring for the great outdoors? I just can't get enough of Kingsolver's strong female characters.

#81 10-19-10

Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen--domestic violence causes a woman to flee with her son and create a new life. Husband shows up and takes the boy. Ends abruptly shortly thereafter.

#80 10.17.10

Deeper than the Dead by Tami Hoag--Hoag is my absolute favorite murder mystery writer, followed closely by Sue Grafton. This book almost seems like a collaboration between the two. It is set in 1985, a time period Grafton writes about with ease, a time before DNA was widely accepted as scientific, a time before every professional in America had a computer sitting on his/her desk, and a time before criminal profiling was used widely. A great way to reach the milestone of 80 books read in 2010. I have 20 books left and approximately 10 weeks left in the year. We'll see.

#79 10.15.10

Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver--the sequel to #78 and one of the few sequels that I like better than the original. The same distinctive voice that I liked in The Poisonwood Bible is alive and well in the female characters of this book.

#78 10.14.10

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver--I'm pretty sure I found a copy of this at school several years ago that one of my kids was reading for his/her English class and read it one afternoon. Nonetheless, I (re)read it tonight and enjoyed the story. I have always gotten a little thrill reading books that mention places I've been. This Kentucky author mentions Kentucky Lake and I think that's swell. I'll be trooping off to the library tomorrow to get the sequel.

#77 10.14.10

The Likeness by Tana French-another Irish mystery involving one of the two main characters from In the Woods. I actually liked this one better, likely because Cassie Maddox reminds me just a wee bit of Lisbeth Salander.

#76 10.12.10

The old post about the books I've read was getting long and unwieldy so I decided to switch to a new post per new book read. #76 is The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. As a child I would often start a book and stay up until the wee hours to finish it. Last night, about halfway through the book, I went to bed and layed awake thinking about the book and getting up to finish it. A sure sign that this is a great book. Double bonus that it takes place in England and Australia, both places that I love. Love British lit!