What I read-December and Best Book of the Year

(I Started this post several weeks ago, but I'm finally getting around to finishing it)

December Books
I didn't read as much this month.  Football is finally over and I was busy with Christmas.  I also love cheesy Christmas movies and so I'd watch those instead of reading. 

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The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant
I've lived half my childhood in Germany and so might have loved this more than most.  The main character has a British mother and a German father and so speaks a hybrid of English and German that was just fun for me. For those of you that don't love Germany as much as I do, it is still a good mystery.  It's pretty clean, but if you're having your kid or mother read it, tell them to skip the part where she visits her cousin in England-they have potty mouths. It begins: "My life might have been so different, had I not been known as the girl whose grandmother exploded."     Doesn't that make you want to read it? 4 1/2 stars 

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The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
This is the story of a 4 year-old British girl that shows up on dock in Australia. She is adopted by a loving family.  However, when she learns she's adopted, she is so upset about being abandon as a child that she all but disowns her adoptive family.  It takes 3 generations of women to discover the mystery of her origins.  I'm not sure what I think about this book or how many stars to give it.  It's not a happy book, which is a problem for me.  I think mostly I was just bothered how destroyed she was to find out she was adopted.  I have to adopted sisters, 2 adopted nieces, 3 adopted cousins, and strongly believe that adoption rocks. That being said-everyone else I know who read it loved it.

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Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand-The true story of a man that ran in the Olympics, spent weeks adrift at sea, and survived a Japanese POW camp.  His story is downright amazing.  He faces some really horrible situations, but the book isn't heavy or depressing. I loved it so much, that I gave this to my dad for Christmas. Five stars!

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The Fox Inheritance by Mary Pearson
This is the sequel to the Adoration of Jenna Fox (my thoughts). Three friends were in a horrible car accident, destroying their bodies.  Their minds were saved for centuries until science could create new bodies for them.  I really liked it, but I like thought-provoking sci-fi stuff. 4 stars

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The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood
This is a children's series that my friend Kammy suggested (read her review here).  I've only read the first two, but really enjoyed them.  They tell the story of an orphan girl who becomes the nanny to children that were literally raised by wolves.  It's charming an quirky, with a little mystery thrown in for good measure.  4 1/2 stars


I read or listened to about 100 books last year. My friend Stephanie suggested I do a top books I read during 2011 list-so Stephanie this post is for you:

Drumroll please....My favorite book of 20011: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Honorable mention:
The Girl in the Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold
A fictional account of the marriage of Charles Dickens.  I don't know if it was the most well- written book, but I found the story fascinating.

Best Guilty Pleasure:
The Iron Fey Series by Julie Kagawa
Teenage romance set in the world of Midsummer's Night Dream.
(I'm not sure if it was all that good or I just read it while my husband was deployed and I missed him).


So what have you read lately?