What I Read – December 2009

Links take you to my reviews on Goodreads.com and *’s mark books deemed as “favorites”.

*West With the Night, Beryl Markham

*Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie

Mischief, Amanda Quick

Mistress, Amanda Quick

Cruel as the Grave, Sharon Kay Penman

The Dance of Intimacy, Harriet Lerner

North of Easie, Robert Romano

What I Read – November 2009

Links take you to Goodreads.com and *’s mark books that I really enjoyed.

A Countess Below Stairs, Eva Ibbotson

* The Master: A Novel, Colm Toíbín

Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar

The Sherwood Ring, Elizabeth Marie Pope

** How Yoga Works, by Geshe Michael Roach and Christie McNally
If you teach yoga or want to deepen your personal practice by understanding HOW yoga really works, this is THE book to read.

Changeover, Margaret Mahy

* The Queen’s Man, Sharon Kay Penman

Breathless, Laura Lee Guhrke
recommended by Super Library Wendy

The Nightengale’s Song, Kathleen Eschenburg
also recommended by Super Librarian Wendy, though I didn’t love this one as much as she did … at all

Did you read anything you really enjoyed this past month?  What about really disliked??

What I Read – October 2009

October was a more introspective month with a lot of yoga-related reading, though the best yoga book I’ve ever read I just finished, so you’ll have to wait until November to see it here on Perusals.  Unless of course you are on Goodreads – then you can see it now.  ::wink::

A few reminders:
*’s mark books that were really wonderful
All links take you to my reviews on Goodreads

Without further ado …

Falls the Shadow, Sharon Kay Penman (Welsh Trilogy, book 2)

*Worry, Edward M. Hallowell

Julie & Julia, Julie Powell

*The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

The Perilous Gard, Elizabeth Marie Pope

The Hindus: An Alternative History, Wendy Doniger
(Didn’t finish this one.  It had to go back to the library before I could even get past the introduction.  Dense but good.)

*A Return to Love, Marianne Williamson
(This was a re-read from yoga school.  I wasn’t ready for this book back in October 2008 and I am so glad I revisited it.  Both reviews, from 08 and 09, are included.)

What I Read – September 2009

September was a good reading mojo month.  With a few hiccups (I’m looking at you, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) I found a lot of great reads this month.  Links take you to my reviews on Goodreads.com and *’s mark the books I found truly outstanding.

*Song of the Sparrow, Lisa Ann Sandell

The Edge of Impropriety, Pam Rosenthal

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Barbara Kingsolver
(Note: this book made me so angry, that I was trying to come up with a symbol to denote books that I wanted to hurl against a wall, run over with a car, and then stomp to an inky pulp.  Hopefully this is the only book that will ever make me THAT mad.)

Cooking Up a Storm, Emma Holly

**I Shall Not Want, Julia Spencer-Fleming

Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, Richard Wrangham

A Little Bit Wicked, Kristen Chenoweth

Prairie Tale: A Memoir, Melissa Gilbert

What did you read last month?

What I Read – August 2009

This was a great month for reading and a week’s vacation in Maine helped create some quality downtime to really get involved in some great books.

Links take you to my reviews on Goodreads.com and the * marks books that I highly recommend/enjoyed.

*In Too Deep, Portia Da Costa

Au Revoir to All That: Food, Wine, and the end of France, Michael Steinberger

*In The Bleak Midwinter, Julia Spencer-Fleming

*Lord of Scoundrels, Loretta Chase

A Fountain Filled with Blood, Julia Spencer-Fleming

*Out of the Deep I Cry, Julia Spencer-Fleming

One Thousand White Women, Jim Fergus

*We Took to the Woods, Louise Dickinson Rich

All Mortal Flesh, Julia Spencer-Fleming

*To Darkness and to Death, Julia Spencer Fleming

Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, Richard W. Wrangham

How about you?  What did you read this summer that you really liked?

What I Read – April 2009

Hmmm … didn’t read much this month.  Went on another romance novel bender and sucked down Jillian Hunter books like they were going out of style.  I’ve got a couple non-romance reads started and I think I may actually be ready to read outside of the genre.

The Love Affair of an English Lord, Jillian Hunter

The Wedding Night of an English Rogue, Jillian Hunter

The Devilish Pleasures of a Duke, Jillian Hunter

The Sinful Nights of a Nobleman, Jillian Hunter

No stars this month.  These books were all good reads, but nothing too outstanding.  Though one could probably write a dissertation on the ridiculous titles of these novels.

What I Read – March 2009

Here’s the past month’s booklist.  Asterisks mark books that were especially powerfull/enjoyable.  All links take you to my reviews on Goodreads.com.

Chocolat, Joanne Harris

*Exit Music, Ian Rankin

Hush: An Irish Princess’ Tale, Donna Jo Napoli

Growing Herbs, Richard Bird

*Kushiel’s Scion, Jacqueline Carey

*The Geography of Bliss, Eric Weiner

I also re-read Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and Miracles.   I liked Miracles more the second time around, and the Sutras make a lot more sense once I was introduced to a few other translations/interpretations.

What did you read this past month that you really enjoyed?