The Booking Through Thursday question for this week is:
It’s an old question, but a good one . . . What were your favorite books this year?
List as many as you like … fiction, non-fiction, mystery, romance, science-fiction, business, travel, cookbooks … whatever the category. But, really, we’re all dying to know. What books were the highlight of your reading year in 2007?
I had thought today’s question might concern what books we got for Christmas, and I was all ready to tell you!
I had been thinking about making a list of the books I read through the year, and this question gave me an excuse to do so since I was perusing through the book category of my blog anyway to remind myself what I had read to answer this question. I made a list for the year here. I was surprised and pleased at the variety since I tend to spend most of my time with Christian fiction.
The highlights for non-fiction would be Spirit of the Rainforest: A Yanomamo Shaman’s Story by Mark Ritchie, reviewed here, and One Candle To Burn by Kay Washer, reviewed here. I know Kay but only knew parts of her story, so it was a delight to read the book. But it would have been a good book anyway, with insights into the lives and ministries of pioneer missionaries. Spirit of the Rainforest was recommended by Jungle Mom, who I think knew the family of the author and worked with a neighborhood group. It’s a marvelous book and a must-read for anyone who thinks primitive peoples are happily frolicking in the jungle and should be left alone by the outside world.
The highlight of the classics that I read has to be Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, reviewed here. By the way, the PBS version on Masterpiece Theatre is supposed to air again in two parts Dec. 30 and Jan. 6. It was this version that made me move this book from my “someday” list to wanting to read it now.
Christian fiction is my favorite genre, and the best of it occurs when the stories are good, the characters real, the situations such that we can relate to them, and spiritual truth is conveyed in a way that is touching but not “preachy.” It’s hardest to narrow down highlights in this category, but it would have to be Sharon Hinck’s books: Renovating Becky Miller, reviewed here, about the life and struggles of an average wife mom who is also taking on renovating a “fixer-upper” and taking in her mother-in-law, and The Restorer, reviewed here, about another average wife and mom who stumbles upon a portal into another world, and The Restorer’s Son, the sequel, reviewed here.
3 Comments
December 27, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Interesting reflection. I don’t read Christian fiction. Maybe I should!
December 27, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I tend to stick with the Christian fiction too, but branched out this year. My fave still ended up being in the that genre and was “Uncharted” by Angela Hunt.
December 28, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Hi Barbara! I have Jane Eyre in my TBR and right now, it’s sitting pretty waiting for me to read it. I also have quite a bit of Christian fiction in the pile.