Favorite Book: Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien.  I know, I know, this isn’t really fair, since LotR was my favorite book going into this year.  I read it (it was never supposed to be broken into three parts, so it’s not “them”) every year, and this summer brought my twelfth time to enter Middle Earth.  I read it for pleasure, of course, but also because this semester (Fall 08) I took an author’s course on none other than Tolkien.  We read LotR, Tolkien Miscellaneous (with the Essay on Fairy-Stories), Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, and The Silmarillion.  I came out of the class with a deeper appreciation for everything Tolkien was passionate about.  Not only his books, but everything that went into his life’s work.  I learned to love words, language, nature, letters, virtues, mortality, my teacher, my fellow students, analyzing, writing, God, and, of course, truth, more than I had anticipated.  I say “of course” about truth because my paper topic throughout the semester was “Truths Versus Lies” in Tolkien’s work.  I know not many people will ever be able to study any author as in depth as I did this year with Tolkien (I don’t think many people would want to, either—our class went from 35 to 16 by the end of the year, and even then the room was often quiet from confusion and silent grumblings about yet another Elf’s name seen in eyes and body languages), but if you ever have the opportunity—take the chance.  I will never be able to read my favorite book the same again, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Worst Book: Inheritance Lost.  Don’t ask me what this is about, because I must have blocked the horrible writing and seemingly pointless plot from my mind.  The story takes place in India (I think!) and follows a girl who lives with an old man, a cook (whose son is an immigrant in America), and a dog (or was it a bird?).  She develops a relationship with her tutor, but I’m pretty sure he had to leave to fight.  Despite this book making Oprah’s book club (is that even saying much, though?), I was unable to care about the characters and couldn’t follow the story because the author jumped around a lot without much clarity.  I was about 75 pages from the end and asked mom if I could stop reading and she, naturally, said yes.  You must understand that reading a book, to me, is like making a contract with the thin pages, black ink, not-sticky-enough adhesive, cover with an attractive design, and author’s strange or familiar name.  Once I start, I feel obligated to finish, usually with minimal skimming.  Therefore, the fact that this was the only book this year that I was unable to finish indicates that Inheritance Lost deserves the worst book of the year title! 

Longest: (Lord of the Rings).  Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett.  I suppose since I’m only half way through this book it doesn’t really deserve to be on the list, but oh well.  I’m on page 500-something of 1000.  This book is set in the middle ages (which means that I’m inclined to enjoy the story before I even begin) over a span of about five years (so far) while following several different characters that all start to be intertwined somehow.  Despite being a daunting 1000 pages, the pages turn fairly fast and easily, mainly because Follett writes well by using correct terms but avoiding intricate details and has created interesting characters that I care about.  However, I don’t think I would suggest this book to many people, since there are many (an excessive, unnecessary amount, in my opinion) sex and rape scenes that are described in detail.  While things like this can’t be avoided, and maybe even shouldn’t be (but that’s another topic for another day), Follett quickly made me dislike one character because of his inappropriate behavior.  Five or more scenes, however, aren’t necessary, because the character is clearly a despicable, deceiving, disgusting man who deserves to be loathed.  I will be finishing this book, however long it takes me, but won’t be reading Follett’s newest book, as mom informed me it’s just as long, filled with even more sex, and has less engaging characters.

Favorite School Book: Lord of the Rings. Who said I couldn’t use the same book twice?  I honestly can’t pick one that I liked above any of the other ones.  Choices: Purple Hibiscus, Things Fall Apart, Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, Island of Dr. Monroe, Working Poor, Triangle fire, Street Lawyer, Nickeled and Dimed, In Defense of Food, What to Eat, Hungry Soul, Michael Jordon, Tolkien’s Ordinary Virtue, Gospel According to Tolkien, Sanctifying Myth, Philosophy of Tolkien, Battle for Middle Earth, Letters by J.R.R.Tolkien, and The Silmarillion.  This, of course, doesn’t include text books.

Favorite Kids Book: Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snicket.  I don’t even know if this series should be in the children’s section.  Sure, the font is big and he explains every new or big word, but Count Olaf is actually really evil and cruel and the story goes a lot deeper than just what happens to the orphans since Snicket weaves some of his own story into the books as well (it’s confusing, I know, but Snicket isn’t the author’s real name, he’s pretending to be Snicket who is writing about the orphans).  I love these books because of the humor that can really only be caught by older people (like myself) or extremely bright children (which, if you haven’t noticed, are few and far between these days).  I enjoy how he teaches the reader vocabulary, as well.  If you have a little over 13 hours, pick up this series and plow through a great story.  But, don’t expect a fortunate ending…

Biggest Disappointment: Spot of Bother, by Mark Haddon.  In a frantic search for a Christmas present for mom, I resorted to my ever faithful local Barnes and Noble, because you can’t go wrong with books, right?  Boy, was I wrong…oops!  I knew getting an unknown book was risky, but I knew the author—he wrote one of my favorite book’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, after all.  Being British (ok, that’s being prejudice, sorry) he uses a few too many curse words for my liking, but that was expected.  The story is about a retired 60-year-old man who thinks he has cancer, but is actually going insane because he is feeling depressed and lonely.  His wife is having an affair, his daughter has a child and is getting remarried to a man she doesn’t love, and his son is gay.  Ok, so, where’s the redeeming stuff come in, the stuff that makes the book worth reading?  I looked long and hard, for it, trying to keep an open mind while wearing my Christian worldview glasses, and finally succeeded on the last page to understand (author) point!  Family.  Family is important.  Don’t take family for granted.  The message is basically the same as in The Curious Incident, only more hidden.  I wouldn’t recommend this book to you, but I highly recommend The Curious Incident.  You may cringe at all the f bombs and yelling from an abusive father, or you may just cry because…well, I wouldn’t want to ruin the book for you.

New Favorite: Here Be Dragons, by Penman, or I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith.  A tie?  How could I?  Because I had too hard of a time choosing which one I liked better.  They’re completely different and really can’t be compared.  Dragons is a historical fiction novel set in Wales during the time of King John (who wrote the Magna Carta).  The book Is 700 pages with small font and has so many characters that I found myself often flipping back to find out who was who until I gave up and started to just skip over the names.  When I was finished, I sat a little bit of a stupor, one of those “wow, that was a really good book and I wish there were more like it” moments.  Capture is about a girl and her family who live in a castle in England and the Americans who want to buy the family’s home.  What I liked about this book was Smith’s ability to make me feel like I was inside the main character’s head, like I was part of the story, like I also lived in the castle.  Both of these books’ titles are also interesting.  After all, there are no dragons in Dragons, and you can’t really capture a castle.  The dragons are men who hold another man’s lady and have to be slain for justice to be achieved, and (girl?) captures the castle when she finally allows herself to write down her feelings and wishes about her unusual home so that she will always have the memories.  If you like England, castles, writing, or just good stories, you’ll want to read both of these books.

Best History Book:  Creators, Daniel Boorstin.  Book about creators—writers, poets, artists, and movie makers.  Honestly I can’t remember much about it, but I know I enjoyed it at the time.  Plus he didn’t really like Disney and how his idea has been corrupted.

Most Forgettable Book: Topaz, by Leon Uris.  As I was going back over my list of books, I honestly had no idea what this book was.  Something about spies?  I enjoyed Exodus by Uris, even though his books are super long.

Favorite Re-Read Book: Lord of the Rings…Ok, that doesn’t count…Lies Women Believe and the Truths that Set Them Free, by Nancy DeMoss, or Passion and Purity, by Elizabeth Elliot.  DeMoss’s book is about what the title says it’s about!  She goes through common lies women believe (like we have to fix others, or we deserve this and that, or God doesn’t love us otherwise X wouldn’t happen, etc) and how to dispel them with the Bible’s truth.  Elliot’s book is about how to have a relationship with someone of the opposite sex while trying to put Christ first and follow His will while battling natural desires of the flesh.  Since these books are full of God’s truths and first hand experiences, they’re highly encouraging and great for re-reading over and over again.  I know that I already plan to re-read DeMoss’s book next year.

Best Book to Movie Book: Prince Caspian. I’ve been really pleased with the Narnia movies so far.  I could write a movie review, but I shall try to refrain.  Good things: Reepicheep, Peter’s conflict, Edmund and Lucy, Liam Neeson as Aslan.  Bad things: Caspian’s accent, Susan and her leather fighting outfit, Susan and Caspian kissing (uh, yeah, not supposed to happen). 

Other choices:  Atonement, Romeo and Juliet, The Firm, Watchmen, The Road, Frankenstien, The Secret Life of Bees.  Atonement was a really amazing movie.  The cinematography really won me over, plus the fact that James McAvoy is cute and a great actor.  The book is better than the movie, naturally.  Romeo and Juliet has too many movie adaptations to list, as does Frankenstein.  The Firm is much longer than the movie with Tom Cruise, but all movies made from Grisham’s books stay true to his extremely long and detailed lawyer type books.  As for The Road, this book was depressing and…depressing!  It follows a man and his son trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic United States.  They almost starve several times, have to kill others in defense, and struggle to keep from freezing all day every day.  Needless to say, it doesn’t have a happy ending.  The movie is set to come out next year, and I’ll probably see it, but won’t expect it to be better than the book, which means it won’t be very good!  Finally, The Watchmen was the first graphic novel I have ever read and I was pleasantly surprised.  This book is filled with so many details that I would need to read it again several times (and plan to next year, because we’re reading it in my college Honors’ book club) before I catch everything.  Oh, and The Secret Life of Bees was a little disturbing but heart-warming.  Haven’t seen the movie yet, but it has Dakota Fanning in it, so I will probably like it.  The movie’s set to come out next March and I can’t wait to see it!  As of now the movie looks like it will stay true to the book, even copying some direct pictures, but, again, there is so much more you can address and put in a book and in words that you can’t on film.  Besides Narnia, I would actually suggest all of these other books.

Best Mystery: Three Bags Full, by Leonie Swann.  I actually don’t read many mysteries, so there weren’t many to choose from.  Cadfael is always good, and I read some other random ones, but this one was by far the best.  Why?  Because it’s a book about sheep for pete’s sake!  The shepherd has been killed, no, murdered, and his flock, led by Miss Maple, set out to solve this unusual crime.  Besides the fact that the story is told from sheep’s perspective, I was interested in analyzing the reasons behind the sheep and humans’ names, which include Zora and Othello and Ham the Butcher and Gabriel the other shepherd.  Even if you don’t want to figure out why the characters have these names (references to Shakespeare and the Bible), you will probably get a kick out of reading about sheep solving a crime!

First Book Finished of the Year: Bond Servant

Last Book Finished of the Year: Spot of Bother

Why do you have to be like this.  Why do you do this over and over again.  Why do you only live for yourself.  Why can’t I write. Why am I so afraid.  Who should care so much of pleasing others, when no one ever fully pleases you.  Why strive to be perfect, when no one else really is.  Why be afraid if you believe in a personal God who loves you.  Why be such a hypocrite.  Why beat yourself up about it so much.  Why is there no answer to the whys.  Why do I know but not belief.  Why do I feel but not acknowledge my desires.  Why seek comfort in perishable things.  Why live for the moment.  Why not live for eternity.  Why try to do your best when you don’t know what that is.  Why complain when everything’s your own fault.  Why share when you’re just going to cry.  Why live.

Why ask questions when you know the answer. 

Why not just believe.

Why is it not that easy.

Why do you ask, child?

Why do I keep bothering you.

Why do you think you are a bother, beloved?

Why do I not feel you’re there.

Why do you not feel my arms wrapped around you, holding you, protecting you, cherishing you, growing you, challenging you, helping you, convicting you, loving you, my daughter.

Why is the world this way.

Why does man not open his eyes, oh you of little faith!

Why…

Why what?  Rebecca, do not hesitate to ask Me why.  Your whys deserve an answer and I will provide.  Your little and big whys are as important to me as anything else in the world.  Go on, why not.