Year-End List: Books I Read in '07

I'm not much of a reader, but this year I was forced to be, for a time. In the absence of internet (for about 4-5 months), I rediscovered books. I was actually using my library card for something besides movies & music! Here is what I read this year (the links are to posts I wrote earlier this year about the books.) There are probably spoilers in these posts, so beware. (Note: I know some of you are avid readers and your reading lists are probably much, much longer than mine. So go easy; this was a big accomplishment for me.)

• Finding Your Purpose as a Mom - Donna Otto
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
• The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (which contained this excellent sentence: "No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.")
• Ya Yas in Bloom - Rebecca Wells
• Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier (great sentence: "No crisis can break through the crust of habit.")
• The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
• Joy in the Morning - Betty Smith
• Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe - Fannie Flagg
• Blue Like Jazz - Donald Miller
• Through Painted Deserts - Donald Miller
• Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling (I wrote a lengthy comment about this to Jenny's post here.)
• A Woman After God's Own Heart - Elizabeth George (in progress)
• Sacred Marriage - Gary Thomas (in progress)
• And these books of the Bible in completion: Luke, Acts, & Proverbs

So here are the 3 that stuck with me the most (not including those books of the Bible):

* Finding Your Purpose as a Mom - a wonderfully practical guide to making the most of stay-at-home motherhood, from a Christian perspective. Donna Otto gave me much to think about and apply in my relationships with Lucy, Eli, & Dave. I have to re-read it and think more on the ideas she presented to me. I recommend this to all moms!!

* Rebecca - such a suspenseful book! I'm talking stay-up-all-night till your eyes can't take it anymore suspense. The fact that it was so long and the print was so tiny and I finished it in 3 days makes me very proud. Better than most of the movies I saw this year, hands down.

* Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows - a fitting ending to a phenomenal series. I look forward to rereading these gems many times in future years.

What about you? What books really stuck with you this year? (ps: That's a photo of Dave with Lucy, November 2006).