Update

You'll have to excuse my lack of posts this month. Our baby daughter decided to surprise us with an early (5 week) arrival. I have done some reading in the trips back and forth to the hospital and am updating my 2010 log today.

The Prophet by Francine Rivers

This is the 4th in the Sons of Encouragement series and my favorite so far. This is a beautifully written telling of the story of the prophet Amos. Amos is a minor prophet in the Old Testament. I have read the book of Amos, but it has been years since I had done it and is not a book of the Bible that I have lots of knowledge about.
From the beginning I loved the way Rivers presented Amos to us. He's a beautiful, caring individual who longs to be with the Lord. I never lost my interest in this story and wished I had the time to just read it from cover to cover. I highly reccommend this one.

Every Now and Then by Karen Kingsbury

Once again I have succeeded in choosing a book from a series without knowing it. It happens that this is the 3rd in Karen Kingsbury's 9-11 series. Well it turns out that if I had to choose an out of context book this would be a good one to choose. It is a separate story from the 1st two in the series. Though it has some of the same characters from the first 2 series, it focuses on a completely new character, a young man who shut down emotionally after losing his firefighter father in the 9-11 disaster. He turns his focus to his work as a K-9 police officer, battling crime in LA.
I did enjoy this book quite a bit and would like to find the first 2 in the series.

Ocean's Apart by Karen Kingsbury

I've been on a Karen Kingsbury kick lately. I just discovered her writing in December and am quickly moving my way through her books. I picked up Ocean's Apart last week. The premise of the story centres on Connor, a happily married airline pilot who discovers that he has a son that he never knew about. Connor had one short affair 8 years before and had never heard from the woman again. That woman has just recently died in an airplane crash and has mentioned Connor in her will. How this news impacts both Connor, his wife and family are the issues that are explored in the story.
I had a hard time reading through a bit of this story because I kept thinking, what if this was me that died and left behind my small children. I know I can get emotionally involved in stories like this. I didn't have as much empathy for Connor and his wife as I did Max, the boy who lost his mother. One thing I really enjoyed about this story was some of the imagery that was used. Kingsbury used the image of a caterpillar/butterfly as a symbol for second chances in life. It is something that has stuck with me.

Books I read and didn't review

As 2009 came to an end, my life became incredibly busy and blogging had to take a backseat. I did get some great titles in, but just didn't have the time to write about them. Here are the books that rounded off my year and a mini blurb about each.

The Prince by Francine Rivers - the 3rd in the Sons of Encouragement series and my favorite so far. This tells the story of Jonathan, son of King Saul and best friend to David. I'm not big on reading battle scenes, but I did love the story of his life.

Redemption by Karen Kingsbury
Remember by Karen Kingsbury
Return by Karen Kingsbury
Rejoice by Karen Kingsbury
Reunion by Karen Kingsbury

I'll lump these 5 together as they are a series. After reading the Firstborn series by Karen Kingsbury, I realised that I was reading a second series on the same family, so I went and found the first series. I very much enjoyed these books and am glad to have found Karen Kingsbury as an author. Her books are real and touching, but also very easy to get through (just what I needed at a busy time)

Sunrise by Karen Kingsbury
Summer by Karen Kingsury

So these 2 are part of the 3rd series based on the same family that I've been reading about from Karen Kingsbury. I haven't found the last two books, but am searching so I can round things out.

It's Monday

Today I'm reading "The Prophet" by Francine Rivers. It's the 4th in the Sons of Encouragement series and so far I'm loving it. It's beautifully written based on the story of Amos in the Old Testament.

2010 Support Your Local Library Challenge

One more that is so very me. Most of the books I read come from my local library. This challenge is hosted by J. Kaye. The details and how to sign up are here. Happy reading to all those participating!
1. Ocean's Apart by Karen Kingsbury
2. Every Now and Then by Karen Kingsbury
3. Someday by Karen Kingsbury
4. Sunset by Karen Kingsbury

Historical Fiction Challenge 2010

I've decided to sign up for a few challenges this year (as long as they don't conflict with each other and keep in line with my own personal reading style). This one seems right up my alley. It's the historical fiction challenge from theroyalreviews.blogspot.com. I'm curious as to how many historical fiction books I will read this year. My first instinct is to sign up for the obsessed level of 20 - but I don't want to turn this into being about the numbers. More than likely I'll end up with the addicted level of 12 which is probably more reasonable for me :o) Happy Reading to all other participants!
1. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
2. World Without End by Ken Follett

2010 100+ Reading Challenge

So I want to see if I really can do it. I came so close in 2009 to reach 100 books (97) that I want to get there in 2010. The 2010 100+ Reading Challenge is hosted by J. Kaye. The information can be found here. Happy Reading to all who participate :o)

1. Oceans Apart by Karen Kingsbury
2. Every Now and Then by Karen Kingsbury
3. The Prophet by Francine Rivers
4. The Scribe by Francine Rivers
5. Ginger, my story by Ginger Rogers
6. Someday by Karen Kingsbury
7. Sunset by Karen Kingsbury
8. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
9. World Without End by Ken Follett

So Close

Well folks its time to play book blog catch up. I haven't posted in about a month and that pretty much tells you what kind of a month I've had. Aside from the chaos that is known as the pre-Christmas season, then into Christmas. Our family has moved a couple of provinces over to a much, much larger city than I'm used to. To top it all off I'm very, very pregnant right now (due next month). I know people would be surprised that I've even found time to read, but when you love something you make time for it. In fact one of the first things I did once we got here was to find the closest library and get library cards for myself and my kids (hubby will have to go get his own). I feel much more at home when I know the library. Some people like the familiarity of Walmart, me, it's the library.
I tried, I really did try to complete the 100 book challenge for 2009 and I came close. 97/100 completed. I'm still happy with it because it was the first time I logged how many books I'd read in a year. I also stayed true to my wanting to read books that I really wanted to read, as opposed to books that I knew were easy to read for the sake of ticking another number off the list.
Now that I'm getting settled in my new home it's time to check out new reading challenges for 2010. I'll keep you updated with what I find out. Cheers and happy reading!

My 2009 Book Log: http://bookwormkristen.blogspot.com/2009/04/100-book-challenge-2009.html

*Edit* I just realised that I did read over 100 books this year if I counted children's fiction. I chose not to as I have 2 kids and am a teacher so I read a lot of children's books in a year. It would be fun to keep 2 lists and see how many of each I do in fact read in a year (though my kids books repeat a lot)