Good Reads

Fall is hitting us head on!  The leaves are falling.  It's windy.  The days of all daylight are turning into shorter days with less daylight.  Pretty soon we'll be winterizing our gardens and tidying up the place in preparation for winter. 

Then I can sit back and read. 

I don't have a lot of free time in the summer.  I mean, it's daylight all night long.  We're busy busy.  We're trying to get projects done and enjoying life while the weather is nicer.  But I don't generally read much in the summer. 

This time of year, though, I start thumbing through my piles of books to select the next few to read.  I'm a light reader.  I don't like to invest a lot of energy into reading a book that I have to contemplate and I certainly don't like books where I have to analyze what's being said!  Just give me a good read.  It can be a romance, a western, a comedy, a true story, a mystery.  It can be about dogs, or other countries, wars, or the Oregon Trail.  It just needs to be light otherwise they'll only put me to sleep.  Actually, all books do, put me to sleep.  As soon as I start reading, my eyelids will get heavy. 

I've read some really good books this past year.  I actually keep a list of the books I've read throughout the year and rate them with stars.  Yes, I'm pathetic, I know!  But those books that I rate a three of four star (****) are books I will keep in my library to reread. 

Like Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.  Good.  Good.  Good.  This was a 4**** book. Sadly, I did give this book away and I don't know why.  Now I'll have to buy another copy.


Some of my other favorite reads are books that are centered around cooking, like Francesca's Kitchen by Peter Pezzelli and .  And The School of  Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister.  I love books about cooking because they're always centered around love, family, or romance. 

I also love book series.  The Mitford series by Jan Karon is one of my long-time favorite series.  Every year when the next book comes out, I re-read all the previous books before I'll read the newest.  Course, after doing this every year, they get to be pretty fast reads because I already know all the characters and what's going to happen next.  But series draw me in and I feel like I know the characters.  The Cedar Cove series by Debbie Macomber is another favorite series of mine.  These series take me away into a place where I'm comfortable. 

I love romance novels....  I'm such a sucker for a good romance.  Like Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks. I love all Nicholas Sparks books, but just recently got rid of all of them.  There are some books that I love, but don't re-read over and over because they're so similar to any other romance book out there.   They're a dime a dozen. 


Then there's books about dogs.  I have a couple in my library that make me laugh and cry.  Running to the Mountains and A Dog Year by Jon Katz.  If you're a dog lover, check out these two books. 


I'm also drawn to historical novels.  Not non-fiction, but fiction about the real events.  One of the best I've read recently was Moloka'i by Alan Brennert.  A good, good book about the Leper colony of Hawaii. 


So there you have it.  Some of my favorite reads.  These are all books I'll keep in my library.  The books I didn't keep, aren't worth mentioning, I guess! 

What are some good books you've read recently?  Nancy