Books

I've always been kind of a bookworm, but the last few years with having Eliza and Davis, I don't have as much free time to read as I would like (but they are worth it, of course :). And it seems like for a while I kept picking books to read that I really didn't enjoy and would put down out of boredom. I used to never not finish a book regardless of how much I disliked, but now my time is too precious to waste on something I don't enjoy. I've recently read some books, though, that have renewed my love of books. Here are some books I've read over the past few years that I've really liked: (thanks to my friend Susan for keeping a list of all the books we read for bookclub to help me out with this list!).

Fiction
A Poisoned Season by Tasha Alexander, an author who actually lives in a neighborhood very close to me. It's good, suspensful, historical fiction.
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger I LOVE THIS BOOK SOOOO MUCH. Does that get the point across? Probably one of the best-written books I've ever read, and definitely on my list of favorites. And it's coming out as a movie this fall.
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arther Golden. Ooh, so good.
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan. I've read and loved everything by Amy Tan, but this one is probably my favorite.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Keeping with the Asian fiction, this describes Japanese foot-binding in nauseating detail. But the story is really good if you like that kind of thing.
Three Junes by Julia Glass. Heart-wrenching drama about a Scottish family and their prodigal son who lives in New York in the 80's when AIDS was first appearing.
The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini. "The Kite Runner" is fantastic, but I liked the second one better. It's about women living during the Taliban in Afghanistan. Unbearably brutal at times, but a redeeming end, which I always enjoy.
Lucia Lucia by Adriana Trigiani. I've read everything by her and really love it all.
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory. Book is much better than the movie. As usual.
We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg. Based on a true story about a girl raised by her single mother who was paralyzed from the waist down from polio.
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. Fascinating semi-true tale of Dina, daughter of Leah and Jacob. Very interesting info about the culture of early Biblical times.
Angry Housewives Eating Bonbons by Lorna Landvik. Just plain fun. I've read almost everything by Landvik and enjoyed all of it.
Tara Road by Maeve Binchy. Again, it's hard to pick a favorite by Binchy. I'm a sucker for Ireland.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon. Poignant tale told from the perspective of a boy with autism.
Cane River by Lalita Tademy. Well-written family saga that covers 4 generations of women born into slavery.

Ok, I know there are so many more, but those are the ones that are sticking out to me as wonderful reads. Please comment me if you have some to add to my list or recommend!

While I'm at it, here are some books that I really disliked:

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd. This was a huge disappointment after I loved her "Secret Life of Bees." But I just can't enjoy any book that glorifies adultry, a la "The Horse Whisperer" and "Bridges of Madison County". Especially with a monk.
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. I liked the first of this book, but it went on WAY too long and the premise just got ridiculous.
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. Although he went on Oprah saying this was a true story, it came out later that he had made up a lot of it and exaggerated the rest. I read this after I found that out, and I just thought it was stupid and he came off as a real jerk. Sorry to be so blunt.
The Memory's Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. I know this was popular and made in to a Lifetime movie and all, but I just didn't buy the story line.

Whew, that's a lot. I think I'll have to save non-fiction for another post!