Become a Bookworm!

I really like our Relief Society here. I'm on the activity planning committee and--at the risk of sounding boastful--we come up with some pretty awesome ideas. (Of course, most of them are our chairman's, Ashley, but still.) Anyway, at the beginning of the year we had a little meeting to roughly outline what we'd like to do for our monthly/bi-monthly activities. Ashley said she had been trying to think of things that used our talents and she was a little despairing because she didn't feel she had any talents that were really shareable. Then it came to her that she loved books and could share that. At the meeting she found she was in good company and so we decided to have an activity that focused on learning to love books and how to find some great ones. It was awesome! We had some people sign up to share books from different genres, and despite trying to keep it to about 40-45 minutes so there'd be time to peruse the books on display as well, we went over. But nobody seemed to mind--which means it's really good!

Anyway, I just thought, since there are so many people who read this blog who love to read books, I would post the titles and genres of each. Before I do that though, let me start off with a couple of tips Ashley gave before the presenters got up.

~I know some of you are already on there, but Goodreads.com is a great site. Mike just got on recently too, and he's really enjoying it. Go! Explore! Add me as a friend! It's free and it's pretty easy to navigate.
~Ashley keeps book-journals. They're not anything deep necessarily, but just the title of the book, the author, and a little blurb about it. She read a couple; some of them were as short as, "Fantastic!" and others go into more detail. I prefer to write in my books. Either way, I strongly recommend writing. When I write about what I read, or take notes in the margins, even if I never go back to that book again, I remember a lot more from it. Reading to me demands participation.
~(This one's from me.) Try to read from a variety of genres. Mike has a really hard time getting away from non-fiction, and Ashley has a really hard time getting away from YA, and another friend of mine reads only fiction, especially sci-fi, and another friend of mine just told me she's a junkie for socio-economic commentary. That's all well and good that they enjoy reading those genres, but c'mon! Ever heard the phrase "stranger than fiction?" That is so true! There are some incredible true stories out there, and you're totally missing out! But if all you read is non-fiction, you are depriving yourself of some of the most moving and truthful and eye-opening prose there is; honestly, you're hampering yourself from a greater understanding of the world you live in. And fiction like that can come from any sub-category--any. After you've read some of each then you can decide whether you really just don't like that genre or not. Not before. Okay, off my soapbox.

Onto the books! (The titles are links, except for the church historical fiction ones. I tried to find more than just reviews, but that's not always the case. Sorry!)
Science Fiction: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Romance: (trilogy) Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman by Pamela Aidan (point of view of Mr. Darcy)
Church Historical Fiction: (She kind of got carried away picking, so these are all series) Prelude to Glory by Ron Carter; Children of the Promise by Dean Hughes; The Promised Land by David G. Woolley
Non-Fiction: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
Biography: Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow; Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Young Adult Novel: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Middle Grade Novels (between 8 and 12): Ida B. by Katherine Hannigan (I am putting this on my list, FYI)
Graphic Novel: Bone by Jeff Smith
Poetry: Behind My Eyes by Li-Young Lee
Mystery/Thriller: The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
Adult Fiction: Room by Emma Donoghue