Got Books?

I just love to read a good book! I don't read all the time but I must read before I fall asleep each night and if I'm reading a particularly interesting book, I look forward to bedtime all day long. I have been keeping track of the books that I have read since 1983. I don't know why I started keeping track; I think I just liked seeing what I have accomplished. Back in those days I was in the middle of raising kids so my spare time was much more limited. That first year, I read nine books. So far this year I have read thirty books. Over the past 2 years I have become fascinated with memoirs. I love reading about someone's real life experiences. I think I like it so much because they are always so different than my life (usually, thankfully so). But I still do throw in a good novel here and there. Recently I have been on a "middle East" theme. It started by reading a 3 book series called:
"Princess: a true story of life behind the veil in Saudia Arabia", "Princess Sultana's Daughters" and "Princess Sultana's Circle" all written by Jean Sasson. Wow, those were unbelieveable... a real eye opener about women's lives in the muslim world. Earlier this summer I read two more very interesting books: one titled "Left to Tell -- Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust" by Immaculie Ilibagiza and the other titled "Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I can't even imagine having been born in their circumstances and then living through the things they have dealt with. I am amazed and impressed with their stories and astounded that they were living these lives of danger and hardship while I have been living my enjoyable, safe life. The most recent book I have read is titled "Desert Queen" by Janet Wallach. It is the story of Gertrude Bell who lived from about 1865 to 1924. She was a British citizen but fell in love with the area that is now Iraq. She took excursions throughout all those deserts and met and associated with the nomadic tribes and became an expert on all things in that area of the British Empire. She was so important that the British government used her information during their conflicts with the arabs and turks. She is given credit for creating the lines on the maps that even today mark the Iraqi borders. She had an amazing life. I thoroughly enjoyed all of these books and would highly recommend them to anyone. Still on the middle East theme I also read a couple of novels as well: "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns". Those were both very intense and somewhat disturbing. Once again they portrayed lives that I can't even begin to imagine actually living.

But just so you don't think I am obsessive in my book choices, here are a few of the other books I've enjoyed so far this year:
*The Book Thief" by Marcus Zusak
*The Sunflower" by Richard Paul Evans
*The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
*Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See
*The Memory Keeper's Daughter" by Kim Edwards
*The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey" byCandice Millard
*The Poisionwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
*Suite Francaise" by Irene Nemirovsky
and just to keep me current with pop culture *Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and I am currently reading the second of this series called *New Moon!

I actually have a stack of books waiting for their turn as my current interest and a list I keep when I hear suggestions from other people of good books they recommend. So there you have it... I hope you have enjoyed today's Book Club via my blog. Feel free to leave me any suggestions of books you have read and highly recommend... I'll add it to my list!