One of the main things on my to-do list for the year was to start a Book List w/Notes.
Obviously keeping this on paper is just going to be a headache for a vast number of reasons (the main one being that I cannot possibly take the time to actually WRITE on paper during the course of a week). So I hope to at least type up my reviews here and then (at some future date) print them off to put in a binder.

Book List 2009 (with notes)

January/February
('cause I didn't start this sooner....)

The Apothecary's Daughter by Julie Klassen
I really enjoyed this book. It was a romance without the smut...or...a Christian book! Okay, to point the finger and laugh at myself, I've found that I much enjoy these books for one very odd reason: if a smut book is well-written, the smut ADDS to the story. Most of them just don't. So I've found that Christian romance novels usually have at least passable storylines. They have to; they can't fall back on the smut for support.

What I loved about this book the most was the references to the herbs and sundries that were sold in the apothecaries shop, as well as the underlying current of tension between medical doctors and the apothecaries guild. The characters were fun and well-written, and my heart ached at the end for the people lost and the love that is found. If I had a few spare dollars (or found this at the used-book sale in July), I would definitely add it to the book collection.

The Virgin Queen's Daughter by Ella March Chase
I picked it up 'cause I love conspiracy theories.
I put it down 'cause I was bored out of my mind.
I guess you just have to be really into the whole English Royalty Drama to like this book.
Not my thing.

March

The Laughter of Dead Kings by Elizabeth Peters (This book review gets a post of its own. A+++)

Troll Fell by Katherine Langerish
We read this together as a family, and the boys all loved it--especially Max. It was about trolls and orphans and treasure. Fun for them...kinda long for me. But a good read nonetheless.

Brisinger by Christopher Paolini
Please God...don't let him finish the final book for at least another three years. I need the time to recover my will to live. I don't care that Eragon has a really cool new sword. I don't care that Brom was his dad. Nor do I really give a hoot what happens to the dragon hearts and all. BLEH. The one redeeming feature of this third book in the series was that every time I read something about Roran, I pictured Hector (aka Eric Bana) all buff and sweaty, and miraculously the chapters went MUCH faster. *headdesk*

April

Rosanna of the Amish by Joseph Yoder
This is a wonderful, quaint little volume I picked up at the library that is falling apart at the seams. It looks well-loved, and one chapter in it's easy to see why. It's an easy read and just completely enjoyable. Rosanna is abandoned by her father when her mother dies in childbirth and is raised by an Amish woman and her subsequent husbands. I cannot wait to see how the book wraps up 'cause there was a sequel on the shelf too!