2008 Book Blogging Roundup, for the archives

I read for many different reasons. Sometimes for simple pleasure, to relax, or to pass the time while traveling (which I do a lot) or exercising (which I do a little!). Sometimes I read for professional and personal development. Sometimes I read just because someone gives me a book and suggests I read it. And yeah, I’m one of those women who reads more fiction than anything else. So, I’ve sorted the list by genre (by my own rough taxonomy) so you can ignore the kind of books in which you have little interest.

Here are the titles and authors I blogged about or at least mentioned reading in 2008. In most cases the links go to amazon.com. The easiest way to see what I said about the work, use the search engine, upper right. I’ll put stars by the one or more in each category I’d call “best in show.”

Nonfiction – History

• Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus, by Thomas Cahill
• What Has Christianity Ever Done for Us? How It Shaped the Modern World, by Jonathan Hill
• Islam: A Short History, by Karen Armstrong *
• Salt: A World History, by Mark Kurlansky
• When Asia Was the World, by Stewart Gordon *
• We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda, by Philip Gourevitch

Nonfiction – Theology/Christian Life

• The Old Testament *
• Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, by N.T. Wright *
• Living Water, by Brother Yun, ed. Paul Hattaway
• Serious Times: Making Your Life Matter in an Urgent Day, by James Emery White
• Intercessory Prayer: How God Can Use Your Prayers to Move Heaven and Earth, by Dutch Sheets
• Telling Secrets, by Fredrick Buechner *

Nonfiction – Christian/Mission Biographies

• Growing Up Yanamomo: Missionary Adventures in the Amazon Rainforest, by Michael Dawson
• Point Me to Skies: The Amazing Story of Joan Wales, by Roger Clements
• Mary Slessor - Everybody's Mother: The Era and Impact of a Victorian Missionary, by Jeanette Hardage
• Mary Slessor: The Barefoot Missionary, by Elizabeth Robertson
• The Billy Graham Story, by John Pollock
• Nothing's Too Hard for God: The International Teams Story, by Kevin G. Dyer
• Whom God Has Joined, by Isobel Kuhn
• Each to Her Post, by Phyllis Thompson *
• Not Less than Everything, by Valerie Griffiths *

Nonfiction – Other Biographies

• Same Kind of Different As Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, with Lynn Vincent
• Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom
• Listening Is an Act of Love, ed. Dave Isay *
• The Twelve Little Cakes, by Dominika Dery

Nonfiction – Christian/Missions, Misc.

• 2020 Vision: Amazing Stories about What God Is Doing around the World, by Bill & Amy Stearns *
  
• From Seed to Fruit: Global Trends, Fruitful Practices, and Emerging Issues Among Muslims, ed. Dudley Woodberry *
• Muslims, Christians, and Jesus, by Carl Medearis
• Un-earth: Exploring a Land with No Name, by Christy Vidrine and Autumn Rogers

Nonfiction – Miscellaneous

• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver et al.
• Ruby Slippers: How the Soul of a Woman Brings Her Home, by Jonalyn Grace Fincher *
• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell *
• The Good Rain: Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest, by Timothy Egan

Fiction – Science Fiction

• Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show
• Space Boy, by Orson Scott Card
• A War of Gifts, by Orson Scott Card
• Ender in Exile, by Orson Scott Card
• Ender's Shadow, by Orson Scott Card *
• Passage, by Connie Willis
• All Seated on the Ground, by Connie Willis
• Inside Job, by Connie Willis
• Miracle, by Connie Willis
• To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis
• D.A., by Connie Willis *
  

Fiction – Children’s and Young Adult Fiction

• The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate diCamillo *
• I Am The Cheese, by Robert Cormier
• Miss Billy, by Eleanor H. Porter
• Mary Marie, by Eleanor H. Porter
• The Outdoor Girls at Wild Rose Lodge by Laura Lee Hope
• Charlie Bone and the Time Twister, by Jenny Nimmo
• Emlyn's Moon, by Jenny Nimmo
• Mortal Engines, by Philip Reeve
• Old Peter's Russian Tales, by Arthur Ransome
• The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling *
• Predator’s Gold, by Phillip Reeve
• Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah *

Fiction – Mysteries, More or Less

• The Singing Sands, by Josephine Tey *
• The Franchise Affair, by Josephine Tey
• Sweet Revenge, by Diane Mott Davidson
• The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John LeCarre
• Short and Tall Tales, by Lilian Jackson Braun
• Huntingtower, by John Buchan
• Thief in Retreat: A Sister Agatha Mystery, by Aimee and David Thurlo
• The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, by Alexander McCall Smith
• Portuguese Irregular Verbs, by Alexander McCall Smith
• Friends, Lovers, Chocolate, by Alexander McCall Smith
• The Careful Use of Compliments, by Alexander McCall Smith
• The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday, by Alexander McCall Smith
• The Right Attitude to Rain, by Alexander McCall Smith
• The Sunday Philosophy Club, by Alexander McCall Smith *
• The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith *
  

Fiction – Classics

• Persuasion, by Jane Austen
• The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle *
• Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne

Fiction – Miscellaneous

• Dead Heat, by Joel C. Rosenberg
• The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini *
• Summer Island, by Kristin Hannah
• On Mystic Lake, by Kristin Hannah
• The Faraday Girls, by Monica McInerny
• A Tangled Web, by L.M. Montgomery
• Shepherds Abiding, by Jan Karon *
• At Home in Mitford, by Jan Karon
• The Joys of Love, by Madeleine L’Engle
• A Severed Wasp, by Madeleine L’Engle *
• The Small Rain, by Madeleine L'Engle
• Playing for Pizza, by John Grisham
• The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
• A Wodehouse Bestiary, by P.G. Wodehouse

Fiction – “Christian” Fiction

• Controlling Interest, by Elizabeth White
• On The Road with the Archangel, by Fredrick Buechner *
• The Shack, by William Young
• The Room of Marvels, by James Bryan Smith
• Rhapsody in Red: A Preston Barclay Mystery, by Donn Taylor *
• A Place to Come Home to, by Melody Carlson
• Everything I Long For, by Melody Carlson
• Looking for You All my Life, by Melody Carlson
• Someone to Belong to, by Melody Carlson
• A Place to Belong, by Nancy Moser and Vonette Bright
• The Outlaw’s Twin Sister, by Stephen Bly