I started keeping a “Read List” a few years ago when I joined an online group that challenged members to read 50 books in a year. At the time, I was just getting back into reading again, and I thought it might also be a good incentive to keep me reading. (What can I say? I love making lists!) I think I got up to about 29 books the first year, and have read more each year since. I got to 49 ½ last year, so I’m confident I will surpass 50 in 2009!

Jody’s Read in 2008 List

1. The Grey King (Dark is Rising – Book 3);  Susan Cooper – Jan. 5, 2008
2. Silver on the Tree (Dark is Rising – Book 4);  Susan Cooper – Jan. 24
3. The Choice;  Nicholas Sparks – Feb. 2
4. Sisters;  Danielle Steel – Feb. 11
5. Marley & Me;  John Grogan – Feb. 22
6. Shopaholic & Baby;  Sophie Kinsella – Feb. 27
7. On a Pale Horse; Piers Anthony – Mar. 12
8. Dead to the World;  Charlaine Harris – March 23
9. A is for Alibi;  Sue Grafton – April 7
10. Dealing With Dragons;  Patricia C. Wrede – April 13
11. Searching for Dragons;  Patricia C. Wrede – April 20
12. Something Borrowed;  Emily Griffin – April 23
13. B is for Burglar;  Sue Grafton – May 3
14. Something Blue;  Emily Griffin – May 5
15. Calling on Dragons;  Patricia C. Wrede – May 16
16. Dead as a Doornail;  Charlaine Harris – May 23
17. Princess Ben;  Catherine Gilbert Murdock – May 30
18. Watership Down;  Richard Adams – June 18
19. Undead & Uneasy;  Mary Janice Davidson – June 24
20. Talking to Dragons;  Patricia C. Wrede – June 29
21. Bearing an Hourglass;  Piers Anthony – July 16
22. Lean Mean Thirteen;  Janet Evanovich – July 20
23. The Guy Not Taken;  Jennifer Weiner – July 22
24. The Bright Side of Disaster;  Katherine Center – July 23
25. The Glass Castle;  Jeannette Walls – July 26
26. Definitely Dead;  Charlaine Harris – Aug 4
27. Black Pearls:  A Faerie Strand; Lousie Hawes – Aug 12
28. Plum Lucky;  Janet Evanovich – Aug 14
29. Twilight;  Stephanie Meyer – Aug 17
30. C is for Corpse;  Sue Grafton – Aug 22
31. New Moon;  Stephanie Meyer – Aug 26
32. Who Stole the Funny;  Robby Benson – Sep 5
33. High Stakes;  Erin McCarthy – Sep 13
34. Eclipse;  Stephanie Meyer – Sep 20
35. Dead Over Heels;  Mary Janice Davidson – Sep 23
36. Eragon;  Christopher Paolini – Oct 2
37. Eldest;  Christopher Paolini – Oct 18
38. Brisingr;  Christopher Paolini – Oct 27
39. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass;  Lewis Caroll – Nov 3
40. Grave Sight;  Charlaine Harris – Nov 7
41. This Must Be Love;  Kasey Michaels – Nov 11
42. Bitten;  Kelley Armstrong – Nov 23
43. All Together Dead;  Charlaine Harris – Dec 2
44. The Gift;  Richard Paul Evans – Dec. 5
45. Grave Surprise;  Charlaine Harris – Dec 13
46. Stolen;  Kelley Armstrong – Dec 22
47. Finding Noel;  Richard Paul Evans – Dec. 25
48. The Tales of Beedle the Bard;  JK Rowling – Dec. 26
49. Stori Telling;  Tori Spelling – Dec. 27, 2008

Finding Noel
by Richard Paul Evans

Another wonderfully touching Richard Paul Evans story that left me wishing I had more books of his on hand. The message driven home in Finding Noel is that no matter how small, your actions can have a great impact on the world. We meet Mark Smart as he is struggling through the low point of his life, and discover that a simple act of kindness can change a life immeasurably, when he encounters a woman named Macy on that fateful night. By providing that simple act of kindness, Macy sets off a chain of events that will change both Mark’s life and her own in ways they never could have imagined.

As with The Gift, the characters in Finding Noel are layered and likable – despite being flawed, and their stories are intriguing and heartfelt. The short chapters make it an easy book to pick up and put down whenever you have a few minutes, though if you’re anything like me, you’ll find it hard to put this one down at all. I highly recommend Finding Noel to anyone who enjoys a good heart-warming story about life and its possibilities. After discovering the wonder of Richard Paul Evans stories, I plan on reading many more of his novels.

All Together Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 7)
by Charlaine Harris

As a long-time fan of the Sookie Stackhouse series (yes, long before there was a True Blood), I’d been anxiously awaiting All Together Dead, the 7^th instalment in the Southern Vampire series for some time.

Sadly, I was mostly disappointed by this latest effort. My first reaction was that it felt as if the book had been written by someone else. All the great characters are still there, but they just don’t sound quite right. This certainly did not stop me from reading the book, but I didn’t burn through All Together Dead as fast as I normally do with the Sookie novels, and I often had to re-read bits of dialogue before they made sense. In the end, it was a good story, but getting to the end wasn’t as enjoyable as it normally is with Charlaine Harris’s books.

I’m guessing one of the reasons for the shift in the tone is that the story involves New Orleans, and I suspect All Together Dead was written – but not published – BEFORE Katrina struck, and then required some hasty re-writes in order to accommodate the tragedy. This is no fault of the writer’s, and I had actually been wondering how they were going to handle the hurricane since the last book took place almost entirely in New Orleans, and many of the characters came from there. Ms. Harris did a good job of recognizing the tragedy, and working her story around it, but that doesn’t change the fact that parts of the book didn’t quite flow. The stories that were took place back in Bon Temps felt truncated, like they should have had more time allotted to them. And the overall mystery was full of big, glaring clues that left me frustrated with the characters for missing them.

I also wonder if the fact that the series has now been made into a TV show is starting to factor into the development of the story? Sometimes All Together Dead had the feel of a TV show that has been tinkered with by the network. You know, the “this character needs more of a story – get her in a relationship”, or the standard “we can’t have our leads getting together before the end of the series, so let’s give her some new love interests” type of changes. Obviously I’m not sure about this, it’s just the feeling that I sometimes got while reading.

All that aside, there were still some great things about All Together Dead. Sookie has grown quite a bit in these last 2 novels, and I think that’s important for the future of the series – things need to advance in order to keep the stories interesting and believable. I love that she has a new roommate, and that she’s becoming more of a prominent figure in the supernatural world. I enjoyed getting to know Barry the other telepath, and liked that he and Sookie figured out how to work together to achieve better results. And I’m actually a big fan of Quinn, so I also enjoyed the growth of their relationship as well.

Overall, the character development was great, and I’m eager to see where Harris will take Sookie and her supernatural crew in the future, but All Together Dead was not the best instalment of the series.

The Gift
by Richard Paul Evans

Wow! That was my initial reaction upon finishing The Gift by Richard Paul Evans. What an incredible story. I’ll keep this review short, leaving out all spoilers for anyone else who’s interested in reading this book. I first learned of The Gift in a review in Entertainment Weekly, and added it to my ‘to read’ list. Then I came across it while doing some Christmas shopping, and thought I’d pick it up in an effort to awaken my holiday cheer. While not exactly a Christmas story, The Gift does take place around the holidays, and is truly a heart-warming story that did succeed in helping me get in the spirit.

With lots of short chapters, The Gift is a quick, easy read, and one that I could not put down. The characters are well written and completely likable, the dialogue flows and is realistic, and the story is gripping and heartfelt. There are no major shockers in the story, but there were a few unexpected twists, and be warned – there’s also a need for tissues. I can’t wait to read more by Richard Paul Evans, and I highly recommend The Gift to anyone looking for a heartfelt and miraculous story.