The Best Reads of 2008

One of my favorite things in the world is to curl up with a good book and get lost in it.

Here are my top picks of the year:

Infidel- memoirs of a woman's journey away from the middle east and Islam. Read it!

Daughter of Fortune- historical fiction set during the San Francisco gold rush.

Blessings- plodding but richly layered story of an old woman's discoveries of her past and present.

Me Talk Pretty Someday- My first David Sedaris experience. Hilarious.

Garlic and Sapphires- The memoirs of the former New York Times food critic.

The Book of Air and Shadows- A Dan Brownesk adventure full of interesting details.

Dracula- The classic. I actually got nightmares. I could only read during the daylight hours because I was so scared.

So, my real reason for this post is because I went to the library yesterday and nothing caught my eye. I need some suggestions. What have been your favorite reads this year?

The Year in Review

Growing up, every year on New Year's Day my parent would make us sit down with a audio recorder and talk about our past year.

In honor of this family tradition, I decided to do a pictorial year in review.

 

January: Meeting Dave's second true love-- Oregon!

January: A preview of our California summer with a weekend getaway in the sun.

February: Seinfeld tickets at Caesar's palace, a day at the strip, and meeting Dave's extended family.

February: Dave is baptized by fire.  Washington DC, North Carolina, and meeting all the extended family all in one weekend.  OH MY!

April: The best day of my life.

May: The second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh best days of my life-- our Caribbean honeymoon.

May- July: Sizzling California summer.

The rest of my year: exploring our new home in Oregon.

Christmas Day 2008

Reflecting on the past year and journaling about new year's resolutions.

1. Make more friends in Oregon
2. Finish school (write my thesis)
3. Get a grown up job where I can support Dave and I through law school
4. Go abroad with Dave
5. Be more proactive in gaining the gift of spirituality
6. Stay in shape and run at least one 10 k
7. Take more photos
8. Be more creative
9. Find the balance between being content and being ambitious
10. STAY CONNECTED WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS

And in honor of my last new year's resolution and my blog fabulous sister-in-law Katie being in town, I decided to sit down and hash out the blog.

Of course, as it seems with everything in my life, the blog is a work in progress. Please leave your thoughts and ideas as your visible mark on my cyber life.