Prompt 3

What books did you read this year?

This year I read a lot of books.  I mean a lot.  I had been keeping track of the books I read using the virtual bookshelf from Living Social until I received this message from them.

It's not you.  It's us.
First of all, thank you for your enthusiastic support over the past four years. Your continued engagement with our these applications means a lot to us here at LivingSocial, and we're sad that we haven't been able to dedicate the time and effort you deserve to keep this community alive and thriving.
It's not you. It's us. You see about two years ago we tried a new idea, which has taken our team and company in a new direction. This community needs tools and products that are fully supported and continually improved, and unfortunately, this is something we just can't support right now.
We know your data is important to you. Before we discontinue the service, we gave you 30 days to save it.

They then suggested that I switch my list of books over to Goodreads, which I am loving.  Not only does it let you keep track of books that you have read, are currently reading, and want to read, it also lets you track (and share) your progress as you read books.  As someone who loves to check things off and visuals, this is a great feature!

Now to get to my list of books.  I'll only list my favorites because I have read a bunch this year!

• The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

• I didn't like this one that much while I was reading it, but I haven't stopped thinking about it since.  It's told from the perspective of a dog, and that fact alone makes it awesome enough to read.  Add to that the fact that the dog is obsessed with racing cars, because that's what his owner does for a living, and that he likes to watch races on TV and you have a great book.
• Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos

• This is a hilarious book.  The basic plot is that there is a guy who lives in Portland, Oregon and hangs out with Jesus or at least someone he thinks is Jesus until he meets the Apostle Peter who shows him that the Jesus he thought was real is really imaginary.  They then begin a chase to find and confront his imaginary Jesus and, along the way, they meet a lot of other imaginary versions of Jesus, such as King James Jesus and men's retreat Jesus.
• The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

• I don't think I need to write about these books.  If you haven't read them, you should.  I really liked these books, though I'm someone who loves a good dystopia book.  I couldn't put these books down.
• The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

• This is another book that I wasn't sure I liked while I was reading it.  (Well, actually I listened to this one...)  I had a really hard time getting into this book because it is narrated by death and it is set during the Holocaust.  That's right.  I promise it's not nearly as depressing as it sounds.  The characters in this book are AMAZING.  I seriously loved (or hated depending on which one it was) them all and they stuck with me for months after I finished reading it.
• Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford






• Of all of the books I read this year, this is the one that's the most important because my grandma and I had a long conversation about it the day before she died.  The book had been on my to read list for a while and she read it with a book group and loved it, which inspired me to read it.  I always think of her when I think of this book.  It's about a Chinese boy growing up in Seattle during World War 2 and deals with the Japanese internment.  There are so many different aspects to this book: the internment camps, racism, jazz, and the huge issue of deciding what is right and wrong.