Ten on Tuesday

Today's Ten on Tuesday post was created just for me.  Well, not really, but it could have been.  I LOVE to read and today's post is "The Ten Last Books You Have Read."  See what I mean?  It could have been created just for me.  Here's my list:

1.  Pack Up the Moon, by Rachael Herron - aka Yarnagogo.  I pre-ordered this book last year.  It came out the week of my birthday, so I consider it a birthday present.  Many of Rachael's stories take place in the quaint (knitter friendly) town of Cypress Hollow.  For the record, Cypress Hollow is where I want to live.  But this book does not take place there.  In fact, it is a totally different kind of story for Rachael.  One of the things I love about Rachael's stories is that she develops the characters until you feel like you know them - or, you want to know them.  This story is no different.  The characters are so real.  Rachael shows us their flaws and we fall in love with them anyway.  This story is sweet, and heart breaking, all at the same time.  It will make you laugh and cry and feel angry.  I finished it in a day or two.

2.  The Amazing Thing About the Way it Goes, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee - aka The Yarn Harlot.  I also pre-ordered this book, and it also came out in my birthday week.  Two presents!  This is not a book about knitting, but is (funny) stories from Stephanie's life.  So, knitters and non-knitters will enjoy it.  If you read the Yarn Harlot's blog, you already know how entertaining she is.  I read this book straight through, too.

3.  Anne of Green Gables Stories, by Lucy Maud Montgomery.  I read these books in (maybe) elementary school.  I don't have a clear memory of the year, but it was a long time ago, and I always think of them fondly.  I decided to re-read them.  It turns out, I still love Anne!  And, there's lots of knitting in the books!

4.  The Secrets of Mary Bowser, by Lois Leveen.  I loved this story! 
Much of the story was made up, because there isn't a lot of documentation available, but it's a great story that really made me think.  It's about a slave, who was freed.  She was educated in Philadelphia.  During the Civil War, she returned to her hometown in Virginia, as a spy for the Union soldiers.  This story made me want to learn more about the Civil War.

5.  The Scavenger's Daughter, by Kay Bratt.  This story takes place during the Cultural Revolution in China.  I loved this story, and it made me want to learn more about the Cultural Revolution.  It's about a couple who takes in the infant/child girls who have been abandoned by their birth families.  The couple is poor, but they keep adopting these cast-off girls and consider all of the girls to be their daughters.

6.  The Taliban Cricket Club, by Timeri N. Murari.  This story tells about how women's lives change as the Taliban take over Afghanistan.  Again, this was a topic I didn't know much about and the book really made me think.  One of my first thoughts was that some of the things going on in this country, today, are so similar to how the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

7.  UR, by Stephen King.  A short story, but one that makes you wonder about things, as only Stephen King can.

8.  Mile 81, Stephen King.  Yes.  I love Stephen King, and was on a Stephen King book kick.  Really, I haven't read one of his books that I wouldn't recommend.  He writes stories so well, and he writes more than just horror stories.  When I read his stories, I feel like I'm in them.

9.  The Shining, by Stephen King.  I read this book many years ago (again, I want to say in elementary school).  I re-read it so that I could then read....

10.  Doctor Sleep, by Stephen King.  If you've read The Shining, you should read this, so that you can find out what happened to the characters from The Shining.  This book also touches on the disease of addiction.  Since I work in the field, this always interests me.

I now have a Kindle, as well as having the Kindle app on my phone.  So, I'm never without books.  I do still read actual books, but the Kindle is very convenient.  :-)