Reading List 2012

Park Lake Page Turners has now completed their 5th year together. From the looks of our ratings, this was not our best year. The funny thing is we always enjoy our discussions whether we loved the book or not! And several of us have admitted that we sometimes like the book more after we hear others' opinions and interpretations.
Well, here are our titles, authors and ratings for 2012:

Away by Amy Bloom   2.6
Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore   2.7
The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi   2.7
Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb   3.3
The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich   3.4
The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark   3.7
Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland   3.7
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand   3.7
Room by Emma Donaghue   3.9
Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard   4.2
The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs   4.5

If I had rated these myself, it would be nearly the same but my personal ratings would have been higher on most. Probably I enjoyed The Painted Drum more than others because I delved into some background I found online. I really enjoyed Wishin' and Hopin' since the narrator is a fifth grade boy (I taught 5th grade for years) and it took me on a nostalgia trip to the 60's.  My least favorites would be the same, though I must say I learned a lot about the art world of 19th century Paris from Sacre Bleu. Clara and Mr. Tiffany was another novel involving the art world and became even more meaningful after several of our group visited the Morse Museum in Winter Park, FL, which has an outstanding Tiffany exhibit. We even found Clara's name on a few pieces!

I thoroughly enjoyed Destiny of the Republic although it was a nonfiction piece which is not my favorite genre. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is in the medical field OR happens to be a history buff like me. Another nonfiction  I enjoyed was Unbroken, a truly inspiring story of a WWII POW.

I really liked The Book of Unholy Mischief, perhaps more so because I listened to the audio version, which came alive with Italian dialect.

The Year of Living Biblically might not have made #1 on my personal list but it was SO very funny---entertainment value very high!

If you have read any of these I would enjoy reading your comments!