Books! All of the Wonderful Books!

In the 4 years I've had my Kindle, I have downloaded more than 200 books. I have read 98% of them.

I read every day, always in bed before I fall asleep. With the schedule I now have, between waiting to pick kids up from various schools and practices and working out myself (Who knew I could read while doing the elipticle?), I am reading more than ever.

When I saw this week's Tuesday's Ten theme of 10 Favorite Books, I cringed.

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PICK MY 10 FAVORITE BOOKS????

I can't.

It's as simple as that.

Instead, I will give you a list of books I've read in the last year which I couldn't put down. Be warned, I am no book reviewer. My descriptions stink, so I linked to the Amazon pages. Oh, and apparently I like books about orphans. There are a few on here.

1. Half-Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls. It is considered a "true-life novel" as it is about the life of her grandmother. It's funny and astounding and completely helps to explain her memoir, The Glass Castle (which is also a fantastic book).

2. The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald. Did you know that there was such a thing as "practice babies"? Home economics departments at certain colleges would have orphan babies for their students to practice their mothering skills. This book is the (fictional) story of one such practice baby.

3. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. It was written in 1859 and is known as the world's first mystery novel. Mystery isn't usually one of my first choices, but I really enjoyed this one.

4. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. Another book based on true events from long ago. A girl is getting close to aging out of foster care and takes on the job of helping an elderly woman sort through her possessions. Turns out, the elderly woman, Vivian, was an orphan, too. When Vivian was a young girl, she was put on a train with other orphans headed for the Midwest to hopefully be adopted by families there.

5. War Brides by Helen Bryan. Five ladies of very different backgrounds find themselves in a small village during WWII.

6. The Birth House by Ami McKay. A woman named Dora Rare, the first daughter born in five generations of the Rare family, becomes an apprentice to a village midwife. The story details the struggle between "modern" medicine and tradition. The bonus to the book is that it takes place in Nova Scotia, where my mom was born and raised.

7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This was one of the best books I've ever read ever. Have a tissue handy, though.

8. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. It is historical fiction about the life of Hadley Richardson and her husband, Ernest Hemingway.

9. Anything by Catherine Ryan Hyde. No joke. I've read seven of her books, and all of them have been wonderful. No two are the same. They don't follow a pattern like other authors tend to do when they write multiple novels. (If you don't know where to start, the first one I read was When I Found You.)

10. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. This story is told in the point of view of Christopher John Francis Boone, who happens to be autistic. He starts writing after he finds his neighbor's dog dead in her backyard and decides he will solve the mystery.

I will now be heading over to Lisa's at The Golden Spoons to find some new books to download. Feel free to join me!

Have you read any good books lately? Have you read any of my picks? What did you think?

Have a lovely day!