December means...Best Books of 2012 List!

Quite a difficult task, but here it is....the list of the best books I read during 2012. Following the title is the month to find the entire review. So, pick a book and enjoy!

The Round House (Nov)
The Fault in Our Stars (Nov)
Cutting For Stone (Oct)
Sutton (Sept)
Seven Patients (August)
Gone Girl (July)
The Tragedy of Arthur (June)
Moon-walking With Einstein (Feb)
The Hare With Amber Eyes (Jan)

November Books ROCK

Behind the Beautiful Forever’s by Katherine Boo

Since 1991, 3,000 people have been squatting on a half-acre of land owned by the Sahar International Airport known as Annawadi. Most residents earn money through recycling bits and pieces of trash. We’re talking tiny kids working 10 hour days for pennies. This true story follows several residents and not all of them make it to the end of the book. Boo writes for the New Yorker and has a Pulitzer Prize – so the book is well written to say the least. ♥

Life Among Giants by Bill Roorbach

Put a six-foot high school quarterback inside a mansion owned by a world famous rock star and his equally famous ballerina wife. Kill off the quarterback’s parents, add a few love affairs and what do you have? Hugely great read that’s what. ♥♥♥♥

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

This may be my favorite book from Erdrich! It's the story of Antone Bazil Coutts, aka Joe -- an Indian boy faced with making sense of a horrific situation and how he struggles to come to terms with how things really work on the res. After a little detective work he makes a stunning discovery that will force him to decide what is right and wrong regardless of whether it is written in the Handbook of Federal Indian Law. ♥♥♥♥

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Hazel and Gus have cancer. Should they fall in love even though they only have months to live? If you are 16 and never been kissed then hell yes you do. They make the short time they have together count and work out a few of the BIG Questions. Young adult book but I enjoyed it SO much! ♥♥♥♥

The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

One of the New York Times Book Review's Top 10 Books of 2012, and in my opinion destined to become a classic. Besides incredible insight into war and the measure of friendship; this book also has my all-time favorite first line: "The war tried to kill us in the spring." Just read it. ♥♥♥

October. Fall into a good read.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Sister Mary Joseph Praise, a young free-spirited nun, leaves south Indian in 1947 for a missionary post in Yemen. During the sea voyage, she saves the life of an English doctor, Thomas Stone, who she meets again at Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa. Seven years later, she dies giving birth to twin boys: Shiva and Marion. Cutting for Stone is the story of their lives, their adoptive parent’s lives and comes full circle when; well…you’ll just have to read the book! ♥♥♥

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Charlie is a wall-flower but ends up leading a full and interesting life once he makes friends with seniors: Patrick and Samantha. Patrick is gay, and Sam is pretty, and as unlikely as it seems, they make a charming trio. Interestingly the novel is formatted as a series of letters to an unnamed "friend," from Charlie. Drugs, sex and other teenage heartbreak and runs the gauntlet of emotion.♥

The Blood letter’s Daughter by Linda Lafferty

In 1606, the emperor’s bastard son, Don Julius is banished to a remote corner of Bohemia, and comes under the care of a blood letter -- who tries to cure him of his madness. The blood letter’s daughter Marketa, assists in the procedures, and finds herself in a royal bind.♥♥

The Five Tibetans by Christopher S. Kilham

I actually purchased this book before Dr. Mehmet Oz featured Kilham on his show. The book explains how regular practice of these five postures relieves muscle tension and nervous stress, improves digestion, strengthens the cardiovascular system, tunes and energizes the chakras, and leads to deep relaxation and well-being.

Originating in the Himalayas, the five yogic exercises known as the Five Tibetans take only a few minutes a day, but don’t for one nano-second think they are easy.♥

The Responsible Company: What We’ve Learned from Patagonia’s First 40 Years

 by Yvon Chouinard & Vincent Stanley

We all know that Patagonia is one of, if not THE coolest company on the planet, and we get an insider look at it. Chouinard and Stanley also give new meaning to helping the environment. They have studied their current impact of manufacturing and commerce on the planet’s natural systems and human communities and have committed to reducing the harm they cause, improve the quality of their business, and provide the kind of meaningful work everyone seeks. This information is shared with big and small companies world-wide.♥♥