Lists: the Best Books I read in 2011

I have read a lot this year - 60 books total! Next Year, I hope to start and finish books before jumping to the next one, there were way too many books left unfinished.   Oh well! The top five books on the list were chosen by how well I recalled the book during my non-reading hours.
All in all a great year of reading, here is my top 5 books for 2011:

1.   Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder:

   This book was a lot of fun as I plunged into Hodder's Steam Punk - Time Travel Adventure.

2. Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

   Gravity's rainbow was the hardest book to read for this year.  But it was so worth it!

3. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

   The laughter was exhausting.

4. I, Claudius by Robert Graves

   Proving Rome was full of debauchery.

5. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

   The characters remained with me for a long time after completing the novel.

6. (not finished yet) Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas.

   Bonhoeffer grabs a hold of you and won't let go, you might know the ending of the story, but what this does is show the man and where his theology and core beliefs were developed

I am looking forward to 2012!  Happy New Year!

Books and Music

Stephen King the Stand Modern Library Read this Month.... To listen to my whole Modern Library and Music Juke Box: Listen Here.











Bruce Springsteen

Blue Oyster Cult

Bob Dylan

The Sylvers

Larry Underwood

Caged in Darkness by J.D. Stroube

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was invited to read and review Caged in Darkness by J.D. Stroube, from the author’s invitation, and I am very glad that I read this one.   The book captures the best of my guilty pleasure reading, that of Young Adult coming of age stories. 

Savannah, the main character is a sixteen year old on the threshold between the nursery and the adult world.   Savanah has found a sanctuary from her parents, who appear at first the embodiment of evil.  But then her world is tipped over when she accidently bumps a box over and releases a devil from his crystal palace.   The devil is now bent on killing and possessing the innocent in order to regain his strength.

The book reminded me of Dawson’s creek and the love triangle between Joey, Dawson, and Pacey.   The kids are so hormonally charged and have no real way to deal with this energy that the sparks lay right at the surface, and are about to light into a dramatic volcano.   J.D. Stroube then adds a bit of the supernatural to the mix and the volcano spouts in a captivating young-love story. 

Stroube’s understanding of the teen years is apparent; she perfectly describes the psychology behind teenager’s complicated and intense feelings.   She mixes this psychology with a sense of humor in order to lift the reader up from the intensity.

One problem I had, which was probably my own fault, was the switch of narrators.  I would be reading and then ask, “Wait who’s talking here? Okay its Ash, so this is a guy’s perspective, which makes sense.”  This at times distracted from the overall story.  But the different narrators did add something to the overall effect of the story. 

Stroube’s research into the supernatural was great.  It left me wanting to find out more about witches in history, the role of the niphilim, and fallen angels.  I wish she would have spent a little more time developing the setting.   I wanted to know more about the town in which the story takes place.  

I was hooked throughout the book and definitely was entertained by J.D. Stroube.  I can’t wait to read another one by her, there are so many possibilities.