Peony in Love : A Novel by Lisa See

I didn't particularly like this. I did think the fact that Chinese traditions about the afterlife were treated as true was neat, but the story didn't do much for me.

The Bin Ladens : An Arabian Family in the American Century by Steve Coll

This was very interesting, but at almost 600 pages, a little bit of a slog. I appreciated that the book wasn't mostly about Osama but his siblings (who are fascinating in the way that all big-spending Saudis are) with a good bit of the history of Saudi Arabia thrown in. Recommended.

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

I read this to the boys and we all loved it.

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

As is typical for me, I became completely absorbed in this but then felt vaguely unsatisfied when it was done. The plot was hole-ly and I'm not always particularly quick on the uptake, but the protagonist was dumb as a post to not figure out the mystery of her birth 300 pages before she finally did.

Mormon Scientist by Henry Eyring

This was disappointing: there were a few good nuggets in here (including a taste of his disagreement with Joseph Fielding Smith over evolution) but overall it felt padded--material repeated from the preface to the intro to the first chapter, lengthy explanations of things like the plan of salvation, long references to Eyring's genealogy. But really not enough about him.

Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog : The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences by Kitty Burns Florey

A short, lightweight, and goofy history of sentence diagramming. I wish it had been meatier, but it was mildly entertaining.

March by Geraldine Brooks

I'm still thinking about this one. I'm not sure if I find the story plausible, in the sense that I wonder if the main character really would have done what he did. And I also wonder about his consoler--whether she should have felt guilty for what she did. (I'm trying not to give too much away here . . . ) Anyway, I guess I just didn't think that the book held together.

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series #1) by Rick Riordan

I read this to the boys and we all loved it. Highly recommended.

The Undercover Economist : Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor and Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car! by Tim Harford

I listened to this on our trip. The first part was a little dull (but would be a good primer for someone who didn't know anything about markets) but the rest was very interesting and I recommend it for anyone interested in an economic (as opposed to ideological) approach to health care, globalization, poverty, etc. Recommended.

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

This was so lame. So very, very lame. And poorly written.

Three Cups of Tea : One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson

Mortenson, lost and weak after a failed attempt to climb K2, stumbles into a village in northern Pakistan where the girls sit outside and, without a teacher, scratch multiplication tables in the dirt with a stick. He begins a one-man effort to build girls' schools in Pakistan. He's crazy and adventurous and big-hearted and doesn't seem to mind getting shot at. This is a magnificent book--highly recommended for individuals and book groups.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Absolutely magical! The integration of art with the story is a category-killer: this isn't an illustrated story--the pictures are used cinamatographically to convey the story. And there are a few surprises beyond that. Highly recommended.

Gang Leader for a Day : A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Venkatesh

You never hear about gangs and drugs anymore. Did things get better or did the media get bored? I have no idea. Anyway, this book is a must-read: Venkatesh befriended a gang leader and spent years shadowing him. The extent to which the gang is run like any old business is amazing.

Where Does the Money Go? : Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis by Scott Bittle,

This is one of those books that if you think about it too much, you'd hide your money under the mattress and buy some ammo for fear of the coming crash (caused by the impossibility of the US meeting its Social Security and Medicare obligations). But because the book is so goofy and flippant in tone (and here I must admit that I bought it mostly because of the cover) that it is easy not to take it too seriously. In any case, this is fun and interesting reading.

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely

This was a fun (and very light, very quick) read. There are all sorts of interesting insights into human behavior here. (Warning: one section is a bit graphic--they did research on decision making of aroused males.) Recommended.

The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman's Fight to Save the World's Most Beautiful Bird by Bruce Barcott

This was a very enjoyable read--I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give the game away, but there is a fascinating case study here. Recommended.

The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

I read this to the boys. They loved and so did I--this is one of the best written and best plotted YA books I have ever read. Highly recommended.

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles : Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer 8. Lee

I loved this book. Lee (and howabout that middle name?) covers everything from the Chinese immigrant experience to the link between the American Jewish community and Chinese food to the origin of General Tso's chicken. Highly recommended.

Barbara Bush : A Memoir by Barbara Bush

I hate W as much as the next guy, and I wasn't too sure what I'd think of his momma. Well, I adored this book. Bush did a great job conveying her personality and I ended up liking her. She also has some great stories to tell: playing footsie with Yeltsin, rats in the White House swimming pool, etc. Recommended.

Josephine : A Life of the Empress by Carolly Erickson

This was pretty good but not extraordinary.

The Invisible Sex: Uncovering the True Role of Women in Prehistory by J. M. Adovasio, Jake Page, Olga Soffer

This was boring--a mishmash of ideas I had encountered before.

One True Thing by Anna Quindlen

This was terrible. The characters totally didn't work.

Fork It Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater by Alan Richman

Eh--there are much better foodie books than this.

Bound on Earth by Angela Hallstrom

Angela Hallstrom’s debut novel, Bound on Earth, is worth reading.

I know as much about defining a good novel as Potter Stewart knew about defining pornography: I can’t do it but I know it when I see it. And I see it in Hallstrom’s book. The characters are real. The situations are real. The emotions are real. She has done a better job of creating “real” than most authors I have read (notice I didn’t say “most LDS authors”). She gets us into the minds of a five year old, a middle-aged man, a young zealot, and many more characters in only a few paragraphs. And she gets it right. The story of the Palmer family–normal middle-class Mormons–emerges through chapters told from the points of view of different players. They seem real, and I liked them. There are also many great observations here about Mormon culture–including the killer line that “till death do you part” is “what Mormon girls hear when they fail.”

Which is not to say that the book is perfect: the last scene reminds me of everything that I don’t like about LDS fiction as Hallstrom gives in to the saccharine send-off. Also, it reads as if it were a collection of pre-existing essays that she [barely] strung together. (I’m not sure whether this is in fact the case–but since various chapters won awards as independent works it may have been–I’m just noting that the chapters feel only loosely connected.)

But . . . but . . . compared to my other forays into LDS fiction (and I skim a lot of review copies that don’t end up getting reviewed because I’m queasy and weary after five pages), this is a gem.

Cross-posted from Times and Seasons.

The Joy of Work : Dilbert's Guide to Finding Happiness at the Expense of Your Co-Workers by Scott Adams

Fluff!

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

For once I wasn't disappointed with the ending of a novel. This isn't the best book I've ever read, but it was enjoyable. And did I mention that I didn't hate the ending?

Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock

You just wouldn't think that a book about goat testicle transplants would be that good. You'd be wrong. This may be the most bizarre book I have ever read, but also one of the most interesting. Highly recommended.

Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year-History of the Human Body by Neil Shubin

I loved this book--it is one of the best-written "science for the layperson" titles that I have come across. I had feelings of awe and reverence as he described the imprint of evolution on human bodies and our commonalities with other animals. Highly recommended.

The Innocent Man : Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham

eh.

The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America by Susan Faludi

This was a great read. (Except for the historical survey at the end, which seemed tacked on.) I admit that making fun of the media's "lifestyle reporting" (i.e., reporting of trends) is no harder than shooting fish in a barrel, but this was still a great book. Her focus on gender issues in media reporting about 9/11 was particularly interesting.

Airframe by Michael Crichton

If you need some mind candy, this is an excellent choice.

Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body by Jennifer Ackerman

Tons of fun--full of fascinating research results about the oddities of the human body, with an emphasis on the body's timing systems.

The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan

I thought I'd love this--I adored Omnivore's Dilemma and I liked In Defense of Food. And the topic is certainly intriguing. But the content was a mishmash of unrelated topics (with, admittedly, some interesting tidbits) and seemed to meander.

The Illuminator by Brenda Rickman Vantrease

I love historical novels set in the middle ages. But as I find often to be the case with novels for me, I loved the book but hated the ending.

A Contract with the Earth by Newt Gingrich

I listened to this with my husband over several weeks. I was really pleased to see environmentalism championed as a conservative principle and to see environmental solutions based on those principles. But there seemed to be a lot of filler in this book ("we need to work to achieve consensus blah blah blah") but the basic idea was good.

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin

I really enjoyed this because I like thinking about constitutional law. Even tho the book felt a little gossipy at times. (OK, I kind of liked that, too.)

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Holy cow. This is one of the very best books that I have ever read. I don't want to say anything about the story because I don't want to give it away. But it has been years since I've liked a novel this much. Highly recommended.

Call of the Mall by Paco Underhill

This was a really fun book. And I don't even like malls.

The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh : A Woman in World History by Linda Colley

This book ranged from fascinating to dreary.

In Defense of Food : An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

If I had to recommend one book to someone who wanted a readable critique of "the Western diet," this would be it. His history of health advice and fads and laws is enough to make anyone angry. The book isn't perfect (for example, I think he romanticizes native diets by neglecting to mention malnutrition issues and he doesn't distinguish between most processed foods and healthy processed foods, such as bagged salads) but it is very good.

Monique and the Mango Rains : Two Years with a Midwife in Mali by Kris Holloway

Wow! This is one of those books that everyone should read: a Peace Corp volunteer tells the story of an amazing story of a woman with a sixth grade education and a few months of midwifery training who is the sole source of health care for several villages. Highly recommended.

The Dirt on Clean : An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg

If there were an award for which book had the post "ewwww" moments, this one would win. The history of bathing (or, more correctly, the lack thereof) isn't pretty. But this book wasn't very interesting.

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg

I read this to the boys. They liked it; I thought it was unremarkable.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

I enjoyed reading this, but at the end felt disappointed. The writing didn't hold a candle to The Yiddish Policeman's Union and the plot was disjointed. I'm not sure why it won a Pulitzer.

Hittite Warrior by Joanne Williamson

This was a pre-read for Simon. It probably isn't as good as, say, The Golden Goblet, but given the paucity of sources for this era and place in history, it is worth reading.

River Torn by Peter Hessler

This was really interesting; I always like books about China. I think he did a good job encapsulating the paradoxes of Chinese culture and politics.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM by Robert O'Brien

I read this to the boys; they liked it, I thought it was kind of dull.

The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier

I mildly enjoyed this.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Verdict: really weird and really good. I usually dislike it when I notice the writing (even if I am noticing that it is good) but--wow--Chabon is something else. Amazingly creative metaphors and similies. Recommended.

The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta

There was so much potential here with a story of the culture war writ small, but it fizzled at the end.