Books we've read together (out loud)

1. The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
2. Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara
3. Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie
4. Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling - Oct 07
6. Between Husband and Wife by Lamb and Brinley - Nov 07
7. Train to Potevka by Mike Ramsdell - Winter 08
8. These is my Words by Nancy Turner - Spring 08
9. Marley and Me by John Grogan - 12 Jun 08
10. Prince Caspian (Book 2 in Narnia Series) by C.S. Lewis - 21 Jun 08
11. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger - 22 Jul 08
12. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Relin - 28 Oct 08

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

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
We thought the first half of this book was exceptional. Well, actually, Autumn got turned off a little when he went into too much detail on his K2 climbing expedition. However, I thought it was great. He really has done some amazing things and overcome great obstacles to help the children of the High Karakoram (high mountain valleys below K2) in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

We felt like the book took a turn for the worse toward the end as it becomes an anti-war political commentary. He specifically mentions my employer by name when talking about all the destruction their equipment has done. Of course, that is what their missiles are designed to do and war is inherently messy. It was a turn off to me personally and made the last bit of the book a chore to get through.

Overall, it was a pretty decent read though and an interesting story.

13. For One More Day, Mitch Albom -25 Mar 09
For One More Day by Mitch Albom

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I think this may be the most depressing book I've ever read. That said, it was a gripping read that Autumn and I got through in only a few nights. It really makes you think about life, why we're here, and how to make it better. It is a story of change and improvement. The story had a few interesting twists at the end that kept it interesting. It is quite clean with a few minor swear words.

14. Standing for Something, Gordon B. Hinckley - 10 Sept 09

15. The Giver, Lois Lowry - 29 Oct 2009

The Giver by Lois Lowry


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Autumn and I read this in only a few sittings. It was a compelling fictional story about a small boy who is chosen by his community to be the one who keeps all memories. The book is a strong Socialist commentary, but it was interesting and made some good points about thought control and changing society until it no longer remembers the past.

16. 08 Apr 2010
Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This book is probably better than I'm going to rate it, but Autumn and I read it aloud and it was quite hard to get through. There were a lot of characters that didn't have very distinguishing features, so each time we picked up the book we had to say, "who is that now?" The author uses very large words, so reading aloud it was hard to pronounce some of them, let alone divine the meaning. Finally, the story was by no means compelling. I think it took us nearly 4 months or better to get through this. Overall, I wouldn't read it again.
It had nothing bad or dirty in it and the language was fairly clean.

17. 26 June 2010
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Classic Da Vinci Code literature. Very intriguing and compelling story. There were a few pieces of the puzzle in this one that I didn't really buy, but for the most part is was believable and realistic. As I read his books I always wonder, "is that real stuff, or is he embellishing the story?" More often than not, he writes about fairly real locations and pieces of history. Amazing we don't hear more about some of these nuances of historical buildings or societies (in this book it was the Capitol Building and the Masons). This did have a major twist at the end, which I wasn't expecting, so that was kind of fun. A good read and even one that we enjoyed reading aloud together.




18. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I won't say too much about the book because if you care about the review of book three you've either read the other books and will get to this one or you have already read it.

It was my least favorite of the books in the series though. I had such a healthy slap to the face of reality that I thought it lost a lot of the fun that the first and even the second book had to them. Not that kids killing kids is "fun", but it was not warfare either. It may have been something I just wasn't expecting or maybe I didn't know what to expect, but I kind of thought there was so much sadness that the book was a real downer. Especially the ending.

Despite my semi-negative review, the book was as gripping as ever and Autumn and I really plowed through it as fast or faster than most of the other books we've read together. I'm just waiting to hear about them putting out a movie of the Hunger Games. Should be a good one!




19. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Autumn and I read this together. Though I haven't read the entire Narnia series, we've ready two others. I probably enjoyed this one the least, despite the adventure on the high seas. It is a tale of Lucy and Edmond and their adventure back in Narnia with Kind Caspian. They sail the high seas looking for adventure and to find the seven lost nobles that sailed from Narnia like two decades ago. The stories are enjoyable, but it almost felt like reading a bunch of short stories because something completed unrelated happened on each island they came to. This is classic Narnia/C.S. Lewis and it was fun and quick to read, but wasn't something I'd read again unless I was reading the series with my kids or something.


20. Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I must say, for one who doesn't claim to enjoy fantasy books, this one really sucked me in! Autumn and I read this on a road trip to San Diego over Christmas break and really enjoyed it. Though written as a teen reader, the story was compelling and drew you to the characters.

The story is of a secret preserve located in Connecticut. Kendra and Seth's somewhat estranged (and strange) grandparents run this preserve, which is a place where mythical creatures are protected. Kendra and Seth end up there for a few weeks one summer and get involved in a wild adventure involving special powers, evil, and many mythical creatures. It appears that Fablehaven is on the brink of falling to the evil people and only these kids can save the day.

My biggest complaint was that it was a little formulaic and you could kind of guess which characters were going to do what, make a stupid blunder again, show up in the story again, etc. However, the story was involved enough that you didn't exactly know how the ending was going to turn out.

We liked it well enough that we continued on and read the 2nd book in the series. Keep posted for my review of that one.

21. Rise of the Evening Star by Brandon Mull

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Autumn and I had a harder time getting into this book than we did Fablehaven, but it had a very action-packed second half and did not disappoint. If you liked the first book in the series, this one will be just as enjoyable. Several new characters are introduced in this book as the plot thickens and the Society of the Evening Star continues to try to bring Fablehaven to its knees and steal a secret "artifact" that was being hidden and preserved at Fablehaven. Once again Kendra and Seth are placed in an adventure where they must save the day and keep Fablehaven from eminent disaster.
Fun book and I'd recommend it to those who liked the first one.


22. Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Autumn and I read this out loud together. It was very fun. I would recommend it to anyone, particularly teenage readers. It is the story of Peter Pan and how he because Peter Pan. Dave Barry cleverly weaves the common tale of Peter Pan into this story to explain how Captain Hook got his hook, why they can fly, who the lost boys were, etc. I'd consider reading the sequel(s) and plan to read this to Audrey when she gets old enough to understand it. Definitely a thumbs up.


23. Janitors by Tyler Whitesides
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a clever book tying children, magic, and education together in an interesting and clever adventure story. Autumn and I chose to read this book out loud together and had a fun time doing so. This story very much had the feel of Fablehaven and we were impressed with Tyler Whitesides' first book. This book will be fun to read with our children when they are older elementary age.


24. NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Certainly most parents try to do their best to make decisions in the best interest of their kids. This book debunks many common parenting techniques that logically have the kid's best interest in mind, but empirical evidence shows that the opposite results from the parents actions. It is a clever book with many examples of where the common parent might make a mistake. A few of the chapters were a little over the top, but generally speaking the information was interesting and insightful. We liked the book pretty well overall.
Autumn and I read this aloud together.

25. Schooled by Tali Nay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a book about all of those adolescent things you went through and may or may not have ever talked to anyone about. It is a collection of 2-page short stories of all the horrible, traumatic, wonderful, and touching things that happen to kids as they go through public education, college, and then graduate school. Even though my experiences were somewhat different, it was easy to relate to the author's witty writing style and the way she framed up each event. Some things were more important to her than were to me, such as high school popularity, and thus took a larger role in the book than they did for me in real life. However, for the most part her stories were quite accurate of what we all went through and kept my wife and I laughing throughout. We read through the book quite quickly, which is also a sign that we enjoyed it.
Though this is probably not a book for your 15 year old, with the exception of some cussing the book is pretty clean.

26. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Autumn and I read this one together and had a great time with it. This is a compelling story of a small boy who is selected and trained to be the next commander of a starship fleet traveling to destroy an alien colony. This book chronicles his years in training. Ender is a brilliant strategist and fights his inner self all the time to keep from becoming like his older brother Peter, a killer. The question throughout the book is can Ender trained in time to save the world from the next alien invasion, or will he wash out of the program?
Overall, we got through the book quickly, which usually means we liked it a lot. This book is being made into a movie and should come out in 2013. We're excited to see how it turns out. Should be fun.
I guess my only complaint is that there is a decent amount of swearing and general bathroom (12 year old boy) talk, as well as some pretty descriptive violence in a few spots. Nothing that I'd be too worried about for adult readers, but I'm not sure I'd want my 12 year old reading it.

27. 61 Hours by Lee Child
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Autumn and I read this together. It was a fun read and we had a great time. We were able to read it quickly and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes adventure mystery books. It was in the same category as a Bourne book or Mission Impossible, but maybe not quite so high tech and sexy. Minor disclaimers for a little language and some violence, but pretty clean overall.

28. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I debated about giving this book three or four stars because it has some questionable material. In fact, we almost stopped reading it in the middle because it gets into some detail about a few murder/rape scenarios. But we plunged through it and enjoyed the book. It's understandable why the movie was rated R though.
The book is about a lawyer in LA who seems to always defend gang members, drug dealers, and prostitutes. One major plot theme is how he can face himself knowing that he has protected guilty parties, and maybe even in some cases sent innocents to prison. Mix that up with some personal involvement in the case and danger that the lawyer gets himself into, and you have the Lincoln Lawyer. I enjoyed it and if you are comfortable with a medium-high level of adult themes, then I'd recommend the book.

29. A Wanted Man by Lee Child
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My favorite Reacher book so far. (Autumn Iverson)





30. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Autumn and I read this together. It was a little different genre than what we have typically ready, but we really enjoyed it. It is such an incredible story that it was hard to believe it was true. Surprisingly, I thought the book was fairly easy to read and understand, which can sometimes be difficult for a book written 150 years go. It had the same type of language as Joseph Smith History, which was kind of interesting.
Overall, I can see why the movie made from this book was rated R: slavery and generally cruel punishment including severe beatings and whipping and references to owner/slave sexual abuse situations.
I would highly recommend the book and felt like it gave me a better appreciation for what slaves really experienced in the Deep South from a "non-slave" slave's perspective.

31. Never Go Back by Lee Child
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was a fun book and well written. Right in line with the rest of the Reacher series. Autumn didn't feel like it was quite as compelling as the other two we've read, but I thought it was fairly comparable. It was nice to see some of the story play about that Child had been building to in previous books. If you liked the other Reacher books, you'll like this one.


32. Judge & Jury by James Patterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Kind of a lot of sex and swearing, but outside of that the book was fun to read and kept our interest. Autumn and I read it aloud together. This was our first James Patterson book.




33. Fooled by Tali Nay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My wife and I read this book out loud together. In many ways, we rode the emotional dating roller coaster through the ups and down of the author's relationships. It was interesting that the content of stories the author shared turned out to be less important (because I was neither there nor knew the individuals involved) than how they related to our own prior dating experiences and perspectives on love. The insights from Ms. Nay's informal survey into people's views of dating, relationships, and love were interesting and informative.