2012 Book of Books

A while back my sister recommended I start a Book of Books (BOB) to keep track of everything I read. This year I have been recording the books I read in a leather journal. I love my BOB. I feel like it's more personal than a journal, what I read is a large part of who I am. I wanted to share my list, hopefully you will find something to read.

Here is my criteria for rating books:
5 Stars: This book changed my life and I will never be the same. I want to read this book again.
4 Stars: A book that is both incredibly well written and an amazing story.
3 Stars: A good/great book that I would recommend to others. It is well written or has a great story.
2 Stars: The book was just ok, I would not recommend it.
1 Star: This book was terrible and not worth the paper it was printed on.

I did not read any 1 or 2 star books this year, mainly because almost all the books I read were excellent recommendations from my sis. I grouped the books by rating and listed them in alphabetical order .

Five Stars

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Girls by Lori Lansens

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

Mudbound by Hiliary Jordan

Room by Emma Donoghue

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Four Stars

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller

The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez 

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Life of Pi by Yann Martel

The Lost Saints of Tennessee by Amy Franklin-Willis

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg

The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds

Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones

Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett

3 Stars 

And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Getting to Happy by Terry McMillan

 Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Peony in Love by Lisa See

Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens

Meet my BOB