Liz K's 100 Books for 2010

I did 79 last year, so I'm going for the 100!




1. The Jerusalem Diet: The "One-day" Approach to Reach Your Ideal Weight - And Stay There by Ted Haggard

While I can see where he is coming from with this diet, I don't agree with everything he says. Eating right for one day to get to your weekly target weight sounds foreign to me. I do recognize that he is speaking to the majority of the population, those who cannot stick to a rigid plan. The beginning of the book talks about how it is OK to eat your normal diet (The SAD diet), and then by having a 'fat' day, you can eat fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds & water as well as exercising for 1 hour and lose a lb. a week. Where this may work, it is not healthy. Toward the end of his book he emphasizes more on eating healthy. His logic is that if you start slow, you will eventually eat better more continuously. It isn't a bad plan, I just think some of the info he purports is faulty. I would read other health & nutrition books along with this to get a more rounded approach to diet & exercise

2 The White Horse King by Benjamin Merkle

Alfred the Great was one of the greatest monarchs in English history. This book goes into some detail about the rise of this remarkable king and how he changed England forever. Merkle cites a lot of material from other sources, it seems to give this book a feel of a compilation. However, it is a pleasant and riveting read.

Merkle delves into Alfred’s formative years and goes through the years as he becomes king. He explains how he merged the Anglo-Saxons against the Vikings who were very brutal. We could feel Alfred the Great's love for God and his struggle to help others feel the same love. He knew his faith would get him through any hurdle he would encounter. He succeeded in reforming the legal system, helped his fellow countrymen become more literate and restored Christianity during a war torn time in English history.

This was a fast paced book that read like a novel, but will want you leaving more. What a different world we might have if there were no Alfred the Great. I think anyone who enjoys biographies, ancient history and books about war will love this one.

3 Once Upon a Summer by Jeannette Oke

Thanks for the excellent review of The White Horse King. I'm intrigued enough to add it to the wishlist.

4. Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell

5. Life and Death of Harriet Frean by May Sinclair

6. The Rats in the Walls by H.P. Lovecraft

7. Password Incorrect by Nick Name
I’m all for concise works, but this is just not good. I understand short stories do not have much on character development, but there is a clear cut Beginning-Middle-End. None of these stories have that. I felt my brain was being assaulted by the rapid fire of incoherent nonsense.

The language is awkward, and I’m not sure if that is due to the translation (from Polish) or it is just bad writing. Perhaps this is the style he's going for; short, quick and abrupt, just like our technologies (and lives), but it didn’t work. I was left frustrated – just like when my password IS incorrect.

The only reason I didn’t give this one star was due to one story that captured my attention. “A Man Called Desk”. Maybe I was drawn to it because I can relate, however, this is not a well written piece either, but at least it got a small chuckle out of me.

It is a good thing many of us do not publish what we write, or the free domain book sites would be filled with this garbage.

8. Serial by Jack Kilborn, Blake Crouch

9. The Dunwich Horror by H.P. Lovecraft

10.The Ultimate Reading List by Shelley Mosley, J. Charles et al

11. The Man who would be king by Rudyard Kipling

12. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pllan

13. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

14. Nigger an autobiography by Dick Gregory
I wasn't sure what to expect with this autobiography by one of Americas foremost civil rights activist, but I was pleasantly surprised. An interesting story, and thought it never one any awards for writing, it is very powerful.

15. Doubt a parable by John Patrick Shanley
I had already seen the movie, but wanted to read the play none the less. Pretty much verbatim, it doesn't lose any of its punch. I enjoyed the move (some of it was filmed in my neighborhood right outside of my building), so you can say I had a soft spot for the story to begin with.

But reading it again had me reflecting on my own thoughts and action. It is rare that a book can do that to me.

16. Tennessee Williams Notebooks - Tennesse Williams/M. Bradham Thornton
17. The Master Cleanse - Stanley Burroughs
18. Roses - Leila Meacham
19. Push - Sapphire
20. Lose Weight, Have More Energy - Peter Glickman

21. The Walk - Paul Evans
Another great book from Evans. Happy to know he is working on a new series. This is book 1.

22. Under the Dome - Stephen King
This started out with so much promise. By the end I wanted to shoot myself just so it would end. I usually really like King's stuff, t his was too long.

23. When The Soul Mends - Cindy Woodsmall
24. Rumble Fish - S.E. Hinton
25. The First Time We Met The Blues - David Williams
26. The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton
27. Life After Death - Deepak Chopra

#7> By the end I wanted to shoot myself just so it would end.

Yes, I haven't really heard anything too great about this one! I'm yet to read a Stephen King, I'll probably start with something else...