2 days until Christmas
Okay, Sheila, your turn!
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LDSWBR: What Christmas-related activity would you like to do this year that you have never done before?
SHEILA: Wow! I cant think of anything. How boring am I? I like doing all of my old favorite traditions, instead of finding new things. Watching Christmas movies, drinking hot chocolate, reading Christmas stories together and singing Christmas songs together around the piano.
LDSWBR: If you could find one book under the tree this year, what would it be?
SHEILA: Inheritance, Book #4 in the Eragon series.
LDSWBR: What is your favorite childhood Christmas memory?
SHEILA: My favorite childhood Christmas memory is the year I was 9 years old. That was the year I got the whole Little House on the Praire Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder for Christmas. I was so excited!!!! I couldn’t believe that I got the whole set just for me. Up until then, I always had to check them out from the library. (I think this is when my obsession for collecting books started! ;0)
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Sheila’s Top Ten Reads of 2011
1. Variant by Robison Wells
2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
3. Making Rounds With Oscar by David Dosa
4. The Cross Gardner by Jason Wright
5. The Upside of Down by Rebecca Talley
6. Unwind by Neil Shusterman
7. Don’t Fear the Reaper by Michelle Muto
8. Bloodborne by Gregg Luke
9. Count Down to Love by Julie N. Ford
10. Rearview Mirror by Stephanie Black
The next 10 are right up there and so close to being in the top 10. This was a hard year to choose my favorites. There were so many I really, really liked.
What books have you read on my top ten for 2011 list?
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To enter the Countdown to Christmas 2011 contest, complete the following and then tell us what you did:
- **Required entry (+1) – Leave a thoughtful comment on this post. (More than just “Great contest!” please.) You must leave a comment on this post for your other entries to count. If you are reading this post through email or an RSS reader, please click through to leave a comment.
- Bonus entry (+1) – Do you, or have you ever, owned the entire set of Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder? Have you read them all? Do you prefer the books or the TV show? Do you have a favorite episode? (I know, they’re all so good it’s tough to choose a fav!)
- Additional entries (one time +1 entry each) – 1) Subscribe to LDSWBR through email 2) Follow @LDSWBR on Twitter 3) Like LDS Women’s Book Review on Facebook (all found at the the top of the right sidebar on the LDSWBR blog). NOTE: If you already subscribe through email, follow us on Twitter, or Like us on Facebook you must tell us in a comment for the extra entries to count.
- By leaving a comment and entering the Countdown to Christmas 2011, you agree to the contest information found here.
***If you haven’t read the contest rules and info, read them here.***
Book prizes donated by their authors:
- Winners choice of Divinely Designed, Luck of the Draw, or Minor Adjustments by Rachael Renee Anderson
- Winner’s choice of Secret Sisters, Dearly Departed, or Hang ’em High by Tristi Pinkston
- Montana Summer by Jeanette Miller
- Ribbon of Darkness by Julie Coulter Bellon
- Not My Type by Melanie Jacobson
- Cinder & Ella by Melissa Lemon (ebook)
- Pride & Popularity by Jenni James
- The Kissing Tree by Prudence Bice
- Rearview Mirror by Stephanie Black (paperback or Kindle)
- The Next Door Boys by Jolene B. Perry
- Winner’s choice of one of the books in the Sadie Hoffmiller Culinary Mystery Series by Josi S. Kilpack (including Banana Split which will be released in February 2012)
- Seeking Persephone by Sarah M. Eden
- Obsession by Traci Hunter Abramson
- Circle of Secrets by Kimberley Griffiths Little (autographed hardcover!)
- Indelible by Lani Woodland and a swag bag!
- Identity by Betsy Love
- The Hainan Incident by D.M. Coffman (autographed copy)
- Count Down to Love by Julie N. Ford
- Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett
- The Breakup Artist by Shannen Crane Camp
- Seers by Heather Frost
Don’t forget to comment! Merry Christmas and happy reading!
14 Responses to “Sheila’s Top Ten Reads of 2011 – Countdown to Christmas 2011”
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I have read Variant, The Upside of Down, Blood Born, and Rearview Mirror. Thanks!
Holy cow I haven’t read any of the books on your to 10 list. This has never happened to me! I feel the need to hide my eyes and run to the library all at the same time. I look forward to tracking these down and enjoying them. I also really liked how getting the entire Little House series was your best Christmas memory, that is awesome!
I love the variety of books on your top 10 list!
I got the Little House set for my birthday when I was 8 or 9. I didn’t appreciate what a treasure it was at the time. Now my daughters and I enjoy the stories together- especially listening to the books on CD when we travel! I love the show, too. I think my favorite episode is when Laura teaches the boy sign language and then breaks his heart…
I have only read one of the books (The Help), but as with the other top lists, I own several others but just haven’t gotten to them yet! A few I’m not familiar with, so I will be sure to check them out too.
I think at one point we did own all of the Little House books, although I don’t currently own any of them. I know I read them all as a kid. I recently read the first one out loud to my girls and they all enjoyed it. I loved the TV show as a kid too — it was one of my favorites! I think as a kid I would probably have picked the TV show over the books. I always wished that I could be Laura.
I’ve read some of those books, but no where near all of them. Must be time to read some more new books!
I have only read The Help, but a lot of you are putting Variant on your lists so I looked it up and it looks like a book I would really enjoy. I don’t know how I never heard of that one this year as I try to keep pretty up to date on the new young adult books.
I received the entire box set of the Little House books for Christmas when I was a kid, and read them all multiple times—I loved them! I still own them and hope my daughter will read them in the future. I watched the T.V. show all the time with my Mom, but you can’t compare the show to the books, they are both great in their own ways. I loved the episodes with Mary and her challenges, and all the school episodes where Laura would get in trouble.
I haven’t read any of them! Going straight on my list! :)
I haven’t read any of them, either! I’ll check them out, though. Thanks for the list!
No! I’ve never received or read “Little House on the Prairie”! I should, though. I loved the TV series.
Okay I have to kinda put my tail between my legs this year… I have not been up on my reading. I have hardly been on my computer. But now I am completely back to both and you list sounds like a great jumping off point.
As for Little House on the Prairie, I read them some in 4th grade, and my greedy sister own/owns them and has never shared.
The only book I’ve read on this list is The Help.
I have the whole set of Little House books, but haven’t read them in years. I think I got them when I was about eleven. My daughter isn’t interested in them yet, but I think she will be before long (she’s ten). I enjoyed the TV show when I was a kid, but I never really compared that and the books – they were like two completely different entities, which just happened to have some of the same characters!
From your list I read and enjoyed both The Help by Kathryn Stockett and The Upside of Down by Rebecca Talley.
I don’t own any of the little hosue books and haven’t seen much of the show. I think I would have really enjoyed them as a child. One of my complaints I make to my brothers is that we watched too much “Land of the Lost” and not enough “Little House on the Prairie.” I read “Little House in the Big Woods” as an adult (about 4 years ago) and enjoyed it.
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