My Top Ten Books from 2014

-I don't think any of these books came out in 2014, but these are my top 10 out of the 62 books I read last year.

My Top 10 Books from 2014!
1) Happily Ever After: Walking with Peace and Courage Through a Year of Divorce-Kristin Armstrong--This is by far the book that ministered to me the most while I was going through my divorce.  So much so, that I have bought it for other friends going through the same thing.

2) You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a more Fulfilling Life-Eleanor Roosevelt--A friend was reading this book and bought a copy for me so we could read it together.  We read it in January and it was an awesome book to start my year off with.  Eleanor inspires people with her words and in the way she lived her life.  She was an incredible woman.

3) Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight-Karl Rove--Rove is an amazing man on so many levels.  I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about him in his candid book and about what went on in the Bush Administration.

4) Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer-David Reichert--Reichert is a man who never gave up on finding the Green River Killer (who turned out to be Gary Ridgeway) and thus bringing some measure of justice and closure for all the victims' loved ones.  This was an inspirational story on not giving up on a just cause.

5) Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10-Marcus Luttrell--The book and the movie about this true story made both of my Top 10 lists.  An incredible story about some amazing men, true heroes indeed.

6) Smokin' Seventeen-Janet Evanovich--No top 10 list is complete without a Stephanie Plum book on it.  Evanovich's series on Stephanie Plum makes me laugh out loud, reader beware if you are reading this in a public waiting room, people will think you are crazy.

7) Sleepers-Lorenzo Carcaterra--I saw the movie about this years ago and didn't realize it was based on a true story.  I found the book in a thrift store and ended up reading it right away and not being able to put it down.

8) Escape-Carolyn Jessop--This is the book that started all of my research on the FLDS and the many brave women and men who escaped the FLDS's clutches.

9) Frances Folsom Cleveland-Susan Sinnott--I found all the first ladies that I read about this year to be fascinating, but I especially loved learning about Frances because I didn't know much about her and there were a lot of firsts for her and her husband in the White House.

10) Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People-Sarah Bradford--A wonderful book about an amazing woman.

2014 Book List--Part 4

1) Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight--Karl Rove
2) The Final Days: The Last, Desperate Abuses of Power by the Clinton White House--Barbara Olson
3) The Kennedy Wit--Bill Adler
4) Mugged: Racial Demagoguery from the Seventies to Obama--Ann Coulter
5) Relax-You May Only Have a Few Minutes Left: Using the Power of Humor to Overcome Stress in Your Life and Work--Loretta LaRoche
6) You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life--Eleanor Roosevelt
7) American Patriots: Answering the Call to Freedom--Rick Santorum
8) Raylan--Elmore Leonard
9) The Barbarian Way: Unleash the the Untamed Faith Within--Erwin Raphael McManus
10) Fatal Vows: The Tragic Wives of Sergeant Drew Peterson--Joseph Hosey
11) The Everything Organize Your Home Book--Jason R. Rich
12) Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer--David Reichert
13) Drinking and Dating: P.S. Social Media is Ruining Romance--Brandi Glanville
14) Willoughby's Return: A Tale of Almost Irresistable Temptation--Jane Odiwe
15) Eat That Cookie--Liz Jazwiec
16) Heath Ledger: His Beautiful Life and Mysterious Death--John McShane
17) Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors: And Other True Cases--Ann Rule
18) Amazing Things Will Happen: A Real-World Guide on Achieving Success and Happiness--C.C. Chapman
19) Deep Thoughts From a Hollywood Blonde--Jennie Garth
20) Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity--Hugh MacLeod
21) Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings
--Michelle Knight
22) In Freedom's Cause: A Story of Wallace & Bruce--G.A. Henty
23) In the Still of the Night: The Strange Death of Ronda Reynolds and Her Mother's Unceasing Quest for the Truth--Ann Rule
24) Happily Ever After: Walking with Peace and Courage Through a Year of Divorce--Kristin Armstrong
25) The Power of Praying Through the Bible--Stormie Omartian
26) Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims--Rush Limbaugh
27) Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10--Marcus Luttrell
28) Clippings from My Notebook--Corrie ten Boom
29) Escape in Iraq: The Thomas Hamill Story--Thomas Hamill
30) I Grew up Little: Finding Hope in a Big God--Patsy Clairmont
31) SeinLanguage--Jerry Seinfeld
32) Sizzling Sixteen--Janet Evanovich
33) Smokin' Seventeen--Janet Evanovich
34) Ted and Ann-The Mystery of a Missing Child and her Neighbor Ted Bundy
35) Explosive Eighteen--Janet Evanovich
36) Notorious Nineteen--Janet Evanovich
37) Sleepers--Lorenzo Carcaterra
38) Whispers of Hope: 10 Weeks of Devotional Prayer--Beth Moore
39) Anna Eleanor Roosevelt--Dan Santow
40) Julia Dent Grant--Christine Fitz-Gerald
41) Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams--Ann Heinrichs
42) Frances Folsom Cleveland--Susan Sinnott
43) What is the What--Dave Eggers
44) Lucretia Rudolph Garfield--Ann Heinrichs
45) Takedown Twenty--Janet Evanovich
46) Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt--Barbara Silberdick Feinberg
47) Escape--Carolyn Jessop

Previously:
2013 Book List
2012 Book List
2011 Book List
2010 Book List
2008 Book List

I Love Stephanie Plum!

--If you've never read one of Janet Evanovich's books about Stephanie Plum, you are missing out.

--If I had to describe the books, they are similar to Sue Grafton's series about private detective, Kinsey Milhone.  Yet, they are SO MUCH more! 

--Evanovich combines the mystery thrill that you'd get from a Sue Grafton or Mary Higgins Clark novel, and then adds A LOT of humor and romance to boot.

--The only peril about reading her books in public, is that you are constantly laughing out loud.  I often read them while waiting somewhere or while I'm working out at the gym.

--The characters are amazing.  Below are some quotes to help you learn a little bit about them and Evanovich's humor.

Stephanie's Life--

I have a hamster named Rex, a utilitarian apartment, and my toaster is broken.  My name is Stephanie Plum, and I work as a bond enforcement agent, also known as a bounty hunter, for my cousin Vinnie.

Truth is, I was a college graduate with no skills.  And after a bunch of years spent working as a bounty hunter I feared I was no longer especially smart.

Stephanie's Grandma--

She's lived with my parents since Grandpa Mazur took the big escalator to the heavenly food court in the sky.  Sometimes I think my father wouldn't mind seeing Grandma step onto that very same escalator, but I can't see it happening anytime soon.  Her steelgray hair was cut short and tightly curled on her head.  Her nails matched her bright red lipstick.  Her lavender-and-white running suit hung slack on her bony shoulders.

Stephanie's Dad--

My father paused with the tub of margarine in one hand and the butter knife in the other, and for an irrational moment I thought he might stab Grandma Mazur.

Stephanie's Mother--

Even before I touched the receiver the urge to scream told me it was my mother.
Grandma and I are a trial to her.  My mother tries hard to be a good Christian woman and a model of decorum, but Grandma and I not so much.  It isn't that we don't want to be decorous Christian women.  It's just that it doesn't always go that way.

I don't understand how you have all these accidents, my mother said.  I don't know of a single other person who's had his car blown up.

Stephanie's Cop Boyfriend--

Joe Morelli is one of those good surprises.  He's two years older than I am, and for most of my school years, spending time with Morelli was like a visit to the dark side, alluring and frightening.  He's a Trenton cop now, and he's my off-again, on-again boyfriend.  On the outside Morelli is still street tough and dangerously alluring.  On the inside Morelli is now the sexy guy with the toaster.

Stephanie's Mentor--

Sometimes I moonlight for a guy named Ranger who's extremely bad in an incredibly good way.  He's a security expert, and a bounty hunter, and he moves like smoke.  Ranger is milk chocolate on the outside...a delicious, tempting, forbidden pleasure.

Stephanie's awesome sidekick Lula--

Lula was a former hooker turned file clerk.  She'd just recently embarked on a makeover program that included dying her hair blond and then straightening it and recurling it into ringlets.  The transformation had her looking like a 230-pound black kick-ass Shirley Temple.

Lula swung her pocketbook in a wide arc and crashed it into Spiro's window, shattering the glass.  "Where there's a will, there's a way," she said.  My mouth dropped open, and when words finally came out they were in a whispered screech.  "I don't believe you did that! You just broke his window!"  "The Lord provides," Lula said.

I didn't just play the race card, Lula said.  I played the race card and the fat card.  BAM! My thinking is you gotta use what you got.  God didn't make me a big beautiful black woman for nothing.  I got cards to play.

No one gets through without a ticket, she said.  I don't care if you're a cop, the tooth fairy, or Jesus Christ.  That's blasphemy, Lula said to her.  You better watch what you say or you're going straight to hell.  God don't like people implying he needs a ticket.

--A movie was done on Evanovich's first book.  They originally were going to have Sandra Bullock play Stephanie Plum, which I think would've been a better pick.  But Katherine Heigl did a good job.  The guy they picked to play Ranger was great, but they could've done better with Morelli.

--All that said, I hope they plan on doing more movies based on her books.

--I have gotten numerous friends and even my mother to read the books, I highly recommend them!

Stephanie Plum's 12 Days of Christmas!!

Its time for a little levity!! You won't get the significance of the video unless you are a fan of Janet Evanovich's book series about Stephanie Plum.

Its a great series that is similar to Sue Grafton and Mary Higgins Clarks' books. Yet, Evanovich throws in some great comedy and romance. I literally laugh out loud every time I read one.

I will issue a warning though, there is a lot of language and some "adult" issues that are discussed in the books.