Books of 2005

Here are all the books I've read-chronologically-since January of last year. I will put the ones that I really liked in red.

1. Loves Music, Loves to Dance-Mary Higgins Clark-(Fun reading.)
2. Kitchen God's Wife-Amy Tan-(Relatively interesting.)
3. Not Fade Away-Peter Borton-(Good one.)
4. The Shining-Stephen King-(One part of the book scared me, but Stephen King does put a lot of dumb stuff in his books, so I don't really read them anymore. Plus, I hate his writing style.)
5. Gone with the Wind-Margaret Mitchell-(I am still not quite sure why I liked this book so much.)
6. The Notebook-Nicholas Sparks-(Too romantic, plus parts to skip.)
7. Walk to Remember-Nicholas Sparks-(Pretty good I guess.)
8. Silence in Heaven-Peter Lord-Wolff-(I would reccommend it, but there were too many parts I had to "fast forward" through.)
9. When God Writes Your Love Story-Eric and Leslie Ludy-(Pretty self explanatory.)
10. Arabian Nights and Days-Naguib Mahfouz-(Started out awesome, but got really boring.)
11. The Acts of King Arthur and His Nobel Knights [this is not a typo error]-Malary-(Great book, but sort of disheartening regarding the conduct of so called "noble knights").
12. The Poisonwood Bible-Barbara Kingsolver-(Good though slightly depressing.)
13. The Pearl-John Steinbeck-(Pretty good book.)
14. The Short Reign of Pippin IV-John Steinbeck-(Fun book with one of my favorite quotes in it-about optimism and pessimism.)
15. 8 Short Stories by Mark Twain-Mark Twain-(Amusing.)
16. All Quiet on the Western Front-Erich Maria Remarque-(One of my few all time favorites.)
17. Grapes of Wrath-John Steinbeck-(Another of my all time favorites.)
18. Girl with a Pearl Earring-Tracy Chevalier-(Good story idea.)
19. The Good Earth-Pearl Buck-(Good, but didn't quite meet my expectations.)
20. Hunchback of Notre Dame-Victor Hugo-(The only exposure I had had to this story prior to reading this was the Disney version. Needless to say, I experienced quite a shock.)
21. The Bean Trees-Barbara Kingsolver-(Good story.)
22. Sleepy Hollow-Washington Irving-(Good. Shorter than I thought it would be.)
23. A Time to Live and a time to Die-Erich Maria Remarque-(Another great one by Remarque.)
24. Three-Ted Dekker-(Some sweet fiction!)
25. Killer Spy-Peter Maas-(I was interested in Aldrich Ames. Good writing!)
26. Obsession-Ted Dekker-(First in trilogy.)
27. The Trenches-Dorothy and Thomas Hobler-(I read this, because I am interested in WWII.)
28. Black-Ted Dekker-(Great books! It made me want to get married at sunset on a mountaintop or hill. :))
29. White-Ted Dekker
30. Red-Ted Dekker
31. Monster-Frank Peretti-(Good book, but disappointing as far as F.P. goes.)
32. White Noise-Don Delillo-(I thought it was based on the movie. It wasn't.)
33. The Perfect Storm-Sebastian Junger-(Movie based on this. Pretty good, but once again some content to skim over.)
34. Venus and Adonis-Shakespeare-(Fun stuff.)
35. Cry, the Beloved Country-Alan Paton-(Good story. Very sad.)
36. The Phantom of the Opera-Gaston Leroux-(At first I thought I liked it, but when I thought about it, I didn't get why it was so popular.)
37. Manchurian Candidate-Richard ??-(Movie based on book. Definantly stuff to skip. Might be better to skip book all together.)
38. Till We Have Faces-C.S. Lewis-(I believe it might be my favorite of all time.)
39-Ben Hur-Lew Wallace-(Big book, but worth the time taken to read it!)
40. The Great Gatsby-F. Scott Fitzgerald-(Why is this a classic book?)
41. The Raven-Edgar Allen Poe-(I finally read it and wondered what all the hype was about. Telltale Heart is so much better!)
42. The Life and Times of Grigorri Rasputin-Alex de Jonge-(I was interested in Rasputin, so I read this. Worthwhile read thought not for younger people.)
43. The Night in Lisbon-Erich Maria Remarque-(This was good, but not as good as usual Remarque books.)
44. Diaries of Adam of Eve-Mark Twain-(Amusing!)
45. The Turn of the Screw-Henry James-(Josh reccommended it and I really enjoyed it.)
46. The Scarlet Letter-Nathaniel Hawthorne-(I really enjoyed it and didn't quite understand why everyone thought it was so ultra boring.)
47. The Double Tongue-William Golding-(I was thrilled when I learned that the author of "Lord of the Flies" wrote more than one book. Hmmm, big disappointment!!)

I can't believe if I would have read three more, I would have 50. Argh!

Also, someone asked a question about Underoath: Chasing Safety. I don't necessarily listen to the band, but I know several people who do, including my sister who says it is her favorite band. They are a...what do I call that, Emily?...screamo emo? I don't know. Anyway, they are a screaming band. They are classified as a Christian band. I was interested in their lyrics, so I looked here. You can check them out if you like. There is no cussing, and from looking at the lyrics, I didn't see anything that seemed innapropriate. Their lyrics do not seem as negative as many, but some can be a little "down". For myself, I have found that I dislike to listen to that type of music. It can make me feel depressed, wish my life was different, and so on. But as I said, that is just me. I don't think there is anything wrong with these types of bands. Therefore, I think that Underoath is just fine although they may not proclaim that Jesus is the answer extremely loudly. I would probably listen to their music once in a while, but I doubt they would become a favorite. What do you guys think?