In the previous post I listed all the books I completed reading this year: now I want to especially mention my favorites of them, in no particular order.

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, reviewed here. OK, I said no particular order, but this would definitely be my #1. It’s the true story of a leftist lesbian feminist professor who can’t stand Christians who, by God’s grace, becomes one. It is an eye-opening book on many levels.

The Fruitful Wife: Cultivating a Love Only God Can Produce by Hayley DiMarco, reviewed here. This is a study of the fruit of the Holy Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 and applied specifically to marriage (though the applications, of course, can extend to everyone). It was so instructive, convicting, and full of good stuff that I didn’t feel I had grasped completely, so I immediately reread it. Highly recommend.

Joni and Ken: An Untold Love Story by Ken and Joni Eareckson Tada, reviewed here. Any marriage has its difficulties, but Joni’s and Ken’s is especially challenging due to her health issues and fame. I appreciated this honest look at some of the things they’ve had to go through and the grace God gave them to deal with them.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain, reviewed here. This was helpful on so many levels. I just wish extroverts would read it. I still hear things today that show that introverts can be misunderstood and even thought to be flawed. It helped me understand more about myself and assured me that it’s ok to be introverted, that introverts are wired a certain way and have their gifts and purposes in this world.

Through Gates of Splendor, reviewed here, the story of the five missionaries who were killed by the Auca Indians in the 1960s. It’s a reread for the I-don’t-know-how-many-eth time, but it never fails to inspire and challenge me.

The Merchant’s Daughter by Melanie Dickerson, reviewed here. Not an exact retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but more of a story taken from or based on that story.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood, audiobook, reviewed here. The title of that one put me off for a long time, but I saw so many people recommending it that I gave it a try. Such clever writing and rollicking good fun! I highly recommend the audiobook narrated by Katherine Kellgren. I loved the next two in the series and am looking forward to the fourth soon.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, linked to an earlier review here, but just completed, another one that has been read multiple times, and I like it more each time. The first read-through can be confusing until everything comes into focus, but reading it knowing what’s going to happen reveals what a master craftsman Dickens was. And the story itself is an excellent example of Christlike love in laying down one’s life for another.

The Mitford Series by Jan Karon, summarized and reviewed here. OK, I’m cheating by listing a whole series, but, hey, it’s my list. 🙂 My favorite of the series is the first one, At Home in Mitford, but I actually read that one at the end of last year. My favorite of the ones read this year is These High Green Hills, but I love them all, and especially enjoyed revisiting them via John McDonough’s audiobooks this time. The Mitford Bedside Companion was a wonderful accompaniment to the books this go-round, too.

The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis, reviewed here. Though in some ways it is not my favorite of the Narnia series, especially the first part of the book, I dearly love the depiction of everyone’s reaction to Aslan’s country at the end.

Honorable mention:

I’m editing this list from what I had at first, and if I hadn’t already published it as a “top ten,” I’d probably name it a top twelve. But here are two more I’ll list as “honorable mentions”:

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, reviewed here, about the 9 year old son of a prison camp commander during WWII who makes friends with a boy on the other side of the fence. Though the end is profoundly sad and disturbing, the style of the writing is perfect for the story, contrasting the main character’s innocence with the brutality of Naziism.

The Women of Christmas: Experience the Season Afresh with Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna by Liz Curtis Higgs, reviewed here. A just-right visiting of the familiar Scripture passages dealing with the Christmas story.

It’s interesting how many of these are rereads. Maybe next time I’ll make a separate list of favorite rereads and favorite new books.

What were your favorite books read this year?

(This will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

I’m also linking up with Booking Through Thursday where the question today concerns favorite books read this year.

At the end of the year I like to look back at what I’ve read during the year. In the next post I’ll be picking out my top 10 or so from this list. I’ve divided them up into categories without much description or commentary. I decided to list the audiobooks with the other books by type rather than in a separate category.

Non-fiction:

• 100 Pound Loser: How I Ate What I Wanted, Had Four Babies, & Still Took Control Of My Weight – And You Can Too! by Jessica Heights
• A Quiet Place by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
• A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken, reviewed here.
• Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas, not reviewed yet.
• Comforts From Romans: Celebrating the Gospel One Day at a Time by Elyse Fitzpatrick, reviewed here.
• Daily Light on the Daily Path, compiled by Samuel Baxter
• The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Tim Keller, booklet
• The Fruitful Wife: Cultivating a Love Only God Can Produce by Hayley DiMarco, read twice! Reviewed here.
• Granny Brand, Her Story by Dorothy Clarke Wilson, reviewed here.
• The Greatest Thing in the World by Henry Drummond
• Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach, reviewed here.
• Her Husband’s Crown by Sara Leone, booklet
• The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer, reviewed here.
• His Ways, Your Walk, by my friend Lou Ann Keiser, reviewed here.
• Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture by Adam S. McHugh, reviewed here.
• Joni and Ken: An Untold Love Story by Ken and Joni Eareckson Tada, reviewed here.
• My Heart Christ’s Home by Robert Boyd Munger, booklet
• The New American Standard Bible
• One Year Christian History by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten
• Overcoming Overeating by Lisa Morrone, reviewed here.
• Praying for Your Addicted Loved One by Sharron K. Cosby, reviewed here.
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain, reviewed here.
• Save Me From Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, and Lived to Tell My Story by Brian Welch, reviewed here.
• The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, reviewed here,
• Through Gates of Splendor, reviewed here.
• West From Home by Laura Ingalls Wilder, reviewed here
• With the Word by Warren Wiersbe
• The Women of Christmas: Experience the Season Afresh with Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna by Liz Curtis Higgs, reviewed here.

Classics:

• Daniel Deronda by George Eliot, reviewed here.
• Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maud Montgomery reviewed here.
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, audiobook, reviewed here.
• Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell, reviewed here.
• The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis, reviewed here.
• Little Women, audiobook, linked to a previous year’s review.
• The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis, reviewed here.
• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, audiobook, linked to an earlier review here
• On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder, reviewed here
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, reviewed here.
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, audiobook.
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, reviewed here,
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. audiobook, linked to an earlier review here
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, audiobook, linked to an earlier review here.

Christian Fiction:

• Betrayal by Robin Lee Hatcher, reviewed here.
• The Chance by Karen Kingsbury, reviewed here.
• Courting Cate by Leslie Gould, discussed briefly here.)
• The Duet by Robert Elmer, reviewed here.
• The Guardian by Beverly Lewis, reviewed here.
• The Healer’s Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson, reviewed here.
• Invisible by Ginny Yttrup, reviewed here.
• The Merchant’s Daughter by Melanie Dickerson, reviewed here.
• On Distant Shores by Sarah Sundin, reviewed here.
• The Tenth Plague by Adam Blumer, reviewed here.
• The Victory Club by Robin Lee Hatcher, reviewed here.
• The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck, reviewed here.
• A Wreath of Snow: A Victorian Christmas Novella by Liz Curtis Higgs, reviewed here.

Other Fiction:

• Betsy-Tacy and Betsy-Tacy and Tib by Maud Hart Lovelace, reviewed here.
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, reviewed here.
• A Common Life, audiobook by Jan Karon, audiobook not reviewed.
• Dreams in the Medina by Kati Woronka, reviewed here.
• Ella Enchanted, audiobook,by Gail Carson Levine, reviewed here.
• Escaping My Story by Stephen Altrogge
• The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood, audiobook, reviewed here.
• The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book II: The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood, audiobook, reviewed here,
• The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book III: The Unseen Guest, audiobook, by Maryrose Wood
• In This Mountain by Jan Karon, audiobook
• Journey Into Christmas by Beth Streeter Aldrich
• The Last Superhero by Stephen Altrogge, reviewed here.
• Let the Hurricane Roar by Rose Wilder Lane, reviewed here.
• A Light in the Window by Jan Karon, audiobook, reviewed here.
• Light From Heaven by Jan Karon, audiobook. I summed up all the Mitford books here.
• The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, audiobook, by Trenton Lee Stewart, not reviewed, but thoroughly enjoyed. 🙂
• A New Song by Jan Karon, audiobook
• Out to Canaan by Jan Karon, audiobook
• Shepherds Abiding, Jan Karon, audiobook.
• These High Green Hills by Jan Karon, audiobook
• When Mother Was Eleven-Foot-Four by Jerry Camery-Hoggatt, reviewed here.

I wasn’t sure whether to put Jan Karon with the classics (though her books probably haven’t been around long enough to be called classics, but I think of them that way) or Christian fiction (though there is a definite Christian current in her books, I don’t think they were marketed as Christian fiction). I finally settled for “other.”

A couple of them, like the New American Standard Bible and With the Word by Warren Wiersbe, were completed this year but were begun long before.

By my count that’s 75 books. I’m surprised that I read more non-fiction than usual, and that I didn’t read as much from my favorite category, Christian fiction. many of the classics were rereads, which is why they’re linked to earlier reviewed of them.

There are a handful of these that I didn’t enjoy or even had some serious problems with, and there are a handful that were not bad but didn’t really do much for me. Most are good in some way or another, and there are a few standouts that I really benefited from and enjoyed. I’ll talk about the standouts in the next post.

I’ll be linking up on Saturday with Semicolon’s Saturday Review of Books, where this week she is inviting us to share our book lists for 2013.