57. The Book of Lights by Chaim Potok

This book took me forever to read.  Potok's books are quite dreary and this one is no exception.  The main character, Gershon Loran, takes the whole book trying to figure out his life and what to do with it.  He goes to rabbinical (sp) college and studies Kaballah.  But you never get the feeling that he is touched by anything he learns, just amassing knowledge.  After his degree, he becomes a chaplain assigned to Korea.  This is the most interesting part of the book as Gershon shows himself to be compassionate and approachable to the men he serves as well as astute about the best ways to do his work.  At college, Gershon rooms with Arthur Leiden whose father helped build the atomic bomb.  Arthur also becomes a chaplain in Korea and fights against the feelings he has about the destruction his father helped caused.  As always, Potok's books give the reader a view into the conflicts of Judaism, but it seems his other books offered comforts from that faith as well.  I didn't feel that with this book.  Plus, there never seemed to be any resolution to Gershon's inner search.  I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters and find some of the philosophy tiresome.  Rating:  3

56. A Woman Named Smith by Marie Conway Oemler

"A Woman Named Smith is a delightful surprise. Originally published in 1919, the main character is Sophy Smith, a businesslike thirty-something New England bred spinster. Her staid world is turned upside down when she inherits a South Carolina mansion from her eccentric great-aunt by marriage. Heading south with her best friend, confidante, and protegee, the beautiful young Alicia, she turns the mansion into a winter retreat for wealthy clients. In the process, she acquires friends and cats, solves a mystery, and finds romance. The "down sides" to the book include occasionally archaic language, and an old-fashioned view of race relations. Otherwise, it's a fun if lightweight read." Diane Peabody Review on Amazon.

This book was a fun read.  Sophy is fantastic, matter-of-fact, smart and knows how to stick up for herself.  Not a stereotypical woman of the early 1900's.  My only complaint was the racial slurs which would never be published in this day and age.  It was a free download to my Kindle so I was pleasantly surprised.  Rating:   3.75

55. Blessed Are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch

"Set on a small Irish dairy farm, this tender and funny debut novel follows two lost souls as they try to carve out new lives amid a colorful cast of characters reminiscent of those in the hit film Waking Ned Divine. Abby has been estranged from the family farm since her rebellious mother ran off with her when she was a small child. Kit is a burned out New York stockbroker who's down on his luck. But that's all about to change, now that he and Abby have converged on the farm just in time to help Corrie and Fee, two old cheesemakers in a time of need. Full of delightful and quirky characters--from dairy cows who only give their best product to pregnant, vegetarian teens to an odd collection of whiskey-soaked men and broken-hearted women who find refuge under Corrie and Fee's roof--BLESSED ARE THE CHEESEMAKERS is an irresistible tale about taking life's spilled milk and turning it into the best cheese in the world."  From back of book

I really liked this book.  Corrie and Fee are great characters and I really like Kit once he gets to Ireland.  The book is full of delightful characters and the story is funny with a touch of magic thrown in.
Rating:  4.25

54. To Have and to Hold by Josie Kilpack

Emma is twenty-one, newly divorced with a fifteen-month old daughter.  She moves back to Utah to rebuild her life and perhaps find her place in the LDS church.  But she struggles finding a job that will allow her to support her daughter.  In steps Andrew Davidson, a rich developer who lives in California and keeps a home in SLC.  He hires Emma to keep house for him and learns that she is also a fantastic cook.  Then he finds that he stands to inherit a fortune if he meets the stipulation that he geet married and stays married for a year.  He gets Emma to agree to marry him for part of the inheritance and the rest is pretty predictable.  Even if you know immediately how the story will turn out, Kilpack still tells a good tale.  There isn't a lot of deep thinking involved, but also no profanity or sex and an interesting look at a medical condition that I had never heard of before.  I like LDS romances and this book is a pretty good example.  Rating:  3.75

54. Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry

This book is a slow, easy story about the life of boy growing up in rural Kentucky.  He travels around a bit as a young man and learns the barber trade.  Finally, he ends up in Port William, Kentucky close to his boyhood home.  From the door of the his barbershop with an apartment above, he watches the goings-on in the small town and becomes friends with his customers.  He tells about his life and those of his neighbors in a straight forward manner with quite a bit of philosophy thrown in.  Some of the stories are funny and some heartbreaking.  The saddest story is how progress and growth changes the sleepy, easy going nature of the town.  I enjoyed reading about times back in the thirties and forties and about some of the great characters that Jayber comes to know.  There is a love story that is a bit weird but overall I liked the book.  Rating:  4

53. How to Stuff a Wild Zucchini by Heather Horrocks

I thought this looked like a cute LDS romance with a writer whose play just failed on Broadway moving to Brighma City to write a gardening column in the local newspaper.  The fact that she pulls this off when she knows nothing about gardening is a bit unbelievable.  On the whole, the plot is predictable and the main areas of conflict seem a bit forced and easily solved.   Still, the characters are likable and there is some fun LDS humor.  Rating:  3.5

52. A Stab in the Dark by Lawrence Block (audio)

Several years ago, I really enjoyed reading Block's "Burglar" series, but this is the first I've read of  Matthew Scudder.  It was a good enough mystery to help me stay awake as I drove to Salt Lake and back, but I found Scudder spends way too much time thinking about his drinking.  It's obvious that he is an alcoholic but he hasn't realized it yet.  I suppose that will happen in a future book, but I don't think I will stick around to read it.  Scudder is a former policeman who became disillusioned with the job and goes into free-lance detecting.  He is hired to solve the murder of a woman who was killed nine years earlier and was originally believed to be the victim of a serial killer.  Of course, he is able to solve the crime through an amazing piece of luck but loses his love interest and drowns his sorrow in the bottle.  Just so-so.  Rating:  2.75

51. Desert Storm by Logan Forster

I found this book in some of the mom's old books and remember loving it when I read it as a girl.  So I decided to give it another go before giving it to my brother whose name in on the front page.  It was just as fun to read as I remember:  a great story about a boy who rescues an Thoroughbred filly and nurses it back to health so she is able to run in the Santa Anita race.  There were a few things  that struck me as odd that I would never have noticed when I was young.  Both Ponce and Barbara had some very immature moments for fifteen-year-olds; especially when Ponce seems abnormally wise and mature the rest of the time.  Still, I enjoyed this walk down memory lane with an old friend and recommend this book to third or fourth graders.  Rating:  4

50. Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

This book tells the tale of the first fifty-seven years of the Plymouth Colony.  Beginning with William Bradford's conversion to Separatism in England, his journey to Holland and then crossing the Atlantic on the Mayflower, Philbrick delves into some rich history and interesting facts about our forefathers.  I'm amazed at how little I knew about these intrepid travelers.  There was much to admire about these people:  their bravery, determination and spirituality.  There was also bad qualities as well:  racism, narrow-mindedness, and some pretty stupid decisions.  Of course, it is easy to judge the Pilgrims with 20/20 hindsight.  I don't think I had ever heard of King Philip's War and the devastation it caused to both the colonists and the native Americans.  All in all. I found Mayflower to be a fascinating look at this country's early history.  Rating:  4.5

49. Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

The sequel to Stargirl was just as enjoyable and fun to read.  Stargirl has matured and maybe toned down her outrageous behavior but not much or it would be boring.  After leaving her boyfriend, Leo, in Arizona when her parents move to Pennsylvania with no closure or resolution of their mixed up relationship (WARNING:  run-on sentence), Stargirl is lonely but determined to make the best of her new home.  She once again makes friends with a host of odd characters and has all kinds of fun and heartwarming adventures.  The novel is told in a series of letters that Stargirl writes to Leo over the course of a year but never sends.  You can't help falling in love with her as she is quirky, strong-willed, determined and very human.  It's an especially good novel for young women with a great message.
Rating:  4.5

48. Land of Echoes by Daniel Hecht

This book is a classic ghost story.  Tommy Keeday is attending a boarding school for gifted Navajos when he starts exhibiting all the signs of possession.  Cree Black, a renowned parapsychologist, is called in to investigate.  She soon becomes embroiled in all the drama of a aging beauty queen against the son of her rich ex-husband who died a few years earlier.  So is the ex-husband the ghost or is it Tommy's parents who also died recently?  In order to learn the answers, Cree must get close to the spirit while trying to save Tommy from the practioners of more traditional medicine who want to medicate him and weaken his resistance to the possession.  Normally, I don't like ghost stories or tales of hauntings, let alone possession by a foreign spirit; but this book is very well-written with some intriguing characters, beautiful descriptions of the harsh landscape of New Mexico, and a great study of the Navajo culture. 
Rating:  4.75

47. Glass House by Jane Haddam

I have always loved the Gregor Demarkian mysteries.  They used to always be named after some holiday, but I guess the author ran out.  I tried reading the one before Glass House but couldn't finish it because it seemed to run on for pages about these far right groups planning some big event.  When I quit, Gregor still had not been introduced into the story.  Fortunately, this book jumps right into the mystery and Gregor's odd life.  He is really is a great character and surrounds himself with very colorful people.  This book involves the serial killings of eleven women.  Gregor is called in by the Philadelphis police because they have picked up an alcholic scion of a Main Line family and want to make sure the charges stick.  It's a very convoluted mystery, but Gregor figures it out quite quickly all while trying to get his own life back in order.  In fact the ending is a bit anticlimatic because it wraps up so quickly.  Still, it was a fun read.  Rating:  4

45 & 46. Counting Stars & All the Stars in Heaven by Michelle Paige Holmes

Both of these books are Mormon romantic novels.  In Counting Stars, Jane is thirty and single in a church structured around marriage and families.  She answers an ad in the singles page and meets Paul, the dying father of twins whose wife just dies in a car accident.  He is looking for someone to raise his children and Jane is the perfect one.  She soons loves the babies and is ready to take on their care after Paul dies.  After his death, she learns that she is co-guardian with Peter, Paul's brother who has been serving in Iraq.  You can figure out the rest.  Rating:  3.5

All the Stars in Heaven is a much darker and more interesting book.  It involves a corrupt police chief, his talented but cowed daughter, and a recovering drug addict who is attending Harvard to get a law degree.  There is plenty of adventure and a pretty good love story.  Rating:  4

44. Jane of Lantern Hill by L M Montgomery

This is another charming book by the master of charm.  Jane is a lonely young girl living with her overbearing, mean-spirited grandmother and her mother who does whatever the grandmother tells her.  Even though they have every thing money can buy, Jane is unhappy and restless.  Then she is summoned to Prince Edward Island by her father who she can't remember.  Jane doesn't want to go; but once she meets her father, she loves him immediately and embarks upon a  summer filled with fun, friends and adventures.  The ending is very predictable but satisfying and Jane is almost as fun to read about as Anne of Green Gables.  Rating:  4.5 

43. When Madeline was Young by Jane Hamilton

From back cover:

"When Aaron Maciver's beautiful young wife, Madeline, suffers a head injury in a bicycle crash, she is left with the mental capabilities of a six-year-old.  In the years that follow, Aaron and his second wife care for Madeline with deep tenderness and devotion as they raise two children of their own."

Even though this is an odd premise, I liked the book.  The story is told by Aaron's son, Mac, who is pretty normal but not nearly as daring as his cousin, Buddy.  It is a great look at the U.S. during the early 80's with the beginning of the civil rights movement and the escalation of the Vietnam War.  Over all, a pretty good book.  Rating:  4

42. I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson (audio)

Kate Reddy is a working mother of two and a wife.  She also works full time as a hedge fund manager.  With her demanding job, she is always trying to justify her time away from home and try to appear as good as all the other mothers.  The books is quite funny at times, but mostly just nerve-wracking.
Rating:  3.5

41. Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier

Chevalier writes historical fiction that center around known historical figure, in this case, William Blake.  Well, he is not as well known as those in her other books, and mostly just a side character.  The main story involves Tommy Kellaway, new to London from a small village; and Maggie Butterfield, a young girl who has grown up on the streets of London.  It is an interesting look at 18th century London, but overall, the story is not very engaging.  Rating:  3

37, 38, 39 and 40. The Dale series by Gervaise Phinn, Books 1 through 4

Gervaise Phinn is a school inspector in North Yorkshire.  These four books tells of the humorous things that happen when you're working with children.  His obvious love for teaching and children makes these books heart warming and enriching.  During these four books, Gervaise visits multiple schools to observe and help teachers improve their skills in teaching literature, poetry and English.  What a wonderful system.  The children do and say the funniest things and Gerviase's reactions are priceless.  He also falls in love and gets married, deals with an overbearing administrative assistant, and his other colleagues, who are quite the characters.  The school system  has a meeting facility where they hold seminars and showcase the children's work.  The janitor at this place is one of the funnest characters of all.  All the books are great fun.  Rating:  4

36. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

All her life, Valancy has been told how plain she is.  At the age of 29 and still single, she is a disappointment to her sour mother.  The rest of her extended family treats like a joke and control her every move.  When she learns she has a heart condition and could die at any time, Valancy decides it is time to start living.  She starts by keeping house and looking after the dying daughter of the town drunk.  Her family is horrified and tries to have her committed, but Valancy perseveres and finally starts to experience all the things she was afraid to do before.

Not my favorite Montgomery book, but still charming and old fashioned. 

Rating:  3.75

35. Domestic Pleasures by Beth Gutcheon

From back cover:

"After her husband dies in a plane crash, Martha Gaver is horrified to learn that the executor of Raymond's estate is charlies, the conservative, insufferable lawyer who represented Raymond in their bitter divorce.  Yet soon after they reenter each other's lives, Martha, Charlie, and their teenage children find they have moe in common than they imagined as they struggle to rebuild their lives . . . and that opposites really do attract."

This is the second book by Gutcheon that I've read.  Although it is not quite as good as the first, I still really liked it.  The characters are engaging and it's a great plot which kept me captivated.  I did get a little tired of the teenage angst and the ex-wife's manipulations; but overall I liked the book.
Rating:  4