I’m keeping track of the books that I read in 2012 so that I can share some great reads — or warn you off of not so great reads! I’ll give a short genre sentence and then my rating with ***** (1 being not good, 5 being great).
Dec 2011
While We’re Far Apart by Lynn Austin – Christian fiction set in WWII era Brooklyn – ****
The Christmas Dog by Melody Carlson – Christian Christmas fiction set in present day – ***
Love on the Line by Deeanne Gist – Christian fiction set in turn of the century Texas – ****
Bright Young Things by Anna Godberson – fiction set in 1920’s New York City – ***
Beautiful Days by Anna Godberson – sequel; fiction set in 1920’s New York City – ***
Hurricanes in Paradise by Denise Hildreth-Jones – present day fiction set in the Bahama’s – **
The Christmas Watch by Erynn Mangum – Christian fiction set in the present day – ***
Sketchy Behavior by Erynn Mangum – Christian fiction set in the present day – **
Surrender the Heart by MaryLu Tyndall – Christian fiction set in the early 1800’s America – **
BossyPants by Tina Fey – Biography (lots of language but hilarious if you can take it!) – ****
Jan 2012
Longing by Karen Kingsbury – Christian fiction set in present day; part of a series – ***
Swinging on a Star by Janice Thompson – Christian fiction set in present day Galveston, TX; part of a series – **
A Lasting Impression by Tamera Alexander – Christian fiction set in Nashville, TN (Belmont mansion) just after the Civil War – *****
The Wedding Kiss by Hannah Alexander – Christian fiction set in 1800’s Arkansas – **
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – Fiction set after the destruction of North America when new country, Panem, is created; violent scenes; series – *****
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins – second in Hunger Games trilogy; violent scenes – *****
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins – third in Hunger Games trilogy; violent scenes – *****
The Centurion’s Wife by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke – Historical Christian fiction set around Jesus’ death in Jerusalem; part of the “Acts of Faith” series (book 1) – ***
The Hidden Flame by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke – Historical Christian fiction set after Jesus’ death in Jerusalem; part of the “Acts of Faith” series (book 2) – *****
The Damascus Way by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke – Historical Christian fiction set after Jesus’ death around Jerusalem; part of the “Acts of Faith” series (book 3) – *****
The Dirt by Lori Culwell – Teen, present day, mindless fiction set in California; some language and drug references; free on Amazon – **
Annie Begins by Michelle Toth – Fiction set in the mid-90’s in Boston revolving around a start up internet company; language and some risqué scenes, also a death; free on Amazon – **
Feb 2012
The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews – fiction set in present day Washington DC and rural Georgia; language and some risqué scenes – ***
Stuck in the Middle by Virginia Smith – Christian fiction romances set in present day Kentucky; first in the Sister-to-Sister series; free on Amazon – ***
Age Before Beauty by Virginia Smith – Christian fiction about a new Mom in present day Kentucky; second in the Sister-to-Sister series – ****
Third Time’s A Charm by Virginia Smith – Christian fiction romance set in present day Kentucky; third in the Sister-to-Sister series – ***
Love in a Small Town by Betty Jo Schuler – Fiction set in Indiana; free on Amazon – **
A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages by Kristin Chenoweth – Autobiography by Kristin Chenoweth – ****
The Narrow Path by Gail Sattler – Christian fiction set in a Mennonite community in Minnesota; free on Amazon – ***
Always the Wedding Planner, Never the Bride – Christian fiction set in Atlanta; sequel to Always the Baker, Never the Bride (but you could pick it up without having read the first); free on Amazon – ****
March 2012
Fancy Pants by Cathy Marie Hake – Christian fiction set in early 1900’s Texas on a ranch – ****
Bond Girl by Erin Duffy – Fiction set in mid-2000’s Wall Street; language and risqué references – **
Kissed in Paris by Juliette Sobanet – Fiction set in present-day Paris; language and risqué scenes; free on Amazon – ***
Sunrise on the Battery by Beth Webb Hart – Contemporary Christian fiction set in Charleston – ****
April 2012
How Sweet It Is by Alice Wisler – Contemporary Christian fiction set in North Carolina – ***
A Hearth in Candlewood by Delia Parr – Historical Christian fiction set in Candlewood, New York – ***
Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close – Fiction set in New York and other areas; language – *
The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen – Historical Christian fiction set in England – *****
Nickels by Karen Baney – Contemporary Christian fiction about a software engineer(!!) set in Arizona – ****
Loving by Karen Kingsbury – Contemporary Christian fiction set in Indiana and Hollywood; part of a series – ****
The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott – Historical fiction set in and around the Titanic – ***
Save the Date by Jenny B Jones – Contemporary Christian fiction set in Charleston – *****
How to Eat a Cupcake by Meg Donohue – Fiction set in San Francisco; language – *****
I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella – Fiction set in England; language – ****
The Rock Star’s Daughter by Caitlyn Duffy – Teen fiction set in LA and across the country; language; free on Amazon – ***
The Last Page by Lacy Camey – Fiction set in the Hamptons; language; free on Amazon – ***
A Lady of High Regard by Tracie Peterson – Historical Christian fiction set in Philadelphia; free on Barnes and Noble and Amazon – ****
May 2012
The Lightkeeper’s Daughter by Colleen Coble – Historical Christian fiction in the early 1900’s in California – ****
More by Heidi Marshall – Contemporary Christian fiction; free on Amazon – *
The Rose of Winslow Street by Elizabeth Camden – Historical fiction set in Massachusetts in the late 1800’s; free on Amazon – ****
Always the Designer, Never the Bride by Sandra Bricker – Contemporary Christian fiction set in Atlanta; free on Amazon and Barnes and Noble – ****
The Clash of the Bridesmaids by Vanessa Sisson – Longer novella; Contemporary Christian fiction set in Texas; free on Amazon — but can no longer find a Kindle version and paperback has weird pricing – ***
Love Unlisted by Stephanie Haddad – Contemporary fiction set in Boston; language; free on Amazon – ***
June 2012
Identical Differences by Erynn Mangum – Contemporary fiction novella set in the Pacific Northwest – ****
Believe in Me: A Teen Mom’s Story by Judith Dickerman-Nelson – Autobiography of author’s life having a child at 17; I thought this was fiction when I read it so it doesn’t really read like a biography; free on Amazon – **
‘Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy by Leslie Langtry – Light-hearted, contemporary fiction about a family whose business is being assassins; language and risqué scenes; free on Amazon – ****
Glamorous Illusions by Lisa T. Bergren – Historical Christian fiction involving the Grand Tour of Europe; free on Amazon – ****
Yesterday’s Flight by Martyn Ellington – Contemporary science fiction about a plane that time travels back to the Dinosaur era; dinosaur scenes can be gruesome but can also be skimmed over; requires a good dose of suspension of reality; language; free on Amazon – ***
Bridesmaid Lotto by Rachel Astor – Contemporary fiction set in NYC about a girl who wins a lottery to be a bridesmaid for a socialite; language; free on Amazon and Barnes and Noble – ***
Vada Faith by Barbara Whittington – Contemporary fiction set in West Virginia about a woman deciding to be a surrogate mother; not very uplifting and kind of weird; free on Amazon – *
July 2012
The Pitcher’s Mom by Heather Choate Davis – Contemporary fiction set in California and Arizona about a Mom whose son loves baseball; language; free on Amazon – **
Happy Hour by Anne Mitchell – Contemporary fiction set in NYC and England about a girl impersonating a tv show host; a little dark; language; free on Amazon – **
Chocolate Beach by Julie Carobini – Contemporary Christian fiction set in California; free on Amazon – *****
The Fitting Room: Putting on the Character of Christ by Kelly Minter – Christian non-fiction about Colossians 3:12; free on Amazon on April 18, 2012 – *****
Truffles by the Sea by Julia Carobini – Contemporary Christian fiction set in California, sequel to Chocolate Beach (above); free on Amazon – *****
Around the World in 80 Dates by Christa Banister – Contemporary Christian fiction set around Minneapolis; a little slow; free on Amazon – **
Gamble on Engagement by Rachel Astor – Contemporary fiction set in England; sequel to Bridesmaid Lotto (above) – ***
The Wedding Wager by Rachel Astor – Contemporary fiction set in New York; third in Bridesmaid Lotto series (above) – ***
Three Girls and a Baby by Rachel Schurig – Contemporary fiction set in Detroit; language; free on Amazon – ***
August 2012
Replica by Lexi Revellian – Contemporary science fiction set in and around London; about a girl who is replicated during a science experiment; language and risqué scenes; free on Amazon – **
A Billion Reasons Why by Kristin Billerbeck – Contemporary Christian fiction set in New Orleans; fairly predictable and not my favorite- **
Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison – Contemporary fiction set in Washington, DC; language and risqué scenes – *
Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer – Historical Christian fiction – ****
Unplanned by J. Heather Leigh – Contemporary Christian fiction; free on Amazon – *
The Pursuit of Lucy Banning by Olivia Newport – Historical fiction set in Chicago; free on Amazon – ****
September 2012
Going for Broke by Nina Howard – Contemporary fiction set in NYC and Chicago about a woman whose husband embezzles funds and then vanishes leaving her to clean up his mess; language; free on Amazon – ***
Bah, Humbug! by Heather Horrocks – Contemporary Christian fiction novella set in Salt Lake City; free on Amazon (and still free on 9/10/12) – ***
The Wedding Cake Girl by Anne Pfeffer – Contemporary young adult/coming of age fiction set in Santa Rosita Island off the coast of California; free on Amazon – ***
Do or Di by Eileen Cook – Contemporary fiction set in Seattle; language; free on Amazon – ***
Match Me by Liz Appel – Contemporary fiction set in Michigan; language; free on Amazon – **
October 2012
Chop, Chop by LN Cronk – Christian fiction that follows a trio of kids throughout their lives until post-college; includes a dramatic scenario; free on Amazon – *
Allerednic by Chautona Havig – Historical Christian fiction set in England; free on Amazon – ****
The Duck Commander Family by Willie and Korie Robertson – Auto-biography of the Robertson family – stars of A&E’s show, Duck Dynasty, and owners of Duck Commander and Buck Commander; the family lives in Louisiana and are strong Christians – *****
The Personal Shopper by Carmen Reid – British fiction set in London; language and risqué scenes; free on Amazon – **
Hope for the Weary Mom by Brooke McGlothlin and Stacey Thacker – Christian non-fiction written by two Mom’s with young kids to Mom’s of young kids; phenomenal book — in depth review coming on blog soon; free on Amazon on 10/23/12 – *****
November 2012
Stirring Up Trouble by Juli Alexander – Fiction about a high school girl with magical powers; free on Amazon – ***
Reinventing Mona by Jennifer Coburn – Fiction set in present-day San Diego about a woman leaving her job and discovering who she is; language, risque scenes; free on Amazon – ***
December 2012
The Wishing Cake by Ellen Meister – Contemporary fiction short story set in NYC; magical undertones; free on Amazon – **
Laura’s Big Break by Janet Elizabeth Henderson – Contemporary fiction set in England/Scotland about the misadventures of childhood frenemies reconnecting later in life; language; risque scenes; free on Amazon – ***
The Frog Prince by Elle Lothlorien – Contemporary fiction set in Denver and Europe; language; risque scenes; free on Amazon – ****
The Scent of Rain by Kristin Billerbeck – Contemporary Christian fiction set in Dayton, OH – ****
31 Kisses
by Chautona Havig – Contemporary Christian fiction; free on Amazon – ****
My Revised Christmas List
by Erynn Mangum – Contemporary Christian fiction novella – ****
The Wedding Dress
by Rachel Hauck – Mix of contemporary and historical Christian fiction set in Birmingham, AL; a little bit of mystery but not in a dangerous way – *****
Previously Read Books
True Devotion by Dee Henderson – Christian suspenseful fiction surrounding SEAL’s; free on Amazon on March 25 – *****
Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson – Christian fiction set in present-day Texas; first in the Weddings By Bella series (book #2 was read in January 2012); free on Amazon on March 25 – ****
The Apothecary’s Daughter by Julie Klassen – Christian historical fiction; free on Amazon on April 6 – ****
Cool Beans by Erynn Mangum – Contemporary Christian fiction; first in a series; free on Amazon on June 5 – *****
Secrets by Kristen Heitzmann – Contemporary Christian fiction; first in a series; free on Amazon on August 7 – *****
No Other Gods by Kelly Minter – Christian non-fiction that will radically change your life; free on Amazon on August 28 – *****
Always the Baker, Never the Bride by Sandra Bricker – reviews about others in series in previous months; Christian fiction; free on Amazon on October 9 – *****
April 2011 Book Recommendations
Cosmic Christmas by Max Lucado – Christian – *****
January 2010 Book Recs
May 2010 Book Recs
Parenting Books
*Some links are affiliate links. Please see my review/link disclosures for more information.
*If I downloaded the book when it was free on Amazon I will note that. The link to the book on Amazon’s site might not have the book for free anymore, but it might become free again at a later date. Usually books are only free for a certain amount of time.
