My Fave Friday #1....BOOKS!

I am so excited to share a new weekly segment I am starting here called My Fave Friday, where you guessed it, I am sharing all of my all time favorite things! It can be anything from food to fabrics to pictures to vacation spots....anything I happen to think of over the course of the week!

For the first edition of My Fave Friday, I would like to share my favorite all time favorite books . I recently did this post on facebook between my girlfriends and the response was great! I love to read, so without further ado, here is my list of my most favorite books and a little note about why I love each one...

(sidenote : if you are looking for a list of literary acclaim, this is not the list for you...these are simply the books I love)

1) The Time Traveler's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger) I love that this book, to me, is about loving without understanding "why" and "how" and "when" you love, you simply do, just because. This is my all time most favorite book. Ever. And ever.

2) The Last Time They Met (Anite Shreve) I love that this is the story of a life long love affair...except it wasn't. This one is a very close second to TTW.

3) The Pact (Jodi Picoult) This was the first Jodi Picoult book I read, even before My Sister's Keeper, and I thought it was really interesting that characters so young were so complex and had so many secrets.

4) The Pilot's Wife (Anita Shreve) I thought this one was pretty thought provoking about what we really know about our loved ones, and even when our reality about them is shaken, at what lengths will we go to defend them and our memory of them?

5) Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden) I loved that this book was magical, mystical and beautifully written. I struggled through the beginning, but loved the last 100 pages or so.

6) Fortune's Rocks (Anita Shreve) This one may be controversial, I know a few friends who really didn't like it because of the subject matter, but I thought this book really described raw, primal instincts in its characters. I really liked it.

7) The Art of Racing in the Rain (Garth Stein) What a wonderful book! Few relationships in life are unconditional, but the love and devotion we are fortunate enough to receive from our pets should never be taken for granted. Wonderful book.

8) The Girls from Ames (Jeffrey Zaslow) As women, one of the best gifts we can give is our friendship, and its absolutely one of the best gifts we can receive. This one especially spoke to me at this point in my life.

9) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See) I think a few friends may be suprised I list this as a fave, especially after the scathing review I gave it to them right after I finished it...but afterwards I realized that what I didn't like about it was something I have always struggled with myself, and that to me means it must have been a good book because it was causing me to reflect and face something about myself. If you haven't read the book, what I am struggling with won't make sense, but just read it if you haven't, its a really good book.

Honorable Mention -
1) The Help (Kathryn Stockett) - both funny and heartwarming
2) When and Where (Anita Shreve) - A book about reuniting with a first love
3) Have a Little Faith (Mitch Albom) - wonderful book about having faith
4) Eat Pray Love (Elizabeth Gilbert) - I know not everyone liked this one, but I did and I am now reading Committed
5) Same Kind of Different As Me (Ron Hall & Denver Moore) - wonderful book about friendship

Also, have you heard of the website called "good reads"? Its a great site for cateloging and rating all of the books you've read and you can also keep track of books you want to read by placing them on your "bookshelf". You can then connect with friends who are also on "good reads" and share books, have discussions, etc. Check it out! http://www.goodreads.com/

Let's get a great "share" going on here, share which books you love and why!