Wednesday, January 2, 2013

2012 Honorable Mentions



The hardest part about being an influencer, and reviewing books, is choosing the top books of a given year. I posted my top faves, yet out of 200 books I read last year I have more that I have to mention. Here they are in no particular order.












Lily Young longs to find her lost sister or will die trying. Heedless of any danger, she searches logging camps and towns, posing as a photographer's assistant. And then she arrives in Harrison, Michigan--and the sights of Connell McCormick.
Connell is determined to increase the fortune of his lumber-baron father and figures as long as he's living an upright life, that's what matters. But when Lily arrives in town she upends his world, forcing him to confront the truth that dangerous men have gained too much power while good men turn a blind eye.
http://frommipov.blogspot.com/2012/09/unending-devotion-reviewed.html












Since she was a child, Meg has dreamed of taking a promised trip to Florence, Italy, and being able to finally step into the place captured in a picture at her grandmother’s house. But after her grandmother passes away and it falls to her less-than-reliable father to take her instead, Meg’s long-anticipated travel plans seem permanently on hold.

When her dad finally tells Meg to book the trip, she prays that the experience will heal the fissures left on her life by her parents’ divorce. But when Meg arrives in Florence, her father is nowhere to be found, leaving aspiring memoir-writer Sophia Borelli to introduce Meg to the rich beauty of the ancient city. Sofia claims to be one of the last surviving members of the Medici family and that a long-ago Medici princess, Nora Orsini, communicates with her from within the great masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance.

http://frommipov.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-girl-in-glass-reviewed.html












As part of a World War II morale-building program, flight nurse Lt. Mellie Blake begins an anonymous correspondence with Lt. Tom MacGilliver in North Africa. As their letters crisscross the Atlantic, they develop a deep friendship. But when they're both transferred to Algeria, will their future be held hostage by the past---or will they reveal their identities?
http://frommipov.blogspot.com/2012/09/with-every-letter-facebook-party-927.html

  










To everyone who knows her, Annalise Decker is a model wife and mother. She's a permanent member of the PTA, never misses her kids' sporting events, and is constantly campaigning for her husband's mayoral race.No one knows that Annalise was once Deidre O'Reilly, a troubled young woman whose testimony put a dangerous criminal behind bars. Relocated through the Witness Security Program to the sleepy town of Deep Haven, Deidre got a new identity and a fresh start, which began when she fell in love with local real estate agent Nathan Decker. Twenty years later, Annalise couldn't be more unprepared for her past to catch up with her. When Agent Frank Harrison arrives with news that the man she testified against is out on bail and out for revenge, Annalise is forced to face the consequences of her secrets.
http://frommipov.blogspot.com/2012/10/susan-may-warrens-you-dont-know-me.html













"Every now and then we get a break from reality. A glimpse into the other world that is more real than the reality we live in 99 percent of our days. The Bible is about a world of demons and angels and great evil and even greater glory."
What if you could travel inside another person's soul? To battle for them. To be part of Jesus healing their deepest wounds. To help set them free to step boldly into their divinely designed future.
Thirty years ago that's exactly what Reece Roth did. Until tragedy shattered his life and ripped away his future.
Now God has drawn Reece out of the shadows to fulfill a prophecy spoken over him three decades ago. A prophecy about four warriors with the potential to change the world . . . if Reece will face his deepest regret and teach them what he has learned.
They gather at a secluded and mysterious ranch deep in the mountains of Colorado, where they will learn to see the spiritual world around them with stunning clarity--and how to step into the supernatural.
Their training is only the beginning. The four have a destiny to pursue a freedom even Reece doesn't fully fathom. But they have an enemy hell-bent on destroying them and he'll stop at nothing to keep them from their quest for true freedom and the coming battle of souls.
http://frommipov.blogspot.com/2012/10/souls-gate-reviewed-win-ipad-mini-from.html 












The women of Sweethaven are enjoying an Indian summer when their old friend -- the missing member of their scrapbook circle -- arrives back home. Meghan Rhodes has moved on with her life, leaving Sweethaven and its painful memories in the past. But when her ex files for custody of their twins, she takes the first flight back to the beach town full of haunting memories. Meghan wants to make things right with her ex-husband, her children, and the friends she'd convinced herself she no longer needed. But is she too late? Meghan works with friends Jane, Lila, Adele, and Campbell to begin a new scrapbook for memories yet to be made. Picking up where A Sweethaven Summer left off, A Sweethaven Homecoming explores the strong bonds of friendship, the power of forgiveness, and the importance of unconditional love.

http://frommipov.blogspot.com/2012/08/sweethaven-homecoming-reviewed-with.html












 In the tradition of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, four friends navigate college and the drama churned up by their Florida beach band to cement friendship and more.

Avra wants love, but drummer Cisco—self-medicating from his parents’ divorce with sex and intoxicants—is a poor choice. Cisco hungers for fresh-baked cookies and the scent of family he finds at Avra’s.

Kallie shares her classically trained singing voice only with lead vocalist Jesse and fights to keep her heart safe. Jesse feeds on fame and hides more than insecurity beneath his guitar.

The friends surf ego, betrayal, and ambition and head for wipe-out. But somehow, when they’re not looking, Avra’s God changes them all.


http://frommipov.blogspot.com/2012/12/avras-god-reviewed.html

Here you go! My honorable mentions. If you have not read these books, I suggest you add them to your reading list for 2013. 

3 comments:

Sarah Sundin said...

Andi - thank you so much for including With Every Letter! I'm honored - and thrilled to be in such lovely company!

Jim Rubart said...

What Sarah said!

I appreciate the shout out, Andi.

Thank you,

Jim

:)

Andi said...

You both are very welcome!
As I told Sarah on Facebook, the books are getting so good that 2013 may be the year that every book I read will be included!

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