The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Argh. This one is really hard to rate because my thoughts are so divided. On one side there's the cynical part of me that says this is just a bunch of New Age Hooey. He just says the say thing over and over, and the phrase "to penetrate the Soul of the World" is just hard for me not to snicker at. On the other hand, if I'm feeling philosophical, I can find some real depth in the story. I think if you really read it with a totally open mind, you could get a lot out of it. It definitely makes you think. So I guess I'm taking the easy way out and I'm not going to give it a rating. Your take will depend so much on how you approach the book. You're just going to have to make your own mind up on this one.

Undead and Unwed by Mary Janice Davidson

7/10 - Fun, quirky read about a materialistic blonde who is killed and rises from the dead as the prophetized Vamipire Queen. I think that pretty much says it all. Great book to read on a plane, that sort of thing.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

6/10 - It's hard to fully explain my feelings about this book without giving away some plot details, so be warned. For starters, the first 100 pages were agony for me. I just found it to be very wordy and flowery. I started threatening the author that if he didn't get somewhere with all this fast then I was throwing in the towel. And then we got some where.... and fast! Wow! There was 50-100 pages there that I couldn't put the book down. Then we landed with a thud. There was all this build up for Robbie and Cecilia to be reunited and then he just shows up in the bathroom. WTH!!! And Briony never really atoned for anything. Sheesh! Guess this just wasn't my thing.

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

8/10 - This is book two in the Twilight series, and I didn't enjoy it as well as the first. I just found myself completely annoyed with Bella the main character and her incessant whining!! Edward, the love interest, is my favorite character and he was absent for half the book. After reading this book, I'm even more certain that he needs to dump Bella and fall madly in love with me! I did like our new character Jacob though. He made Edwards absence less painful. I will probably continue with the series when I get Eclipse from PaperBackSwap, or as a gift, but I don't think I'm going to run out and buy it.

The Best of 2007

I can't really rank them from 1-10, but I definitely have a top 5, so I'm differentiating those. I think it's a little bizarre that they all start with 'The'.

Top 5
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Zafon
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
The Book of Joe by Jonathon Tropper

Top 10
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
The Rock Orchard by Paula Wall
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
The Red Tent by Anita Diamont