I read 19 books in 2010! I did a post in January and had a goal of reading 12 books and then I included a thirteenth book “to grow on” just in case I finished all 12 of the books on my list.

I got a little sidetracked with my list and didn’t stick to my schedule, so there are a few books on my list that I didn’t get to. I am still proud that I spent so much time reading and hope to do it again this year!

I’m not going to do a full written review of each book, but I’ll let you know if I liked the book by doing a rating system of 1-5 asterisks. I’m not a book snob by any means. To me, books are good if they keep me turning the page. And books are great if I can’t stop thinking about them after I finish reading.

In 2009, The Help and Same Kind Of Different As Me were those books that made me think for weeks after finishing. I didn’t find anything that did that for me in 2010, I’m sorry to say.

I’m going to post my 2011 reading list in a couple of days, so if you have any suggestions for me let me know! And don’t forget to be my friend on Goodreads, so we can share book reviews!

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins – ***** (5)

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay: I’m giving (5)***** to all three books because I don’t think you can read one without reading the entire series. And it’s a great series!

Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan- ** (2)

I really wasn’t a fan of this book. It wasn’t what I expected and I think I had high hopes for this one that shouldn’t have been so high.

3 Books of The Bride Quartet by Nora Roberts- **** (4)

In 2009 I read Vision in White, which is the first book in the series and I enjoyed it. So this year I read Savor the Moment, Bed of Roses, and Happy Ever After and liked them all. The series is about four friends who run a wedding planning business and each book focuses on a different character’s love story. Cheesy? Yes! Totally fun? Yes!

Swimsuit by James Patterson- **** (4)

Just a scandalous, suspenseful, James Patterson book. I thought this one was good and even a little scary! I read it this summer and it was a great summer read.

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah- ***** (5)

I absolutely loved this book. I couldn’t put it down. It made me laugh and cry and I recommended it to everyone I saw. Such a great girly book about friendship.

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah- *** (3)

I had a really hard time getting into this book. There were points in the book when I actually wanted to stop reading, but I finished and it was a touching story.

Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus- **** (4)

I liked this book so much. I loved The Nanny Diaries and loved getting to revisit the characters from the original story. I liked reading about New York City and I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed The Nanny Diaries.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen- ***** (5)

Water for Elephants was my favorite book that I read in 2010. It was so interesting and so well-written. I am not sure why it took me so long to read it, but I’m glad I did. It’s a wonderful story.

So Long Insecurity by Beth Moore- **** (4)

I wrote a lengthy review on this book right before we went to the Beth Moore conference in Atlanta. This was a book that I definitely needed to read and I’m so happy that I did. I think about this book and the way God spoke through Beth every day when I’m telling myself not to torture myself over something.

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin- ***** (5)

I read every one of Emily Giffin’s books in 2010. They were all very different, but Something Borrowed was by far my favorite. All of her books have a broken (or almost broken) relationship at the core of the story and that makes me a little sad to read over and over again. But I wanted to see what all the Emily Giffin hype was about.

Something Blue by Emily Giffin- **** (4)

I liked this book so much more than I thought I would. The main character is the character that you dislike the most from Something Borrowed. But this book shows a completely different side to her and it’s a very touching story about redemption.

Baby Proof by Emily Giffin- ** (2)

It pains me to say that this is my least favorite of Emily Giffin’s books. Maybe because I can’t really relate to the characters, but I think it’s mostly because Emily Giffin’s character development is lacking so much depth and the characters and their problems seemed so shallow to me.

Love the One You’re With by Emily Giffin- *** (3)

Okay, I didn’t love this one very much either. I kept wanting to say, “snap out of it, you idiot! Your life is perfect!”

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin – **** (4)

I’m torn. I couldn’t put this book down, but I wanted to so many times because the story made me so sick! This book focuses on infidelity and Giffin is trying to get us to see all of the sides from all of the players in an affair: the wife, the husband, and the other woman. But I had a really hard time stopping myself from shouting at the other woman. I wasn’t even that angry with the husband, but I couldn’t deal with the mistress or see “her side” of the story as anything but horrible. But I have to give this book a good rating because it evoked so much emotion in me!

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain- ***** (5)

I loved this book. There were definitely a couple of times that I wanted to slap CeeCee, but I couldn’t put this book down even though I had to– it was the inaugural book in our blogger book club and the reading schedule forced me to stay with the schedule. I was a definite fan!

Congratulations to Lizziefitz for winning the gorgeous Stella & Dot earrings from Karah!  Just email me at eeakin11{at}gmail{dot}com.

We have had such a wonderful couple of days with our family! Christmas has been so much fun just because we’ve loved watching Hudson’s amazement at everything. He was fun last Christmas, but this time he has just responded so vocally to everything and has been crazy excited about all of the new traditions and presents. Hudson is absolutely in love with his grandparents and loves to go around the room and name them all: KK, Poppie, RC, PC, and Nana. And then he names Mommy, Daddy, Boudreaux and Fiona.

He has been spoiled rotten the past few days, but I just love that there are so many people in his life that love him so much!

My parents drove in from Dallas and we all attended the beautiful Christmas Eve service at our church. There was some beautiful music and our pastor said something that night that I’ll never ever forget. First he reminded us of how much gratitude we owe Jesus, but then he said, “Jesus is not just the reason for the season. He is the reason for everything.”  And that deserved a big old, “Amen!”

After church, we came home and had dinner with my parents, TC’s parents, and TC’s grandmother. It has become a tradition for us to eat gumbo on Christmas Eve and I just love that tradition!

After dinner, TC’s family went home and we exchanged gifts with my parents. We kept it simple this year, but we all spoiled Hudson! He wasn’t very interested in opening his presents- he just wanted to carry the wrapped presents around and arrange them.

His favorite gift from my mom was a Slinky! He kept saying “whoa” at the Slinky. The best toys are always the cheapest toys, right?

We video chatted with my brother, who is in Vail and couldn’t get off for Christmas, and loved watching him open the gifts we sent him and we all got a good laugh at Hudson. (I have a video to share of our video chat with him.) TC gave Hudson a little golf set and we gave him this great book called Tickle Monster that comes with adorable gloves for you, the Tickle Monster, to wear when reading the book!

Hudson went to bed so Santa could visit our house. He did leave Santa a yummy plate of fudge and Santa rewarded Hudson for being a very good boy! He got a giant Elmo, a Little People farm, a small Thomas the Train set, an Elmo potty, a little piano, and lots of books. His big gift this year was an outdoor playset that Santa (and Hudson’s grandparents) got for him! My parents also gave him an adorable little table and chairs set that he is obsessed with.

Santa went a little overboard this year, but it was just so much fun! I guess because Hudson only got one gift last year and we didn’t do birthday gifts, it was hard to limit ourselves this Christmas.

On Christmas morning, TC’s parents and grandmother came back over so everybody could see Hudson’s reaction to what Santa brought him. And Hudson’s reaction did not disappoint. He was so excited and kept saying “whoa!” He loved his giant Elmo and his piano. And he hasn’t stopped playing with his little farm. He wasn’t able to go outside and use the playset yet because it has been too cold, but I know he’s going to love it! And so will his little brother, who already has his own swing!

Hudson also got some new Elmo slippers, and as you can see, he wasn’t so sure about those slippers at first! But he wore them practically all day yesterday and loved them! Can you tell we have a big time Elmo obsession at our house? He goes around the house asking for Elmo all the time.

We all got dressed and went over to TC’s parents’ house to spend the day. They got Hudson some great gifts (and were very generous towards us, too!) and we had a great day hanging out together over there. I just love that our families have blended for Christmas every year since we got married. It makes the decision-making for “where do we spend Christmas” really easy and I love that everyone gets along so well.

TC’s mom made a delicious meal for us that we ate around lunch time, and then we all just hung out and watched movies. The boys threw the football around in the backyard and threw the ball for Boudreaux. Then it was time to go home, but before we left, we lit the candles on a very special birthday cake for Jesus and sang “happy birthday.” I’m really excited about this tradition to help Hudson remember that it’s about Jesus’s birthday. (My mom and Hudson got in a little bit of trouble with the red icing- and Hudson LOVED it!)

It has been snowing everywhere in the Southeast, but Columbia didn’t get any snow on Christmas Day. My mom and TC had a bet (for $5) about the snow. TC didn’t think it would snow and my mom insisted that it was going to. We woke up this morning to get ready for church and the ground was covered and the snow was coming down hard! TC, my dad, and I went on to church while KK (my mom) stayed home with Hudson so he didn’t have to get out since he’s still on antibiotics. The view in Columbia has been gorgeous today!

Did you get snow at your house? Did you have a great weekend?

I just want to thank all of you for the well-wishes and for being such great friends this year. This blog and the community has made such an impact on my life and my favorite part is the relationships I’ve made. Thanks for letting me share my life with you!