The Secret Lives of Dresses / Erin McKean  (Library – January) I want the shop in this book to be real so I can go there and hang out.  Fun sweet read.

The Winter Palace / Eva Stachniak (Library – February) 3 out of 5 stars.  As English Historical Fiction is to Philippa Gregory, I think Russian Historical Fiction must be to Eva Stachniak.  I would probably read some of the other books in this series.  Light reading, lots of descriptions of gowns and rooms (!)

The Lifeboat / Charlotte Rogan (Library – February) 4 out of 5 stars.  Terrific read, not sure now why I only gave it 4/5 stars.  You definitely will want to check this one out.  Gripping story total page turner.

Design * Sponge At Home / Grace Bonney  (Library – March) Love!  I follow the blog and its fun to have the blog in book form that you can hold in your lap and flip through.  Awesome eye candy.

The Dog Stars / Peter Heller (Library – March) 6 out of 5  stars.  A-maze-ing.  Run don’t walk and read this book.  Awesome story, I may go and buy this for my library because I will definitely want to read this again.

Gertie’s New Book for Better Sewing- A Modern Guide to Sewing Using Basic Vintage Techniques / Gretchen Hirsh (Library-March) 4 out of 5 stars.  Really nice sewing book.  Good solid techniques and information.  May be taking this out again.

Scandinavian Quilt Style / Trine Bakke (Library – March)  Lovely crafting and quilt book with nice approachable projects.

The Best of Me / Nicholas Sparks (Library – April)   I gave it 2 out of 5 stars, I know he’s very popular but it was just too over-wrought for me.

City Girl, Country Vet / Cathy Woodman (Library – April)  3 out of 5… not a bad read, you can see the end coming from the beginning but enjoyable.

Habits of the House / Fay Weldon (Library – April) 4 out of 5  Oh I really liked this book!!  The setting is terrific and the story is great.  I am definitely going to look up her other books.

The Book of Mormon Girl – A Memoir of an  American Faith / Joanna Brooks (Library – May) I really enjoyed this book, it gave some really interesting insight into what it’s like to grow up in a fundamentalist Mormon home.  I don’t know why I am fascinated by the Mormon culture but I am, good book.

The Pioneer Woman:  Black Heels to Tractor Wheels / Ree Drummond (Library-June) 4 out of 5 stars.  I love Ree, I even wrote a post about how we’d be best friends (here… http://wp.me/p1Ir68-9U) So fun to get a peek into how she made the transformation from city girl to ranch wife.  Love all of her cookbooks and her blog too !!

Revenge Wears Prada:  The Devil Returns / Lauren Weisberger (Library – June) 4 out of 5 stars.  Such a fun book!! Definitely a must – read!

Charlotte Street / Danny Wallace (Library – July) 5 out of 5 stars.  Oh my get the to the library or the bookstore and pick this one up!  So so much fun, well written, great characters, good story…it has it all.

100 Ways to Happy Chic Your Life / Jonathan Adler (Library – July )  Candy, Candy…I want Candy!

The Power of Habit:  Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business / Charles Duhigg   (Library – August) Very interesting liked the case studies and how he related them to his sub topics.

Wideacre & The Favored Child / Philippa Gregory (Library – August) 3 out of 5 stars   Ok now I have really enjoyed everything I’ve read from Ms. Gregory.  I have to say I really did not enjoy these books that much (OK I did read the second one but am not going to bother with the third) I was just really irritated at the heroines of both books and just wanted to slap them.  Pretty much sums it up.

While We Were Watching Downton Abbey / Wendy Wax (Library – September) 4 out of 5 stars.  I actually went into this one expecting less and I was pleasantly surprised.  Of course I picked it but because there was “Downton Abbey” in the title !  Nice quick read.

Farmhouse Revival / Steve Gross (Library – October)  So fun, more eye candy this time farmhouses out of my dreams *sigh* sooooo preeetttyyy!

On Looking:  Eleven Walks With Expert Eyes / Alexandra Horowitz (Library – November) 5 out of 5 stars.  Super duper book about noticing the world around you and existing with intention.  Definitely read this book.

Cooked / Michael Pollan (Library – December) 3 out of 5 stars.  I have to say, this was fascinating for the first two chapters and incredibly detailed but I just couldn’t hang on to the end.  Maybe it’s because most of my reading is done at 11:30 at night in the 5 minutes between when I get in bed and when the book falls out of my hand (?) I really really like his work and I’m disappointed that I couldn’t finish it but I guess I can always check it out again!

The Colette Sewing Handbook – Inspired Techniques for the Modern Seamstress / Sarai Mitnick  (Library) 3 out of 5  cute patterns, nothing special in the technique department for me.

The Complete Colored Pencil Book  / Bernard Poulin   (Library) super interesting, great techniques.  One of my favorite things to do is drawing/rendering with colored pencils…someday I’ll get back to it!  I’ll definitely be checking this book out again.

The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen / Syrie James (Library – summer) 4 out of 5 stars.  Oh this was such a fun book to read!  If you are a Jane Austen fan you must read this book … and if you’re not a Jane Austen fan, read it anyway.

Reinvention-Sewing With Rescued Materials / Maya Donenfeld (Library)  Another in a long line of the “reclaimed” genre  probably one of the more well done ones.

Snobs / Julian Fellowes (Library) 4 out of 5 stars.  This book was better than I had thought it would be.  Fun read, worth the time,light easy read.