Touching the Void- Joe Simpson

The first half of this book about two mountain/ice climbers was way too technical for a person who knows nothing about climbing. If only I had discovered the glossary of climbing terms in the back before I started reading. The meat of the story starts after the author, Joe Simpson, breaks his leg. At one point, his partner, Simon, is forced to cut the rope Joe is hanging from. Simon is then left to finish the decent alone with the death of Joe on his conscience. The miracle of this true story is that Simpson actually survived the fall and limped, hopped and crawled his way to survival.

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire- J.K. Rowling

This was the longest book in the series so far. It’s also the first time the movie has really strayed at all from the book version, and even so it was only concerning minor details. The build-up of the climax goes until almost the very end of the book before it is revealed who is working at Hogwart's as a traitor for Voldemort. I especially liked that this story validates Harry's credibility as someone special beyond his passive defeat of Voldemort as an infant.

Life of Pi- Yann Martel

The first three-quarters of the book rivaled Kiterunner as one of my favorites, but the last quarter of it was so bad that I don't even know if it even makes my top 10. The first half of the book describes Pi's life in India with his family's zoo and his study of Hindu, Islam and Christianity as a 15 year-old boy. When their ship sinks during his family's (and their zoo animals) move to Canada, Pi finds himself in the unlikely predicament of sharing a lifeboat with an injured zebra, hyenna, ape and tiger. Pi's ability to survive his living situation was completely believable as written. It's when he comes across a man-eating island made of acidic plants that the story takes a turn for the worse. In the final chapter you are presented with an alternate animal-free version of Pi's life's events after the ship sank. And in the end, the author leaves it up to you to decide which was the more believable version.