Books
I set a goal to read 35 books this year, after I successfully read 30 last year and felt the need to step up my game. I have read 17 books, so I am about halfway there, although more than halfway through the year so I am looking forward to catching up during the fall time when the kids go back to school. But here is my first 17 reads of 2018.
1. Victoria by Daisy Goodwin. Fantastic book! I absolutely loved this one although it is right up my alley of English historical fiction, but it is well-written and interesting and it was a great way to start the year.
2. Of Mess and Moxie by Jen Hatmaker. I have some friends that just love her and I liked her but am not quite drinking her kool aid. It was an easy, uplifting read and I enjoyed it but it felt a bit fluffy to me. Good book, just didn't wow me.
3. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly. This takes place in the Adirondacks and is full of good characters, heart and mystery. I was really into it and it was a refreshing change for me since I have never read anything from that time or place before.
4. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. This is an intense story but so good. I loved, loved, loved it though it was sad and heart-wrenching because it ended with hope. It is about three women and how their stories weave together is interesting. The main character is a Polish woman during WWII who gets taken to a concentration camp where they are experimenting with drugs and treatments on the prisoners. Crazy that people can treat each other that way but very interesting to see how the women dealt with their situations.
5. The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks. I admitted to a friend that I had never actually read a Nicholas Sparks book so she gave me a couple to borrow and this was one of them. I liked it well enough but saw the twist at the end coming. Fortunately and unusually it was an interesting one and not a tragic one so that was nice.
6. Here's How to Reach Me by a bunch of people. We read this for book club and it is some teachers taking a psychologist's personality study and applying it to teaching. I had a hard time getting into it but then when we talked about it at book club I found the overall material and the personality stuff fascinating; I just couldn't get into the teaching part of it. So interesting stuff but not the best book.
7. Beartown by Fredrick Backman. I went to the library hoping to get A Man Called Ove by the same author but this was all they had so I grabbed it. I was not a fan. It is dark and all about hockey and a girl who gets raped and how the small town reacts because it was the star hockey player who did it. Just not my thing and it was so depressing and I really don't care about hockey.
8. As You Wish by Cary Elwes. After such a depressing book, I wanted something fun and this is for sure it. I loved this book. Like any well-educated 30-something, I can quote this entire movie and absolutely love it so I was excited about the book and Wesley delivers. It has good stories and interesting tidbits about the movie (like how he broke his finger and had to hide it in one scene). Fun but meaty enough to be worth the read.
9. Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan. This was a book club pick and I actually listened to it, which I'm not a fan of doing. His voice would really start to bother me after a few chapters so I listened to it in small doses. It is funny though; lots of parenting jokes, although it does bother me how he takes things to such an extreme. My favorite is the play date sketch about how awkward it is for parents to have to interact with other parents they don't know just because the kids made friends with each other on the playground. It is a fun, easy read that was entertaining while doing dishes.
10. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skoot. This was an interesting book but not one that really grabbed me. This is a good story and well-told but while it was interesting, I just didn't really get into it. Part of it may be that I just didn't quite grasp the science of it and how cell research is done or why her cells were so importantly helpful.
11. A Gay Mormon's Perspective on Faith and Family by Tom Christofferson. This was also a book club choice and was a good book. I appreciated his perspective and the good example of his parents and family members. I felt learning his story was instructive and helped me think through some challenging topics.
12. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. I bought this for my daughter's Easter basket thinking she would love it and for a month it just sat on her shelf so I decided to read it, hoping that would inspire her or encourage her to read it. It is a simple story about magic and a sad town and a witch. I liked it well enough and my daughter read it so win-win.
13. Eve and the Choice Made in Eden by Beverly Campbell. The fall of Adam and Eve is a gospel topic I have really been trying to understand lately so when a friend was offering up this book, I took it. I found it thought-provoking and it made some good points but it wasn't quite as revolutionary or helpful to my understanding as I would have liked. It did take me awhile to get through it because I kept falling asleep (ugh, non-fiction!) so I think I will give it another chance sometime or at least review it.
14. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. This was about WWI female spies in German-occupied France and I found it fascinating. It is definitely PG-13 and some of that bothered me but the story was so captivating and suspenseful that I had a hard time putting it down.
15. Hidden America by Jeanne Marie Laskas. I really liked this one and it is a well-told story for non-fiction. She takes us behind the scenes of a coal miner and oil rig worker and a cowboy and a landfill engineer (and others) to give us a peek at these industries we completely rely on in our country and the people who make it work. They often seem like such terrible jobs but she really helped me get to know these people and appreciate why they liked their work (for almost all of them). Well-written and real and eye-opening. When I put blueberries on my cereal the other day I felt grateful to the migrant farmer who picked them for me.
16. A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman. This is a good story about a man whose wife has died and he just can't really handle life without her. He plans to take his life but each day he tries, somebody needs him and eventually he finds new purpose. I appreciated the heart of this story and the theme of helping others and creating meaningful relationships. We all have something to give!
17. Homegoing by Yaa Gayasi. My sister-in-law gave this to me to read and it is a sad, sad book but I liked its style. It starts with two half sisters being born in Ghana and one ends up going to America as a slave and one stays in Ghana. It follows their descendants, which kept me going because just when one story was getting to be too much for me, it would end, jump 20 years and be from a different perspective. Besides the sexual stuff that sometimes was a bit too raw for me, more for its casualness than description, I liked this book. It was depressing for sure but it did end well and was uniquely written. Overall a worthwhile read.
Now I'm on to number 18, A Gentleman In Moscow. I love how books teach, inspire, warn, entertain, amuse, enlighten and stretch our understanding of the world and its people. If you have read a good book this year, share with me so I can read it too.
1. Victoria by Daisy Goodwin. Fantastic book! I absolutely loved this one although it is right up my alley of English historical fiction, but it is well-written and interesting and it was a great way to start the year.
2. Of Mess and Moxie by Jen Hatmaker. I have some friends that just love her and I liked her but am not quite drinking her kool aid. It was an easy, uplifting read and I enjoyed it but it felt a bit fluffy to me. Good book, just didn't wow me.
3. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly. This takes place in the Adirondacks and is full of good characters, heart and mystery. I was really into it and it was a refreshing change for me since I have never read anything from that time or place before.
4. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. This is an intense story but so good. I loved, loved, loved it though it was sad and heart-wrenching because it ended with hope. It is about three women and how their stories weave together is interesting. The main character is a Polish woman during WWII who gets taken to a concentration camp where they are experimenting with drugs and treatments on the prisoners. Crazy that people can treat each other that way but very interesting to see how the women dealt with their situations.
5. The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks. I admitted to a friend that I had never actually read a Nicholas Sparks book so she gave me a couple to borrow and this was one of them. I liked it well enough but saw the twist at the end coming. Fortunately and unusually it was an interesting one and not a tragic one so that was nice.
6. Here's How to Reach Me by a bunch of people. We read this for book club and it is some teachers taking a psychologist's personality study and applying it to teaching. I had a hard time getting into it but then when we talked about it at book club I found the overall material and the personality stuff fascinating; I just couldn't get into the teaching part of it. So interesting stuff but not the best book.
7. Beartown by Fredrick Backman. I went to the library hoping to get A Man Called Ove by the same author but this was all they had so I grabbed it. I was not a fan. It is dark and all about hockey and a girl who gets raped and how the small town reacts because it was the star hockey player who did it. Just not my thing and it was so depressing and I really don't care about hockey.
8. As You Wish by Cary Elwes. After such a depressing book, I wanted something fun and this is for sure it. I loved this book. Like any well-educated 30-something, I can quote this entire movie and absolutely love it so I was excited about the book and Wesley delivers. It has good stories and interesting tidbits about the movie (like how he broke his finger and had to hide it in one scene). Fun but meaty enough to be worth the read.
9. Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan. This was a book club pick and I actually listened to it, which I'm not a fan of doing. His voice would really start to bother me after a few chapters so I listened to it in small doses. It is funny though; lots of parenting jokes, although it does bother me how he takes things to such an extreme. My favorite is the play date sketch about how awkward it is for parents to have to interact with other parents they don't know just because the kids made friends with each other on the playground. It is a fun, easy read that was entertaining while doing dishes.
10. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skoot. This was an interesting book but not one that really grabbed me. This is a good story and well-told but while it was interesting, I just didn't really get into it. Part of it may be that I just didn't quite grasp the science of it and how cell research is done or why her cells were so importantly helpful.
11. A Gay Mormon's Perspective on Faith and Family by Tom Christofferson. This was also a book club choice and was a good book. I appreciated his perspective and the good example of his parents and family members. I felt learning his story was instructive and helped me think through some challenging topics.
12. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. I bought this for my daughter's Easter basket thinking she would love it and for a month it just sat on her shelf so I decided to read it, hoping that would inspire her or encourage her to read it. It is a simple story about magic and a sad town and a witch. I liked it well enough and my daughter read it so win-win.
13. Eve and the Choice Made in Eden by Beverly Campbell. The fall of Adam and Eve is a gospel topic I have really been trying to understand lately so when a friend was offering up this book, I took it. I found it thought-provoking and it made some good points but it wasn't quite as revolutionary or helpful to my understanding as I would have liked. It did take me awhile to get through it because I kept falling asleep (ugh, non-fiction!) so I think I will give it another chance sometime or at least review it.
14. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. This was about WWI female spies in German-occupied France and I found it fascinating. It is definitely PG-13 and some of that bothered me but the story was so captivating and suspenseful that I had a hard time putting it down.
15. Hidden America by Jeanne Marie Laskas. I really liked this one and it is a well-told story for non-fiction. She takes us behind the scenes of a coal miner and oil rig worker and a cowboy and a landfill engineer (and others) to give us a peek at these industries we completely rely on in our country and the people who make it work. They often seem like such terrible jobs but she really helped me get to know these people and appreciate why they liked their work (for almost all of them). Well-written and real and eye-opening. When I put blueberries on my cereal the other day I felt grateful to the migrant farmer who picked them for me.
16. A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman. This is a good story about a man whose wife has died and he just can't really handle life without her. He plans to take his life but each day he tries, somebody needs him and eventually he finds new purpose. I appreciated the heart of this story and the theme of helping others and creating meaningful relationships. We all have something to give!
17. Homegoing by Yaa Gayasi. My sister-in-law gave this to me to read and it is a sad, sad book but I liked its style. It starts with two half sisters being born in Ghana and one ends up going to America as a slave and one stays in Ghana. It follows their descendants, which kept me going because just when one story was getting to be too much for me, it would end, jump 20 years and be from a different perspective. Besides the sexual stuff that sometimes was a bit too raw for me, more for its casualness than description, I liked this book. It was depressing for sure but it did end well and was uniquely written. Overall a worthwhile read.
Now I'm on to number 18, A Gentleman In Moscow. I love how books teach, inspire, warn, entertain, amuse, enlighten and stretch our understanding of the world and its people. If you have read a good book this year, share with me so I can read it too.
I'm always looking for something new to read and it's great to get reviews from an actual person I know!
ReplyDeleteI have heard only very positive reviews of A Gentleman In Moscow. On our family beach vacation, we had a women's "book club" get-together. Each person told about a couple of books she liked. I'll send you the list, in case you want a few more ideas of things to read. ;-)
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