Books Read in 2016

  I love these sort of posts--both writing them and reading friends'. I'd resigned myself to not having one for 2016 because, well, it is MARCH and the moment has passed...but then my friend posted hers just this Monday--I drew courage and finished this. I love the idea of writing a monthly version, but, knowing my blogging record, I'd better stick to annual for the time being--if I get ambitious I'll keep an updated draft here, or make it a semi-annual thing :) 

  Also, my goal (paltry to most of my English and book friends) to read 50 books? I did it.

Till We Have Faces--C.S. Lewis

I read this twice this year and kept a list of quotes to blog about because it tempts you into thinking about harder aspects of the bigger picture versus our own small perspective. Not usual Lewis stuff, but then at the end you hear echos of his musings: love as a devouring force, the common human experience of living as an individual, intention intention intention with self confession. Great book to read and discuss with someone else.

The Sleeper and the Spindle--Neil Gaiman

This is a super short one, but my first exposure to Gaiman. Thought he was awesome. Liked the girl power and flipping the fairy tale. Negative: has that feeling of surfacing after being pushed into a freezing lake and not knowing where you are or who shoved you in that I hate about short stories.

The Wide Sargasso Sea--Jean Rhys

This book did a good job of describing the panic that comes when fate careens out of your grasp, leaving you unable to make your own choices. I didn't like the way it interacted with Jane Eyre, but I appreciate what it wanted to do.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe--C. S. Lewis (Rosie)

This was the first "long" book I read aloud to my kids. My oldest was enraptured and still talks about it. I'm so glad to have a fellow Narnia fan in my kids. It's been hard finding a read-aloud book to compare.

Brisinger--Christopher Paolini [Audio] and Inheritance--Christopher Paolini [Audio]

I enjoy fantasy, but I don't know if I would have gotten through this series without the audio book. It made it entertaining and let me multi-task (laundry, prepping dinner, etc.) while enjoying the story.

Cybele's Secret--Juliet Marillier [Audio]

Continued my great experiences with audio books. This is Marillier's second book. Both leave some depth and unpredictability to be desired, but are engaging stories.

Yes Please--Amy Poehler

My first in a string of celebrity books this year--an attempt to read what others were discussing. I wish I'd watched more of Amy (didn't start P&R until months after) before reading this. It was good, but I enjoyed reading Tina's better.

Charlotte's Web--E. B. White (Rosie)

I'd never read this, and it was fun to do the animal voices with my kids.

My Life on the Road--Gloria Steinem

Again, trying to read what was being discussed at the time. I loved the first half of this book, of hearing how Gloria came to where she is, but I hate to admit that the second half left a bit of distaste in my mouth. So much "us" and "them," and a tendency to abandon those with less bold and brassy talent but who still want to join the team.

Seriously... I'm Kidding--Ellen DeGeneres [Audio]

Ellen is funny and has a casual easiness about her. Good person, but I don't remember much of the book.

Housekeeping--Marilynne Robinson

Robinson's Gilead and Lila both make my best books ever list. This book is very different from those, but sent me off in throes of thoughts: I realized yet again how scary it is to be a mom--you give birth and become mutually imprinted souls that exist in an alien or separated state from each other; the struggle between choice and fate, or pre-fated choice, or whatever; the loneliness that being human is.

Less Than Human--David Livingstone Smith

Nonfiction research and discussion about how we de-humanize those around us and how the most catastrophic moments in our history come from seeing others as not just different but inferior and non-human. Important points and scary possible repercussions.

Bossypants--Tina Fey

Funny, enlightening, best of the celeb reads, but not super gripping.

Jesus the Christ--James E. Talmage

A reread from the copy my grandfather sent me during my college years. Interesting interpretations of Bible passages and moments in the Savior's life. A lot of opportunity to appreciate and re-appreciate Christ's life and eternal legacy, good reminders of my time in the Holy Land, and points of scripture and history to ponder.

Catcher in the Rye--J.D. Salinger

Not what I expected at all, and I liked it better by the end than I did when I started. And better after talking to the geniuses that frequent my book club.

Calling on Dragons--Patricia Wrede and Talking to Dragons--Patricia Wrede

Great childhood series, loved it again.

Unbroken--Laura Hildebrand

Long, but good. I love historical biographies that dramatize important moments in our history.

Why Not Me?--Mindy Kaling

I'd fazed a bit on my celeb reading by this point, and she didn't quite grip me with this, although her desire to be loved and in really resonate with me.

I am Malala--Malala Yousafzai

Little Women--Louisa May Alcott [Audio]

The Graveyard Book--Neil Gaiman

Love Gaiman. I want to read more and more. This is a super fun book.

Catch-22--Joseph Heller

I get what he is doing with it. I appreciate the moves. But it is soooooo long and sooooo uneventful...sigh, I should appreciate these things more.

Scarlet--Marissa Meyer

A fun series--I like following different characters through an overarching story.

Misty of Chincoteague--Maugerite Henry (Rosie)

Tried to live my childhood through this one with my kids--maybe not a huge success.

Cress--Marissa Meyer and Winter--Marissa Meyer

The Book Thief--Markus Zusak [Audio]

This was the first audio book I regretted. I think I'd've liked it better reading it as a book. Couldn't connect with the girl.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child--J.K. Rowling

I SO loved sitting down with a snack, a blanket, and a Rowling book again! I liked having it in play form--it kept it separate from the HP series nicely for me. Fun glance into the characters' older lives, but at the end of the day, it read like a fan fiction and not HP #8 (which of course it wasn't).

I Am America, And So Can You--Steven Colbert [Audio]

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up--Marie Kondo

Found the first third motivating enough to get some good DI and trash bags leaving my house. But she is ridiculous and way over the top for my level of desire in invest in home-ifying my surroundings.

The Kiss of a Stranger--Sarah Eden

Cards on the Table--Agatha Christie

As a teenager I went through a Queen of Mystery phase, and it was fun to read this as my sister-in-law read Christie's ENTIRE published works.

Cranford--Elizabeth Gaskell [Audio]

Anne's House of Dreams--L.M. Montgomery

Moments of the Anne series resonate with me. Especially going back every ten years or so and seeing how similar so many aspects of our lives have been (minus her tragic beginnings). Montgomery's writing is often over the top, but every once and a while she offers up a passage that is absolutely riveting and moment-making.

The Secret Garden--Frances Hodgson Burnett

  Another classic I'd never read. Wonderful.
  

Out of the Silent Planet--C.S. Lewis

Can't say enough for Lewis when he uses fiction to explore human nature. I wish people read more of this side of Lewis and included it in their love of his works.

The Horse and His Boy--C.S. Lewis (Rosie)

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet--Jamie Ford

Loved the dramatization of an historical moment, but very wrapped up tidily by the end.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz--L. Frank Baum (Rosie) [Audio]

Wives and Daughters--Elizabeth Gaskell [Audio]

  Even better than Cranford.

Ender's Shadow--Orson Scott Card [Audio]

Fantastic audio book. And I LOVED seeing a parallel overlapping perspective to Ender's Game.

Fairest--Marissa Meyer

The Woman In White--Wilkie Collins [Audio]

Way too long. But fun to read after hearing it mentioned so often by my Victorian lit professors.

Frankenstein--Mary Shelley

The Shepherd's Crown--Terry Pratchett

A mildly disappointing finish to an utterly brilliant series--one that my kids will all grow up knowing and loving, I hope.

David and Goliath--Malcolm Gladwell

Seriously wish I could take a seminar from this guy. Every book I read of his gives me great points of conversation (thank you, Dustin, for your patience).

The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever--Barbara Robinson

The Thief--Megan Whaler Turner

Again, a fantastic book; part of a fantastic series. Great authorial moves in making an interesting plot with unique characters.

The Simeon Solution--Anne Osborn Poelman

Made me wish I received revelation in such a direct way, as this author and many individuals I know do.

2015 in Books

2015 steadily snowballed into one of the best years of my life, only to fall off a cliff and splatterly combust as it neared the end. How grateful I am that my overall life has been relatively tragedy- and concern-free. Here's to 2016 getting back on the chill and cheerful track :)

This year's reading served as a rejuvenation from academic rigor, using the 391 days since I defended my thesis and graduated with my masters to again become comfortable (and guilt-free) picking up a YA novel or other book devoted to entertainment, with a smattering of classics and new treasures. I, along with others (Biz!), continue to be inspired by my friend Madison's biblophilic passion--thus my second yearly book review:


The Scorpio Races--Maggie Stiefvater
   Exciting mixture of the horse world (my girlhood was filled with daydreams brought on by too much of The Black Stallion and Maurgerite Henry) and mythological creatures. A fun read, but the female protagonist left much to be desired. I preferred the story and character of the male protagonist. 

The Evolution Of Thomas Hall--Keith Merrill
  Refreshing to read a Mormon author's novel that wasn't about a single's ward, the Mormon church, or a spy-and-lover turned LDS (or other such plots). Predictable, but nice.

Princess Academy--Shannon Hale

*Dealing With Dragons--Patricia C. Wrede
   A childhood favorite. Listened to the audiobook and had my 3-year-old daughter ask to hear more of the "dragon story."

Searching For Dragons--Patricia C. Wrede

The Picture of Dorian Gray--Oscar Wilde
  Reread. Now wanting to read more Wilde

Goose Girl--Shannon Hale

Enna Burning--Shannon Hale

Walden--Henry David Thoreau
   Ugh. Been meaning to read this most of my life. It took me most of the year to stagger through this. Thoreau's attitude was a little bit too demeaning of everyone not trying his enlightened experiment (in his defense, this was my first full ebook I started on my phone). I couldn't find the magic. My later experience with Annie Dillard gave me all the ecstasy and wonder I expected of Walden--and more. 

All The Light We Cannot See--Anthony Doerr
  So much wonderful. But has no need of yet another recommendation from me--just listen to all the other people who are telling you to read it and then we can chat about why it is a keeper.

Wildwood Dancing--Juliet Marillier
  I love fairy tale retellings. This one drew me in, and left me with a "real-life" fairy tale ending, with real endings and last-times and goodbyes that make my heart ache but make the story believable (like the moment Aslan tells the children they can no longer return to Narnia--they've outgrown the journey). 

Ella Enchanted--Gail Carson Levine
  Classic, and reread too many times to count. I would argue that this is Levine's only truly satisfying book. I keep trying her other novels and she seems to lose dimension in the endings.

North and South--Elizabeth Gaskell
  A beautiful character, and a great author. 

The Black Cauldron--Lloyd Alexander
  Been reading this series aloud with Dustin. One of the life-shaping stories of my growing-up experience

The Castle of Llyr--Lloyd Alexander

To Kill a Mockingbird--Harper Lee
  A completely different book than when my 14-year-old self read it. One to which adulting and mothering have brought a new perspective. 

Anne of Green Gables--L. M. Montgomery
  Basically the history of Dustin and my story. Montogmery does trespass into the shallow, the circumlocutory, and other banal traps of such a book at times, but some passages twang and reverberate as they explain thoughts and feelings one has had but never had the imagery to express..

King of the Wind--Marguerite Henry

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close--Jonathan Safran Foer
  I took too many breaks while reading this book. A lot of amazing things about this book. Too many questions about the end for me to feel completed by reading it.

Fairest--Gail Carson Levine

The Wee Free Men--Terry Pratchett
  My sister's love Pratchett and everything Discworld. I really enjoyed Tiffany Aching and look forward to reading Prachett's final publication (happenes to be the fifth in Tiffany's series). 

A Hatful of Sky--Terry Pratchett

Anne of Avonlea--L. M. Montgomery

Wintersmith--Terry Pratchett

Ever--Gail Carson Levine

Eragon--Christopher Paolini
  Started this series a long time ago and am listening to it on audiobook to finish it. I haven't indulged in a fantasy hero cycle book since my husband convinced me to read his childhood favorite together--The Sword of Shanara. A lot of predictability, but that's the hero myth for you, and I enjoy a good re-immersion every so often.

Anne's House of Dreams--L. M. Montgomery

*I Shall Wear Midnight--Terry Pratchett
  This series just gets better as you go through it. Pratchett seeks to break down or at least explain stereotypes and story tropes we often just take for granted.

*Pilgrim at Tinker Creek--Annie Dillard
   Stellar. Her writing entrances your attention and unfolds worlds and thought processes in both a gradual and brutal way. A good book to coincide with wonderings about the nature of God. Brilliant.

Anne of Windy Poplars--L.M. Montgomery

Home--Marilynne Robinson
  Yes to all things Marilynne Robinson

Eldest--Christopher Paolini

*Lila--Marilynne Robinson
  The best book I read all year. Reading Robinson's Gilead last year changed my life, in a very un-melodramatic way (if that phrase can ever be un-melodramatic). I enjoyed Home as well, but more for what it added to Gilead and Lila than for its own sake. Robinson presents two almost incomprehensibly contrasting characters (Rev. John Ames and Lila) who somehow come together in a beautiful revelatory experience for readers. Finding our way to God, and realizing how individual and incomparable our life paths are. 

  2015 gave me a chance to relax. A lot of light, feel-good reads. 

  My 2016 reading will largely be a study on the human experience--we, as eternal beings on earth, experiencing what we know to be a test or vital event, but unprepared to walk away at the examination's end and realize our frame of reference is off--how truly limited our point of view is here (but I'm hoping it will be less limiting after this year). C.S. Lewis, Marilynne Robinson, George MacDonald--they all have so much to offer here. I've begun 2016 with Lewis' Till We Have Faces, and it did not disappoint.

A new hobby-job

I've never been a writer. Not really.

I mean, I've written a lot. That's unavoidable with a bachelor's degree in History and a master's degree in English. Lots of words from my brain have made it into black-and-white and been read by others. And I guess I have this blog, and a journal, and lots of emails, so yes, I do write. But I'm not a writer.

Now writing is my job.

It's not as dramatic as I've made it sound (like most things in my life). I've taken on a 4-8 hour a week commitment to concoct creative, short passages about any topic under the Humanities sun, accompanied by half a dozen intellectually challenging questions with explanations--I write the verbal reasoning (now known as the Critical Analysis and Reasoning) section of an MCAT practice test.

I really like having a creative outlet that pushes me. And it keeps me searching for new information--I've learned about national holidays, animation computer programs, MoMA art exhibits (like the Rain Room by rAndom [sic] International), and Toni Morrison, to name a few. And I figure the job fits me well, seeing as how standardized tests are something I am reasonably good at.

But creativity--it is stretching my figurative muscles right now. Do any of you know of cool and happening things regarding (but not limited to) Architecture, Art, Dance, Ethics, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Popular Culture, Religion, Theater, or Studies of Diverse Cultures? Or better yet, places to read where I will run across such things? My Facebook feed isn't quite at this level yet :)

It feels good to use my hard-earned academic degrees to accomplish something--and I still get to be at home with my two darling girls. Life does't get much better than that.

So, higher-brow sources to learn about cool new things? Any leads? I'm seeking Muses to guide me as I fit into this new cap in my collection: Lauran, the writer.

Books Read in 2014

  The past few months I've enjoyed reading friends' and internet acquaintances' "Year in Books" posts, and I want to start posting one each year to encourage me to up the ante--both in quantity and quality--of the books in my life. The following titles are the baker's dozen of books that I can remember reading this past year. Now that I am graduated and (supposedly) have more time on my hands, I'd like to really dig my teeth into some hefty, emotional, delightful, and/or enlightening texts.

  That means, to all reading this post, I need some help, so please send me some suggestions. I love fluff (if you could see my 2015 book list, mostly rebound from grad school, it already includes stories like The Princess Academy, Dealing With Dragons, The Scorpio Races) to fill the in-between moments, but I am craving some good non-fiction books that will actually expand my mind. I'm also looking to dedicate some effort in electronic books (mostly accomplished while holding sleeping children with phone in hand), free ebook suggestions are welcome as well. I feel exceptionally inadequate when to comes to finding contemporary publications, though, so leaving recently published suggestions and favorites would be exceptionally wonderful.

  Reading has such a power--it opens intellectual avenues my mind does't naturally tend towards as I trudge my rote paths. I've been doing a lot lately to try and develop myself as a person--I'd really like help to make reading a large part of that.

2014 books

Little Dorrit--Charles Dickens
   Suuuuuuperrrrrr loooooooong. Whew. My only real exposure to Dickens has been The Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, and some mini-series of works like Bleak House. Really fun to dive into one of his longer texts, and the characters were sweet even if the story and characterization were a little blase.

Thirty-Nine Steps--John Buchan
    Forerunner to James Bond and other such stories. Not what I was expecting, and definitely a fun surprise.

Wonderful Stories for Children--Hans Christian Anderson
    A collection of some of his lesser known tales, many of which deserve to be lesser known

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone--J.K. Rowling
    Gotta love these books. This read-through was out loud with the husband. Might be an old-fashioned hobby, but reading books aloud to each other has been a favorite pastime since our marriage began.

The Book of Mormon--Scripture
    I think I've successfully gotten through this book at least once a year since I became a teenager, but I'd have to do research to confirm that statement during the early years.

Dubliners--James Joyce
    Compilation of short stories all about individuals living in Dublin. I read it for one of my grad classes and really enjoyed discussing the ideas and papers which emerged from this text.

Murphy--Samuel Beckett
     Definitely stranger than Dubliners, but sparked some interesting conversations. Really difficult to connect with the characters, but admirable for other qualities.

"Waiting for Godot"--Samuel Beckett
     I liked it much better this, my second time, through. I sure wish I could see this play's production with Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart as the main characters!

Lilith--George MacDonald
     I CERTAINLY need to recommend this one, as I wrote my master's thesis on it, but the recommendation must come with a caveat: it isn't easy or necessarily accessible when it comes to understanding and enjoying. Of the three professors who sat on my thesis committee, none of them could make it through the book. It is more like reading a dream than anything else. That being said, I learned a lot about myself and the process of gaining knowledge, truth, and identity while studying this work of MacDonald, the author who instigated C.S. Lewis' path towards Christianity.

"The Tempest"--William Shakespeare
    I can't believe I hadn't read this play until I was 27. It's a classic, and definitely not one that should be left to the Wishbone TV series' version.

Gilead--Marilynne Robinson
     Rarely has a book touched me as this book did. Rarely do we see an intelligent and convincing author seriously confront and explore religion without cynicism or condemnation. Rarely does a book instigate conversation between the mind, soul, and imagination--especially one set in a small nineteenth century American town. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!!

The Book of Three--Lloyd Alexander
      A childhood favorite (the whole series is smashing) and another from my husband's and my read-aloud repertoire.

The Help--Kathryn Stockett
      This has been a long-time occupant of my reading list and definitely worth the wait--what an enjoyable way to spend a couple afternoons over the Christmas break.


  Okay, help me branch out. What else is out there?