Books of 2017

  I read 37 books this year (actually, close to 100 if you count the 50+ The Magic Treehouse series I listened/read to my kids. Boy, was that a time commitment!). I really enjoy reading, and this year I practiced feeling like reading was a time of enlightenment, instead of a guilty time-waster as I so often categorize it. Here's the order, with a few comments:

• Anne of Ingleside--L.M. Montgomery

Finished this series this year after beginning it last year. Anne is a delightful character, and I enjoy her story inasmuch as it so closely parallels my own love story.

• Rainbow Valley--L.M. Montgomery

• The Queen of Attolia--Meghan Whalen Turner

This is a FANTASTIC series. I love the first book, and this second one is great, and the third is splendid...you get the idea. Great characters, strong females, etc. And always a twist in the perspective of the story/plot.

• Daring Greatly--Brene Brown

This took me so longt o get through. I loved the first half, but then I lost steam, and it seemed that she began repeating herself as the slogged to the finish. Her Tedtalks are good.

• Of Mice and Men--John Steinbeck

• East of Eden--John Steinbeck

SUCH an impacting book. I read it with a few friends and spent hours discussing what Steinbeck reveals about people, love, religion, meaning, all of it. Definitely a book everyone should read in their lifetime.

• The Bell Jar--Sylvia Plath

• Rilla of Ingleside--LM Montgomery

• Peter Pan--J.M. Barrie

If you are wanting to read Peter Pan out loud to kids, choose the play instead of the book. The pirate fights and descriptions are lost on the kids.

• The King of Attolia--Meghan Whaler Turner

• River Secrets--Shannon Hale

Shannon is a good storyteller. I really enjoy the world she has created, and the strengths and flaws of her protagonists.

• Forest Born--Shannon Hale

This book stood out to me because it shows (spoiler alert) that, unlike Frodo who can't happily return to the Shire, that heros and heroines can be happy to go out, adventure and travel and such, and then return home--like home is actually a good thing :)

• Conspiracy of Kings--Megan Whalen Turner

• The Boys in the Boat--Daniel James Brown

• Hillbilly Elegy--J.D. Vance

• The Penderwicks--Jeanne Birdsall

Another great series. The first book is my favorite, and it delights me all the more because this is such a great picture of how my sisters and I were growing up. I love it!

• The Penderwicks on Garham Street--Jeanne Birdsall

• The Penderwicks at Mouette Point--Jeanne Birdsall

• Don Quixote--Miguel de Cervantes

This took me FOREVER to get through. Like over 9 months--more than it takes to grow and deliver a baby. It is TOO LONG. There are lots of good and humorous and literary important things here, but mostly just too long.

• Chocolate Fever--Robert K. Smith

Read with the kids. Funny.

• The Chocolate Touch--Patrick Skene Catling

I liked this even better than Chocolate Fever. So did the girls.

• What We Talk About When We Talk About Love--Raymond Carver

Meh. When I talk about love, I don't talk about such sad and depressing things. Needs more of an emotional, less cynical mix.

• Thick As Thieves--Megan Whalen Turner

• Ten Colloquies--Erasmus

Read this because Erasmus supposedly had quite an influence on Reformation thought, etc.

• The Penderwicks in Spring--Jeanne Birdsall

• Middlemarch--George Elliot

Phenomenal. I can't believe I never read Eliot during my MA in English program. Her ability to weave together stories and keep track of dozens of characters is mind boggling. Good read, and beautiful, meaningful writing.

• House Full of Females--Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Ulrich is one of my long-time role models--my dream was to follow her academic path (history undergrad, English masters, then history PhD), and I appreciate having an intelligent, historical researcher who is so thorough in delving into a topic. Lots to discuss with this one.

• The Girl Who Drank the Moon--Kelly Barnhill

Enjoyable Newberry award.

• Elantris--Brandon Sanderson

This is my first exposure to Sanderson. I was struck with the story, and I have thought of it often. Lots of the details escape, but some of the characters still find me in my thoughts.

• Half of a Yellow Sun--Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

So much tragedy and hardship in the world that never touches our lives directly. Without modern technology we wouldn't even be aware of the rest of the iceberg. Some is so foreign, but some is repeated in every society on earth.

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society--Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

So fun.

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory--Roald Dahl

My oldest daughter's new favorite book, and has started off a Roald Dahl kick in our house.

• Little House in the Big Woods--Laura Ingalls Wilder

I was surprised how much my kids liked this. We've trudged all the way to near the end of the 3rd book in the series now.

• The Book of Mormon

Every year the same words. Every year new highlights, thoughts, and inspiration.

• Tuesdays at The Castle--Jessica Day George

Kids love it. a Little juvenile for me.

• Wednesdays in the Tower--Jessica Day George

• Thursdays with the Crown--Jessica Day George

• Fridays with Wizards--Jessica Day George

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.