Category: books and reading

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books and reading

The 2018 year in review

My original book goal was 100 books. I’ve read 100 before, but it was a last minute short book that helped me to my goal on New Year’s Eve. No matter how many books I read, my goal is to always read more pages than I did the year before. And this year, I read more pages than ever!

Final results: 110 books and 36685 pages. Wahoo!

Highlights from the year:

Bridge of Clay

Seabiscuit: An American Legend

Dream Team (about the 1992 Olympics. It was so much fun)

Mindhunter by John Edward Douglas. About the FBI (yes, Netflix show based on this) and how they solve crimes and profile serial killers.

The Silkworm and Career of Evil

Beneath a Scarlet Sky

The Namesake

The Fireman

The Circle

Kindred (anything Octavia Butler writes is amazing)

Everything I Never Told You

Stephen King books: The Stand, Insomnia, The Outsider, Elevation

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2018 Popsugar Book Challenge Complete!

Here are the books I read along with a review, if I wrote one.

book made into a movie you’ve already seen: The Circle

true crime: If I Did It

next book in a series you started: The Silkworm

book involving a heist: The Art Forger

nordic noir: Girl in the Spider’s Web

novel based on a real person: Lincoln in the Bardo

book set in a country that fascinates you: Girl Who Takes and Eye for an Eye

book with a time of day in the title: Midnight Assassin

a book about a villain or antihero: Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson

a book about death or grief: The Wild Truth

a book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym: Career of Evil

a book with a LGBTQ protagonist: I’ll Give You the Sun

a book that is also a stage play or a musical: A Raisin in the Sun

a book by an author of a different ethnicity than you: The Fifth Season

a book about feminism: The Power

a book about mental health: The Stranger Beside Me

a book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift: The Fifth Child

a book by two authors: The Calling

a book involving a sport: Dream Team

a book by a local author: Whizbang Machine

a book with your favorite color in the title: Red Moon

a book with alliteration in the title: The Haunting of Hill House

a book about time travel: Kindred

a book with a weather element in the title: Girl in Snow

a book set at sea: Woman in Cabin 10

a book with an animal in the title: Tell the Wolves I’m Home

a book set on a different planet: Dawn

a book with song lyrics in the title: The Hate U Give

a book about or set on Halloween: Legend of Sleepy Hollow

a book with characters who are twins: Before You Leap

a book mentioned in another book: Invisible Man

a book from a celebrity book club: Big Little Lies

a childhood classic you’ve never read: A Wrinkle in Time

a book that’s published in 2018: Iron Gold

a past Goodreads Choice Awards winner: The Fireman

a book set in the decade you were born: Everything I Never Told You

a book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to: The Stand

a book with an ugly cover: Pimp: The Story of My Life

a book that involves a bookstore or library: Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore

Your favorite prompt from previous challenge: Book you can read in a day: Elevation

bestseller from the year you graduated HS: Insomnia

a cyberpunk book: Homeland

a book that was being read by a stranger in a public place: A Tale for the Time Being

a book tied to your ancestry: The Remains of the Day

a book with a fruit or vegetable in the title: Limelight

an allegory: The Little Prince

a book by an author with the same first or last name as you: Menagerie

a microhistory: Seabiscuit

a book about a problem facing society today: Who We Be

a book recommended by someone else taking the challenge: Lamb

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Limelight

This is it. The VERY LAST BOOK in the Popsugar Book Challenge. Whew. I’m so glad I did the challenge, as I am every year, but it’s also nice to be finished. The last category I needed to fill was a tough one for me. I needed a book with a fruit or vegetable in the title. I tried a couple (tomato, lemon) but neither book was interesting enough to keep going. So, I search my thousands of titles on my Kindle cloud (yes, really. Thousands. Most of them I got for free) for apple. Nope. Banana. Nothing. Orange. One title, but sounded boring. Lime. Ding, ding.

Judging by the premise and the pretty good reviews, I went ahead and started this one. During the 1880s, Penny Green was a unique woman. She was mid-30s, single, a newspaper reporter, trailblazing her way around town. She learns of the mysterious murder of actress Lizzie Dixie, who was presumed to be dead 5 years ago. She and a police inspector make it their mission to solve the crime. Which time did Lizzie really die? And who was behind it?

This was a quick read, and Penny is a fun character who has to use good old-fashioned thinking to solve the murder. I have several of these books on my Kindle and am looking forward to reading more about this delightful series.

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Bridge of Clay

Most book reviews I can type up fairly quickly. I don’t spend a lot of time on them because the words just pour out. But this is a book I have had to spend a lot of time thinking about before I was able to write anything. And there’s no way my limited writing abilities will convey just how powerful and beautiful this book is. Markus Zusak is a master artist, and we are very lucky to be receiving his gifts.

I was given The Book Thief by my school librarian back when I was teaching. Somehow she got a hardback copy when it first came out and thought I would enjoy it. I was intrigued by the premise but didn’t fully realize what a profound book it was until a few chapters in. At that point, I grabbed a pen (I NEVER write in books unless I’m annotating to teach it) and began underlining some of the most beautiful phrases I had ever read, especially in a young adult book. By the end, I was sobbing.  My favorite sentence in literature is toward the end. “They hugged and cried and fell to the floor.” That’s it. Such a simple sentence. But it gutted me. I’ve reread The Book Thief once and loved it just as much. It’s perfect.

I then went back to read his earlier work I Am the Messenger, which is an equally amazing book, but the beautiful language of The Book Thief wasn’t as developed. But, as a story, it is definitely worth reading. When I heard he had a book coming out this fall, of course I was going to read it. After 14 years of The Book Thief being published, I was ready. Bridge of Clay is the best book I’ve read this year. No question. Told from the perspective of the oldest Dunbar brother, Matthew, we learn the story of the Dunbar boys (there are five of them), but especially of Clay. We learn the story of their mother, father, Clay’s big secret (be ready. You will have your heart torn out), Clay’s love for the neighbor girl, and how these boys manage to survive on their own. Zusak tells a gorgeous story, but it’s really his language, phrasing, and simple word choice that blows me away. I spent a few weeks to read this book because I was savoring each moment with it. Bridge of Clay is a masterpiece.

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The Wild Truth

I read Into the Wild around the time the movie came out. I can’t remember if I read it first or saw the movie first, but in any case, both had a pretty big impact on me. I was fortunate enough to teach excerpts as well during a unit on transcendentalism. I had the students read the excerpts alongside excerpts from Walden, comparing and contrasting the thoughts and ideas each presented. Obviously, the ideas were a bit different since Walden is a first-person account and Into the Wild is told about the author, rather than the author’s own words, but Jon Krakauer was also an outdoorsman who presented the Chris McCandless’s ideas seamlessly.

The Wild Truth is the other side of the story from Chris’s sister’s perspective. Carine discusses their rocky childhood. Their father was married to another woman when he had children with Chris and Carine’s mother. They have a slew of half-siblings. Their parents eventually married, but life wasn’t easy. They were verbally abused on a daily basis from both parents. Carine explains why this information wasn’t included in Into the Wild. She told Krakauer the entire story but was always hopeful for reconciliation with her parents, so she asked him to gloss over the terrible childhood. When she felt she couldn’t keep quiet any longer, she published her own story.

I can’t say I enjoyed this book, simply because it’s really painful to read about other people’s suffering. And I really didn’t see *why* this book needed to be published. I’m not saying Carine should have kept protecting her abusive parents, but this could easily have been told in a series of articles. Much of the book was about Carine and her life, which was fine, but not really all that interesting to me. She reiterated her love for Chris, which I fully believe (she named her daughter after him) and her half-siblings who were always there for her and Chris. As far as memoirs go, this one felt a bit unnecessary, but it was nice to revisit Chris and reminisce on the impact he had in the world.

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Needful Things

*originally posted 2010 on another site

I’d say I’m a pretty solid Stephen King fan. I’ve read a good chunk of his books, and find The Stand his best by far. Only a few in there that were quite wretched (From a Buick 8, anyone??). But when I went to my well-organized library, I was simply looking for a good story. And Needful Things seemed like a pretty good one at 700 pages long. Granted, it took me a couple months to get through, but I did enjoy it quite a bit.

The poor town of Castle Rock has been the setting of many King stories, and this was an excellent finale for the town. A new store, Needful Things, opens up downtown. It doesn’t seem to have much in stock, but it does seem to have the one thing that your heart desires. For example, young Brian Rusk wants a Sandy Koufax card more than anything in the world. Needful Things happens to have it. And what do you know, the card is even autographed! Mr. Gaunt, the owner of Needful Things, asks for a nominal price, and the card becomes Brian’s. Just one more thing. Brian must play a prank on another person in town. Someone he doesn’t know and probably has never met. Brian is asked to throw mud on a lady’s sheets. Innocent enough, but that’s where it all begins. Mr. Gaunt somehow knows how to pit enemies against each other. When the mud lady sees her ruined sheets, she automatically assumes it was done by her mortal enemy. And of course the enemy has a prank played on her, and she assumes it was done by the mud lady. Craziness ensues.

The characters literally go insane with jealousy, revenge, envy, wrath, and a few of the other deadly sins. Seems like Mr. Gaunt isn’t just a regular guy.

The resolution is quite explosive in a variety of ways, and the reader isn’t disappointed with the insane amount of horrifying acts in this book. It’s a pretty solid effort by King. Good story, good violence, good creativity.

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When You Reach Me

*originally posted 2010 on another site

I’m always curious to read current young adult lit, and Amazon recommended this one that came out almost a year ago. So, I had some money on Itunes and ended up buying the app of the book for my phone. And, to be honest, I much prefer the Kindle app than just any random book app. This one was disappointing. That said, the book was awesome.

Miranda and Sal have been BFFs forever until Sal gets punched by a kid, almost cries, then says he doesn’t want to be Miranda’s friend anymore. She’s confused by this but finds other friends, namely the kid who punched Sal, Marcus. Miranda and Marcus have an odd friendship formed over their mutual favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time. Marcus teaches Miranda about hypothetical time-travel, and Miranda tries to understand why Marcus punched Sal. Meanwhile, Miranda’s mother is going to be on $20,000 Pyramid and practices every night. Cleverly, the titles of the chapters are possible Pyramid categories (Things You Pack, etc). Miranda begins getting mysterious notes in her bag, pocket, etc and begins to wonder who is following her, or worse, who knows her deepest secrets. It’s not until the end of the book does everything come together, but it does in a great way.

This isn’t a very long book, and it definitely kept me reading to see how it would all make sense in the end. It wasn’t a disappointment at all. Don’t buy the app for this book, but read it nonetheless.

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Same Kind of Different as Me

*originally posted 2010 on another site

I was a little skeptical of this book and for good reason. It’s certainly heartwarming, but that’s just not something I enjoy reading most of the time. The book starts out strong but becomes more and more depressing as it continues. It was to the point that I was reading it just to be finished with it.

The story is told from two narrators: Ron- a wealthy white man in Ft. Worth and Denver- a homeless black man in the same town. They tell their own stories for a bit, and these were my favorite part. I enjoyed learning where they both started their lives. They are very short vignettes, so I could easily use some in the classroom. Ron meets his wife, Debbie, and after several years of marriage, she decides that God has told her to do some good in life. Now, I’m not the religious type, so this book quickly lost its appeal simply because the level of Christianity mentioned. I’d rather hear of people who helped the homeless because they wanted to, rather than because God led them down that path. In any case, the friendship that was formed was meaningful and true. Ron and Denver became reluctant friends, but each found something special within the other.

Halfway through the book, Debbie is diagnosed with cancer. There’s where the fun ends. It went downhill for me at that point. I just don’t enjoy reading about people’s sadness.

I imagine this book is inspirational to a lot of people, which is perfectly understandable. It just isn’t my thing…

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The Poisonwood Bible

*originally posted 2010 on another site.

I was a little leery about reading this book. Too many people loved it, and it was an Oprah Book Club selection. I’ve read several of her picks, and ugh, are they awful. She’s gotten better (I actually have two other of her picks on my summer reading list), but most everything she has recommended was something I truly disliked. This book, however, didn’t suck at all! Shocking, I know.

The Price family, consisting of a father, mother, and 4 daughters are missionaries in the Congo during the 1950s. Devout doesn’t even begin to describe the father. The girls are frequently punished by having to write Bible verses over and over. This story is told from the perspective of the girls while they are in Africa, and from the mother after they have left. Rachel is the oldest, snobbiest, and hates Africa. Leah constantly seeks her father’s attention, but never truly receives it, so she is forced to find her own path. Adeh, is Leah’s twin, was born with brain damage, limps, and is brilliant. Ruth May is the youngest and the most inquisitive about her new surroundings.

As much as they want to go to Africa, do their Christian duty, and head back home, Africa simply won’t let them. They experience love and loss, and no matter how hard they try, they cannot leave Africa behind. It stays with them for the rest of their lives.

I usually don’t enjoy books with multiple narrators, but this is an exception. While reading, I kept thinking how great it would be to use as an example of voice in the classroom. As much as I was dreading this book, I quickly breezed through it and did enjoy it quite a bit.

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Seabiscuit: An American Legend

I do not like horses. I don’t want to ride one. I don’t want to go see the race. I have no desire to ever be around a horse. And I know absolutely nothing about them. That said, I get the attraction. They are intelligent and beautiful animals. And I have a lot of respect for horses and how they have contributed to our history.

I knew absolutely nothing about Seabiscuit before reading this book. And I could not stop talking about what I learned. This book was absolutely fascinating, and I cannot recommend it highly enough, even if you aren’t a horse person, like me. The story explains how Seabiscuit was purchased, a history of the owners, a history of the jockey and information about jockeys in general from the time period, Seabiscuit’s strengths and weaknesses, all in complete transparency. The author, Laura Hillenbrand, does a great job making this story appeal to all readers.

Fun facts: Seabiscuit never ran the Triple Crown because he was too old by the time he got his act together and was able to race. His biggest competitor, War Admiral, was actually his uncle. More newspaper column space in 1938 was spent on Seabiscuit over FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. And you really can’t imagine what jockeys do to themselves to maintain a low weight. Ammonia in their soda is just the tip of the iceberg.

I could not believe how much I loved this book and was completely captivated by it. I cannot recommend it highly enough, especially if you aren’t a horse person. You will learn so much.