2019 Reading Wrap Up

These questions are from a Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks 

Tell us about your reading year? What was your goal this year and did you have a plan, and/or follow rabbit trails or wing it? 

My goal was to get through all the book lists for the Book Babes Book Club, the Renovare Book Club, Spiritual Direction, Enneagram Cohort, and last but not least the 1000 Book to Read Before You Die list.

Where did your armchair travels take you? 

Nigeria, National Parks, Chernobyl, Russia, England, Oklahoma, North Carolina during the slave era, Chili. North Korea, Too many places to count.

Which books stood out, made an impression and/or stayed with you the longest? What did you learn from them? 

The Good Neighbor - Fred Roger's life is an inspiration to us all. 

Half of the Yellow Sun - This fictional novel was beautifully written and gave me an insight into the country of Nigeria.

Why We Sleep - So fascinating and informative. I learned so much, but I am still not good at taking naps. :(

Which book had the most original, most unique story?  

Fahrenheit 451 - WOW! I see now why it is a classic, and it is on just about every reading list.  What a creative premise and somewhat prophetic.

In Cold Blood - Same as about being on the classics list. It is SO well researched and written. Journalistic excellence. Capote was a genius. 

Which book made you laugh? 

Pride and Prejudice - A great listening experience on one of my driving trips through the Columbia Gorge. It always makes me smile. 

Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology - even though it is a very serious book, I find Leah Remini hilarious. 

Which one made you cry?

In Cold Blood - Senseless killing. An American tragedy. 

Half of a Yellow Sun - Senseless killing. A Nigerian tragedy.

Which book did you like the least and why? 

Secrets of the Savanna - I got the impression that the authors wanted to be fiction writers while I just wanted the facts about this true story. It got very tedious and boring (and now the woman wrote Where the Crawdads Sing, and she is doing what she tried to do in this work of nonfiction.) 

Restructuring the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion - Judgmental and preachy with a one-dimensional look at race relations with too much of a political slant. It is so much more complicated. It was just a condemning book. The message was: "You are racist, and there is no arguing about it." No grace of God in the whole thing or accounting for the journey of the individual. Least favorite book of the year (and I led my book club and kept my opinion to myself so as not to impede the discussion with the people who loved the book.)

Which new to you authors did you discover and would you read another book by this author?

Ray Bradbury - I think I did read something by him in the past, but I felt like I discovered his genius while reading Fahrenheit 451. 

Truman Capote - I wonder what his fiction is like if his nonfiction was so good. 

Did you try any of the main or mini-challenges?  Nope

Please share your book lists, stats for the year, favorite quotes, and/or favorite book covers.

Favorite Covers: 


133 Books this Year (because I broke my leg)

Here is a link to my book lists and reviews: 

https://carolhomeschool2.blogspot.com/search/label/52%20in%202019

Here is my list in reverse order as it appears on my blog:

The Man in the High Castle
Under and Alone: The True Story of an Undercover Cop Who Infiltrated the Mongol Motorcycle Gang
Slay 
Killers of the Flower Moon
Voices from Chernobyl
Fahrenheit 451
Doors into Prayer
Slaves in the Family
Betsy Tay
The Invention of Wings
Salt Houses
Half of the Yellow Sun
Becoming
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: The Marvel of Bearing God's Image
Dear Bob and Sue
The Drowned World
The End of the Affair
The Uncommon Reader
Invisible Cities
The Thirty-Nine Steps
Growing Up
The Third Man
The House of the Spirits
Into Thin Air
The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh
Sacred Readings: A Journal 
Foundation
Foundation and Empire
Second Foundation
Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
Rick Steves Pocket Amsterdam
To the Lighthouse
A Grief Observed
Nine Lenses on the World: The Enneagram Perspective
Study is Hard Work
Dracula 
Carrie
To Hell and Back
11/22/63
The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Zoom at Sea
In Cold Blood
The Decameron (unabridged)
The Wind and the Willows
The Decameron (abridged)
The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Gilead 
Historic Creeds: A Journal
The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain #1)
Within a Budding Grove (In Seach of Lost Time #2)
The Invisible Man
The Good Neighbor: The Life of Work of Fred Rogers
Talking Like the Rain: A Read-to-Me Book of Poems
It's Great to Suck at Something
Richard II
Selected Stories of Anton Chekhov
Henry IV: Part Two
Beloved
Swann's Way (In Search of Lost Time #1)
The Trinity: A Journal 
Uncle Vanya
The Three Sisters
The Sea Gull
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
Pygmalion 
Henry V
Speak, Memory
40-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Lolita
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
Abel's Island
Harriet the Spy
How Proust Can Change Your Life
Desert Solitaire
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Holy Invitations: Exploring Spiritual Direction
My Lady Ludlow
Mr. Harrison's Confessions
My Dog Tulip
The Complete Persepolis
Skellig
Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf
Cranford
The Phantom Tollbooth
The Three Golden Keys
Eloise
Eloise in Paris
Eloise in Moscow
Eloise at Christmastime
Sparkle and Spin
The Rainbabies
Nancy Drew; The Secret of the Old Clock
Persepolis - Childhood
The Year of Magical Thinking
Harold and the Purple Crayon
The Mouse and His Child
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Where the Wild Things Are
Goodnight Moon
Little Fur Family
The Story of Babar
The Hole is to Dig
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Choosing Christ in the World: Directing the Spiritual Exercises According to Annotation 18 and 19
Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading
The Underground Railroad
The Secret Garden
Spiritual Direction: A Practical Introduction
You Are What You Love
The Way of Discernment
God's Many Splendored Image
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
The Kingdom Life: Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation
Pride and Prejudice
Tuck Everlasting
Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion
Draw Me Into Your Friendship: A Literal Translation and A Contemporary Reading of the Spiritual Exercises
The Newcomers
Retreat in the Real World
A Harmony of the Gospels: New American Standard
Hearts on Fire: Praying with Jesuits
The Cloud of Unknowing and The Book of Privy Counseling
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
Secrets of the Savanna
Why We Sleep
Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
The Wisdom of the Enneagram
Vanity Fair
Glittering Vices 

133. The Man in the High Castle

This SO different from the TV series. The TV series adds so much more to the basic plot of this dystopian novel where Japan and Germany have both won the war, and America is divided between the Nazis in the East and the Japanese in the West with a "free zone" in between.  

I liked it, but the end sort of just fell flat, and you say, "That's it?"  The TV series is much better, in my humble opinion. 

132. Under and Alone

This is a gripping, first-hand account of an undercover agent who infiltrated the Mongols motorcycle gang of Southern California in the 90s. It is salty with bad language and sex, drugs, and rock and roll. It is a side of life I don't like to look at, but it is part of life. 

I could never be an undercover agent, and this guy did this for two years at a great cost to him and his relationship with his two sons. That broke my heart. The relationships within the Mongols really broke my heart too. I am glad that I am done with this read!

131. Slay by Brittney Morris

This is a Book Babes selection, suggested to us because she is a graduate of our local Christian high school. 

The author is obviously borrowing from her own life as she was one of only a handful of people of color at this local high school. The main character is at a private high school in Bellevue, Washington, and she has created a video game called Slay which is just for black people. No one in her "real-life" knows she created and plays this game. 

It is a good first novel, but it did go on a bit too long on the video game aspects of her life. The book will generate a discussion about our obsession with virtual life that takes us away from real life. Interesting that I would read Fahrenheit 451 in the same week as I recall the wife of the main character and her obsession with the "screens." It will also generate discussion about race in America. 

I would put this in the Young Adult novel genre. Usually, I like these kinds of books, but this one left me a bit flat. I am fairly certain young adults would like this book, especially if they play video games. They would not be as lost (and sometimes bored) as I was when she went on and on about the game she created. 

130. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

There are no words.

What an amazing book. I could not put it down! It gripped me from the get-go. It is an appalling story of greed, power, and prejudice with twists and turns you will not believe. 

I came away so sad that there could be such abuse. I came away so mad that there could be such abuse. 

This is a five-star book. I highly recommend it. What I particularly loved about the audiobook is the three different voices. The first is a woman voicing a third-person narrative,  I assume it is to reflect the voice of the Osage Indian, Molly Burkhart. Her story will absolutely break your heart. The second voice is to emulate the voice of a detective with the pre-FBI. The hero here is Tom White. The last voice, I assume, is the voice of the author in a first-person narrative of what he uncovered many years later. The plot thickens. It is meticulously researched. 

Here is the blog of the author:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/osage-murders-photos-killers-of-flower-moon 

This is an amazing story that needs to be told for our generation. 

129. Voices from Chernobyl

Paul said, "Not a very cheery read right before Christmas, Mom." So true. This is NOT an easy read, but it is an important one. These are first-hand accounts from "Chernobylites." It breaks your heart.

Many blindly followed the call to go and help with disastrous consequences for them and their children. Radiation kills. The monologues give insight into the Slavic mindset that is very fatalist. It also gives insight into the mindset of the commitment of many to the call of their government that did little to protect them.

This is an important but difficult read. It will break your heart.  

128. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Oh my! I cannot believe this has not been on my other "must-read" lists? It is excellent. I was mesmerized from beginning to end. 

This is a dystopian novel. It is so beautifully written. I found an interesting comment about what Bradbury thought his book was about:

"Ray Bradbury stated in a lecture (at UCLA) that his novel 'Fahrenheit 451' wasn't about censorship. He made it clear that the theme of his book IS about the role of mass media and its effect on the populace. Basically he believed the old "idiot box" makes people less capable of assimilating complex information. Popular opinion dictated that 'Fahrenheit 451' is about censorship because Bradbury wrote the book during an era of actual book burnings. For example: During a college lecture on his novel, when he presented the truth of the book's theme to an auditorium full of students, he was stopped in his tracks by someone loudly exclaiming "No! It's about censorship!". After regaining his composure, Bradbury then tried to correct the student by holding up his novel and pointing to his name on the cover. Others chimed in quickly and consensus agreed that the novel was about censorship. Bradbury was so angered by the students that he stormed out and vowed he'd never give another lecture on it again." (jegd-847-631407 at IMBD.com)

This book is so relevant for today. I highly recommend it. It really is a masterpiece of fiction.

127. Doors Into Prayer: An Invitation

 

This is the second book in the Renovare Book Club. I did not mean to finish it in one sitting, but it is a very short book. I will spend the rest of the time doing the exercises at the end.

It is a simple book with short vignettes about prayer. Even though it is very basic, I still found it very sweet. 

126. Slaves in the Family

I was so delighted that this non-fiction book came up on my 1000 Books To Read Before You Die list at the same time I was reading The Invention of Wings! He even mentions the real Grimke sisters, who are the main characters in The Invention of Wings in this book. Edward Ball's ancestors were even from the same town, Charleston, South Carolina. That was a nice connection and accidental that they would overlap in the subject matter.

This book is a big commitment of time, but I love how meticulously the author researched his ancestry and found ancestors and descendants from the slaves of his family's plantation. It is a worthwhile read. Slavery was is a terrible blight on our nation, and this is an important book. 

125. Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace

After reading books about the Biafran (Nigerian Civil) War, Palestinian refugees, slavery in America, and the fallout of Chernobyl, I needed to take a break and read some innocent and fanciful children's literature! 

This story is about the beginning of a friendship between two little girls, Betsy and Tacy. In the end, they meet Tib who will be part of the next book! 

This is on the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die list. This is the reason why Mustich put the series on the list: 

Maud Hart Lovelace’s 1940s series, which chronicles the lifelong friendship of Betsy, a resourceful storyteller, and Tacy, the very bashful girl who moves in next door the summer before they enter the first grade, is set in friendly Minnesota. As they follow Betsy and Tacy and their friend Tib up and down hills, real and figurative, from elementary school through Betsy’s Wedding (1955), readers can share the shape and substance, the romance and circumstance, of growing up. “Betsy’s mother,” the author writes, “was a great believer in people having private corners,” and Lovelace’s lovely books allow children an inviting alcove of their own in which to measure their experience. 

124. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

 

I was a little hesitant to read this book because I didn't really care for her hugely popular book, The Secret Life of Bees. So I have always been hesitant to read this author again.  But this book was a lovely surprise. I loved it!  

This book is a poignant work of historical fiction about slavery in Charleston, South Carolina. What I did not realize while reading this novel was that two of the main characters were based on two real-life abolitionist sisters, Sarah and Angelina Grimke, and Sarah's slave maid, Hetty "Handful" (although most of the story about Handful was fictionalized because not much is known about her). 

I particularly liked the two narrators who took turns narrating for Sarah and Handful in this audiobook. It is a great read. 

123. Salt Houses by Hala Alyan

Love This Cover!

This is a sweeping, multi-generational novel of a Palestinian family that is uprooted through war and conflict, and seeking a better life traveling from their homeland of Palestine to Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, France, and the United States. It is a piece of historical fiction that is very well-written. 

Each chapter is told through the eyes of the different members of the family across the generations. I had a little bit of difficulty understanding what was happening so I read a book summary that helped me understand that it jumps back and forth in time. That doesn't bother me too much, but it has bothered people in my Book Babes Book Club in the past. So we will see how they handle this non-linear story! 

This gives the Palestinian view of the conflict in the Middle East that is poignant and insightful. One of my favorite non-fiction books from a Palestinian perspective is Blood Brothers (received an 8.9/10 with the Book Babes in 2007).

Another book I thought about that helps give a great overall perspective of this conflict is The Arabs by David Lamb. I found myself thinking back to what I learned from this book many times during the reading of this novel. It also gives a balanced perspective of the problems in this region. 

122. Half of a Yellow Sun

I totally concur with James Mustich's assessment that this should be on the list of 1000 Books to Read Before You Die. The writing is exquisite, and it gives one a peek into the history of an area of the world we know little about. It is a piece of historical fiction that tells the story of the Biafran War (1967-1970) in Nigeria through the voice of three people: Olanna (the twin daughter of an influential Igbo businessman) Ugwu (the houseboy), and Richard (a British expatriate). 

Much of it is about the tension between the Muslim Hausa people and the primarily syncretic Christian Igbo people. I think this same tension has manifested itself more recently in Nigeria as Boko Haram (the group that kidnapped the 276 girls in Borno State in 2014) even though the people groups may be a little different. As I learned in Of Virgins and Martyrs: Women and Sexuality in Global Conflict by Jacob Davidson, much of Islamic terrorism has more to do with tribalism than Islamic ideals:

Simply put, Muslim societies are somewhat less violent than their non-Muslim counterparts if we factor out the presence of tribalism. However, when increasing Muslim population is combined with high levels of tribal patriarchy, religiously motivated violence is more likely to be exported across national borders. (p. 118) 

This would explain the conflicts in Nigeria very well. 

The title Half of a Yellow Sun comes from the symbol on the flag of the Republic of Biafra:

This is a well-crafted story and worthy of being read (warning: sex and violence abound), but it is no easy read. It prompted me to pray for these people who still suffer from the effects of this war. The world was deaf to this conflict in the 60s, and we still continue to not hear them today. That is why these kinds of stories are so important.

121. Becoming by Michelle Obama

I LOVED most of this book. Her upbringing and family life were so wonderful. I admire her for her fortitude and discipline. She is a very intelligent, beautiful woman. She spoke at one of the Oregon State University graduations, and it was the best graduation speech I had ever heard. (She spoke because her brother was the OSU basketball coach.) . The book elaborated on many of the things that she talked about in that graduation speech. I admire her marriage, parenting, etc. She seems like a stellar individual. 

I cried hearing her views of the Inauguration. That day, I cried with my friend as we texted back and forth during it. America had come so far!  

I also loved hearing about life in the White House, and how she strove to keep their family grounded with their new "normal." I loved her White House Garden. I loved how she let the staff wear more casual clothes on days no one would be visiting. I loved that they spent their own money when redecorating the White House even though there was 100,000 dollar allocated for it.

All that said, I laughed out loud when she said toward the end of her book, "I am not political." Are you kidding me? She had just spent the last several pages slamming the other party. Own it, Michelle, you are political and believe you are the morally "right" one when it comes to your husband's policies. That is OK. You ARE political, and I am glad you are on the same page as your husband but OWN IT that you are political. I think it is her blind spot. 

That is where the end of the book really made me sad, she did such a good job for most it not being political. There was also the subtle implication that if you opposed her husband's policy, you were racist. People just believe differently than you. Michelle. That is all. Just a different way of looking at how to achieve a better America. 

120. Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: The Marvel of Bearing God's Image

 

This book was so well-received by my Renovare Book Club ladies. It was unanimous that all loved it, including me. I have two new heroes, the Brands! WOW! They chose to forgo lucrative medical careers to go to India and work with leprosy patients. They were at the forefront of research for it. The stories are poignant, and the analogies to the Body of Christ were so thought-provoking. Most people in the group said, "This is a book I will give to other people." I highly recommend using the study guide at the end for your own spiritual growth. 

119. Dear Bob and Sue

 

I really love the concept of them going to all the parks. I looked on their website, and they have pictures from every adventure. What a great idea to do as a couple.

They are incredibly clever and funny people.  I would love for my husband and me to do this (actually our kids too). I think if my husband and I did it, it would be more about the parks rather than our snippy interactions with other people and each other. The sarcasm between the two of them got a little old after a while. Some people try to be funny by putting each other down. It was funny, but then it got sad. I know they are hugely popular, but I think they could use some really good counseling because I think there are some underlying issues in their relationship. Just my opinion. I know many couples relate in this way, but it just makes me sad that they do. 

They are also pretty impatient with other people and very critical of them. I guess I am in the mode of seeing people in God's image rather than jumping to conclusions about them and being mean in thought and in word. 

But I would say that this is such a fascinating look at our great country. So I would say read it. 

118. The Drowned World

What a fascinating book! It was written in 1962 and foresees a world in 2145 where cities like London have been submerged in water. I have this love for dystopian novels. Some may like this, but I found it something great to ponder. 

117. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

Wow! This man really can write. It is not a cheery subject - an adulterous affair, but it is a very compelling story, and I was drawn in from the get-go. It did not hurt that my favorite actor, Colin Firth, was the narrator. It really is a performance rather than just a narration. 

This book is part of the "Catholic novels." This book is inspired by the end of his own affair with a woman (and the book is dedicated to her). 

116. The Uncommon Reader

 This book was a delightful surprise on my reading list! I laughed out loud so many times. (It does have one very off-color phrase about halfway through the book that does not characterize it and was totally unnecessary and totally improper!) Queen Elizabeth II is on the verge of her Golden Jubilee, 50th anniversary of her ascension to the throne, and she has discovered READING!  This new discovery even has her talking about Proust which made me laugh since I am about 30% of the way through his book, In Search of Lost Time.

Reading opens her eyes to a whole new world and causes great consternation with those around her. An avid reader would love this delightful book. 

115. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

 

This is an imaginary conversation between the Italian explorer Marco Polo and the great emperor, Kublai Khan. Polo is describing imaginary cities. I thought it quite bizarre and have a hard time believing that it was nominated for the Nebula Award for Science Fiction in 1975. It did make me want to learn more about Marco Polo (I bet most young people today just think of Marco Polo as a video messaging app.)

James Mustich put it on his list. So I obeyed and read it. Let's see what James has to say about this book:

As light as a cloud and just as beautiful, Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities floats across the mind’s sky and seduces our vision. Purporting to be a record of conversations between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan, in which the inveterate traveler describes the many extraordinary cities he has encountered in his wanderings, it is in fact a fiction of poetic and philosophical charm that unfolds in brief descriptions of fifty-five fantastic places, from Anastasia, “a city with concentric canals watering it and kites flying over it,” to Zenobia, which, “though set on dry terrain . . . stands on high pilings, and the houses are of bamboo and zinc, with many platforms and balconies placed on stilts at various heights.” To read Invisible Cities is to discover an unsuspected mythology whose truths are inexplicably recognizable; it is unlike nearly every other book you will ever open. A true master of the fabulous, Calvino succeeds by making his readers feel they are as imaginative as he is.