2014 reading: miscellaneous

Some Kind of Ride: Stories & Drawings For Making Sense of It All by Brian Andreas

brian andreas' books never fail to enchant me. it's almost impossible to explain his books to someone who has never read them - the best i can say is that they're kind of inspirational picture books for adults. the pages are filled with (admittedly) bizarre drawings and what he calls "stories"; but they're never more than a few lines. little thoughts and snippets that seem to summarize a bigger conversation. they always rejuvenate my hope and delight and wonderment with life in general.

Chasers of Light: Poems from the Typewriter Series by Tyler Knott Gregson

yes, really. a book of poetry. gregson posts daily haiku and poems through various social media platforms, and developed enough of a following (including myself) to earn him a publishing contract. his love poems generally leave me a little weak in the knees and wishing someone would write such a thing for me.

Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

the great creator of middle earth took time every year to pen letters to his children from father christmas. silly and creative, this was a fun little read going into the christmas season.

2014 reading: young adult fiction

1. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

really unique storytelling. beautiful language, prose, and tone. i'm dubious about the young adult classification. if my (hypothetical) teenage child read this, i would want them to be in their upper teens and i would want to talk some of it over with them afterward.

2. The Giver by Lois Lowry

a classic. i reread this every few years. still perfect. everyone should read this.

3. Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang

it’s embarrassing that i have a degree in history and had no knowledge about the chinese cultural revolution. my book club chose to read this because it’s on the common core reading lists. it’s informative and maddening and thought provoking and left me wanting to learn more. what more could you ask for in a book?

4. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

the first half of the book seems to get a little tedious in places, but once you get to the second half you see everything in a new light and it’s awesome. epic and intricate plotting. also, you learn a little about the history of ballpoint pens.

5. Insurgent by Veronica Roth

6. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

full disclosure - young adult dystopian fiction is possibly my favorite genre and will always be well-represented in my reading lists. some novels/series are better than others as far as making parallels to our current situation and provoking thoughtful reflection and discussions - but i almost always enjoy reading them. the Divergent series kept me entertained and i was attached to the characters. perhaps not as thought provoking as others, but very readable. the direction the story went in the third novel completely took me by surprise (and apparently enraged a huge chunk of the fans).

7. Prodigy by Marie Lu

more ya dystopian. second book in a trilogy. this is a really unique series. the author has a background in video game design and it shows (in a good way). militarist and gritty. i really enjoy these books.

8. All The Truth That’s In Me by Julie Berry

this book is so enjoyable that you can completely miss the fact that it has some important things to say about mob mentality and the danger of silencing anyone's voice. an easy book to recommend to others.

9. Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

it kept me interested and i’d be willing to read the next installment of the series.

10. Blood Red Road by Moira Young

11. Rebel Heart by Moira Young

12. Raging Star by Moira Young

i really enjoyed the first book of this series. the second two were pretty good, but the first one stands out as the best. kind of a western in the future. the world the author creates is so vibrant you can taste the dirt in your mouth. if you like ya dystopian, you’ll enjoy it. if you don’t . . . probably skip.

13. Under Different Stars by Amy A. Bartol

this was kind of a bizarre book. (well, e-book. it’s only available in e-book format from some weirdo self-publishing website which should have been a sign to me to skip it.) i finished reading it, but the whole time i kept thinking, “why am i finishing this?” the cover is so beautiful it draws you in. don’t be fooled - you’ve got better things to read. i promise.

14. The Selection by Kiera Cass

decent. good enough that i want to read the rest of the series.

15. The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancy

second book in a trilogy. these books make me frantic when i read them; heart pounding, fingers with a white-knuckle grip on the covers, reading “just one more chapter.” it’s about an alien invasion, which would normally send me running, but they are so good. cannot wait for the final book.

16. Unenchanted by Chandra Hahn

interesting idea - 10th grade execution. i wish this had been turned over to another writer.

17. Jackaby by William Ritter

i should probably re-read this in a year or so. it’s good, but weird, and i think i missed stuff because it just takes off like a racehorse and never slows down. it was described as dr. who meets sherlock, which was very apt. quirky and mysterious and enjoyable.

18. In The Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

i don’t know how to describe or categorize this book. historical fiction with supernatural steampunk tendencies - maybe? i totally dug it. it was fun and eerie and kept me guessing. so enjoyable you can miss the fact that you’re learning about the 1918 influenza pandemic and spiritualism frenzy of the time. i’d like to read more from this author.

2014 reading: non-fiction

1. Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher R. Browning

i read this for my holocaust class at school. one of the main questions my professor addressed throughout the semester was, “who is responsible for the holocaust?” it’s easy to point at hitler and high ranking nazi party leaders as the main perpetrators. and it’s true - they are responsible; but are they the only ones? what about the people who just filed paperwork; who just informed on their neighbors; who just worked on the railroad and sent trains full of humans down the line? do they bear any responsibility? what about people who didn’t do anything, didn’t participate, but didn’t resist? this book follows a police battalion (police battalion = civil entity, not a military entity) that ended up taking part in the killing of tens of thousands of jews. it’s an emotionally hard read. as uncomfortable as it is to address these questions of culpability, it’s important that we do in order to avoid making the same mistakes in the future. (p.s. - we’re kinda failing)

2. The Holocaust by Bullets: A Priest’s Journey to Uncover the Truth Behind the Murder of 1.5 Million Jews by (Father) Patrick Desbois

also read for my holocaust class. while the book above was hard - this book was devastating. i cried every time i read it. i wrote more about it here.

3. And Now My Soul Is Hardened: Abandoned Children in Soviet Russia 1918-1930 by Alan M. Ball

this book was my biggest source for my senior thesis. i found it in the bibliography of a source book for class. (yes - i read bibliographies. that is the level of my geekiness.) when the semester began i didn’t know how i would find anything in modern russian/soviet history that i would be the least bit interested in, let alone be able to research and produce a 20+ page paper on. but i enjoyed the book and loved my subject. it is surprisingly readable for an academic book.

4. Never Look Back: The Jewish Refugee Children in Great Britain, 1938-1945 by Judith Tydor Baumel-Schwartz

i read this as a source for a project i did on the kindertransport. i don’t have a lot to say about this book except that it was informative. interesting if you’re interested in reading about the kindertransport, but it’s pretty academic.

5. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

this book was fascinating, although it got a little too drawn out at the end. it’s frightening how quick some medical and mental health doctors are to throw medication at a problem without taking the time to really examine what’s going on.

6. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling

i read this because i enjoy mindy’s sense of humor on her television show. there were some really amusing part, but otherwise it was just okay. i wouldn’t say i really enjoyed it, but i wouldn’t say i didn’t enjoy it either. i felt the same way about Bossypants (tina fey). i’ll just stick with the tv show.

7. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown

a great deal of highlighting went on in this book and there are sections i think should be required weekly reading for the entire human race. great insights. inspiring and encouraging.

8. Written On Our Hearts by Emily Freeman

i bought this book when i realized, with terror, that last year’s curriculum at church was the old testament. the idea of teaching the old testament was daunting but this book helped me to recognise the wealth of personal messages hidden within the language and stories.

9. Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden

a glimpse into the horror that is life in north korea. it is absolutely unbelievable and maddening that this is going on anywhere in the world.

2014 reading: fiction

despite my best intentions this blog has been pretty inactive - which is partly because my life has been pretty dull of late. i work. i go home. i watch tv. i see a movie once in a while. i read.

i read a lot.

all totaled, i read 45 books last year. since reading is what i spend the bulk of my free time doing, and people are constantly asking me for recommendations, i figured i'd share my reading list for last year along with comments on each book. i'm splitting it into a few posts. first up - fiction.  (young adult fiction will be a separate post)

1. Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield

not as good as her previous book The Thirteenth Tale, but Diane Setterfield is a master of creating an atmosphere. eerie and compulsively readable. you'll never look at a black bird the same way again.

2. Three Graves Full by Jamie Mason

a murder mystery. i skimmed through the last 100+ pages because i was bored and didn’t like it. more vulgar and profane than it needed to be. (it's become apparent to me that i'm not really a person who enjoys murder/mystery novels.)

3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

brilliant. prophetic. i can’t believe i haven’t read it until now. on my must-read list. we are entertaining ourselves to mindlessness and Ray saw it coming a long time ago. i loved this so, so much.

4. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

this was a weird read for me. it’s one of those books that kind of has me thinking “is this it?” the whole time i’m reading it, but once i’m done i realize some serious questions and themes were explored. pretty solid. i would only recommend this to people who like “literature”.

5. The Storied Life of A.J. Fickry by Gabrielle Zevin

i hated this book. so much.

6. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

sci-fi/fantasy genre fiction is the only adult genre fiction i enjoy. this is clear genre fiction and it was exactly what it was supposed to be. i enjoyed it enough to hand it off to a friend who also enjoys genre fiction and pick up the second book for myself.

7. The Splendour Falls by Susanna Kearsley

it was alright. my least favorite of Kearsley’s books.

8. Ali and Nino: A Love Story by Kurban Said

this book was surprisingly epic for its short length and nothing i write about it could ever do it justice. i learned so much about the culture and history of an area of the world i’ve had no exposure to. i loved it so much. a little secret jewel.

9. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

the only word i can think of to describe this book is “interesting”. i enjoyed it very much. in a fortuitous turn of events i found myself reading this book shortly after i had studied the stories of jacob and joseph pretty intensely in preparation for teaching them at church; so to come to the story from a fictional but researched female point of view was really interesting. i think in exploring another point of view of such a well-known story the author exposed the humanness of the characters, making them all more relate-able and offered new lessons to be learned.

10. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

this book is intense. Atwood is a WRITER. meaning - every words that she puts on a page has real purpose. this book may be a little much for some people, but i loved it. it was absolutely terrifying because you want to think it’s just a fictional world that isn’t possible, but the fact is women all over the world live in repressive systems akin to the one she creates here, and it makes you realize how vulnerable you are. it absolutely could happen to anyone. it also explores how “progress” in one person’s movement radicalizes people on the other side of the movement.

11. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

SO GOOD! my head almost exploded when i read this book. it’s not enjoyable, per se, but it makes you look at your world and life and ask big questions about what you’re buying into, what you value, what direction everything is headed in. entire pages are highlighted.

12. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

i appreciated the central character's journey, and that the ending was happy(ish) but realistic. one of the best things about reading to me is that it can expose me to lifestyles and mentalities that are completely incomprehensible to me. several times when i was reading this book i kept thinking, “how could she do that?! what is she thinking?! who in their right mind would think that is okay?!” books like this help me recognize how fortunate i have been through my whole life, and help me have greater compassion and patience with others.

13. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

this book was a huge disappointment for me. it jumped back and forth between an ongoing story in the present and little vignettes in the past. i didn't care for the characters in the modern story, and their actions and development were unbelievable and unrealistic. the parts of the book that delved into history were interesting insofar as the historical background was concerned, but i often found the characters within those stories as tedious as the ones in the modern story. major letdown.  

14.What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman

this book was hit and miss for me. there are two stories within the book, one modern and one taking place starting in the early twentieth century. the modern story is trite and i really could have done without it entirely. the other story is more compelling, but it’s the fact that the experiences of the character are based on real stories that gripped me. i probably would rather have read the source material than the novel given the chance, but maybe that’s the history major in me talking.