I'm at a loss of things to write about, even though the days are no less jam-packed than normal. So I thought I'd bounce back to that new year's resolution list and see how I'm doing. Remember my goal of reading 30 books this year?
Well, I am a probably a little behind schedule, but we are just entering good snuggle-up-and-read-a-book weather (preferably by a toasty fire with some hot chocolate), so it's the perfect time to hunker down and reach my goal.
Here's what I've read so far:
-Chronicles of Narnia, books 1-4 by CS Lewis
-Anne of Green Gables, books 3-6 by LM Montgomery
-The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
-Mind Prey by John Sandford
-O Pioneer by Willa Cather
-The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
-Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
-Pearl of China by Anchee Min
-Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
-Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent
-Empress Orchid by Anchee Min
-The Last Empress by Anchee Min
I can safely say I've enjoyed all of the books. Clearly however, some more than others. Mind Prey was a quick read, perfect for a long weekend at the cabin. It's a murder- mystery that takes place in the Twin Cities. It was fun to visualize the characters running around streets and buildings I am quite familiar with. Unbroken was probably my favorite of the bunch so far, I would recommend it to anyone- seriously go check it out. Freakonomics I found a little disappointing, I had heard such good things about it from literally everyone who mentioned it, that I was expecting to be blown away, and I wasn't although some of the facts presented were interesting on their own. All of the books by Anchee Min- Pearl of China, Empress Orchid, and The Last Empress I have read in 1-2 days each (so I suppose I liked them a little). I had read a book by the same author in the past (maybe 8th or 9th grade??) and always remembered it, so on a whim I checked these out from the library and was not disappointed. I'm always a fan of good historical fiction, but I think the setting of these stories-in late Imperialistic and Communist China, something I know very little about- is what makes them so intriguing to me.
So it looks like I need at least 12 more by Dec 31st. I've got a few more in the queue but are there any recommendations out there?
It sounds like you would love "The Rook", by Daniel O'Malley. Both me and Alex loved it. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation, I'll definitely check it out!
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