Every month I try to read at least one book from the following categories: nonfiction, devotional, and fiction. And this year I’m doing things just a little bit differently than in the past. Since I decided to participate in the 2016 PopSugar Reading Challenge, I’m also going to be listing which category my books fulfill. If you want to join in on the fun, you can check out the list of categories here! This is What I Read in December 2016, my brief book recommendations and reviews. Hopefully I’ll provide you with some inspiration for your future reading as well!
Books Finished:
Modern Romance: An Investigation
2016 PopSugar Challenge: a book written by a comedian
This book was less funny but much more informative than I would have expected. I’d heard about it from Aziz Ansari’s stand-up comedy act where he read text messages on people’s phones. The stand-up was hilarious, the book was somewhat amusing. But the book did appear to be extremely well researched and was interesting.
The Age of Daredevils
I thought this book started out a little slow, but then became more interesting later on. Perhaps it’s just that I needed time to connect with the characters. The book is about the fascinating people who lived and performed crazy stunts at the Niagara Falls (like barrel rides down the falls) in the 1920s and 1930s.
Travel Hacking
I like to read books about travelling, and about finding new ways of travelling for cheaper. This one was written from the perspective of, and primarily for those from the UK and Australia, so it was of limited use to me. And there was some quirky language that I attribute due to it not being American English. However, I did find a few useful tidbits. I read this as part of the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library, so I didn’t have to buy it, and I’m glad of that fact considering many of the tips were not new to me.
The Poisonwood Bible
My book club read this novel for our December book club meeting. It’s nearly 600 pages, so a daunting undertaking, but quite good. We all agreed that the book peaks in the middle; the beginning is a bit slow to start; the ending was a bit abrupt. The story being told from the perspectives of a mother and four daughters, as the family moves to Africa for missionary work, but the father/husband is not given a voice.
Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics
2016 PopSugar Challenge: a political memoir
I’m a fan of Charles Krauthammer, as I watch him pretty regularly on Fox News Channel. I find his arguments to be particularly well thought out and persuasive. So I’m glad that the PopSugar Reading Challenge enabled me to finally read his book. The book is a collection of essays and columns written by Krauthammer throughout his career, as well as some introductory information about his background. I would recommend this one.
One Enchanted Christmas
Every year I try to read at least a couple of books about Christmas, and this year I’ve totally slacked off as this is the only one I’ve read! This is a Christmas romance, but was a little different from a traditional romance. The structure of the book, with a very involved narrator made it feel fun and light-hearted. And it’s a clean romance, which I appreciated. Plus it’s not terribly long, so it’s a quick read. I recommend it.
A History of the Popes: Volume III
As with the previous volumes, this history was interesting. And it had even more detail than the previous volumes, likely due to the fact that with it being more recent history there is much more detail. I recommend this series especially if you, like me, really don’t know much about the popes and the history of the Christian/Catholic church.
Marvels
2016 PopSugar Challenge: a graphic novel
Mike is a pretty big comic book/superhero fan, so I let him pick my book for this category. He’s a huge fan of the artwork of Alex Ross (we even have prints of Alex Ross paintings in our house), and I can understand why. Alex Ross paints superheros and illustrates in a way that is new and unexpected if you’re expecting traditional comic book panels. The book is gorgeous. And the story is an interesting take on the genre. It follows a photographer who is working during the dawn of the superheros and mutants in New York City. The ending didn’t make a ton of sense to me, until Mike explained who the kid in the last scene was, and then it put the whole book into perspective. So if you’re left feeling like ‘that’s it?’ then you, like me, probably missed the point at the end and you’ll need to find a nerd/fan friend. 😉
The Last Dive: A Father and Son’s Fatal Descent into the Ocean’s Depths
Mike and I listened to this on Audible on our drive to and from Rapid City for Christmas with our families. We’d both previously read Shadow Divers and enjoyed it, and this book is about the father and son who died while diving the U-Who. It also has great information about decompression sickness and other famous divers. It was a great book, and an even better way to pass the long drive.
Books Abandoned:
None.
And I finished it! The 2016 PopSugar Reading Challenge is complete. Look for my wrap up post with a list of the books that I read for each of the different categories.
by Wyatt North
. This is more of the same, in that it simply goes through the popes (and antipopes) in order and tells some of the more interesting details about each of them. I find the history of the Christian Church extremely interesting, and a nice overview of some of the issues that the papacy and Church have dealt with over time.
by Malcolm Gladwell
, 
, and 
, and loved all of them. This one is about how we greatly misunderstand the Bible story of David and Goliath, because we often don’t recognize the power of being an underdog, or that weaknesses often are actually strengths and vice versa. This very well may be my favorite of everything authored by Malcolm Gladwell to date.
by David Machado
by John Grisham
by Danielle Stewart
by Michael L. Brown
by Nick Loper
had such great ideas for generating income and increasing income, that I wanted to read Volume 2. Just as good as the first book. And the thing that I like about these books is that they are practical, rather than scammy quick money schemes.
by Roger Pulvers
by Dot Hutchison
by Wyatt North
.
by Michael Lewis
and we listened to it for part of a couple of road trips to Sioux Falls and Rapid City, South Dakota. We had seen the movie before, and loved it. The book goes into greater detail about the subprime mortgages that led to the housing crisis than does the movie, but both are interesting and easy to understand. Both the movie and the book are highly recommended.
by Wendell E. Mettey
by Mary Richardson
Storage by James W. Hewitt