Luggage and Literature

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. - St. Augustine

May 2017 Reading List

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Every month I try to read at least one book from the following categories: nonfiction, devotional, and fiction. And this year I’m participating in the 2017 Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenges, so 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 my May 2017 Reading List, my brief reviews and book recommendations for May 2017. Hopefully I’ll provide you with some inspiration for your future reading as well!

Holy cow, I read a ton of books in May! Let’s dive right into them.

Books Finished:

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

2017 MMD Reading for Growth Challenge: a Pulitzer Prize or National Book Award winner

I LOVED this book, truly loved it. I think it’s probably my new favorite book that I’ve read in quite some time. The language and descriptions were lovely to read, even when the subject matter was difficult. This one will stand up to re-reading, and I’m not typically a ‘re-reader.’ The book follows two primary characters, a German orphan boy and a blind French girl during the years leading up to, through, and following World War II. The timeline jumps around a bit, but was never difficult to follow, and this is because the timelines begin to move closer together and ultimately intersect. Simply astounding how good this book was. The Pulitzer was definitely well deserved.

I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi

I subscribe to Ramit Sethi through Feedly, so that I don’t miss any of his posts. I really enjoy his writing style, and that his tips and advice are so practical and geared toward folks in their 20s-30s. If you’re not sure what you should be doing financially, read this book. It’s great and entertaining.

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer

This book was SO intense! It followed Krakauer’s journey to and up Mt. Everest in 1996, one of the most deadly climbing seasons in the history of Everest. It was informative, but also fast-paced and exciting. At times it was also extremely sad, and I wished that the outcome might change. I also really liked the short chapters, making it really easy to pick up and read when I had a few minutes.

The Bumps Are What You Climb On: Encouragement for Difficult Days by Warren W. Wiersbe

I’ve been having some work struggles lately, and have been praying for guidance for the right course of action. I thought that this book would be good in helping me to process through the situations and make the decisions that God wants me to make, rather than the decisions that I want to make.

The Fantastic Fable of Peter Able by Natalie Grigson

I really enjoyed this book, that is probably best categorized as Young Adult fiction. It was just downright fun. Essentially the book follows the story of a boy wizard named Peter Able who lives in the land of Fiction, and whose series has been cancelled. He is finally able to make his own decisions, when he starts to become worried that he’s not truly in control of his life.

In the Woods by Tana French

I’ve heard of Tana French before (I mean, how could I not?! Her name is Tana!), but had never read anything that she’d written before. The first entry in the Dublin Murder Squad series, it was a solid murder mystery that also had some personal elements to it. I struggled a bit with the inaccuracies of the law, at least from an American legal system perspective. But I also don’t know details of the Irish legal system, and therefore, don’t have a good understanding of whether the law might be correct for Ireland.

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

2017 MMD Reading for Growth Challenge: a book by an #ownvoices or #diversebooks author

This book is told primarily from the perspective of two teenagers, one of whom is Jamaican born and about to be deported, the other who is Korean-American. There are also periodic entries from others that they come into contact with, as well as topical entries. The structure of the book felt fresh, and the story-telling and perspectives felt authentic. I really, really liked this book, and read through it very quickly, as I wanted to see where things were going.

The Girls by Emma Cline

This book has gotten quite a lot of buzz, so I was excited to see that there was no waiting list to check it out on Overdrive. It is a fictional story of a fourteen year old girl in the 60s who gets wrapped up in a Manson-like cult. The story appeared to borrow heavily from the history of Manson and his followers. I found it to be an engaging story, but also quite depressing. And fair warning (if it’s even needed in a book about a Manson-like group) the subject matter is adult.

Division of the Marked, Elevation of the Marked, and Maturation of the Marked by March McCarron

2017 MMD Reading for Growth Challenge: three books by the same author



I purchased Division of the Marked quite some time ago, probably through a BookBub deal, but I honestly don’t know. I’d rediscovered it when scrolling through my Kindle Fire and bumped this one (causing it to pop up to the top of my list), and I’m so glad. I found Division of the Marked to be so intense and engaging, that I purchased Elevation of the Marked, and then also Maturation of the Marked (which is a novella that falls between the other two books). I can’t wait for the next book in the series to come out, so hopefully March is writing quickly!

Digital Landscape Photography by Kim Rormark

I’m trying to improve my photography for the blog. It’s definitely a work in progress! This book had some great tips for setting up your camera to improve your photos, as well as composition tips. There was also explanation for the composition guides, which a lot of books on photography don’t include. I found this relatively short book to be helpful.

 

Books In Progress:

A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meisner

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

 

Books I’ve Abandoned:

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

April 2017 Reading List

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Every month I try to read at least one book from the following categories: nonfiction, devotional, and fiction. And this year I’m participating in the 2017 Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenges, so 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 my April 2017 Reading List, my brief reviews and book recommendations for April 2017. Hopefully I’ll provide you with some inspiration for your future reading as well!

Books Finished:

The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joana Gaines

This book is inspiring and was exactly the right book for me at the time that I read it, a real pallet cleanser. Things have been difficult for me at work lately, and reading Chip and Jo’s descriptions of hard times in their work, as well as how God was present and guided their actions and decisions and the outcomes was a great reminder. The book is an easy and short read. I recommend this book.

The Tools of Argument: How the Best Lawyers Think, Argue, and Win by Joel Trachtman

I heard about this book at a conference last fall for trial lawyers (which I am). It was a great reminder of all of the various concepts and arguments that I learned back in law school. It would be a great primer for new lawyers as well.

The American Girl by Kate Horsley

My book club’s April pick, this was unlike every other book that we’ve read so far. I listened to it as an audiobook, and really liked it in that format. The structure of the book is blog posts and video diaries, so it feels very modern, and realistic. The story was exciting and had lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing. I recommend this one.

What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding: A Memoir by Kristin Newman

2017 MMD Reading for Fun Challenge: a juicy memoir

I don’t honestly remember how I heard about this book, but the title made me want to read it. I thought that I may relate to the author, as a 32-year-old woman without children…but I did not. The author wrote about her experiences taking drugs and having sex with random strangers around the world on her travels. I don’t relate to that experience at all. My version of traveling is experiencing the sights, sounds, and local culture, not just hooking up or getting high and missing out on the location visited. And the author mocked her friends who decided to get married or have children, while eventually ending up with a divorced man with two kids. I choose not to have children, but I can understand why others would want to. I didn’t care for this one.

The House by the Lake by Ella Carey

I feel like books like this are exactly in my wheelhouse. I love when historical fiction and a modern-day story meet, as well as examining a time/culture/situation/people in a new way, and this book does that. The plot (protagonist goes to Germany to recover an item that her grandfather left behind in 1940) seems sort of hokey, which the character  even acknowledges sounds far it definitely works.

How Can I Be Blessed? by R.C. Sproul

A short book, it examines each of the Beatitudes, what they mean as well as what they don’t mean. It was helpful,as I find the Beatitudes confusing and difficult to understand. In some respects they seem easy to achieve, and in others, impossible. I appreciated this short but close examination, with examples and anecdotes, enlightening.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2017 MMD Reading for Fun Challenge: a book with a reputation for being un-put-down-able

This was a $1.99 Kindle deal, and had been on my wish list for quite some time, so I snapped it up and read it almost immediately. I previously saw the movie and loved it, but the book truly is even better. The movie stayed pretty true to the story, but there were some changes that would be necessary to cut the story down to a reasonable length movie. The perspectives of the main characters felt authentic. I really loved it!

A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold

I first heard about this book (and the book Columbine, which is on my overdrive waitlist) on the What Should I Read Next podcast. And boy it did not disappoint! The subject matter, and Sue’s description of her meeting with law enforcement and learning in detail about what her son and Eric Harris did, thought, and said is horrifying. But most of the book focuses more on her reaction and the worlds response to Columbine. I also appreciated the amount of research that the book contained, as it was clear that Sue really did everything possible to understand how her son could become a mass murderer. This book is enlightening, and makes you realize that what you thought you knew with respect to The Klebolds and Columbine is probably. Or accurate.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Expurey

So this is a children’s book. But I can’t say that I’d want my nieces or nephew to read it. The story was sort of sweet, until the ending, where it’s sad and horrible, and doesn’t make any sense. I guess I don’t understand why the book is beloved by so many.

 

Books in Progress:

In the Woods by Tana French

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi

 

Books I’ve Abandoned:

Netherland by Joseph O’Neill

The Road to Jerusalem: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1967 by Walter Laqueur

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