Books I finished during 2015, in the order in which I read them.
The Secret of Santa Vittoria by Robert Crichton (Kindle).
Story of a small Italian village during WWII and how they
hide their wine from the Germans throughout the war. This was on a list of supposedly funny
books. I did not find it to be overly
funny, although the situation in general could be construed as humorous. But there was quite a bit of violence in
it. How could it be funny when it
includes Nazis?
Love burning in the soul : the story of the Christian
mystics, from Saint Paul to Thomas Merton, by James Harpur. Nonfiction.
Bartleby the Scrivener: a Story of Wall Street, by
Herman Melville. (Kindle) Good writing,
but utterly depressing and unsatisfying ending.
Carry On, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. (Kindle) Short stories about Bertie Wooster
and Jeeves. Quite amusing.
Reimagining Christianity : reconnect your spirit without
disconnecting your mind by Alan W. Jones. Nonfiction.
Maisie Dobbs (novel) by Jacqueline Winspear
The Reformation: History in an Hour (Kindle) Nonfiction
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy
Fowler
About a woman who has a chimp for a sister. Just like a chimp, it’s an unpredictable plot.
Paul Among the People: the Apostle reinterpreted and
reimagined in his own time, by Sarah
Ruden. Nonfiction. The author re-examines the writings of Paul
in light of non-Christian writings of (roughly) the same historical era, to
shed light on the culture that Paul was commenting on/resisting against. Not an
easy read, in my opinion.
Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the
Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening by Diana Butler Bass (Kindle) Nonfiction.
Real Good Church (Kindle) by Molly Baskette.
Nonfiction
No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym
Discovering the Other (Kindle) by Cameron Harder –
about church renewal. Nonfiction
Pastrix by Nadia Bolz-Weber. Nonfiction
Our iceberg is melting : changing and succeeding under
any conditions
by John P. Kotter. Nonfiction. Starring penguins who must learn to change.
Leading Change, by John P. Kotter. Nonfiction
Leading Change in the Congregation: Spiritual and
Organizational Tools for Leaders
by Gilbert R. Rendle
Notre-Dame de Paris, Victor Hugo (bilingual version
on Kindle). Also The Hunchback of
Notre-Dame, trans Walter Cobb.
The Bible's cutting room floor : the Holy Scriptures
missing from your Bible by Joel M. Hoffman.
Nonfiction.
My Losing Season, by Pat Conroy. Nonfiction (memoir). For book club.
Small victories : spotting improbable moments of grace, by
Anne Lamott. Nonfiction.
Cranford, by Elizabeth Gaskell. Not much plot, but some tea drinking. I enjoyed it.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark. Excellent
writing. Topic not as compelling.
I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov. (Kindle) For book club. Thought-provoking, but the writing style did
not thrill me.
A Red Herring Without Mustard, by Alan C. Bradley
(Flavia de Luce Mystery)
Sarah’s Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay. At first I was not
thrilled with the switching back and forth of time frames, but the story grew
on me.
Sheltering Rain, by Jojo Moyes. A fine summer read. The author was recommended on The Crislers
blog, but a different book, which wasn’t available at the library. My other choice was yet another holocaust
novel, but I needed something less dooming.
Astro Turf, by M.G. Lord. A sort of memoir/biography about the author’s
father who worked at Jet Propulsion Lab and NASA in the early days. Biographical sketches of women working in
that industry and the author’s own thoughts about women’s rights in that arena.
March, by John Lewis.
A graphic novel about Congressman John Lewis during the Civil Rights
era. Contributors: Andrew Aydin, author; Nate Powell, artist.
American Pastoral, by Philip Roth. I list this here, although I was not able to
finish this book. Narrator is a
curmudgeon and then part-way through, narration gets fuzzy. Too violent for me. This was for Book Club.
The Misunderstood Jew, by Amy-Jill Levine. (Kindle) Nonfiction
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her
Own Making
by Catherynne M. Valente.
This is a book probably for tweens.
I think I loved this book more than my daughter did.
Wonderstruck: a novel in words and pictures by Brian Selznick.
Sarrasine, a short story. By Honore Balzac. Nov 1830.
I read it in bilingual (interlineal) French and English. (Kindle) Translation by Clara Bell 1831. Edited 2013
by Nik Marcel.
Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson. (Kindle) For book club. Nonfiction
The Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kidd.
The Clocks, by Agatha Christie
Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett. (Kindle) For book club.
The View from Penthouse B by Elinor Lippman.
The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant.
1984 by George Orwell (Eric Blair) (Kindle) Very good, but
just as upsetting and creepy as the first time I read it.
5 comments:
You can visit my Goodreads for my list! https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2015/841156
I got active on Goodreads this year just so I could keep better track of the books I've read and what I thought of them (because my brain is scarily similar to a colander). I've also managed to find some pretty good recommendations from all of my book-reading friends. Thanks!
PS: I, Robot on audio tape while driving to Arizona provided a little too much education to my younger son.
Great selections! Did you know that Bartleby the Scrivener was made into a movie starring Crispin Glover? It is very, very strange.
Goodness what a list!
I like how you read a mix of fiction and nonfiction.
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