Books I Read in 2019
from ggprints on Etsy
I plan to continue to write longer pieces about some books I read, but I want to have a list of all the books I read in a year, so I am starting this page to do that.
* = Stars (rating)
#1 - A Widow’s Story - 5*
Joyce Carol Oates
Second book I read that is a memoir of the sudden death of their husband. The other one was by Joan Didion. She didn’t mention names but I think Oates and Didion are friends and wrote each other. I like the quote about how after the first year the widow should know she did an important job by keeping herself alive.
#2 - Thrones, Dominations - 5*
Dorothy Sayers and Jill Patton Walsh
Walsh finished an unfinished Lord Peter Wimsey manuscript. Set right after Peter and Harriet came home from honeymoon and settled into their own home. Well written. Fun to be with the characters again.
#3 - Theft by Finding - 3*
David Sedaris
Diary of David Sedaris. Weird, sometimes banal, sometimes funny entries of his diary. Not my fave of his.
#4 - Changing Planes - 2*
Ursula K. LeGuin
I thought I should read a book by LeGuin since she passed away last year and people were raving about her. I read this almost halfway and decided not to finish it. Each chapter is of a different “plane” where different beings live. She describes their characteristics and ways of living. The premise is that you can “change planes” while waiting in an airport, and get to these different planes. They’ve become tourist destinations. I can see that the point is probably that each plane’s beings represent something to do with our creation and humanity, like one plane with beings where gene mixing had gone wild and there were people who were part corn or part rooster and strange things like that. I just kind of lost interest.
#5 - The Nature of the Beast - 5*
Louise Penny
This was another amazing “Chief Inspector Gamache Novel” by Louise Penny! She is incredibly good. The characters are so real I feel sad for the books to end. I’m so glad when another comes out so I can be with them again. The setting is in Quebec. I wonder if they have Inspector Gamache tours in Quebec again. The central setting is Three Pines, which I’m sure does not exist. This book’s mystery was centered on a big gun called Big Babylon, found near Three Pines. It was a great story and then at the end the author’s note said that the gun and the guy who built it and details of his death were true! Too incredible to think!
#6 - The Rain in Portugal - 5*
Billy Collins
I love Billy Collins’ poetry and this newest book just continued the love fest. I’ll write the poem that inspired the title in my blog. People always say Collins’ poetry is “approachable,” and I guess that’s as good a word as any for it. You can just read and enjoy it, and it is often funny. The poems are usually no longer than a page, too, so that makes them easy.
#7 - Friday’s Child - 5*
Georgette Heyer
I love Georgette Heyer Regency Romances. They are my comfort food books. They’re like a light Jane Austen - British and funny. I read this one for the umpteenth time as a break from more serious stuff. Viscount Sherringham is rejected by the local beauty and swears he’ll marry the next girl he sees. That turns out to be his childhood friend Hero, who clearly worships him. He marries her, calling her “Kitten.” She is delightfully enchanted with London life but woefully unprepared. Sherry has to rescue her from many scrapes. Finally she runs away when he becomes exasperated, and then absence makes the heart grow fonder.
#8 - Andy Catlett Early Travels - 5*
Wendell Berry
I recently discovered Wendell Berry and I’ve become a huge admirer. I plan to write a blog (or more than one) on him. This book is about Andy Catlett, a member of the Port Williams township -- as all his characters are. Andy is looking back from 1986 to his childhood. The book starts with a bus trip to his grandparents that, at the age of 9, he got to take by himself. He sees and meets many people who, as you read more of Berry’s books, you come to know and love.
#9 - Jayber Crow - 5*
Wendell Berry
Jayber Crow and Hannah Coulter are the two Wendell Berry novels that people seem to talk about the most. I liked Jayber Crow a lot, as I have all Berry’s novels. Jayber has a kind of rough childhood where his parents die, then the couple who adopts him also dies, and he ends up in an orphanage. Through it all he thinks about Port William and after some time elsewhere he ends up settling there. His friend Burley, one of the greatest characters of all, helps him become the town barber.
#10 - Hannah Coulter - 5*
Wendell Berry
Berry’s books are always set in Port William but at many different times. Hannah Coulter is a contemporary of Andy Catlett, although Andy is a young boy when Hannah is a young married woman. The story is set before the beginning of WWII, during, and after it. After the war, the farmers start buying tractors and this is very significant for Berry. He believes that once the machinery started to move in, farming changed. Slowly big companies moved in, people’s kids moved away, and the land was not cared for in a sustainable way.
#11 - A Place in Time - 5*
Wendell Berry
This is a collection of short stories. All wonderful. I am listening to a podcast called “The Membership,” where 3 guys discuss Berry’s writing. I get a lot from those discussions and enjoy listening.
#12 - Shameless: A Sexual Reformation - 5*
Nadia Bolz-Weber
I am in the middle of reading several other books, but read this one almost in one sitting. I was super curious what it would say because I’ve been following Nadia Bolz-Weber for years. Taking on sexuality was bold, but that shouldn’t surprise us when we’re talking about Nadia Bolz-Weber. She tells many stories of people who have been harmed by the church’s teachings of abstinence, denying your sexuality, and blaming women for men’s adultery and other sinful acts. While remaining avidly Lutheran, believing in the gospel stories, including Jesus’ resurrection, she finds a different way of looking at the Bible’s teachings about sexuality.
#13 - Lament for a Son - 5*
Nicholas Wolterstorff
Wow. This book is raw. Wolterstorff wrote it through the year after his son’s death from a rock climbing fall. So much grief, so much wisdom. I ordered it after reading this article. https://www.christiancentury.org/article/first-person/grief-and-not-theologizing-about-it
#14 - Distant Land of my Father - 4*
Bo Caldwell
A novel chosen by our bookclub. Somewhat autobiographical. About a girl growing up first in Shanghai with her American parents, then California. Her father was a Shanghai businessman who loved Shanghai and loved his daughter but was a restless, not always honest and not always wise businessman. Great story. The author is Ron Hansen’s wife.
#15 - The Dark Wind - 5*
Tony Hillerman
I keep the Tony Hillerman novels, the Georgette Heyer novels, and the ones by David and Aimee Thurlow in the small bookcase from my bed. I read them over and over, especially the Georgette Heyer ones. I enjoy taking trips to New Mexico with the Hillerman and Thurlow books, and learning a bit about the Navaho life. Good mysteries.
#16 - In This World of Wonders: Memoir of a Life in Learning - 5*
Nicholas Wolterstorff
After reading the article and the book Lament for a Son, I wanted to read more by and about Wolterstorff. This book did not disappoint. He is a wise man, full of the Spirit of God. His mind is incredible. He is interested in so much, and makes it an object to learn deeply what he is curious about -- art, justice, the world, philosophy, religion. Amazing. I’m signed up for a course he’s giving to Calvin alums called “Why Justice Matters.” Looking forward to it!
#17 - A Place on Earth - 5*
Wendell Berry
Stories of Port Williams members during WWII. Burley Coulter while his 2 nephews are at war, Hannah while husband Virgil is at war, Virgil’s father, his uncle. A flood when the river overflows. Ends as the war ends.
#s18, 19 - These Old Shades, Devil’s Cub - 5*
Georgette Heyer
As I wrote before, the Regency Romances by Georgette Heyer are another collection of books I keep in my bedside bookcase. They make me laugh and I often read them to cheer myself up.These 2 books are related in that the main male character in These Old Shades is the father of the main male character in Devil’s Cub. Leonie, the protagonist of the first, has many adventures, including masquerading as a boy. In Devil’s Cub, Alistair is a “rake” who is forced to marry the girl he abducts, but of course he falls in love with her.
#20 - Tell me More - 5*
Kelly Corrigan
I joined the Jen Hatmaker book club and this was the first book. We get a book per month in the mail, with a little surprise included, website with overviews and discussion questions, and a private Facebook group to discuss. This was a good book. Easy to pick up and put down. Good thought-provoking ideas.
#21 - Women in Sunlight - 5*
Frances Mayes
Another Jen Hatmaker book. Fun read. This author wrote a memoir, Under the Tuscan Sun (much better than the movie based on it), and several other books about Tuscany. This one is a novel also based in Tuscany. One American woman has lived in a Tuscan villa for 12 years, then 3 other Americans move into one next door. The 4 women become friends and you follow their adventures, learn about their lives, and so on. The women are all in or entering retirement age and facing decisions about their next chapter in life. Funny, sunny, touching, and delicious (lots of Italian food is featured).
#22 - On Reading Well - 5*
Karen Swallow Prior
This book has a chapter for each virtue, and a classic book to go along with the virtue. See my reading blog (link on the title here) for more detail. So, so good!
#23 - The Citadel - 4*
A.J. Cronin
I liked this book a lot. It was better than I expected. A story about a newly graduated doctor in Wales, the U.K., Andrew Manson. It starts out with his first job in a small mining company town and follows him through most of his career. Manson is disgusted and disheartened by the state of medical practice -- doctors giving medicines knowing they are ineffective just to make a profit, a system of competition that encourages deceit and discourages true learning and care for their patients. Although Manson falls into the same trap for a time, he mostly combats it as well as he can, with the help of some close friends. The book also develops the story of his marriage to a loving wife who helps him find his way.
#24 - The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels - 4*
Ree Drummond
I picked this up in a used bookstore in Lynden. It’s a fun, funny, and quick read. I finished it in a day. It’s a memoir of Ree meeting “Marlboro Man” after she had gone to college and lived in LA for 7 years and was home in Oklahoma packing to move to Chicago. It goes through their first year of marriage, which includes their first child. I follow Ree on social media and TV and enjoyed hearing the story. Not great literature, and kind of fluffy, but I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about “the Pioneer woman.”
#25 - Deadline - 3*
Randy Alcorn
I read about half of this, then stopped. The story is interesting - a mystery, really, about 3 men in a car accident and why someone was trying to kill one or more of them - but it’s a bit too heavy-handed for me. The characters are of different minds about their faith and some core beliefs about abortion, guns, and other topics that are often contentious. That wouldn’t be so bad because exploring various perspectives via a good story would be good. However, in this case the characters do a lot of talking and explaining. Long passages of people telling each other what they believe and why. The story isn’t exploring the topics -- the characters explain their take on the topics, in great detail.
#26 - Chances Are... - 5*
Richard Russo
Russo is one of my favorite authors. He wrote Nobody’s Fool and Empire Falls, both of which were made into TV shows that were excellent, too. Paul Newman is in both of them. I highly recommend the shows and the books. Chances Are… is excellent, too, with the great writing, story, and humor I love. I thought about giving it a 4 only because I like other books I’ve read by Russo better, but it deserves a 5 when compared to all the books I’ve read. This is one of the most contemporary novels I’ve run across. The characters are 66, set in the present day. I am almost 63 myself so I was almost the same age as these guys at the same time that the story takes place -- with memories back to the Vietnam war years. Four friends get together at a beach house they spent their last weekend of college together at. There’s a mystery about a girl they all loved who was engaged to someone else but also there that weekend. The mystery is she disappeared after that. Lots packed into a great story.
#27 - A Better Man - 5*
Louise Penny
Another Inspector Gamache book by Louise Penny. As soon as I’m aware a new one is out, I get it and read it voraciously. I plan to re-read this one. Sometimes they are so deep with details, I need a second reading to absorb the story. In this one a man asks Gamache to help him find his daughter’s murderer and the search leads to many far-reaching consequences.
#28 - Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk - 3*
Kathleen Rooney
One of the books in the Jen Hatmaker book club I joined. It’s an enjoyable story of a woman now in her 80’s walking through New York city and remembering her life there.
#29 - The Sound of Gravel - 4*
Ruth Wariner
Another Jen Hatmaker book club book. It’s a memoir. Ruth is a member of a polygamist family, an offshoot of Mormonism. The family settles in the countryside in Mexico where her grandfather was one of the founders of a village that a group of families created to dodge the law against polygamy and be self-sufficient. It does not thrive and some horrible child abuse goes on. It’s incredible to read of the way that many women, including Ruth’s mother, become defenders and believers that not only is it right for men to have more than one wife, they believe it is God’s will. Hard to fathom, especially when they are aware of the abuse and harm to the children, and even to themselves. Ruth’s mother escapes the village a few times, but always goes back.
#30 - The Power of Habit - 5*
Charles Duhigg
Super interesting book on habits. I’ve read a lot about habits and ways to form good habits and so on. This book provided new insights. The “Habit Loop” (Cue, Routine, Reward) is a fundamental concept in the book and, although it sounds simple, there is a lot to learn in it. The author has lots of true-life stories to illustrate, which keep you engaged.
#31 - The Dutch House - 4*
Ann Patchett
I went to an author event at Kepler’s Bookstore to hear Ann Patchett speak and get an autographed copy of this book. Patchett is an engaging speaker! She told us many stories of interviews with other authors. She owns a bookstore in Nashville and is often called on to interview authors on book tours. It was fun to hear about them. The book is about a brother and sister who grew up in what was called “the Dutch house.” The house becomes a major icon in their lives. In one way it was incredible, with beautiful rooms and land and even beautiful furniture and art that together made it a wonderful place to grow up. But their father and stepmother had a troubled relationship with each other and the siblings. As the adult siblings remember the house, you slowly learn the story of their lives. It’s a good read.
#32 - Virgil Wander - 5*
Leif Enger
Leif Enger is another author I love. I hardly have to review the book cover to know I’ll want to read whatever book I find by him. In this book, the main character, Virgil Wander, has had a serious accident that leaves him “concussed” so that he is sometimes confused about what he sees. He meets a stranger who is the father of a man who disappeared from the town several years ago. Enger is so good at inventing characters and scenes. The conversations they have, too, are great. I felt like I was living in Greenstone, Minnesota, for a while, with fascinating people in a fascinating story.
#33 - Miracles and Other Reasonable Things - 5*
Sarah Bessey
Sarah Bessey wrote Out of Sorts, which is a great book. I knew I would like this book as well. Bessey was a good friend of Rachel Held Evans and one of the group of Christian writers in the community that includes Evans. I read all of them -- Rachel Held Evans, Sarah Bessey, Jeff Chu, Shauna Niequist, Nadia Bolz-Webber, Austin Channing, Barbara Brown Taylor, Jen Hatmaker, and others. Rachel Held Evans and Sarah Bessey started the conference called “Evolving Faith,” which has grown into a big event. In this book writes about going through the recovery from a terrible car accident. Her injuries were so bad they never really healed completely and she has had to change her life to accommodate the weakness and pain they still cause. It’s a beautiful, true story of the loss and hope she experienced.
#34 - How to Walk Away - 4*
Katherine Center
#35 - This is How it Always Is - 4*
Laurie Frankel
#36 - A Fatal Grace - 5*
Louise Penny