In the blogging world, it seems to be a tradition of sorts to evaluate your reading at the quarter or halfway point in the year. I love traditions, so here’s my mid-year evaluation for 2009: the eleven best books I’ve read so far.
1. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine HoweI didn’t want to stop reading this book and I got to a point where I was reading in slow motion, wishing the book wouldn’t end. Strange things happen in the book but it’s never weird. (I don’t like books with weird things in them, like vampires and witches.) The main character is someone I like and understand: a nice conventional young woman and serious student who was raised by a hippy, New Age single mom. There are other good characters set in modern times, as well as characters from the 1600s and 1700s. The story flows back and forth smoothly. Good plot and good characters–was there anything I didn’t like? No, there wasn’t. I will re-read this one for sure. |
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2. Home Another Way by Christa ParrishThe best books are populated with realistic characters that stay with me long after I’ve finished the book. Scripture that says man looks on the outside while God sees the inside. That is the essence of this book: realistic characters we see clear down to their “insides” and love anyway. This is character-rich Christian fiction that doesn’t preach. It’s a deep and complicated story that should engage most everyone. |
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3. The Way Home by George Pelacanos My husband Jay and I both read this book and found it compelling. Now that we are fifteen years past the raising of our last child we were able to talk about the subject of this book, parenting, with some healthy distance. The conversation the book triggered was lively: Is it the parents’ fault when their kids go bad? We found that we didn’t always agree. |
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4. Comfort Me with Apples: A Journey Through Life, Love and Truffles by Ruth ReichlLike her later book Garlic and Sapphires, this book is a memoir–but Comfort Me With Apples covers the time of Reichl’s life when her food writing career has just begun to soar. We see Reichl go from a commune in Berkeley to her job as restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times. We follow along as she travels, meets the luminaries of the food world, and learns new cooking techniques and recipes. Her food writing makes my senses come alive: “The oysters were cold, with that deep, mysteriously ancient flavor they have when they first come out of the ocean.” Can’t you just feel and smell and taste those oysters? I hated for the book to end. |
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5. Montana Creeds: Logan by Linda Lael MillerSometimes I just need to read a book that makes me feel good. After completing the heart-wrenching I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings (see review below), I was ready for a light romance, and this book fit the bill. The characters are appealing. The author did a great job with their dialogue and demonstrations of brotherly love. Plus, I think most people will find the two dogs very charming. After reading this book, my spirit has lifted and I’m ready to move on with my serious reading! |
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6. The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie In my quest to read all of Agatha Christie’s mystery novels, I’m finding myself in the oddest predicament. Each month (I’m reading one per month) I find myself saying, “This is the best one!” I think I said that last month when I read The Man in the Brown Suit. But honestly, this one is the best. It was witty and fun, had all sorts of red herrings and dead-end trails. My mind was guessing in all sorts of directions before it all finally game together in the end. If you’re looking for a good cozy mystery with no gore, this is it. |
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7. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Ms. Angelou’s autobiography of her life from age three through sixteen is a heart wrenching true story of things that should never happen to a child. But it’s also a true story of a shameful part of our American culture and history. It took me a long time to read this book–not because it was boring or inferior, but because it was so incredibly good. I kept pausing to re-read passages and then to read them out loud to my husband, sometimes to myself. |
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8. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara KingsolverMs. Kingsolver, her husband and two daughters set in motion a plan to live one whole year eating only what they grew themselves or what was grown within their local area. I’m a big Barbara Kingsolver fan and when I heard she had written about this project, I had to read the book. Plus my family and I along with other friends did something similar to this back in the 1970′s during that era’s Back To The Land movement. After reading this book I’m still a Kingsolver fan. Some parts of the book stand out for me: her discussion of heirloom seeds, her experience with her turkeys and her tomato harvest. If you don’t read anything else, read the last chapter in which she talks about what she might do differently and her plans for the future. It has something we can all take away and adopt even if we don’t have access to the kind of farmland Ms. Kingsolver has. This is a must-read book for anyone concerned with healthy and responsible eating. |
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9. Strawberry Girl 60th Anniversary Edition (Trophy Newbery) Lois Lenski What a pleasure to go back in time and remember sitting and lying on our front porch one summer with this Newberry-Award-winning book. Lois Lenski has an uncanny way with dialogue. She writes in such a way that I swear I can hear exactly how the people are talking. Lenski wrote seventeen books in this series of regional stories and did extensive research for each one. They have all been very popular. I think children about nine or ten could handle this book, but I’d also recommend it for those of us who are a little bit older! |
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10. The Railway Children Edith Nesbit The children, Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis, are normal, everyday children–they do plenty of arguing and mis-behaving. They are poor, but they manage to have lots of fun. The book is filled with their heroic adventures. They enjoy the freedom of exploring the countryside and are especially enamored with the railway that goes by. Although the book was written over a hundred years ago, I believe it is still appealing for children today. Probably best as a read-aloud book with your grandchildren–perhaps after dinner, one chapter at a time. |
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11. Jantsen’s Gift: A True Story of Grief, Rescue, and Grace by Pam Cope Pam Cope is a wife and mother from Neosho, Missouri. She lived through, barely, a parent’s worst nightmare – her son Jantsen’s sudden death at the age of fifteen. While recovering from her grief, one of her tasks was to decide how to spend the money given in memory of her son. Pam found the answer while visiting an orphanage in Thailand; and with her husband, went on to establish an organization, Touch A Life Foundation, that has changed the lives of many children in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Ghana. I’m very honored to have had the opportunity to read this book and am recommending it to everyone I know, |
This list originally appeared on my blog, Joyfully Retired. Follow this link to find complete reviews for each book in this list.
What are some of the best books you’ve read so far this year? Recommend them below!
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Who do you think you Are? Fabulous memoir of growing up in New York with abuse. Offers insight and compassion. One wonders, “what if MY parent treated me that way?” “What would I do” ???
“Dough” Another NYC memoir… with a secret that I won’t divulge.