2016 in Books

So there was  a lot of bad in 2016 but this post is going to focus on the good...specifically the good things I have been READING this year! My friend Karissa posted her top 5 reads from this year HERE and I loved the idea so I am stealing it and doing my own...only I have a horrible memory so I had to consult with GoodReads to find out what those favorites were. Before I tell you I must first say...my rankings on GoodReads are not very consistent. Sometimes I think I am just in a good mood and I love books and I rate everything high....other times I am more critical and rate things low. Later the ratings don't really mean much. Haha. I really just keep it to remember WHAT I read. So....take the ratings with a grain of salt remembering how moody I am! but here are the top 5:

Love is the Higher Law - David Levithan (5 stars from me)

This is a tiny book about the events of 911 and how they effected several young people in New York and the areas surrounding it. I have to admit that I normally shy away from books like this as I assume they go for the emotional "get" and are just trying to make you cry for the sake of crying. This book DID make me cry but I felt it was truly genuine and helped me to understand and see this event in a way I never have before. It was very personal and very hard to read at times, but very significant and important. I am better for having read it.



Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys (5 stars from me)

So this is another book I just normally would never even pick up...apparently 2016 was the year for new things bookwise for me. Historical fiction has never been a favorite of mine but I saw this author at a literature festival and was so impressed with her that I immediately sought out the book and was so glad I did. One of the things I most appreciated about this book was that it taught another side to a story we all know, a side so often ignored. Hitler was not the only one committing atrocities during World War II and yet we never hear about what is happening in the Eastern European Countries, which is where this story takes us. One of many quotes that stood out to me was this, "There were only two possible outcomes in Siberia. Success meant survival. Failure meant death. I wanted life. I wanted to survive." This is the journey of one girls survival in the face of unimaginable - and yet very real horror.

*****So these were the only two books that I awarded 5 stars to - they were obviously the 2 that impressed me beyond any others. I then had 34 of my total 89 books marked as 4 stars...like I said, sometimes I am pretty easy with my ratings. So I went through the list and choose the next 3 that I remember really standing out to me*****

When We Collided - Emory Lord 

This book, at first, I thought was just a YA love story about a girl and a boy meeting after the girl moves to a new town. Kind of the same old, same old you know? But it is so much more. The girl is actually suffering from a mental illness, which is unknown to everyone in her new town - and the boy has recently lost his father and is dealing with his own grief and the subsequent breakdown of his mother in the wake of that event. The book beautifully and realistically shows the raw feelings of both characters and how they both help and hurt one another as they find love and deal with their individual issues.







George - Alex Gino

This book, I am sure, has made a lot of lists. Not all of them good ones. I can see it being on a lot of banned book lists in the future and causing a lot of waves. It is the story of a very young boy named George who believes in his heart he is not a boy at all but a girl. It follows his struggles to tell his best friend and his parents and his triumph of trying out for the "girl" part of Charlotte in the school play. It was startling to me to see these issues played out in such a young character. It was important for me to realize that is a reality. This book is very simple and very easy to read and I think an important starting place for those who wish to gain an understanding of transgender people and the realities they face every day. It changed me and I am grateful for it.




Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard

All of the other books I have chosen are fairly heavy and important - this one is so much fun! It impressed me most because it seems to defy any real lines of genre and fits several of my favorites - fairy tale elements, sci fi elements, magical or supernatural elements, dystopian elements...I am sure there are more! I love that it does not fit any one of those but plays in each. And I should not have implied it was NOT important, we read this book in my student book club and it led to awesome discussions on class divisions, race, gender and much more. This was a definite favorite of the year for me.





My goal for the year on GoodReads was only 50 and I WAY over reached that hitting 89 with 3 books currently almost read (will probably only finish 1 of them by the end of the  year though). I also had a goal this year to read at least one book by every author who spoke at the literature festival YALLFEST that I attended in November and I am very proud to say that I achieved that goal! I love being introduced to new authors and kinds of literature - that festival has become one of my favorite things to do every year! If you want to see the other books I read this year you can check out my GoodReads 2016 list HERE. I am excited to read & write more in 2017!!

Day 14...Collections

July 14: What do you collect and why?

I have never been much of a collector. I am not really sure why. I am TOTALLY a pack rat and I keep tons of stuff, but not particularly one kind of stuff.

The one exception, I guess, would be BOOKS.

I definitely collect them. But they are not like most collectible items. They are not for being set out to look pretty. They are not for the sake of having a collection. They are for READING. I am hard on my books. I read them in the tub, I bend their spines back to make them easier to see, I lay them around the car and the house even though that could be dangerous for their lasting beauty. I believe books are to be used not admired. I love seeing a worn out book...it has been treasured. All of my books are treasured!

Challenge complete

So I finished the book challenge! Yay! I cheated a little bit one time when my back totally gave out and I could not sit at my computer for 4 days straight, but I made it up and by the end of July I had posted 31 times! One of the reasons I decided to do the challenge was to get me in the habit of blogging more often. I don't intend to do it EVERY day (I know, collective sigh of relief right?) but I would like to do it more often. I often feel, though, that I have nothing really worth saying. Why would anyone else care what I am doing or thinking? I think that is a valid question in some ways, but in other ways I think...that's what blogging is. If people don't care about what I am thinking/saying, they won't read my blog! Ha! So I am going to try.

Before I did the book challenge I was actually in the middle of another challenge that was much less structured. It just gave very basic questions or topics about yourself to answer. I think it was created to help those getting into blogging. I did enjoy doing those, and think I will return to it eventually, but I actually really liked the book challenge better. Reading and books are so much a part of who I am (hello, librarian!) so it was good to get to share some of my love for that in a new way. I felt like I was giving out recommendations every day! And you all should take them! (well most of them. You can probably safely skip my least favorite and my embarrassed to read pics.). I think I will continue to blog about books in some manner. Maybe a review of the books I read or some such thing. I have not decided for sure.

Today I began a new sort of challenge, one that has nothing to do with blogging. My nephew's new school begins 2 hours earlier than his old school AND is much further away from us, so today we began a quest to reorient our bodies and become morning people. We have to get up at 5am every weekday morning! Whoa...seriously that is painful for me to even write. 5am is NOT okay. I am a night owl. I am happiest when I go to bed between midnight and 2am and wake up around 10 am. Obviously....that is not going to work. Michael's new bedtime is 8:30pm and last night mine was 10pm. I could NOT fall asleep that fast. I am hoping, however, that if I make sure I am in bed by that time every night and I am tired from getting up so early maybe my body will eventually adjust to it. I might even move it a little earlier. This means a switch in how we do EVERYTHING though. My free time to get things done has always been after Michael goes to bed and I am used to having like 3 to 4 hours. That time is gone now. I have about an hour and then my own nighttime routine. We will see how it goes. I am hoping to learn to love the extra daytime hours we will gain (he is home from school at 3pm now). I am hoping....

In other news I finally began weeding my front porch garden area. The excitement of my life knows no bounds! Ha! There is much going on in home owning and parenting, but little else, which is good I suppose as those two things are taking up plenty of time and energy. I do have a Pampered Chef party coming up and a revamping of my Premier Jewelry business, so hopefully more good things in the near future. I hope your week is a great one!

K

Day 7: Book that you can quote/recite

This is the easiest choice I have had yet. There are many books that I have read often enough to quote them, but the  one that I can (after YEARS) recite almost perfectly is one that my mom used to read to me as a child. It is

The Sneetches (and other stories) by Dr. Seuss

We read this book so many times I cannot even tell you. There are actually several stories in this book and we (myself, my sister and my brother) could probably sit down and tell you all of them with very near accuracy. The one we loved (and know) the BEST though is called What Was I Scared Of?

This is the story of a pair of pale green pants....with nobody inside them!

Does it get any better than that? Oh yeah it does because this is a Dr. Seuss book which means it has a moral (don't be afraid of others just because they are different than you) and awesome illustrations, tongue twisters...all of it! I love this book and try to give it to/read it to as many children as possible because I never want the tradition of reading/knowing this book to die!

Day 6: Favorite young adult fiction novel

So this is it...the hardest challenge for me in this month. So far ALL of my choices have been Young Adult Fiction novels. I love them!! I have always enjoyed reading YA novels, but since I have become a librarian at a children/youth library....well now I can't get away from them ever. I do, occasionally, read adult fiction and/or non-fiction, but by and large my reading is from the YA genre. The stories in YA literature just seem so much more real to me. I think sometimes that adult writers are a bit to idealistic. YA novels thrive on the awkwardness of life and the struggles of growing up. It makes it much more approachable and real to me in many ways (even when the characters are wizards or fairies or whatever!).

So I have searched my heart and soul and I have decided...not to pick one. Ha Ha. Just kidding. I will pick BUT I will say that I pick with the understanding that there are so many others I could have just as easily picked. So many that have moved me and changed me in ways I cannot even always see. One that, in particular, did this to me was

His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman

Okay, okay I know, that is technically NOT one book but it is one story so I decided to go with the whole set. If I had to pick I would probably choose the first one as my favorite, but that is really only because I love falling in love with another world in literature. It is the most exciting part of reading.

I read these books on the recommendation of Judy Bivens (another librarian) and was just blown away by them! It was several years before they tried to make a movie and thus caused all of the controversy and sensation that are usually associated with them now. I just read them, and was amazed. I read these from the library, but then had to go out immediately and buy a set because I NEEDED to be able to write in the books. Now writing in books is usually something I only do when I am studying or reading theology/philosophy. These books are almost that! They are so complex and intense and yet beautiful and fun at the same time, it amazes me. I love these books and feel (at least fairly) comfortable naming them as my favorite YA books.

Day 4: A Book That Makes You Cry

Okay so anyone reading this post who knows me knows that this is a silly category for me because EVERYTHING makes me cry! I cry at commercials...almost every day. I am a crier. Happy tears, sad tears...whatever. I probably cried. It's just the way I am.

But to pick one book that I KNOW will make me cry every time was not difficult. Once again it is a Young Adult novel, and one that has always been a favorite. The book that makes me cry is

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

This book is wonderful because it brings you to all kinds of tears. Some of my saddest moments as a reader have been with the passing of dear sweet Beth. And rather than making it less sad, I think I am more sad each time I read it. She becomes more and more dear to me and my loss feels greater and greater.

There are happy tears to be found in Little Women as well, tears of triumph and tears of pride and joy. There are also other heartaches to be found in the pages. And I, as a self proclaimed weeper, cry them all. I feel them all and I would not have it any other way. Though making me cry is not as hard as it might be for some other people, it is still something to strive for. If a book cannot make you cry with the characters, then what kind of book is it really?

I love to enter the world of books. I want to be a part of their world. I long to weep, both in sadness and in love, with characters such as the March family. They are what make book reading worth while.



Here is what makes Karissa cry!

Day 3: Book that makes you laugh

So this is my 3rd entry of the book challenge and so far I have started each one complaining about how hard this is...and it IS! Today's challenge is a book that makes you laugh. Well LOTS of books make me laugh. And I have read LOTS of books. And I am old so my memory is not what it used to be. So I will try to henceforth spend less time complaining and more time talking about books. My choice today is:

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

These books are about a red-head, so of course they already get points from me! I love red-headed heroines. Especially awkward redheads who say whatever comes to their mind. Kinda reminds me of someone...he he. I LOVE this redhead in particular though. She has so much heart and her adventures just make me...laugh. They also have been known to make me cry but today we are focusing on the laughing! :)

When I was in high school I was part of forensics and I did a dramatic reading from Anne of Green Gables. I will never forget reading aloud in her very dramatic character..."I am in the depths of despair!" and then popping up to add "have you ever been in the depths of despair?" and just chattering on and on as if a second before she had not been...well despairing. She is what makes us laugh about children, and I love that her character maintains that even into adulthood. Anne of Green Gables will always be one of my favorites and a big reason is the way she makes me laugh!


See what makes my friend Karissa laugh HERE