★★★★★ — I have either read it more than once, or it shaped and influenced my thinking, or I find myself thinking about it long after I finished reading it.
★★★★ — Well-worth the time spent reading, may read it again, but haven’t yet.
★★★ — Passed the time satisfactorily, but would not read again nor urge you to read.
★★ — Had a few redeeming moments, but for the most part, a poor use of time.
★ — Deeply regret that I read this. The time would have been better spent staring vacantly out the window.
“Magical Thinking: True Stories” by Augusten Burrows
This was an awkward read for me. Augusten's life is so different from mine and his meanness disturbed me.
- adventure
- Alaska
- anthropology
- apologetics
- audiobook
- Australia
- brrrrr
- Catholicism
- China
- Christianity
- Classics
- Dakota
- disturbing
- dragons
- dystopia
- education
- England
- epilepsy
- essays
- Europe
- exploration
- fantasy
- food supply
- funny
- gothic
- Great Depression
- historical fiction
- Holocaust
- home-schooling
- Italy
- life instruction
- magical realism
- medieval
- memoir
- mental health
- Montana
- mystery
- nature
- Old English
- orphans
- Orthodoxy
- pandemic
- parenting
- plague
- plot-twist
- PNW
- poetry
- Poland
- race relations
- resources
- Russia
- sad
- science
- science fiction
- Scotland
- shipwreck
- socio-political commentary
- speeches
- the Midwest
- the South
- United States
- Victorian
- Whatcom County
- writing
- WWII
-
Alaska
- Dec 18, 2020 “The Snow Child” by Eowyn Ivey
-
Australia
- Dec 31, 2020 “The Secret River” by Kate Grenville
-
Catholicism
- Dec 1, 2020 “Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family” by Robert Kolker
- Oct 26, 2020 “Children of God” by Mary Doria Russell
- Oct 25, 2020 “The Sparrow” by Mary Doria Russell
- Oct 17, 2020 “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco
-
China
- Nov 3, 2020 “Bridge of Birds” by Barry Hughart
-
Christianity
- Dec 10, 2020 “Wild at Heart” by John Eldredge
- Nov 22, 2020 “Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense” by David Guterson
- Nov 16, 2020 “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand
- Oct 30, 2020 “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis
- Oct 22, 2020 “Peace Like a River” by Leif Enger
-
Classics
- Jul 29, 2022 BBC’s Radio Dramatization of Les Mis
- Nov 12, 2020 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
- Nov 7, 2020 “The Idiot” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Oct 28, 2020 “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
-
Dakota
- Oct 22, 2020 “Peace Like a River” by Leif Enger
-
England
- Jan 18, 2021 “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig
- Jan 15, 2021 “The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides
- Dec 31, 2020 “The Secret River” by Kate Grenville
- Nov 30, 2020 “Behind the Scenes at the Museum” by Kate Atkinson
- Nov 6, 2020 “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diana Setterfield
- Nov 5, 2020 “Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass” by Theodore Dalrymple
- Oct 23, 2020 “Watership Down” by Richard Adams
- Oct 19, 2020 “Woman in White” by Wilkie Collins
- Oct 15, 2020 “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier
-
Europe
- Dec 9, 2020 “The ZooKeeper’s Wife” by Diane Ackerman
-
Great Depression
- Oct 28, 2020 “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
-
Holocaust
- Dec 13, 2020 “Night” by Elie Wiesel
-
Italy
- Oct 17, 2020 “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco
-
Montana
- Nov 21, 2020 “The Whistling Season” by Ivan Doig
- Old English
-
Orthodoxy
- Nov 7, 2020 “The Idiot” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
-
PNW
- Nov 22, 2020 “Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense” by David Guterson
- Oct 31, 2020 “The Living” by Annie Dillard
-
Poland
- Dec 9, 2020 “The ZooKeeper’s Wife” by Diane Ackerman
-
Russia
- Nov 7, 2020 “The Idiot” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Scotland
-
United States
- Dec 18, 2020 “The Snow Child” by Eowyn Ivey
- Dec 12, 2020 “The Dutch House” by Ann Patchett
- Dec 7, 2020 “The Glass Castle”
- Dec 1, 2020 “Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family” by Robert Kolker
- Nov 21, 2020 “The Whistling Season” by Ivan Doig
- Nov 15, 2020 “Song of Solomon” by Toni Morrison
- Nov 12, 2020 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
- Nov 10, 2020 “Before We Were Yours” by Lisa Wingate
- Oct 31, 2020 “The Living” by Annie Dillard
- Oct 28, 2020 “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
- Oct 22, 2020 “Peace Like a River” by Leif Enger
-
Victorian
- Oct 19, 2020 “Woman in White” by Wilkie Collins
-
WWII
- Dec 13, 2020 “Night” by Elie Wiesel
- Dec 9, 2020 “The ZooKeeper’s Wife” by Diane Ackerman
- Nov 19, 2020 “The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies” by Jason Fagone
- Nov 16, 2020 “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand
-
Whatcom County
- Oct 31, 2020 “The Living” by Annie Dillard
-
adventure
- Oct 26, 2020 “Children of God” by Mary Doria Russell
- Oct 25, 2020 “The Sparrow” by Mary Doria Russell
- Oct 23, 2020 “Watership Down” by Richard Adams
- Oct 18, 2020 “Beowulf: A New Verse Translation” translated by Seamus Heany
- Oct 18, 2020 “Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage” by Alfred Lansing
- anthropology
-
apologetics
- Oct 30, 2020 “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis
- Oct 26, 2020 “Children of God” by Mary Doria Russell
- Oct 25, 2020 “The Sparrow” by Mary Doria Russell
-
audiobook
- Jul 29, 2022 BBC’s Radio Dramatization of Les Mis
- Dec 18, 2020 “The Snow Child” by Eowyn Ivey
- Dec 12, 2020 “The Dutch House” by Ann Patchett
-
brrrrr
- Dec 18, 2020 “The Snow Child” by Eowyn Ivey
- Oct 18, 2020 “Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage” by Alfred Lansing
-
disturbing
- Nov 28, 2020 “Magical Thinking: True Stories” by Augusten Burrows
- Nov 18, 2020 “Blindness” by José Saramago
- Nov 16, 2020 “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand
- Nov 5, 2020 “Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass” by Theodore Dalrymple
- dragons
-
dystopia
- Nov 18, 2020 “Blindness” by José Saramago
- education
- epilepsy
-
essays
- Dec 4, 2020 “A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century” by Oliver Van DeMille
- Nov 13, 2020 Imprimis Monthly Speech Digest from Hillsdale College
- Nov 5, 2020 “Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass” by Theodore Dalrymple
- Oct 30, 2020 “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis
- Oct 27, 2020 “A Natural History of the Senses” by Diana Ackerman
- Oct 14, 2020 “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life” by Anne Lamott
-
exploration
- Oct 26, 2020 “Children of God” by Mary Doria Russell
- Oct 25, 2020 “The Sparrow” by Mary Doria Russell
- Oct 23, 2020 “Watership Down” by Richard Adams
- Oct 18, 2020 “Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage” by Alfred Lansing
- fantasy
- food supply
-
funny
- Dec 6, 2020 “Case Histories” by Kate Atkinson
- Nov 30, 2020 “Behind the Scenes at the Museum” by Kate Atkinson
- Nov 28, 2020 “Magical Thinking: True Stories” by Augusten Burrows
- Nov 21, 2020 “The Whistling Season” by Ivan Doig
- Oct 14, 2020 “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life” by Anne Lamott
-
gothic
- Dec 3, 2020 “Wide Sargasso Sea: A Novel” by Jean Rhys
- Nov 6, 2020 “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diana Setterfield
- Oct 20, 2020 “An Instance of the Fingerpost” by Iain Pears
- Oct 19, 2020 “Woman in White” by Wilkie Collins
- Oct 15, 2020 “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier
-
historical fiction
- Jul 26, 2021 Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
- Dec 31, 2020 “The Secret River” by Kate Grenville
- Dec 9, 2020 “The ZooKeeper’s Wife” by Diane Ackerman
- Oct 31, 2020 “The Living” by Annie Dillard
- Oct 20, 2020 “An Instance of the Fingerpost” by Iain Pears
- Oct 17, 2020 “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco
- home-schooling
-
life instruction
- Dec 10, 2020 “Wild at Heart” by John Eldredge
- Nov 13, 2020 Imprimis Monthly Speech Digest from Hillsdale College
- Nov 9, 2020 “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End” by Atul Gawande
- Nov 5, 2020 “Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass” by Theodore Dalrymple
- Oct 30, 2020 “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis
- Oct 29, 2020 “Ishmael: An Adventure of Mind and Spirit” by Daniel Quinn
- Oct 24, 2020 “Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals” by Michael Pollan
- Oct 21, 2020 “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life” by Barbara Kingsolver
- Oct 18, 2020 “Beowulf: A New Verse Translation” translated by Seamus Heany
- Oct 14, 2020 “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life” by Anne Lamott
-
magical realism
- Dec 18, 2020 “The Snow Child” by Eowyn Ivey
- Nov 15, 2020 “Song of Solomon” by Toni Morrison
- Nov 3, 2020 “Bridge of Birds” by Barry Hughart
- Nov 1, 2020 “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel
- Oct 29, 2020 “Ishmael: An Adventure of Mind and Spirit” by Daniel Quinn
- Oct 22, 2020 “Peace Like a River” by Leif Enger
-
medieval
- Oct 17, 2020 “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco
-
memoir
- Dec 7, 2020 “The Glass Castle”
- Oct 21, 2020 “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life” by Barbara Kingsolver
- Oct 16, 2020 “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures” by Anne Fadiman
- Oct 14, 2020 “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life” by Anne Lamott
- mental health
-
mystery
- Jan 15, 2021 “The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides
- Dec 6, 2020 “Case Histories” by Kate Atkinson
- Nov 6, 2020 “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diana Setterfield
- Oct 20, 2020 “An Instance of the Fingerpost” by Iain Pears
- Oct 19, 2020 “Woman in White” by Wilkie Collins
- Oct 17, 2020 “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco
- Oct 15, 2020 “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier
-
nature
- Oct 27, 2020 “A Natural History of the Senses” by Diana Ackerman
-
orphans
- Nov 10, 2020 “Before We Were Yours” by Lisa Wingate
-
pandemic
- Nov 18, 2020 “Blindness” by José Saramago