★★★★★ — 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.
“Children of God” by Mary Doria Russell
Really enjoyed this thought-provoking two-book series. The Sparrow and Children of God relay the story of Jesuit first contact with a new culture. Questions of faith and doubt are masterfully wrestled with as misunderstandings led to hardships and despair.
“The Sparrow” by Mary Doria Russell
Really enjoyed this thought-provoking two-book series. The Sparrow and Children of God relay the story of Jesuit first contact with a new culture. Questions of faith and doubt are masterfully wrestled with as misunderstandings led to hardships and despair.
“Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals” by Michael Pollan
This book, along with Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle changed the way we eat.
“Watership Down” by Richard Adams
This journey of refugees from land developers will capture your heart and imagination.
“Peace Like a River” by Leif Enger
11-year-old Reuban Land and his family deal with asthma, predatory hoodlums, a run from the law, and a father who walks on thin air.
“Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life” by Barbara Kingsolver
As COVID-19 has caused many of us to re-evaluate our food supply, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle becomes even more relevant. I read this over ten years ago and the changes it encouraged in our food-style persist to this day.
“An Instance of the Fingerpost” by Iain Pears
Four perspectives on a murder: which ones are reliable? which are not? Stunning plot twist at the end.
“Beowulf: A New Verse Translation” translated by Seamus Heany
Read it for the beauty of language. Read it for the epic adventure. Read it for sheer pleasure. Read it for a glimpse of ancient lives. But read it. It is not fusty or difficult or dry or dull or any of those other negatives you may believe about the classics. Seamus Heany’s translation is delicious.
“Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage” by Alfred Lansing
Let’s go to the South Pole in a wooden ship. What could possibly go wrong?
“The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures” by Anne Fadiman
Modern medicine sees epilepsy as a brain seizure. Hmong culture sees it as a spiritual issue. Lia, a Hmong child in LA, is caught in between.
“Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier
Young love. Old love. A beach cottage with its own village idiot (or is he?). A beautiful, beloved, deceased first wife (or is she?). The intimidating Mrs. Danvers, house-keeper with an agenda. And our own dear heroine, penniless and without prospects or a name. Literally, we never do learn her name.
“Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life” by Anne Lamott
Funny and wise, what are you waiting for?
- 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