2019 Book Review--Part 1

Last year I did monthly recaps of the books I had read for that month, but between my 3rd trimester and having a newborn, I just haven't gotten around to much reading or blogging! I've been keeping a list of the books I've read each month and thought I'd just do a recap of them all halfway through the year, and then again at the end of the year. It might not interest anybody else, but I really enjoyed looking back at the books I read last year and jogging my memory about each one of them. So here it goes!

--JANUARY--

I started the year off with The Great Alone, a novel by my current favorite author, Kristin Hannah. It's set in the 1970's, mostly in Alaska, and tells the story of a young girl named Leni and her parents. When her dad, a Vietnam POW with severe PTSD, moves the family to a remote homestead in a tiny Alaskan town, they have to learn how to survive in one of the world's harshest climates, as well as how to navigate their secluded new life with Leni's jealous and paranoid father. Like many of Hannah's other novels, this was a story about the strength of women and the fierce love between a mother and daughter. This was a novel where the setting was as much a character as any of the people in it, and Hannah's visceral descriptions of the rugged beauty of Alaska had me ready to book a flight. 

 I highly recommend this one!

My next read was Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier. My mom swears that I read this book when I was in high school and that I told her how great it was and made her read it too, but I don't remember it at all, even after reading it. 😂 But whether I'd read it before or not, it was fantastic! The story is told by an unnamed narrator who recounts the chain of events following her whirlwind courtship and marriage to a wealthy widower named Maxim de Winter. She is his second wife, and when she returns with him to his estate, she's met with hostility from the servants, particularly the housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, who remains loyal to Rebecca, the first Mrs. de Winter. As she begins to uncover the truth about the tragic death of Rebecca, the narrator finds herself haunted by Rebecca's memory, and questions her own place in her husband's heart. But things are not always as they appear....dun dun DUN! Seriously, this classic mystery is a must read! 

I Declare War by Levi Lusko was a book I got for Christmas, and it was great! I have loved Levi's other two books, and this one was up to par with both of them. This book was all about using the power of prayer, Scripture, and worship to fight the internal struggles we each face on a daily basis. He talks about the importance of our words, actions, and habits, and gives practical tips for changing negative ones. Satan has a script that he'd like us all to follow, but God's is better! If you're needing a perspective change or an attitude adjustment, this book is for you!

The last book I read in January was a Lynn Austin novel that I've had for years, but had never read. Though Waters Roar is a story that spans several generations (which I always love!), and tells the stories of a great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, and daughter. Each of these women have their own calling and passion that was shaped by their mother before, and I loved seeing the way each story builded on the previous one.  And of course Lynn Austin is a Christian writer, so all of her books are empowering and uplifting, and point back to God. I really enjoyed this one and don't know why it took so long for me to read it!

--FEBRUARY--

I only read one book in February and it was The Spy and The Traitor by Ben Macintyre. I actually gave this to Caleb for his birthday and then immediately started reading it. 🙊😬 This is a nonfiction book that tells the true story of Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB officer who began spying for the MI6 in the early 70's, the Soviet Union's desperate hunt to discover the traitor, and his harrowing escape from Moscow. During his time working for MI6 which spanned more than a decade, Gordievsky provided invaluable information not just about Soviet military operations, but about the mindset and ideology about those in charge of Soviet Russia. His intel is largely responsible for ending the Cold War, and avoiding worldwide nuclear disaster. I was completely fascinated by this story, especially with the look into life in the Soviet Union. I read much of it with a knot in the pit of my stomach, and finished it with enormous respect for Gordievsky.

--MARCH--

I read Dr. Dobson's The New Strong-Willed Child while in a desperate place. 😂 The older he gets, the more Henry is showing his strong-will, and I very badly needed some guidance in parenting him. I really enjoyed this book and got SO MUCH helpful and practical information from it. I predict that I'll be ready it several more times in the future! 

Next I read Winter Garden, another novel by Kristin Hannah. OMG. I don't even know what to say about this book. I loved it and hated it at the same time. It embodied everything I love about her novels, but the story was SO. SAD. It's about two daughters, Meredith and Nina, and their relationship with their mother, Anya, a Russian immigrant who has been very cold and distant their whole lives. In her old age, Anya decided to tell her daughters the rest of a "fairy tale" that she began when they were children, a tale about a mother and her children trapped in a besieged Leningrad during WWII. The book switches back and forth between Anya's story and present day, and although there is a redemptive ending, the story Anya tells is absolutely heart breaking, especially because it's based on a true historical event. I cried heart broken, gut wrenching sobs that left me emotionally exhausted, almost to the point that I wished I had never even heard the story! I would still totally recommend this book because the way the whole thing came together was beautiful, but be prepared to cry!

--MAY-- 

I didn't read anything in April (hello, new baby!), but May brought me Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, and it is probably in my top 3 favorite books ever! This novel has gotten a lot of hype over the last year, and I'm happy to say that it's all true. It's THAT good! It's about a girl named Kya who grows up alone in the marshes on the North Carolina coast after her whole family leaves her. The book goes back and forth between Kya as a young girl living in the marsh, to the day when a dead body is found in the marsh and Kya is accused of murder. The plot is too rich and complex to adequately summarize, but the story is wonderful and the writing is phenomenal. Every word of this novel had a weight that conveyed much more than what was said, and it was truly masterful. This book will be a new classic that is read for decades to come!

Next, I read another parenting book by Dr. Dobson. Bringing Up Girls was very interesting. It talked about the science behind what makes a girl different from a boy (mostly hormonally and neurologically, not the obvious anatomical differences), the role of both father and mother in a daughter's life, protecting and preserving your daughter's tender heart, and so much more. This is another book I'll be referring back to throughout the years of raising Claire!

The third book I read was Killers of the Flower Moon, which my parents actually gave to Caleb for his birthday. He hasn't read it yet, but my mom and I both have. 😂 This book was fascinating, and exposed a little piece of American history that isn't well known. It's about the Osage Indians who lived in Osage County, Oklahoma in the early 1900's, and the fortune they made on headrights from oil drilled on their land. At the time, they were the richest people group in the world; they lived in mansions, owned multiple cars, wore expensive jewels and furs--and the white people in the area hated them for it. One by one, Osage tribe members were found dead under mysterious circumstances, and the few people who tried to investigate were turning up dead as well. This was a shocking story of corruption, hatred, and racism, and made me so sad for the Osage and what they endured because of it. I started this book with a little bit of an attitude because I was like "There's no way David Grann will tell the story as well as Erik Larson would...." Haha! But he did! The writing was really thoroughly researched and well-written, and I enjoyed the book so much!

--JUNE--

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I'm obsessed with the Amish and their way of life. Well when I heard about More than Happy: The Wisdom of Amish Parenting, I knew I had to read it! This book was excellent and really spoke to me. My love of the Amish is a point of contention between Caleb and me, and he got SO sick of hearing me talk about this book. 😂 But it was just so good! The author is a woman who has written Amish fiction for years and she has many close friends who are Amish. She has spent a lot of time in their homes, and sought to find out why their children are so well behaved. She covers everything from faith, a strong sense of community and heritage, discipline, chores and responsibilities, and so much more! 

My last book for the first half of the year was one I got for my birthday. The Woman in the Window is a thriller about a woman named Anna who, for reasons unknown at the beginning of the story, is separated from her husband and daughter, and is bound to her home by severe agoraphobia. When new neighbors move in and she witnesses a crime through the window, her sanity is questioned and pieces of her story begin to emerge. If you read my book reviews last year, you know that I LOVE a good psychological thriller, and that I'm often disappointed by the predictability and tired story lines of so many of them. Well this one was fantastic! The whole "crazy woman witnesses a crime, but nobody believes her because she's crazy" thing was reminiscent of Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins or The Breakdown by B.A. Paris, but was accompanied by a totally original plot. I don't want to give away anything else, but suffice it to say that this is a must read for anyone who loves a thriller!

Whew! That was a long post to cover all the books I read for the first 6 months of the year! I have so many more that I want to read, and I'm hoping to fit in as many as I can in the remainder of 2019. I'll be back at the end of the year to recap those!