{"id":17775,"date":"2020-01-01T18:54:56","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T00:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.angelaross.net\/blog\/?p=17775"},"modified":"2020-01-01T22:38:05","modified_gmt":"2020-01-02T04:38:05","slug":"books-i-read-in-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.angelaross.net\/blog\/2020\/01\/books-i-read-in-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Books I read in 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
  1. Jeremy Poldark<\/em> by Winston Graham (PBS followed this really closely.)<\/li>
  2. Edenbrook<\/em> by Julianne Donaldson (fluff)<\/li>
  3. Refugee<\/em> by Alan Gratz (Very good.)<\/li>
  4. The Crossover<\/strong><\/em> by Kwame Alexander (Wow. Great book.)<\/li>
  5. Growing Up<\/em> by Russell Baker (excellent)<\/li>
  6. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI<\/em> by David Grann (a page-turner)<\/li>
  7. Gmorning, Gnight: Little Pep Talks for Me and You<\/em> by Lin Manuel-Miranda (A kind reminder that positive, online written words matter to people.)<\/li>
  8. All Creatures Great and Small<\/em> by James Herriot<\/li>
  9. Life Below Stairs: True Lives of Edwardian Servants by <\/em>Alison Maloney (This was mostly familiar because I watched Downton Abbey<\/em>!)<\/li>
  10. Back When We Were Grownups<\/em> by Anne Tyler (About as real a telling of midlife and large family dynamics as could be.)<\/li>
  11. Bread of Angels<\/em> by Tessa Afshar (I read this for book club. Easy read. Lots of Evangelical Christian vernacular.)<\/li>
  12. Lilac Girls<\/em> by Martha Hall Kelly (I read it breathlessly and quickly, since I could not put it down.)<\/li>
  13. The Book of Mormon<\/em> (focus: how to declare the word of God)<\/li>
  14. A Gentleman in Moscow<\/em> <\/strong>by Amor Towles (I loved it because I love philosophy, natural history, astronomy, Russian literature, Casablanca<\/em>, Mozart, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff)<\/li>
  15. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft<\/em> by Stephen King (His foul language crossed a line with me. This came highly recommended. I can recommend my personal copy, covered in correction tape.)<\/li>
  16. Founding Brothers<\/strong><\/em> by Joseph Ellis (Masterful writing.)<\/li>
  17. A Man Called Ove<\/em> by Fredrik Backman (pretty good)<\/li>
  18. Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy<\/em> by David D. Burns, M.D. (I skipped the reference chapters about medications. This book was recommended by a friend to help identify distorted or unreasonable thinking. It was entertaining and informative.)<\/li>
  19. The Witness of Women: Firsthand Experiences and Testimonies from the Restoration<\/em>, edited by Janiece Johnson and Jennifer Reeder (I struggled to stay interested for many reasons. It would probably work better as a reference book, as it\u2019s organized by topic.)<\/li>
  20. Grandma Gatewood\u2019s Walk<\/em> by Ben Montgomery (The woman is inspiring. The book was ok.)<\/li>
  21. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter<\/em> by Margareta Magnusson (My Swedish great-grandmother left behind only a few boxes of special things and minimal belongings to sort. My grandmother praised her name for it. This book was just ok, but the concept is awesome.)<\/li>
  22. Once More We Saw Stars<\/strong><\/em> by Jayson Greene (Raw and honest memoir of grief, but with hope. The writing is very good. The mystic and spiritualist journey he chose made me uncomfortable at times.)<\/li>
  23. Braving the Wilderness<\/em> by Brene Brown (Some good stuff here about the need to mourn and rejoice with people of every background and idea. The paradox is that when we divide into like-minded groups we feel less connection than if we build respectful bonds with people with whom we differ. The wilderness is where we step away from cliques and political parties and experience humanity. It\u2019s being brave enough to respectfully stand up for beliefs without tearing down others.)<\/li>
  24. Beloved Bridegroom<\/em> by Donna B Nielsen (I read this little book every few years to remind me that interpreting the Bible is not like solving an equation but interpreting rich literature.)<\/li>
  25. A Midwife\u2019s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary 1785-1812<\/strong><\/em> by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (An important book for me to read at this moment. I have had a profound experience reading it. I chronicle my life, too, you know.)<\/li>
  26. Still that Summer Girl<\/em> by Elaine Wright Christensen (I love this poetry and I love the poet, my neighbor and friend.)<\/li>
  27. All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience<\/em> by Neal A. Maxwell<\/li>
  28. The Book of Mormon<\/em> (focus: what influences righteous behavior and God\u2019s accompanying grace)<\/li>
  29. A Year with C.S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works<\/em><\/li>
  30. The Thief<\/em> by Megan Whalen Turner<\/li>
  31. Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams<\/em> by Matthew Walker, PhD (Highly recommended. I loved the research and the defense of sleep, including naps. We should honor our need for sleep. It affects everything.)<\/li>
  32. And there was Light<\/strong><\/em> by Jacques Lusseyran (Beautifully written, deep truths.)<\/li>
  33. The Majesty of Calmness<\/em> by William George Jordan<\/li>
  34. The New Testament<\/em><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    I keep track of books so I am accountable to finish what I begin. It was a funny reading year, an in-or-completely-out-of-it kind of year. Some of these books will remain with me forever. Others I have forgotten already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I am still in the middle of two books, and have been since about, um, summer: Middlemarch<\/em> by George Eliot and Bird by Bird<\/em> by Anne Lamott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    My favorites are in bold. I didn’t put books of scripture in bold, but trust me, I love these, too. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Jeremy Poldark by Winston Graham (PBS followed this really closely.) Edenbrook by Julianne Donaldson (fluff) Refugee by Alan Gratz (Very good.) The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (Wow. Great book.) Growing Up by Russell Baker (excellent) Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann (a page-turner) Gmorning, Gnight: Little Pep Talks for Me … Continue reading Books I read in 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.angelaross.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.angelaross.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.angelaross.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.angelaross.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.angelaross.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17775"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.angelaross.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17779,"href":"http:\/\/www.angelaross.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17775\/revisions\/17779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.angelaross.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.angelaross.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.angelaross.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}