Show Us Your Books December 2022

November was the best reading month I had all year. I had so much going on and found so much comfort in what I read. It was one of those months that reminded me why I love to read. I talked about my non-fiction reads here. Fiction highlights are below.

Five Star Reads

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin -- I really loved this book. We don‘t talk enough about how meaningful friendships and creative partnerships can be. Don’t let the subject scare you away from this one- you don’t have to like video games.

Four Star Reads

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai -- This book broke my heart in all the best ways. It’s a dual timeline book set in Chicago during the AIDS crisis and 2015 Paris. So glad I ran across this one.

America for Beginners by Leah Franqui -- The wistfulness of these characters made it a perfect Thanksgiving week read.

A Ghost of Caribou by Alice Henderson -- I had to stay up late to finish this new book by Alice Henderson. I just love this series about wildlife biologist Alex. In this book she’s in Washington studying a caribou that has wandered down from Canada. Chaos ensues.

Three Star Reads

Once Upon A Wardrobe by Patti Callahan -- A cozy read about a brother and a sister trying to find the story behind CS Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia -- This was pretty good. It reminded me of a Patricia Highsmith book.

The Other Man by Farhad J. Dadyburjor -- I found this on my kindle when my original #FoodandLit India book wasn’t holding my attention. It was billed as a romantic comedy but I found the issues associated with being gay in India a bit deeper than the billing implied.

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Writing Prompt: All Things Visible and Invisible

Every time I hear the phrase “all things visible and invisible” in church I think about what a great book subject that would wake. In every given situation there’s so much we can see,and so much more we can’t see. On the bus there’s people riding the bus, and then there’s all the microscopic creepy crawlies left behind from the riders. Look at the ocean and you see the waves. Underneath there are all sorts of creatures ready to eat you. In a meeting there’s an agenda, and then there’s all the hidden agendas.

This is the non-fiction book I would love to read, but no one has written yet. If you write it please send me an ARC!

And The Armchair Audie Goes To...

In Harm's Way by Doug Stanton is my pick for the 2017 Audie Award in the History/Biography category.

This was a hard decision, but in the end this was the book that stuck with me the longest.

Audie Awards are announced on June 1. Follow @ArmchairAudies on Twitter to see if my pick matches up with the real thing.

UPDATE: The official results are in, and In Harm's Way won the Audie! Congrats to Doug Stanton!

All Audie Award Reviews:

In Harm's Way

Paul McCartney: The Life

A Time to Die

Valiant Ambition

The Year of Lear

April 2017 Audiobooks

Spring is here, and I'm spending a lot of time listening to audiobooks while I walk under flowering trees. I'm enjoying it as much as I can before summer starts, and I need to stay inside near my air conditioner! I live in DC, so probably about another two weeks.

I found Z for Zachariah in the kid's section of my library, but it freaked me the heck out, and I'm glad I didn't try to listen to it with my kids. It's an end of the world novel about a girl living alone on a farm after a nuclear war - until a man finds her.

I finished The Nature of the Beast, and am sad to say I only have one book left in the series until the new one comes out in August. I liked this one as much as I have liked the last few. That is to say, a lot. Plus there's physics! Yay physics!  Can anyone recommend a similar detective series that is good on audio?

I've also been busy reviewing books for The Armchair Audies.

Here are my review so far:

In Harm's Way

Paul McCartney

A Time to Die

Reviews for the last two in the category will be coming this month, and then I'll announce who I think should be the winner in the category.

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REVIEW: In Harm's Way by Doug Stanton (Audiobook)

I didn't think I had heard of the story of the USS Indianapolis, and it's sinking during World War II. Then someone reminded me of the scene in Jaws.

Oh, yikes. That ship.

The audiobook doesn't start with Jaws. It starts with Captain McVay, the ship's commander, and his suicide. In a story that sounds like it belongs on the Podcast Serial we're told Captain McVay was in charge of the USS Indianapolis when it sank, and was court-martialed under some dubious circumstances.

This is one of those books that is non-fiction but reads like fiction. It's a horrific yet inspiring story of men stuck in treacherous water for five days without water, most with just a life vest on to keep them afloat. I mean, imagine being in the water so long that you have time to name the shark that wants to eat you.

By the time you get to the court-martialing, it's almost unbelievable that any body would dare bring to trial a man who went through all of that. They even had the Japanese commander of the submarine that sunk the boat as a witness against Captain McVay. I'll admit to tears of rage over the kitchen sink as I listened.

This is a great book. A powerful book made all the better by a steady narrator. I highly recommend it if you are a fan of other non-fiction World War II narratives such as Unbroken and Boys in the Boat.

This is my first review in the History/Biography category for the Arm Chair Audies. Check back for more reviews, and to see who I think should be the winner.

August Quick Lit

New bikes for the kids have given me a good excuse to sit on the curb while reading a book.

(Pictured here: wolf by wolf by Ryan Graudin)

I have been reading a wide variety of stuff lately - just whatever suits me at the time, really. It's too hot to stick to a list!

The Royal Nanny by Karen Harper was an interesting book, made all the more interesting because it's based on a the true story of the Nanny who took care of King Edward VIII and King George VI. It's a little longer than needed, and is sure to force interaction between the Nanny and all the major political figured of the day (the Tsar, Churchill, Teddy Roosevelt, etc.) Recommend for fans of royal baby pictures and The Royal We. (I got this book from Library Thing in exchange for a review.)

I wanted to read Jaws by Peter Benchley this summer, but forced myself to wait until after our annual trip to Cape Cod. I needn't have waited, as the movie is way more scary than the book. I kind of thought the book was just meh, actually. Plus a lot of the 1970's language is offensive. I know they didn't live in such an enlightened time as us, but it's not really worth it for a sub-par book.

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin was about a motorcycle race in a world that would have existed if Hitler had won the war. If you try not to think about the details too much this is a really good book. I'm looking forward to the sequel due out in November.

I've had Off Balance by Dominique Moceanu on my to be read list forever, but it took the Rio Olympics to finally get me to read it. This book has its ups and downs, but was really interesting to a once every four years gymnastics freak like me. I did some background research on Wikipedia, and it seems like a lot of people in the gymnastics industry deny a lot of Moceanu's claims. However given recent news stories about USA Gymnastics and Marta Karoli's handling of the team I see Dominique in a much better light than I may have a month ago.

Each month I link with Modern Mrs. Darcy's Quick Lit as a way to talk about the books I liked, but didn't review.

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