Top Ten Tuesday: Summer TBR List

How is it mid-June already?  How???  Anyway, with the rapid approach of summer, this week's Top Ten Tuesday topic (at The Broke and the Bookish) is Top Ten Books on My Summer TBR List.  I actually read *all* the books on my spring list, as well as some others, and am excited for those lazy, hazy days of summer reading.  Here are the books on my list:

1.  Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome:  It just seems like something to read in the summer, because what's more summer-y than taking a leisurely boat trip?

2.  Summer by Edith Wharton:  I've been on a Wharton kick for the past year or so, and this one seems a natural for summer reading.

3.  Dune by Frank Herbert:  I've had my dad's old copy in my basement for ages, and I really need to finally read it.  Sidenote:  Was anyone else traumatized by the movie as a child?  My dad was not great at paying attention to the recommended ages of movies...

4.  The Help by Kathryn Stockett:  Because I think I'm one of the only people who still hasn't read this one.

5.  Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card:  Because it's on my Kindle and I love time travel/alternative history.

6.  Peter the Great by Robert K. Massie:  Woohoo, historical biographies!

7.  The Remedy:  Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest to Cure Tuberculosis by Thomas Goetz:  Because my husband has somehow made me interested in epidemiology (but apparently not interested enough that it didn't take me three tries to spell epidemiology).

8.  A Labrador Doctor by Wilfred Grenfell:  Grenfell was a medical missionary who founded hospitals and nursing stations in remote areas in Newfoundland and Labrador.  I've been meaning to read this since we visited Grenfell's house and the museum devoted to his life last year, so maybe on the anniversary of our trip, I'll get around to it.

9.  David Copperfield by Charles Dickens:  Because I love Dickens, and am slowly making my way through all his works.

10.  Landline by Rainbow Rowell:  This one's a maybe since I'm on the hold list at the library for when it arrives, but not sure how long it will take to get to me.

So what's on your to-read list this summer?

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books Read This Year (So Far)

This week on Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish), the top is the top 10 books we've read this year.  2014 hasn't been the best year for many reasons, but at least I've read some great books.  Apparently it's easier to fit reading into your day when you have roughly 87 doctor's and ultrasound appointments...  Anyway, here are my top books for the year:

1.  Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen:  I read this in high school and didn't like it as much as Austen's other books, but reading it again recently, I realized just how funny it is.  I didn't appreciate the satirical elements when I was 15.  I will definitely be reading this again one day.

2.  Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell:  I didn't like it as much as North and South, but a great read, with interesting characters and a story that drew me in.

3.  The Giver by Lois Lowry:  Don't know how I missed this growing up, but what a great book!  Given the prevalence of "dystopian" YA fiction, I've appreciated reading some older dystopians as comparison, and The Giver is definitely a must-read.

4.  Kindred by Octavia E. Butler:  I love time travel, and this one was recommended by a good friend.  WOW!  A time travel story involving an African American woman who is unable to keep from slipping between the 1970s and the Antebellum South.  Gripping and well-written.

5.  Someone Knows My Name/The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill:  So apparently, I've read a lot about slavery recently... This book tells the fascinating story of Aminata, a young girl from Africa who is captured and sold into slavery.  Her tenacity and intelligence lead her from the South, to New York, to Nova Scotia, and back to Africa.  A fantastic book.

6.  The Reader by Bernard Schlink:  From slavery to post-WWII Germany, I'm a barrel of laughs today.  This book isn't for everyone, but it's a really thought-provoking read about a teenage and his much-older lover, as well as a metaphor for dealing with the legacy of WWII.

7.  The Secret History by Donna Tartt:  The disturbing tale of a group of undergraduate students and their odd Greek professor, and how their relationship turned from friendship to betrayal. 

8.  Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell:  Yep, I did read at least one happier book.  The story of Cath, moving out to go to college and adjusting to her new roommate, the strained turn in her relationship with her twin sister, and her obsession with writing Simon Snow fan fiction.  I loved this book.

9.  Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin:  I mentioned this recently, but Team of Rivals ranks as one of my favourite biographies of all time.  I raced through this because I found Lincoln and his companions so interesting.

10.  Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum:  I've had this on my shelves for a couple of years, and only now picked it up.  This book chronicling the history of the Soviet GULAG system, as well as what life was like within it, is certainly a heavy read, but it is extremely well-researched, thorough, and interesting. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books for your Beach Bag

Gosh, I had to take my car in to get the brakes fixed this morning, and almost forgot it was Tuesday!  This week's topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted as always by The Broke and the Bookish) is "Top Ten Books That Should Be In Your Beach Bag" OR "Top Ten Books That WILL Be In Your Beach Bag".  I'll be talking about my summer reading list in a couple of weeks, so instead I'll do books that SHOULD be in your beach bag.  I've said this before, but I don't really do "beach reads".  On my last beach vacation, I lay in the sun reading Bernhard Schlink's The Reader.  Still, I appreciate that people like to read something not so heavy when the sun is shining.  My top qualities for a recommended beach book would be: 1) fast-moving (not something where you read each page twice); 2) fun or funny; 3) not likely to make you weep.  With all that said:

1)  What Alice Forgot by Kate Moriarty:  I actually found this book quite thought-provoking, but Alice's character was hilarious and it was not heavy enough to leave me in a mess, so probably a good beach read.

2)  Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen:  I read this on my last vacation too.  It's a bit ridiculous at times, but a fun read.  I mean, there are circus elephants in it, what's not to love?

3)  The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde:  So silly and fun.

4)  Georgiana Darcy's Diary by Anna Elliott:  Obviously this pales in comparison to Austen herself, but it's a light-hearted return to my beloved Pemberley, and it made me smile a lot.

5)  Attachments by Rainbow Rowell:  Beth and Jennifer's emails made me laugh out loud, and this is a quick read for a few days at the beach.

6)  Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella:  At first, I didn't like this book and found Becky annoying, but she did grow on me, and this is a fun, light read for summer.

7)  To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis:  Punting!  Mediums!  Time travel!  A fun read guaranteed to make you laugh at least once.

8)  The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher:  A bit heavier than some of the above, but a real epic, romantic read.

9)  Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen:  A good holiday read because a) it takes place during a holiday; b) the satire is hilarious; c) there's a happy ending (I feel like that's not a spoiler since it's Austen).

10) Austenland by Shannon Hale:  Okay, I'm cheating as I haven't actually read this book (though I saw the movie), but it seems like a great beach read for the ultimate Austen afficionado.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Biographies

This week's Top Ten Tuesday, hosted as always by The Broke and the Bookish, is a freebie, so I can choose any theme I want. I decided to talk about biographies.  I know that's not a popular theme for this link-up, as it tends to be focused on fiction and especially a lot of young adult.... but I like biographies, so I'm writing it anyway.  I'm a huge nerd and a former history major, but I've tried not to focus only on historical figures since that might not appeal to a lot of people.  It's not everyone that will not only by a bio of Khruschev on sale, but also give it away to the university used book sale and almost buy it back after spotting it on display.  (Yep, guilty as charged.)  It's worth noting that I don't read celebrity biographies at all, tending more towards historical figures, political heroes,

1.  Bonhoeffer:  Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas:  Some hardcore scholars dislike this work as it's not as academic, but I really enjoyed it and was very moved.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of my personal heroes, and I loved reading about his difficult, but inspiring life.

2.  Team of Rivals:  The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin:  Amazing read.  I could barely put it down, and that's saying something as it's quite the weighty tome.  I love how Goodwin chose to look not only at Lincoln, but at three of his closest rivals and later cabinet ministers, and show how their lives all developed.

3.  Catherine the Great:  Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie:  A great and readable book about a fascinating woman.  I've got Massie's biography of Peter the Great on deck for this summer.  Fun fact:  When I was in St. Petersburg, I witnessed a drunk man unleashing a tirade of anger at a statue of Catherine the Great.  Apparently he wasn't a fan of her historical legacy, but he felt he knew her well enough to call her "Katya".  Put that in the "only in Russia" file.

4.  I, Rigoberta Menchu:  An Indian Woman in Guatemala by Rigoberta Menchu and Elisabeth Burgos-Debray:  Apparently this book is controversial, but I found it fascinating in the look it gave at traditional Mayan culture in Guatemala (a place I have visited many times), and the awareness of the horrible civil war there.

5.  The Verneys:  A True Story of Love, War, and Madness in Seventeenth-Century England by Adrian Tinniswood:  This book is the story of the Verney family, not overly famous or influential, but members of the English aristocracy.  The interesting thing about the Verney family is that they kept ALL of their correspondence, and even copies of the letters they sent to others, so it tells so much about life during the seventeenth century.  I know, this is really nerdy, but I found this book fascinating.

6.  In No Uncertain Terms:  A South African Memoir by Helen Suzman:  Helen Suzman is not someone many people would have heard of, but she was at one point the only person in the South African parliament who opposed Apartheid, and I found her life very inspiring.

7.  Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore:  An interesting look at the man before he became a dictator.

8.  Persepolis:  The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi:  The only memoir I can think of that is told in graphic novel format.  It's a really creative and interesting look at the Iranian revolution from the inside.

9.  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot:  I read this last year for a book club and found it surprisingly interesting and engaging.  Henrietta Lacks was a poor African American woman, whose cells ended up being used for medical science without her consent.  It was written well enough that someone not into science could still understand, and gave a good look at the difficulties that many African American families faced in the middle of the last century (and many still face now), such as poverty and lack of access to education.

10.  A Mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhova:  The memoir of a Soviet childhood, told by a woman who developed an obsession with English at a young age.  Since I too dreamed of foreign languages and travel as a youth, it was especially interesting to me.

This is definitely not an exhaustive list.  Y'all, you have no idea how many unread biographies I have in my shelves:  Books on Vaclav Havel, Fidel Castro, Andrei Sakharov, and Nelson Mandela that I swear, I will read one of these days. 

So, do you like to read biographies?  What are your favourites?

Top Ten Books About Friendship

It's Tuesday again (where does the time go?) and over at The Broke and the Bookish, the topic is Top Ten Books About Friendship.  Here's my list:  

1.  The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton:  This book is about five young married women who meet in the early 1960s and form a deep friendship.  There were some annoying aspects to the book, but I loved seeing how their friendship developed over time and how the characters supported one another.

2.  Me Before You by Jojo Moyes:  A book about developing relationship between Will, rendered paraplegic by a terrible accident, and Louise, hired as a caregiver.  This book left me in a weepy mess.

3.  Attachments by Rainbow Rowell:  There is a love aspect of the story, but I absolutely loved the back-and-forth emails between Beth and Jennifer.  It made me miss my own best friend, because when we worked at the same place, we might have sent quite a few non-work-related emails ourselves...

4.  Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan:  I really liked this book, which deals with a group of jazz musicians during World War II.  It showed the complicated friendships of the men, who are of different ethnicities (German, Jewish, African American), and the impact that the friendship, and then betrayal of the friendship, had on Sid's life.

5.  Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery:  Anne and Diana, kindred spirits forever!  I love how Anne finally finds the bosom friend she has always longed for.

6.  Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck:  The close relationship between George and Lennie.  It's rare to see books that focus on male friendships, and this one is a classic.

7.  Little Women by Louisa May Alcott:  Of course, they're sisters, but Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are friends too.  This book is why growing, up, I always wished for a bunch of sisters.

8.  The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng:  The unlikely friendship between a Chinese woman, the only survivor of a WWII Japanese war camp, and a Japanese gardener.

9.  The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin:  I can't help myself!  I loved these books growing up.  I was a bit disappointed that turning 13 didn't exactly render me as grown-up as it seemed it would from the books, and that I never developed a group of friends as tight as Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, Stacey, Dawn, Mallory, and Jessie. :)

10.  MWF Seeking BFF by Rachel Bertsche:  Not a novel, but a book about friendship itself, and one woman's search for a new best friend when she moves to Chicago.  I loved the snippets of research on what makes friendships work, as well as the reminder that close friends don't always just drop out of the sky; sometimes you have to go looking for them.

Do I Trust God?

2014 been a difficult year so far.  It's been good in some ways, but also difficult.  I feel like I've been in a holding pattern for a while now, wanting to move on to something new, but held back by a myriad of different factors.  If I'm honest, it has been a year in which my trust in God has been challenged and, I hope that when we come out of this phase, I will find it has been strengthened.  I have been asking myself recently if I really trust God.  I'm a Christian; I work in a church and lead at a Bible study, so it's really easy to say that I do, right?  When the going gets tough, however, so often I find myself wondering why it's so hard, and whether God is really working in this situation at all.

The big question is:  How do I know that I trust God?  Is it a gut feeling?  That doesn't seem right, because trust isn't all about feelings.  I don't get into an airplane with an overwhelming "feeling" of trusting the laws of aerodynamic.  The fact that I got into the airplane at all is evidence that I trust the plane will take off, travel, and land without risk to my life.  I don't have a gut feeling that I trust my husband, but show that I trust him by sharing my life with him without fearing that he will take advantage of me or abuse me or be unfaithful.

So how do I know that I trust God?  It's not about putting myself into dangerous situations and knowing He will protect me (although it's possible that He will require me to go into dangerous situations).  He's not the Edward Cullen to my Bella Swan, after all. ;)  Part of it is obviously obedience:  I trust God by obeying His commands, without worrying that I'm being deprived in some way.  Maybe in part, it's also a bit like trusting Gil.  I share my life with God, through prayer and Bible reading (slacking a bit on that lately...) and being mindful of Him at all times, and trusting that He will use that for my good. 

Today I planted our vegetable garden.  After our my attempts last year did not yield much, I decided to skip seeds and plant seedlings this year, seeing as our growing season is so short.  I guess that planting seed(lings) is a bit like trusting God.  You do what you can, knowing that the real "work" of growing is out of your hands, dependent on weather and sunshine and the neighbour's dog not getting into our yard.  Will I trust that God is working under the surface of my life, even if I don't know whether I will get a handful of cherry tomatoes or a bountiful harvest, but that I can trust that the growth is good?

I've been reading the book of Ruth over the past few days, and am reminded once again how the most difficult ordeals can ultimately end well.  It doesn't negate the difficult part or mean we have to pretend it was all easy, but it does mean that I can be confident that God is doing *something* through this lean year, even if that something leads to a path I hadn't anticipated.

Top Ten Tuesdays: Books I Almost Put Down (But Didn't)

I've been on a blogging break lately, but now I'm back for another link-up.  This week's topic for Top Ten Tuesday at The Broke and the Bookish is "Top 10 Books I Almost Put Down (But Didn't)".  This is a bit of a mixed bag list.  It's rare that I don't finish a book, especially fiction. Some of the books are ones that I ended up enjoying, while others I basically just pushed through to say I'd finished them.

1.  The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov:  I actually quite like this book, but it's really, really strange.  There are talking cats and trips back in time to Pontius Pilate.  The first time I read it, I just couldn't deal with the wackiness, and the second time, I had to force myself to get into the story, but I'm glad I did.

2.  2666 by Robert Bolaño:  This book has several different stories, and I was a bit hazy how they all connected.  To be honest, I think I finished this book because I'd paid for it and it was really long, but I didn't like it at all.

3.  Vanity Fair by William Thackeray:  I got into this at first, but to be honest, I didn't really like any of the characters.  By the middle, I was really tired of Becky Sharp's manipulation and Amelia's lack of personality, but I had to finish to see just how things would end up.

4.  From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming:  I read this thinking that it would be a fun spy novel, but actually, it was kind of boring.  James Bond doesn't even make an appearance into nearly halfway through the book, and the misogyny was enough to make my head spin.  I think I only finished because I'd blogged about how it was on my spring list. :)

5.  The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien:  I know, right?  I actually DID put this down.  It was my third time starting the series when I actually managed to complete it.  Don't get me wrong:  The books are fantastic, but very long, and all the poems and songs did me in.  (True confession:  I skipped through all the songs.)

6.  The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman:  I just read this last month for my book club, and enjoyed it, but I nearly set it down partway through.  I don't want to give any spoilers, but the book centres around a major deception, and I have trouble reading about that kind of thing.  I'm glad I did finish it though.

7.  The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro:  I've mentioned this before, but I didn't like The Unconsoled at all.  There is no plot.  I kept reading just to see if it would finally come together and make sense.  Nope.

8.  Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella:  I read this during my breaks when I worked at a large book store, and at first I just couldn't understand how Becky could be such a moron.  I kept at it and ended up enjoying the book a lot, though it's not generally my style.