"The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
--This book was well researched and well written. It included a lot of relevant details, a comprehensive index and glossary. When a book is written like this, it is satisfying to read.
I liked that it was a story of a boy hard given a rough hand in life and making something of himself. I loved his energy and enthusiasm, but I also liked how the author was able to tell about the protagonist's struggles with attitude too.
I liked that all of the boys turned into good men. I liked knowing a lot of details about who they were before the race and who they were after. I liked knowing the characters of the other main players (coaches etc) and how they struggled to make decisions and what they ultimately decided and why. I liked that the story was so old that we were able to see it to it's conclusion.
I liked the tension the author built of Nazi Germany pretending to be normal. I liked the Holocaust details he was able to provide. I liked the allusions the author made to events and people in the future.
I felt that this book was very complex and rich in details. It made for a very good read.
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"Shards & Ashes" Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong
--A dystopian anthology. Diverse stories were well written and thought provoking.
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"The Dressmaker of Khair Khana" by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
--My mother-in-law handed me this book and said, "Read this." She never really even recommends books to me, much less makes them as emphatic as she did this request. So though I would have not picked it up on my own, I read it. I enjoyed it! The conditions of Afghanistan during the Taliban years were interesting. I hadn't known much about what happened in this country during this time and the book opened my eyes to the living conditions in this country. The bravery of Kamila Sidiqi was inspiring. I'm not sure that I could do what she did and the energy she had to help others was also incredible. I hope I would have been able to do what she did. I hope her main troubles are over.
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"Hope Unseen: The Story of the U.S. Army's First Blind Active-Duty Officer"
--I liked this book because it was the story of a real person. He was faced with a severe trial (losing his sight), but he chose to believe in God and move forward. He had doubts but he worked through them. When he wondered why he was even alive, he came to the realization that he was there to do what God wanted him to do, not what he wanted himself to do. He has a ring that quotes Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." He came to realize that it wasn't God strengthening him in what he wanted to do, but Christ was strengthening him so he could do the things that God wanted him to do. I like this quote:
"I can do all things. There is nothing in the Bible that qualifies that statement, nothing that says I need eyes. It says only that I need Christ. It was a truth that my blindness was going to help me see. My confidence was being moved away from self- from my own ability to see and control- to a new hope, a hope unseen."
Here his is talking about Christ. I love this so much.
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"Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife" by Peggy Vincent
--This book is about a lady who became a licensed midwife in the 80s and practiced until there was an insurance snafu (that wasn't her fault) that left her uninsured. She tells stories of babies being born. I like that she wasn't preachy. She advocates choice. Of course she was in favor of more home births, but she wasn't preachy. I wonder if my own experiences would have been better if I had had my babies at home. I also wonder how I want to do the next one. I want to get pregnant just to have a baby, but I am not ready for another baby just yet!
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"The Devil in the White City" by Erik LArson
--Someone at book club asked if anyone had read this book. It sounded intriguing and it was! It is non-fiction, but it reads very well. The author does a good job of sourcing (the footnotes are very long) and when he had to make suppositions, he did so. Upon reading his notes in the back, I realized that sometimes history is unclear and you just have to decide. I was happy with his conclusions.
The story is about a two men during the early 1890s. One is "in charge" of building the world fair and the other one is an infamous serial killer. I learned a lot about the Chicago World Fair. The topic of serial killers is more common in modern society, but back in the 1890s, the fact that one person could do so much evil was unheard of. People weren't as aware of what a person could do and the things he got away with are shocking. Putting the two stories together made each one more readable and interesting.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about the Chicago World Fair.
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"The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want" by Sonja Lyubomirsky
--This book was recommended by a former BYU Professor (Dr Robert Ridge) in a BYU Alumni Magazine. I don't really like self help books, but I like this professor so I decided to give it a shot. It was kind of like reading a psychology textbook, only not as boring. It was like reading a textbook in that the author's findings were backed by research and she described a lot of studies, who the participants were, what they did and the findings that were gleaned. Then there was a take home message.
I was surprised/pleased that many of the findings correlated with the things that are talked about in church.
I thought the book was well written. Though I didn't read everything as it didn't pertain to me, I can safely recommend it to anyone who wants to become happier or who wants to know some findings by an expert in the field of positive psychology.
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"Sonnets from the Portuguese. Illuminated by the Brownings' Love Letters" edited by William S Peterson; Julia Markus
--I am no poet. In high school, I wrote sappy sonnets in iambic pentameter. My 16 year old heart bled all over that little notebook. But it felt good to get it out in a creative way. Unrequited love.
But I would much rather read sonnets by someone more professional and think about my successful venture into love. This book was very good. The poems make more sense when put into the context of Elizabeth's life.
Here are some lines that I really liked and could relate to my own story of falling in love with and committing to my spouse.
"[...] My own, my own,
Who camest to me when the world was gone,
And I looked for only God, found thee!
[...] so I with bosom-swell,
Make witness, here, between the good and the bad,
That Love, as strong as Death, retrieves as well" (sonnet #27)
"...For perfect strains may float
'Neath master-hands, from instruments defaced, -
And great souls, at one stroke, may do and doat" (sonnet #32)
"When we met first and loved, I did not build
Upon the event with marble. Could it mean
To last [...] Nay, I rather thrilled,
Distrusting every light that seemed to gild
The onward path, and feared to overlean
A finger even" (sonnet #36)
"Because thou hast the power and own'st the grace
To look through and behind this mask of me,
[...] and behold my soul's true face
[...] Dearest, teach me so
to pour out gratitude, as thou dost, good" (sonnet #39)
The entirety of sonnet #41
And of course the famous one:
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach [...] and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death" (sonnet #43)
I also liked an except from this letter written by Elizabeth to Robert on August 12, 1846:
"When women are chosen for wives, they are not chosen for companions [...] Men like to come home & find a blazing fire & a smiling face & an hour of relaxation. Their serious thoughts [...] they like to keep to one side. And this is the carrying out of love & marriage almost everywhere in the world - & this, the degrading of women by both."
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