All the books I’ve read this year

I’m copying a post I saw on Unlikely Words a few days ago, because I think it’s an interesting idea. I, too, read many more books in 2015 than in previous years. At the end of last year, I signed myself up for the Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge, aiming for 12 books in 2015. This also motivated me to track everything I read (excluding picture books, because I’ve read about 10 million this year alone). I’m happy to note I far exceeded that goal and read 26! I have reviewed some of these here at The Edifying Word, but many others I have not, mostly because I just started this blog this fall. The books here are in the order I read them. I’m still reading, so I may finish another one or two by the end of the yar, but here’s where I stand now. Here goes:

Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace by Leon Panetta

The Temperament God Gave Your Spouse by Art and Laraine Bennett

The Princess Guide: Faith Lessons from Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty by Jennessa Terraccino

The Handbook for Catholic Moms: Nurturing Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul by Lisa Hendey

The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman

Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist by William Maples

48 Days to the Work You Love: Preparing for the New Normal by Dan Miller

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (READ THIS!!)

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

The Joy of the Gospel: Evangelii Gaudium by Pope Francis

Martha Washington: An American Life by Patricia Brady

Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace by Ayelet Waldman

At the Water’s Edge: A Novel by Sara Gruen

Africa in My Blood: An Autobiography in Letters: The Early Years by Jane Goodall and Dale Peterson

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan

Dance of Anger: A Woman’s Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships by Harriet Lerner

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown (another really great book)

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb (what an incredible girl! another good one)

Love and Loyalty on the Loire: A Tale of Medieval Hearts Divided by Battle Lines by Gwen Holbrook (and edited by yours truly – check it out!)

Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (probably the best book I read all year)

Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

The Private War of Corporal Henson by E. Michael Helms

The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain’s Journey by Linda Greenlaw

Days of Ragnarök: end of the gods (Volume 1) by Tyler Woods

 

What have you been reading? Let me know in the comments if you’ve read any of these, or if you have any suggestions for me for 2016!

 

 

4 Comments

  1. Julie says:

    How was “The Girls of the Atomic City”? Having grown up in Los Alamos, it sounds interesting!

    Like

    1. Kristin says:

      It was definitely interesting, and I learned a TON (which is why I read — edifying word, right?). It switched back and forth between stories of the “girls” who worked at Oak Ridge and the larger issue of nuclear development in the US. The weird (and kind of annoying) thing about it was that the author writes using the same code words they used at the time – there are code words for plutonium, uranium, the sites, etc., and I found it kind of confusing at the time. The girls’ stories gave me a lot to think about/reflect upon as the story follows them through adjusting to working, then marriage, then babies, etc. Some of it seemed oddly familiar 🙂

      btw – I own a copy (we picked it up in an airport over the summer), so let me know if you want to borrow it and I’ll lend it to you for as long as you want!

      Like

      1. Julie says:

        I’d love to borrow it! Thanks. No rush of course. Hopefully we’ll see each other soon though!

        Like

Leave a Comment

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s