My apologies if you have no interest in what I've been reading or don't enjoy giant lists of books. I can't imagine why you would be in either camp but, just in case :)
After looking through this list I noticed a few things--mostly that I read entirely too much Agatha Christie this year. I just don't have the willpower to put them down once I start. Ask my poor neglected husband and kids--it's very likely that on any given day I spent reading an Agatha Christie mystery the children were forced to scavenge their own food.
Even with the Agatha Christie binge reading, I didn't read nearly as much as I have in past years. I attribute that to two things--deciding to hand sew Margaret's baby quilt supplanted most of my reading time since you can't quilt and read at the same time and also, I decided to read War and Peace which was....really long, really good, but really, really long.
And lastly, this year brought an entirely new genre of non-fiction to my life--books on parenting little girls--which is both exciting and terrifying :)
On to the list!
- The Secret of Chimneys, by Agatha Christie
- Mrs. McGinty's Dead, by Agatha Christie
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Agatha Christie
- Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century: 32 Families Open Their Doors, by Arnold, Graesch, Ragazzini and Ochs
- Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, by Elizabeth Cline
- Dad Is Fat, by Jim Gaffigan
- The Big Four: A Hercule Poirot Mystery, by Agatha Christie
- The Body in the Library, by Agatha Christie
- The Golden Ball And Other Stories, by Agatha Christie
- One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, by Agatha Christie
- The Bells of Nagasaki : A Message of Hope from a Witness, a Doctor, by Tagashi Nagai
- The Language of Flowers: A Novel, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
- Double Sin and Other Stories, by Agatha Christie
- One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, by Agatha Christie
- The A. B. C. Murders, by Agatha Christie
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver
- Real Food: What to Eat and Why, by Nina Planck
- The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education, by Leigh Bortins
- My Uncle's Dream, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- The Lost Art of Dress: The Women Who Once Made America Stylish, by Linda Przybyszewski
- The Friend of the Family, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- The Underground History of American Education: A School Teacher's Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling, by John Gatto
- Reforming Education: The Opening of American Mind, by Mortimer Adler
- The Little Oratory: A Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home, by David Clayton and Leila Lawler
- Curtain: Poirot's Last Case, by Agatha Christie
- Girls on the Edge: The Four Factors Driving the New Crisis for Girls--Sexual Identity, the Cyberbubble, Obsessions, Environmental Toxins, by Leonard Sax
- What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty
- War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
- Give War and Peace a Chance: Tolstoyan Wisdom for Troubled Times, Andrew D. Kaufman
- Sad Cypress: A Hercule Poirot Mystery , by Agatha Christie
- The Mystery of the Blue Train: A Hercule Poirot Mystery, by Agatha Christie
- Home Education: Training and Educating Children Under Nine (Homeschooler Series), Charlotte Mason
- Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture, by Peggy Orenstein
- Mazli A Story of The Swiss Valleys, by Johanna Spyri
Now, if I had to pick my favorites I'd say:
1.
The Little Oratory is the best book I have ever read on creating a Catholic home and prayer life--and I have read a lot of books on this subject! This book is especially great for anyone who has ever dipped into say, How to Raise Good Catholic Children or The Year and Our Children: Catholic Family Celebrations for Every Season (which are both excellent books) and thought you might as well stop trying because how could you ever do all of that? Not that I've ever felt that way :) This book gives excellent advice that you can implement right away without any of those pesky feelings of overwhelm.
2.
I came across this at a library sale and I am so glad that I grabbed it up. It really clarified a lot of the things that have always bothered me about education in America in general but that I could never quite articulate.
3. and 4.
War and Peace is something that everyone seems to either love or hate but for me--well, I loved it! Somewhere in the back of my mind I always thought of this book as something really long that you are either forced to read in school or choose to read so that you can prove your literary street cred. It never occurred to me that it would be something I might actually enjoy reading--which is silly because in general I do enjoy classic Russian literature. I followed it up with Give War and Peace a Chance which I would highly recommend for anyone attempting the novel or anyone who ever gave up on it. I did learn a few things about Tolstoy that were really at odds with the ideal I had built up of him in my head but, what can you do? If Dostoyevsky has a disturbing past as well do me a favor and keep it to yourself! Finishing this beast felt like quite the accomplishment so for me, 2014 will always be the year I finally read War and Peace :)
5.
I cannot believe I never read The Bells of Nagasaki in high school. This is one of those books that really cements my desire to make sure my kids are reading source material instead of predigested bits and pieces history. This first-hand account of what really happened when the bomb dropped over Nagasaki could never be adequately captured in a textbook. Very disturbing and very worth reading.
6.
I'm not sure if this is making my favorites list because it's a legitimate favorite or simply because it's the last thing I've read and still on my mind. Either way the mother in this novel is superb and it's worth reading just to see the way she relates to her children. Surprise! she doesn't win their love and respect through the sarcasm and exasperation I've been falling back on with my little angels lately. Also, (and most likely because this is the same author who wrote Heidi) when I imagine little Mazli in my head she's Shirley Temple skipping through the Swiss Alps and who doesn't love a book that reminds you of that?
...
I'm not sure what books 2015 will bring. I'd like to say I'd do something crazy like make an actual to-read list or only read books already on my shelves but I'm pretty sure I couldn't hold myself to either when there are so many good books waiting to be discovered :) As always, if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them!
This post contains affiliate links. If you click on them I might just hit that $10 mark this year :)
