I’ve been getting into some longer books, so my reading has been “slowing down.” I’m really enjoying staying with a book for a long time, though. I did fit some reading time in while I took two kids on a quick trip to DC (blog coming later). I read two delightful children’s books and a very inspirational religious book. Here’s what I read in October:
The Ocean and the Stars by Mark Helprin
The Ocean and the Stars is my current favorite Helprin book and I’ve now read three of his books. A Navy captain is used as a fall guy during a meeting with the president and is assigned to what will be the last boat of its kind and sent on a suicide mission. However, Stephen Rensselaer is not a man who can be pushed aside. He stands for truth, freedom and ideals and he has a woman he loves that he wants to go home to. The ship faces more than one battle that leads to a courts-martial trial to find out the truth. I can’t give much away, but I recommend this book highly.
The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown
The Wild Robot Protects is the final book in The Wild Robot trilogy. In this final book, Roz is trying to find out how to stop the Poison Tide from destroying the island that she and her animal friends live on. She takes a journey through the ocean and finds the source. It’s quite a surprise as to why it’s happening and how she tries to stop it. The entire series is a good story for young readers.
The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo
The Hotel Balzaar is Kate DiCamillo’s most recent release and it’s a short read geared toward young readers. It’s a sweet tale with a fairy tale quality about a girl and her mother waiting for her father to return from war. The girl and her mother are living in a hotel as the mother works there as a maid. The girl can wander through the hotel but must stay quiet and unseen. Then, a countess stays at the hotel with a parrot and invites the girl to her room to hear stories … stories that begin to sound familiar.
The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel
Can a life really truly be turned around? Anton Waker grows up in a family that makes their living selling “discarded” household goods. After his aunt is deported, his cousin Aria starts to live with them and she starts selling social security numbers and then passports. Anton feels pulled to living a straight life where he can work in an office, but is instead pulled into the family business and starts helping Aria. He finds a way to stop and get an office job, but his past life is catching up with him as the company plans to run background checks. Should he continue to try and live the straight and narrow life or do one last job for Aria? The Singer’s Gun was a fascinating story – Emily St. John Mandel does not disappoint.
The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave
In The Night We Lost Him, Nora’s father is dead having fallen off a cliff on his property in California. However, her half brother is not convinced that there was no foul play. As she is brought into his investigation, she starts to become suspicious herself. Secrets that her father tried to keep buried keep coming to life. Did she ever really know her father at all? And, can she figure it all out before her fiancé loses patience with her lack of effort in their relationship?
The Medicine Woman of Galveston by Amanda Skenadore
Tucia tried to make her way as a female doctor when they were in the minority in The Medicine Woman of Galveston. Several traumas make her leave the vocation; yet, she now has a son. Working for their survival leads to having debt until someone offers her a deal that sounds too good to be true. She is invited to be the doctor on a medicine tour where she would work to pay off the debt the man will pay for her. Despite her misgivings, she feels she has no other option. She slowly gains some confidence back, finds love and feels almost at peace and then she’s pushed to her limits in Galveston. A hurricane hits that changes everything for her. (While not descriptive, the book addresses rape, prostitution, fraud and Down’s Syndrome.)
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
I’m slowly trying to read through The Chronicles of Narnia again. Prince Caspian brings the four children from a train station waiting to go to boarding school back to Narnia, but many, many years later. However, their help is needed, along with Aslan’s, to bring Narnia’s true ruler back to power. The fate of the talking animals and living trees depends on his becoming the king.
Life of the Beloved by Henri Nouwen
Life of the Beloved is Nouwen’s letter to a friend as an attempt to describe why to live a religious life to a secular person. According to his friend, his attempt failed, but the message resonates with religious people. He focuses on the ideas of a being taken, blessed, broken and given. It’s a very short but encouraging book.
What good books have you read recently? Share in the comments!
