Rinda's Reads: January Book List

I have decided to add a new feature to my blog this year. This is mostly because I want to keep track of what I've read this year, but also because once upon a time I posted a reading list on our family blog and I got lots of thank yous from people who wanted the reading suggestions. So, from now on, at the end of every month, you will get a book list from me. Take it or leave it.

January's Book List!

I started the month with all of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. There are eight:
Ramona and Beezus; Ramona the Pest; Ramona the Brave; Ramona and Her Father; Ramona and Her Mother; Ramona Quimby, Age 8; Ramona Forever; and Ramona's World. Re-reading these took me back to my childhood, but also made me excited to read them to Kevin when she is a bit older and can sit through more than a paragraph. Ramona will have you laughing and crying at the injustice of being a middle child.  Highly Recommended!

Then, because we hadn't gotten any real mail and I couldn't get a library card yet, I picked up a book my mom lent me while we were in the hospital with Kevin last spring. It's called A Prayer for My Son by Hugh Walpole. I only made it through the first five chapters and then skipped to the end to see if it was going to get any better. It wasn't. Don't read it.

So, I searched a little further on my bookcase and found this short gem: The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. Every girl should read this book. There is a reason it is a classic. It takes place during the Great Depression. Wanda, the poorest girl in the whole school, tells everyone she has a hundred dresses all lined up in her closet. But how can that be, when she wears the same ragged dress to school day after day? Read it and find out. It'll only take you an hour at most.

My in-laws gave us my next book for Christmas: Let It Go by Chris Williams. This autobiography explains Chris's journey to forgiveness after a drunk teenage driver caused an accident that killed Chris's wife, their unborn baby, his daughter, and one of his sons. Grab some tissues. You will cry, but you will be a better person for reading this book. I promise.

My sister-in-law gave me a beautiful boxed set of all of Jane Austen's classics for Christmas. Not only are the books beautiful, but it gave me an excuse to finally finish reading the few that I haven't made it through yet! I decided to start at the beginning with what is believed to be Austen's first work, Northanger Abbey. Many people say this is their least favorite book by Jane Austen, but I found it highly entertaining and worth reading. Perhaps that is the English major in me (there is much to "analyze" about this book).

And here the library card kicks in:

The Lightning Tree by Sarah Dunster. There are a lot of "Mormon" writers out there. I was impressed that Dunster chose not to ignore one of the darkest parts of Utah's history and set her novel in Provo, UT a year after the Mountain Meadows Massacre and during the polygamy persecution that sent many of Utah's religious leaders into hiding. Her characters are real and relatable, and the history is woven in in such a way that you experience it rather than just reading about it. So, it might be worth checking out.

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis. Remember in my last post how I talked about my love of reading fairy tales? This was one of those books that I simply adored. Kontis takes at least a dozen fairy tales and weaves them into a story that is both new and familiar at the same time. I loved it!

The Guardian by Gerald N. Lund. This isn't your typical religious history book by Elder Lund. It's about a 16-year-old girl with a magic pouch heirloom. Yeah, it's not his usual beat. BUT it is worth reading! I was glued. Be wary though, it is long--over 500 pages--and the story does drag at times.

I guess I could add in the books that I read to Kevin last month--but you probably don't need to know about Amanda and her Alligator, Goodnight Moon, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Squeaky Kitty, Edwina: the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct, or Leonardo the Terrible Monster. Except that you do need to know about these books. Except maybe Squeaky Kitty. She's rather annoying.

Happy reading!