Children’s and Young Adult Fiction Chronal Engine by Greg Leitich Smith. Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan. Semicolon review here. Something Like Normal by Trish Doller. Semicolon review here. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Saenz. Wonderful writing, appealing characters, not so appealing theme or plot.
Adult Fiction The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarity. The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith. Semicolon review here. A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson.
How Silence Works: Emailed Conversations With Four Trappist Monks by Jeremy Mesiano-Crookston. “Is silence beneficial for all people? I would say the cultivation of silence is indispensable to being human.”
I have considered taking a weekend retreat where I simply observe silence and spend the time in prayer and meditation, no internet, no phone, no television, and no books. It’s the “no books” that frightens me. I’m not sure I have the inner resources or the connection with God that would sustain me in such silence for an entire weekend. Sad, but true.
Why You Should Consider Cancelling Your Short Term Missions Trip by Darren Carlson.
And yet my daughter leaves for Slovakia in a week to teach in Bible (day) camps and to share the gospel working alongside the Slovak church. Mistakes have been made, and unintended consequences are rampant. However, we can be called and used of God in other countries and cultures.
A British offering from Arts Council England: “Brought to life using audio performance and archive footage, 60 Years in 60 Poems travels through time to unpack our shared history, celebrating individual moments alongside national events.”
There’s a poem for every year of the Queen’s Jubilee, starting in 1954. I listened to the one for 1957, the year of my birth, and I thought it was poignant: On Not Dying Young by Elaine Feinstein.
“If we are people of the Book, people whose Faith is built upon the Word of God as it is given to us in the Bible, then we need to be a reading people. And by reading I do not mean merely that we are literate, but that we are able to read carefully, that we are comfortable reading slowly, and allow passages to challenge our preconceptions and to change us.”
Young Adult Fiction: Bumped by Megan McCafferty. One word review: BLECH. Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Torn by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Good entries in this time travel series for middle grade readers. Code Name: Verity by Elizabeth Wein. Semicolon review here. War Horse by Michael Morpurgo. Semicolon review here.
Adult Fiction: Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz. Semicolon review here. The Summer of Katya by Trevanian. Semicolon review here. Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris. O.K. but not a favorite. Dorchester Terrace by Anne Perry. Typical Anne Perry. I think I’ve outgrown or just become tired of this particular series of Victorian-setting mysteries. Or Ms. Perry is becoming repetitious and boring.
Nonfiction: Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children’s Literature by Philip Nel. The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home by George Howe Colt.
Children’s and Young Adult Fiction: Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker. I read an ARC of this YA romance novel. It’s due out from Bloomsbury on May 22, 2012. Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos. Newbery Award winner for 2011. Semicolon review here. On the Blue Comet by Rosemary Wells. Time travel via Lionel model train. Semicolon review here. Eyes Like Willy’s by Juanita Havill. World War I fiction. A Time of Angels by Karen Hesse. World War I fiction. Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo. More World War I fiction. Semicolon reviews of all three WW I novels here.
Nonfiction: Fortunate Sons by Liel Leibovitz and Matthew Miller. “The 120 Chinese Boys Who Came to America, Went to School, and Revolutionized an Ancient Civilization.” Semicolon review here. Why Jesus? Rediscovering His Truth in an Age of Mass-Marketed Spirituality by Ravi Zacharias.
Nonfiction: Angry Wind: Through Muslim Black Africa by Truck, Bus, Boat, and Camel by Jeffrey Tayler. Recommended by Nancy Pearl in Book Lust To Go. Book #1 in my North Africa Reading Challenge.Semicolon review here. Sahara: A Natural History by Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle. Recommended by Nancy Pearl in Book Lust To Go. Winston’s War: Churchill, 1940-1945 by Max Hastings. Semicolon review here. The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo with Robert DeMoss. Review coming soon.
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. I am a fan of all of Ms. L’Engle’s books, but this one is the one for which she has received the most acclaim, including the Newbery Medal. The story of misfit Meg, her genius little brother Charles Wallace and her wonderfully normal friend Calvin going off to fight evil out among the stars and galaxies is a classic that can introduce children and adults to the wonder and the danger of a universe in which God rules but Evil is real and perilous.
Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction: Saraswati’s Way by Monika Schroder. Semicolon review here. Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy. Semicolon review here. With a Name Like Love by Tess Hilmo. Semicolon review here. A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. Semicolon review here. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King. This YA novel got a lot of publicity, maybe an award or two last year, but it wasn’t one of my favorites. In fact, I found it strange and somewhat tedious. For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Semicolon review here. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Dead Bodies, Funerals, and Other Fatal Circumstances by Lenore Look. I didn’t think this one was as good as some of the other Alvin Ho adventures, but Alvin is still my hero—even if he is afraid of everything. The Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami. Bollywood. Lots of suspension of disbelief. Did you know that Mumbai and Bombay are the same city, just different names? I am ashamed to say that that bit of geographical knowledge escaped my notices until I read this kind of silly, kind of fun little novel about Dini, her best friend Maddie, and their obsession with Dolly Singh, the filmi star in Bollywood. (Yes, filmi is the word. I don’t know why.) Reviewed by Melissa at Book Nut.
Nonfiction: The Egg and I by Betty Macdonald. Semicolon review here. I Loved a Girl by Walter Trobisch. I picked up this book at the church library because I remembered reading it long, long ago when I was a teenager (back in the dark ages) and finding it helpful in the area of boy/girl relationships, dating, and s*x, which are some things we’re dealing with here in Semicolonland. This time through it was helpful, as I remembered, but the ending was abrupt. And it didn’t exactly speak to the particular issue we’re confronting. My Father’s Secret War by Lucinda Franks. Review forthcoming soon. “I liked it, but . . .”
And that’s it for 2011. I’m reading Winston’s War: Churchill 1940-1945 by Max Hastings now, and it’s not a fast read. It may take me a while to finish, but I am learning a lot about England during the Second World War.
Children’s and Young Adult Fiction: Dave at Night by Gail Carson Levine. Semicolon review here. The Night of the Burning: Devorah’s Story by Linda Press Wulf. Choosing Up Sides by John Ritter. The Storyteller’s Daughter by Jean Thesman. Chief Sunrise, John McGraw, and Me by Timothy Tocher. Small Acts of Amazing Courage by Gloria Whelan. Cybils nominee: Middle Grade Fiction.Nominated by Rebecca Herman.Semicolon review here. Losing Faith by Denise Jaden. Nominated and shortlisted for the INSPY Awards, Literature for Young People category. Crosswire by Dotti Enderle. Cry of the Giraffe by Judie Oron. Definitely for older YA. Orchards by Holly Thompson. How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr. Review coming soon.
Adult Fiction: Pattern of Wounds by J. Mark Bertrand. When She Woke by Hilary Jordan. My review at Breakpoint. Gifts of War by Mackenzie Ford.
Nonfiction: Unplanned: The dramatic true story of a former Planned Parenthood leader’s eye-opening journey across the life line by Abby Johnson with Cindy Lambert. Semicolon review here.
The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma. Tales of an African Vet by Dr. Roy Aronson. Review coming soon.
Children’s and Young Adult Fiction: Ties That Bind, Ties That Break by Lensey Namioka. An Ocean Apart, a World Away by Lensey Namioka. The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow. Nominated for 2011 Cybil Awards, Young Adult Fiction category.Nominated by Teacher.Mother.Reader.Semicolon review here. A Girl Named Mister by Nikki Grimes. Nominated and shortlisted for the INSPY Awards, Literature for Young People category. The Truth of the Matter by Andrew Klavan. Nominated and shortlisted for the INSPY Awards, Literature for Young People category. Saint Training by Elizabeth Fixmer. Nominated and shortlisted for the INSPY Awards, Literature for Young People category. The Final Hour by Andrew Klavan.
Nonfiction: Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir by Carolyn Weber. I think I would have enjoyed this one more had I read it in book form instead of on my Kindle. I’m finding that my reading experience on the Kindle just isn’t the same. But it’s difficult to explain how it’s different and difficult to know whether it’s the book that is the problem or the device. For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb and the Murder that Shocked Chicago by Simon Baatz. Semicolon review here. Fabulous Fashions of the 1920’s by Felicia Lowenstein Niven.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Saenz. Wonderful writing, appealing characters, not so appealing theme or plot.
