These were mostly taken from all those book lists that I’ve perused during the month of December.
Fierce Convictions by Karen Swallow Prior. About reformer, poet and Christian, Hannah More.
As Green as Grass: Growing Up Before, During & After the Second World War by Emma Smith. I have an excuse for not having read this one since it carries a publication date of December 30, 2014. But doesn’t the title sound lovely? From Dani’s list of books to read at A Work in Progress.
All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu. About an Ethiopian emigrant, this one fits into my interest in all things African. “A young African man called Isaac has come to the Midwestern United States, where he embarks on a relationship with Helen, a social worker, who, for all her heart and intelligence, has trouble understanding him.”
The Children Act by Ian McEwan.. Mr. McEwan is always provocative–and evocative.
Lila by Marilynne Robinson. I already had this one on my list before it was even published.
An Unecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine. This book sounds so –bookish. “Sustained by her ‘blind lust for the written word’ and surrounded by piles of books, she [Aaliyah] anticipates beginning a new translation project each year until disaster appears to upend her life.”
Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War by Mark Harris. The story of five Hollywood film directors and their activities during and in relation to World War II: John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens, written by the same author who wrote Pictures at a Revolution.
Blood Will Out: The True Story of a Murder, a Mystery, and a Masquerade by Walter Kirn. Kirn tells “the highly personal story of his being hoodwinked, professionally and emotionally, by a man he knew as Clark Rockefeller, a member of of the famously wealthy industrial, political, and banking family.”
Without You, There Is No Us: My Time With the Sons of North Korea’s Elite by Suki Kim. A haunting memoir of teaching English to the sons of North Korea’s ruling class during the last six months of Kim Jong-il’s reign–sounds like the sad-but-true category.
“Every day, three times a day, the students march in two straight lines, singing praises to Kim Jong-il and North Korea: ‘Without you, there is no motherland. Without you, there is no us.'”
Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China by Evan Osnos. National Book Award winner.
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. National Book Award winner.
I enjoyed Fierce Convictions very much, it provides a different aspect of that period of time in England when a few Christians came together to change the world.
I plan to read Lila someday but after reading John Piper’s review of the book, I put it lower on my priority list. She has become more liberal in some of her views about Christine doctrine and that alone he says made him wish he hadn’t read it. He loved her previous books.
Great list. Thanks for the reminder about Fierce Convictions. I read a review that made me want to read it, but forgot about it, but now it’s back on my TBR list.