Book #44 of the year was Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life, by Tish Harrison Warren. I really enjoyed this book, which encourages us to find the connections with God in ordinary moments, like waking up, brushing our teeth, losing our keys. The writing is lovely.
Book #45 was a reread (a rererereread), Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen. In times of stress, I always return to these old favorites.
Book #46 was another reread, though this one was only for the second time. It was Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning, by Tom Vanderbilt. (The link is to my review the first time I read it.)
Book #47 was Paris to the Moon, by Adam Gopnik. I enjoyed this story of how the Gopniks moved to Paris so much that book #54 was another Gopnik title, Through the Children's Gate: A Home in New York.
Book #48 was Graceland at Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache from the American South, by Margaret Renkl. This is a collection of op-ed pieces that appeared in the New York Times. Renkl lives in Nashville and writes about politics and the environment. I enjoyed this book.
Book #49 was The Assignment, by Liza Wiemer. This YA title is about what happens when a high school class is given an assignment in history that some of them, and two in particular, find offensive. They're asked to argue in favor of the Nazis' Final Solution.
Book #50 was My Lover's Lover, by Maggie O'Farrell. Though not my favorite O'Farrell title yet, this one was intriguing. I'm eagerly awaiting her new book, The Marriage Portrait, which I have on hold at the library.
Book #51 was The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy. I can't believe I hadn't read this book yet, especially considering how much I love many Indian novels. Now I'm about to embark on her newest book.
Book #52 was 96 Miles, by J L Esplin. I wish I were still teaching middle school English and could share this with my students. This was so good, suspenseful, and exciting! Now I want a sequel!
Book #53 was The Guide, by Peter Heller. I've been waiting to read this one for a long time. While it wasn't as good as the The River, to which it's a sequel (the link is to my review of that one), this one was entertaining. I do like Peter Heller's writing.
Book #55 was Ghosted, by Rosie Walsh. Like the other book of Walsh's I've read, The Love of My Life (the link will take you to my review of that one), this one was very twisty. I was glad I didn't stop reading what seemed at first to be a pretty straightforward story. All my assumptions were shown to be wrong in quite unexpected ways.
Book #56 was a YA title called Moonrise, by Sarah Crossan. It's a verse novel set in Texas, and it has themes like the death penalty, family dysfunction, and sibling relationships. It was very readable and well done, but I wish an American editor had worked on it because I just didn't buy that the characters were Americans because of all the British usages in the writing.
Book #57 was a novel in French that I'm going to be teaching, Petit Pays, by Gaël Faye. I thought it was brilliantly written and gripping. It's a story of a French-Rwandan boy living in Burundi in 1994. Highly recommended. I'm looking forward to teaching it.
Book #58 was The Kurdish Bike, by Alesa Lightbourne. I enjoyed this book, recommended by a friend who has also taught at international schools, like me and like the protagonist of this novel. My only complaint is the head-spinning dénouement, in which huge numbers of issues are resolved in a few pages. I need to go back and read the ending again to get it all straight in my mind. I liked the portrayal of life in Iraq among the Kurds.
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