Man, it's been awhile!!
I did not set a quantitative goal for 2018. My sole reading goal is to read as many books on my own bookshelves as I can. I've had some books for at least a decade, just sitting on my bookshelves, waiting to be read. I need to remedy this problem immediately!
This leads me to my first completed book of 2018 Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. I've owned this book for a very long time (it's stamped from the library I used to work at from 2000-2002! I finally read it, and really enjoyed it. Kabuo Miyamoto is accused of murder on a Pacific Northwest island after the end of WWII. The charge brings up issues of race and patriotism in the microcosm of the tiny island. Opinions about the Japanese in general run strong, but no one knows how to handle the local Japanese who forcibly left the island for concentration camps and then returned, or those of Japanese descent who fought in the US military against the Japanese in the Pacific Theater.
Simplicity Parenting by Lisa Ross: Few parenting books actually have a lot of useful, actionable advice in them, but this one sure did. Ross explains the relationship between anxiety and stress in children with clutter and parental induced stress in the home. The only thing I didn't agree with her on was the assertion that kids can have too many books. Otherwise a really great read and a good reminder that Stuff doesn't mean happiness and a cluttered house usually equates to a cluttered mind.
My Mother's Secret: A novel based on a true Holocaust story by J.L. Witterick: I'm a sucker for WWII European books, and this one did not disappoint. Helena and Franciszka are a mother/daughter duo who take in Jews, and in one case, an American soldier, to hide them from the Nazis. Both women are kind, ordinary people who do something extraordinary because they felt it was the right thing to do. This book is short and a very easy read.
Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton: The only Crichton books I read are those pertaining to dinosaurs, and this one is no exception. The book follows the story of competing professors from the East who attempt to dig up dinosaur bones in the Plains amid Indian wars. The perspective of life in paleontology in the late 19th century is interesting, as well as the public's perception of the West and the relationship between elite society and science.
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nine George: Of the first five books I read for the year, this one was my least favorite. Monsieur Perdu is a lonely man who still regrets aspects of his only big love interest , twenty years prior. He owns a bookstore on a floating barge on the Seine and prescribes books to others as a form of therapy. He teams up with a few other friends in the midst of their own soul-searches, and go on an adventure through the canals of France. I had a hard time getting into it, and found a lot of the book not relatable and unrealistic. The vivid descriptions of France though were lovely.
So there are my first 5 of the year. I've finished quite a few more already this year and I'll be back to update soon!
