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#22. PRETENDING TO DANCE by Diane Chamberlain
★★☆☆☆
I’ve had my Goodreads account since 2011 and for the past year, I have been trying to go back and actually read some books from my “to be read” shelf.  This has become a bit of an experiment because I no longer have any memory of where I heard about them or why I wanted to read them in the first place, ha!  Pretending to Dance is one of those books and I went into it completely blind.  The story alternates between the present, with the main character and her husband going through the adoption process, and flashbacks to the past, during the summer when she was fourteen.  This is a hard book to describe since the focus was heavily on her coming-of-age summer and filled with sexual escapades that I had to skim past.  Top that off with a morally questionable ending and this book was definitely just not for me.

#23. BETTER OFF: FLIPPING THE SWITCH ON TECHNOLOGY by Eric Brende
★★★☆☆
I always like to read these types of books, where people do something extreme and then share what they learned.  Better Off is the story of one such couple who go to live with a “Minimite” community (not quite Mennonites, but they have many of the same attributes) for 18 months.  They are searching for an answer to “How much technology is too much?”  This book was written in 2004 and I often caught myself thinking that I would love to know what he’s thought of technology in the years since: social media, Iphones, Alexa, even cars that do the driving for you!  This book gave me a lot to think about.

#24. BLUEBIRD, BLUEBIRD by Attica Locke
★★★☆☆
This novel is a police procedural about a black Texas Ranger who is investigating two possibly race-motivated murders.  It is definitely more literary in tone and a slow burn – not a bad thing at all! – but I struggled to get through chapters each night.  They put me right to sleep!  The ending was really good and perfectly set up a possibility of a series.  (Update: I just checked and there’s a sequel!  It’s called Heaven, My Home.)

#25. OUR TOWN: A PLAY IN THREE ACTS by Thornton Wilder
★★★★☆

EMILY: Good-by, world.  Good by, Grover’s Corners…Mama and Papa.  Good-by to clocks ticking…and Mama’s sunflowers.  And food and coffee.  And new-ironed dresses and hot baths…and sleeping and waking up.  Oh, earth, you’re too wonderful for anybody to realize you.
Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? – every, every minute? (Act III)

Switching things up with a play!  I actually found this rendition on Youtube and read along at the same time.  (I think my understanding is much richer because of it.)  I wasn’t sure about the concept during Act I, but enjoyed it more and more in Acts II and III.  Set in small town USA, this drama takes a look at the human condition: we live, we love, and we eventually die.  I loved the reminder to pay attention because life really does go by so quickly.  (This was my 1938 pick for the 20th Century in Books Challenge.)

#26. SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE by Jean Kwok
★★☆☆☆
I had a hard time with this one.  It begins with a mystery: a woman goes missing while visiting her dying grandmother in the Netherlands and her family back at home in the US tries to find out what happened.  There’s an immigrant aspect that I found interesting, but there were too many sideplots that had me scratching my head.  (Like, Is this detail really necessary to further the story?)  Devastatingly sad from beginning to end.

#27. AMERICAN ROYALS by Katharine McGee
★★☆☆☆
After reading one too many heavy, depressing novels, I decided to take a stab at reading something outside of my comfort zone.  This book is Chick Lit, Young Adult, and a Romance…all genres I tend to avoid, ha!  American Royals asks the question, What if America had a royal family?  Told in multiple perspectives and definitely light and fluffy, but I am clearly not the target audience for this type of book.  So many love triangles and catty teenage girl behavior!  I left that drama back in high school for a reason.

#28. THE OTHER PEOPLE by C.J. Tudor
★★★★☆
This was a crazy book!  Plenty of twists and turns, with a supernatural element that was a little bit creepy.  I went into it only knowing that it was a thriller about a missing girl and her father who is obsessed with finding her. I think going in blind is probably the best way to go with this one.  I flew through it in two days.

#29. THEOLOGY OF HOME II: THE SPIRITUAL ART OF HOMEMAKING by Carrie Gress and Noelle Mering
★★★★☆

…it doesn’t take a tragedy for the devil to confuse us.  Even in our daily lives, even during our best moments, he can wreak havoc.  He knows precisely which direction to push us, either toward self-glorification if we are prone to vanity or toward despair if we are prone to scrupulosity.  As the father of lies, he sows confusion, leaving us stunted.  To move forward in hope, the best thing we can do is begin and end with what we know to be true: we are loved by a God who is love.  He is with us.  We can run to him.  His providence is beyond our comprehension.  And when we falter, we can return to him with simplicity, confident that he makes all things new. (p.158)

I think I enjoyed this beautiful book even more than the first one!  Thought-provoking and inspiring.

#30. LITTLE HEATHENS: HARD TIMES AND HIGH SPIRITS ON AN IOWA FARM DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
★★★☆☆
This is Mildred’s childhood story, growing up on her grandparents’ farm during the Great Depression.  I enjoyed her stories and recipes and general nostalgia – what a hard-working family!  A solid three star read.

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#11. THE THINGS THAT KEEP US HERE by Carla Buckley
★★★☆☆

If a Hallmark movie/women’s fiction novel and an apocalyptic novel had a baby, it would be this book.  It follows a mother of two, who allows her soon-to-be ex-husband back into the house after an H5N1 outbreak wreaks havoc on the world.  Reading about a pandemic during a pandemic may or may not have been the wisest choice, but I sure am grateful that ours doesn’t have a 50% death rate like the one in the book.  Not the best novel I’ve ever read, but definitely a thought-provoking one.

#12. THE FORTUNATE ONES by Ellen Umansky
★★☆☆☆

This was a weird one.  I went into it thinking that it was a dual-timeline modern day/WWII-era historical fiction, which it was…except it wasn’t.  (How’s that for a description, ha!)  Both stories revolve around a specific piece of artwork that means a lot to both main characters, but it proved not to be a very interesting premise.  Just an okay read for me.

#13. THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF RACHEL DUPREE by Ann Weisgarber
★★★☆☆

This one was a sad story about an African American couple trying to survive as homesteaders in the harsh environment of the Badlands (in South Dakota) during the early 20th century.  There were a lot of thought-provoking parts to this novel, especially about prejudice and a marriage created with two people on different pages.  Solid three stars.  (This fit the Historathon prompt for “A Book With a Person’s Name in the Title”)

#14. THE GIRL IN THE GREEN RAINCOAT by Laura Lippman
★★☆☆☆

I was looking for a quick change of pace before diving back into historical fiction, so I picked up The Girl in the Green Raincoat.  (I rediscovered it while picking books for The Booktube Spin.)  This novella, at just 158 pages, is about a pregnant private investigator on bedrest who tries to solve a case while stuck at home.  A fast read, but definitely forgettable.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but I guess this book is part of a bigger series and I dove in at #11.  Oops!  (This also fulfilled the Buzzword Readathon Challenge prompt for February, “a color.”)

#15. THE YELLOW BIRD SINGS by Jennifer Rosner
★★★★☆

The author describes the book this way: “The Yellow Bird Sings is a story about longing: the longing of a child and her mother to be connected, to be heard, to find their way home.”  I had a hard time getting into the first third of the book, but was very invested in the characters after that.  The ending was beautiful.  P.S. Some sexual content, that most likely was true to life during that time, but still hard to read.  (This was also the group read for Historathon.)

#16. THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR by Shari Lapena
★★★☆☆

Thanks to the Historathon challenge, I am learning that I need a bit of a palate cleanser before diving back into heavy historical fiction novels.  This time, I went with another one unearthed due to The Booktube Spin.  The story is about a couple who left their sleeping six-month-old baby home while they were at a dinner party right next door.  They brought the baby monitor to the party and checked in every half hour, so nothing could possibly go wrong…right?  Nope.  At the end of the party, they return to find the front door ajar and the crib empty.  The rest of the book is a twisty ride!  Fast paced and enjoyable, but you do have to suspend belief a bit.  I flew through it during a snowy weekend.

#17. THE TRUTH ACCORDING TO US by Annie Barrows
★★★★☆

Set in small town West Virginia in the late 1930s, this chunky book is about a young girl, her unconventional family, and a visitor who comes to town to work on the Federal Writers’ Project.  This was surprisingly deep and hit themes like loyalty and forgiveness and truth.  I especially loved the witty banter between family members.  3.5 stars, rounded up.   (This fit the Historathon prompt for “A Place You’ve Visited”)

#18. THE LOST GIRLS OF PARIS by Pam Jenoff
★★★☆☆

This book is the fictional story about a group of female secret agents during World War II.  It’s told in three perspectives – one is the “current” day of 1946 and the other two primarily occur two years before.  I blew through it during my 24in48 Challenge and found the historical aspect of female agents riveting, but ultimately thought it was just a solid three star read.  I wanted less romance and more spying!  Good, but not amazing.

#19. NEVER LOOK BACK by Alison Gaylin
★★★☆☆

Another quick change of pace with a fast-paced thriller that was recommended on Youtube.  This was supposed to be about a true crime podcaster researching an old case, but in reality, it didn’t have much to do with the true crime podcast phenomenon at all.  Still good and twisty, but pretty dark and gritty.

#20. BENEATH A SCARLET SKY by Mark Sullivan
★★★☆☆

This 500+ page novel was about the heroic acts of a young Italian man during WWII.  I thought the story was good and generally interesting, but found the writing a little too simplistic and juvenile for my taste.  After finishing the book, I did a little research on the main character and apparently there’s a bit of controversy regarding how factual some of the scenes were.  I found the discussion of “How much fact vs. fiction should you put into a book to still call it ‘based on a true story’?” fascinating and thought-provoking. (This fit the Historathon prompt for “A Book With No People on the Cover”)

#21. BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP by S.J. Watson
★★☆☆☆

I’ve had this thriller on my Goodreads TBR since 2012!  I finally found a used copy on Better World Books and…it was just okay.  The premise is that a middle-aged woman wakes up each morning with amnesia, not knowing who she is, where she is and who the man is in bed next to her.  The man has to explain that he is her husband and that she had an accident years ago that made her unable to retain memories.  The book follows her as she keeps a journal, trying to understand what happened in her past.  It was definitely a page-turner, but was another book that you probably shouldn’t think too deeply about or else the entire thing unravels in plausibility.  (P.S. A lot of sexual content.)

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#1. ONE BY ONE by Ruth Ware
★★★★☆

This was my fourth Ruth Ware novel and while it took me a few chapters to get into it, I really enjoyed it.  The story takes place in a chalet in the French Alps where a group of tech company employees come for a corporate retreat.  Tensions are already high when a terrible avalanche cuts the group off from civilization and one by one, the group starts dwindling in number.  This book definitely had an Agatha Christie feel and even though I had a pretty strong idea of whodunit (and was right in the end), I still felt it was a solid thriller.  Three and a half stars, rounded up.         

#2. THEOLOGY OF HOME: FINDING THE ETERNAL IN THE EVERYDAY by Carrie Gress, Noelle Mering & Megan Schrieber
★★★★☆

We can open our lives and homes to people placed in our path from other walks of life and world views.  With a greatly diminished number of people actually practicing the faith, it becomes more likely that our homes are a rare opportunity for someone in our acquaintance to be invited into the intimacy of Catholic family life.  To do this well we must first and foremost be constantly drawing from our Lord so that he might be reflected through us.  We bear a great responsibility to represent him well. (p.146)

Unless we are Lord or Lady Crawley, we will likely spend a lot of our time laboring at a job, in the home, or at school.  Whatever it is that we’re doing, dull or glamorous, in doing it for love of Christ, it becomes an extension of our prayer life and a vehicle for sanctification.  If we cannot find Christ in our work where we are now, we will have a hard time finding him anywhere else. (p.161)

I’ve had this book on my wishlist for awhile, so I was thrilled to receive a copy for Christmas!  (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)  It’s so much more than home décor inspiration – the bulk of the book consists of theological essays on the elements of home and the domestic Church.  I found many things to ponder, especially in the area of hospitality.

#3. THE PARASITIC MIND: HOW INFECTIOUS IDEAS ARE KILLING COMMON SENSE by Gad Saad
★★★★☆ 

I learned about this book after watching an interview on Youtube. I was intrigued by his wit and his completely countercultural understanding of the world today. He’s in the same vein as Jordan Peterson in that he comes to reason from a non-religious, but logical perspective. I don’t agree completely with everything he says, but it certainly was refreshing to hear counter-arguments for some of the more nonsensical things we’ve had pushed down our throats lately. It gave me a lot to think about.  3.5 stars, rounded up.

#4. THE SERMONS OF ST. FRANCIS DE SALES: FOR ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS
★★★★☆ 

Thus, it is a very good prayer simply to present one’s needs to Our Lord, place them before the eyes of His goodness, and leave it to Him to act as He sees fit, convinced that He will answer us according to our needs. (p.110)

This was my religious book for Advent and Christmas.  In all, there are nine sermons from Saint Francis de Sales included and they were so good and relatable.  Hard to believe they were written in the early 17th century!  I really appreciated the analogies he used to describe some of the harder theological concepts.  

#5. THE THIRTEENTH TALE by Diane Setterfield
★★★☆☆

We all have our sorrows, and although the exact delineaments, weight and dimensions of grief are different for everyone, the color of grief is common to us all.  “I know,” he said, because he was human, and therefore, in a way, he did. (p.389)

The Thirteenth Tale was described to me as a type of gothic suspense novel that contained a story within a story and had a bookish/library element.  I was intrigued!  I flew through the first half, but the story lost some steam for me after that.  The end was a complete surprise and I never saw it coming.  All in all, a solid three star read.  (P.S. There is a bit of vague scandalous behavior in parts, but nothing explicit or vulgar.)

#6. THE BEAN TREES by Barbara Kingsolver
★★★☆☆

This is the story of a girl named Taylor who sets out on an adventure to get away from her poor, rural Kentucky hometown.  She ends up in Tuscon, Arizona and meets a handful of loveable, really unique characters.  This book hit on some hard issues (the back of the book says that she “meets the human condition head-on”) and gave me things to think about.  I like books that do that.  (This was also my 1988 pick for the 20th Century in Books Challenge.)

#7. BEHOLD THE DREAMERS by Imbolo Mbue
★★★☆☆

I didn’t intentionally mean to read two books about immigrants back to back, but here we are!  I actually was browsing through “Booktube” (Youtube channels about books) and stumbled on a Buzzword Reading Challenge.  January’s prompt was “dream” and this book was the only one I owned with that word in the title.  It’s been on my shelf for awhile, so I was excited to finally read it.  The book is about a young Cameroonian family trying to make it in New York City at the beginning of the recession.  A thought-provoking read.  

#8. THE MINIATURIST by Jessie Burton
★★☆☆☆

This book was…weird.  On one hand, it was really compelling and I had a hard time putting it down.  The writing was great and the descriptions of Amsterdam in the 1600s were captivating.  BUT.  I just couldn’t understand how all the moving pieces, all the themes, and especially all of the magical realism connected together.  Too many of the most important parts were unexplained.  Just an okay read for me.  (P.S.  Definitely a PG13+ read in some parts.  I had to skim some of the more racy sexual scenes.)    

#9. SAINT JOHN PAUL THE GREAT: HIS FIVE LOVES by Jason Evert
★★★★☆

Young people didn’t make the trips to see him because he was simply a good man, but because he was capable of revealing to them their own capacity for goodness. He saw something in the youth that perhaps they didn’t even see in themselves. As one attendee of World Youth Day remarked, “He showed us to ourselves.” John Paul did this by directing them to the person of Jesus Christ. In his words, “Without the Gospel, man remains a dramatic question with no adequate answer.” The youth wanted answers, and John Paul never vacillated in offering them. He knew young people well enough to understand that they don’t want a watered-down version of the faith. They want to be presented with the fullness of the faith. They want to be presented with the fullness of a message, and then be given the freedom to accept or reject it. He knew this, and reminded teens in Madison Square Garden that they are “approaching that stage in your life when you must take personal responsibility for your own destiny.” (p.94)

After picking up and putting down this book for months, I finally finished!  An inspiring read – I have a special love for JPII.

#10. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell
★★★★☆

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL.  BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS. (p.134)

This little book is definitely a well-known classic and I finally got a copy!  Boy oh boy, was this a timely read.  This analysis/summary post was interesting and helpful to explain the history and flesh out the ideas.  You could make the argument that we are seeing some of the same things today.   (This was also my 1945 pick for the 20th Century in Books Challenge.)

#60. EUCHARISTIC MIRACLES AND EUCHARISTIC PHENOMENA IN THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS by Joan Carroll Cruz || ★★★★☆