I've started a new blog entitled Intertwining Melodies, which you can check out over here. I think it's pretty sweet if I do say so myself.
I thought I would just go through my favorite books of this year... I read eighty-six books in total, but here's the cream of the crop:
So I'll go through each one and give it a brief (very brief) review and why I liked it.
Hadassah: One Night With the King
I really like Biblical historical fiction (as you will quickly see in this post) and this is no exception. It tells the story of Esther (Hebrew name is Hadassah) as she is chosen to be one of the people the king will choose from for queen.
It's a really good book, and I've read it several times since I got it six months ago, which tells me how much I like it. I specifically like how it brings the Bible to life for me, and even though I know it's not infallible (obviously) it helps my imagination and helps me to read the Bible in a whole different way.
Anna and the King of Siam
There is a pretty famous movie called The King and I based on this book (I think there was a Broadway play, too). It's about a woman named Anna who moves into the royal household in Siam and teaches the royal children to read, write, about geography and all that.
I got an abridged version a few years ago from my grandma and I loved it, mostly because it was really funny about how Anna behaved in a different culture and what she did for the kids in that culture by teaching them. This was my first time reading the real version, though, and it was really good. All the added information was super fun. :)
Foreign to Familiar
This was an amazing story research book. It talked about all the different cultures around the world and explained how they mostly fit into two categories, then explained those categories. The information will really help me with developing cultures in my stories.
No Talking
I really enjoy Andrew Clement's books even though they are way below my reading level. He does a great job of making interesting, fun plots that aren't too kiddy. This one was about a dare that the kids in fifth grade made that the boys would talk more than the girls (or vise versa). They could only use three words when replying to adults.
I read this book on our road trip this summer and my siblings and I played the same type of game except we could just use three words in all situations, regardless of whether or not we were talking to adults or kids. It was super fun.
Deadline, Determination and Deception (any Randy Alcorn books)
I would be remiss to not mention Randy Alcorn books. They are probably some of my favorite fiction books ever. Deception especially is an amazing mystery in its own right. Plus the author is a Christian which means the books are pretty clean. But there is some discussion of some pretty heavy topics (abortion, racial discrimination, murder) so be aware of that. I love these books though.
Hunger Games
I read The Hunger Games for the first time this year. They were pretty good! Parts of the games themselves sort of freaked me out, but it was a fun, easy read. It was a little depressing even at the end, though. Too many people die. *sigh. But that's the nature of the concept and kinda the point of the book.
The Pharoah's Daughter
Another historical fiction book! I love this book so much, too. I read it for the first time this year, as well. It was about the Egyptian princess who took Moses in and raised him. Though I'm guessing there were a few historical inaccuracies, but it was still really good.
The Robe
And another historical fiction book. This one is about the Roman soldier who won Jesus' robe at His crucifixion. It has so much more in it, though, and the plot was really good and kept moving well. I don't want to say much else because I don't want to give anything away. But 100% recommend this book!
This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years
This book is written by Jaquelle Crowe, who was a teenager when she wrote it (she's twenty now). I read it this summer and it was really good. I loved how Jaquelle wrote to teenagers in a way that was really engaging, but the book was also super challenging. Five stars for sure! (I met Jaquelle in August and got her to sign my copy of the book, which is pretty awesome.)Unbroken
I read this book in less than three days in South Carolina on vacation and it was pretty good. And I'm proud of the fact that I read all five hundred pages in ten or less hours. :)
This book is about Louis Zamperini (hope I spelled that right) who basically got captured and put in a Japanese prisoner camp and then about that experience and then how he ended up getting saved after being rescued and all that. It was really good and I'd recommend it.
That's it for today! Since this post is so long, I'm just gonna wrap it up really quickly. Be sure to check out Intertwining Melodies for a post tomorrow morning and have a happy new year!
~Anna
No comments:
Post a Comment