We have been terrible bloggers. Apparently three is the magic number of children to push us from pseudo-regular bloggers to practically non-bloggers. Short shrift for those who wish to see photos of kids . . . so sorry about that.
In any event, the change of the year does have me ready to set forth the books I read last year. They are:
January
James Madison: A Biography - Ralph Ketchum
Jingo - Terry Pratchett
February
Things in Heaven and Earth: The Life and Times of Wilford Woodruff, a Mormon Prophet - Thomas Alexander
Pyramids - Terry Pratchett
The New Testament - Various
The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness - Harlow Unger
Death and What Comes Next - Terry Pratchett
The Fifth Elephant - Terry Pratchett
March
Lorenzo Snow: Spiritual Giant, Prophet of God - Francis Gibbons
Moving Pictures - Terry Pratchett
John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life - Paul Nagel
The Truth - Terry Pratchett
Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
April
Joseph F. Smith: A Portrait of a Prophet - Richard Holzapfel & R. Q. Shupe
Maskerade - Terry Pratchett
The Sea and Little Fishes - Terry Pratchett
Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett
May
The Life of Andrew Jackson - Robert Remini
Interesting Times - Terry Pratchett
June
Heber J. Grant: Highlights in the Life of a Great Leader - Bryant Hinckley
The Last Continent - Terry Pratchett
July
Martin Van Buren: The Romantic Age of American Politics - John Niven
Monstrous Regiment - Terry Pratchett
August
The Book of Mormon - Various
Against the Odds: The Life of George Albert Smith - Mary Jane Woodger
Going Postal - Terry Pratchett
September
Old Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison and His Times - Freeman Cleaves
The Wee Free Men - Terry Pratchett
Making Money - Terry Pratchett
October
David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism - Gregory Prince & Robert Wright
The Last Hero - Terry Pratchett
November
John Tyler - Gary May
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents - Terry Pratchett
December
The Life of Joseph Fielding Smith - Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. & John Stewart
Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett
A Collegiate Casing Out of Devilish Devices - Terry Pratchett
Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America - Walter Borneman
A Hat Full of Sky - Terry Pratchett
In total, that is 39 books that I read last year, a drop off of 8 from the year before. Gah! I believe the letdown is due mainly to having an infant, putting in a new yard, and reading less during lunch at work, as a number of coworkers and I have made it commonplace to watch something together during that time.
But so it is. I hope to improve in 2014.
Instead of any lengthy commentary, I'm going to make it more simple this year. Books I loved: James Madison: A Biography; John Quincy Adams, a Public Life, a Private Life; David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. Books I did not love: Lorenzo Snow: Spiritual Giant, Prophet of God; Alice in Wonderland; Through the Looking Glass. The rest of my reading list from this year fell in between those extremes. I have almost completed all of Pratchett's Discworld books, and being so close I intend to finish them this year. Should be done by midyear at the latest.
I have been sorely disappointed in the lack of true historical biographies on LDS Presidents starting at the turn of the 20th century. Aside from the McKay book, they just don't seem to be out there, which I find quite surprising. With all due respect to Mr. Gibbons, part of the reason I didn't like his book was because it isn't really a history book. But it is pretty much all I could find on Lorenzo Snow.
I was also surprised at how much I didn't like Carroll's books. Through other media I am, of course, familiar with the stories, but I did not find them compelling at all. In fact I thought they were mostly uninteresting. This is particularly astounding because I have always loved the Jabberwocky poem.
It is a travesty that there is no monument to James Madison in the capitol.
Last specific comment. I have gained a tremendous amount of respect for John Quincy Adams, who even during the course of my undergraduate study was often given the historian's shrug. While his presidency was pretty disastrous, when you consider the entirety of his life, what an amazing man. I am very glad I read his biography.
I have felt toward the end of the year a little bit too constrained in my U.S. President biography / Discworld / LDS President biography routine. I am looking forward to finishing two of the three projects this year, because there are a bunch of books that don't fit into those categories I would like to read. And of course, there are always books I want to reread. Never enough time.
Once again, if you have read to the end, even the fine print, you are my very best friend and have earned great respect for slogging through this whole thing.
The End.
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1 comment:
Impressive list, Gary...even if you think it's a step backward from last year. Maybe you should add up the number of pages rather than the number of books. Who knows, maybe you actually read more in 2013 than in 2012?
Good point about James Madison. Kiersten would also like to add a plug in for a monument to John Adams.
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