Books I Read in 2017

Well, I thought last year was embarrassing.  Turns out five kids and finishing a room in the basement cut my reading by nearly a third.  I am also reminded that I have yet to post photos of the finished basement room or the fence that were finished in 2017.  Without further ado, here is the list:

January

Truman - David McCoullough

February

The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare
Dragons of Autumn Twilight - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

March

None.  :-(

April

Don Quixote - Miguel Cervantes
Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman
The Old Testament - Various
The Return of the Shadow - J.R.R. Tolkien

May

Eisenhower in War and Peace - Jean Edward Smith

June

Drive - Daniel H. Pink
Dragons of the Dwarven Depths - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

July

Parley P. Pratt and the Makings of Mormonism - Various
The Treason of Isengard - J.R.R. Tolkien
Much Ado About Nothing - William Shakespeare

August

The Book of Mormon - Various
QB: My Life Behind the Spiral - Steve Young and Jeff Benedict

September

The Wright Brothers - David McCullough

October

John F. Kennedy: A Biography - Michael O'Brien

November

Dragons of Winter Night - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
The War of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien

December

Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President - Robert Dallek

And that's it.  Only 20 books read this year, a really sad total.  Getting too many kids, I suppose.  I loved the Steve Young biography.  Very interesting.  Amazed at how many injuries NFL players get and play through.  I suppose I shouldn't be, but I found that quite surprising.  Starting a re-read course on the Dragonlance series.  Still love it from nostalgia, and still plugging away on the Tolkien history books, which I enjoy, but they are academic and slow reads.

Both of the McCoullough books I read this year, Truman and The Wright Brothers were superb.  That guy is just amazingly talented, thorough, and prescient.  I have loved every book of his that I have read.  Not a lot else that I read besides scriptures and presidential biographies.  All of Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson's biographies left me with mixed feelings about each of those men.  Getting to within shouting distance of finishing a biography of every president.  I think it is possible to do it this year if I get shorter biographies, but generally I look for the best regarded single volume work, even if it is somewhat long.

In any event, here's hoping next year will see more completed books.

Hey friend.  How's it going?