Books I Read in 2019

Another year past (and as I get older, they seem to go quicker) and I've had a minor diminution in the number of books read relative to last year.  And still nowhere near the goal of 52.  That will probably have to wait till retirement. 

I have never counted books I read aloud to my children, and still don't.  But this past year or two I read the Harry Potter series aloud with James, along with a couple of Tolkien's books; and now I'm 6 books in to Harry Potter with Grace.  And yet, reading little 4 page board books never counted, so I haven't counted those even though the older kids are getting more significant works.  Oh well.

Anyway, I read 29 books this past year (not aloud to the kids), as follows:

January

The Scions of Shannara - Terry Brooks
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

February

Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare
Be Our Guest - Theodore Kinni
The Second Generation - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

March

Bill Clinton: New Gilded Age President - Patrick Maney
The Druid of Shannara - Terry Brooks

April

The Kite Runner - Kahled Hosseini

May

Dragons of Summer Flame - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

June

Bush - Jean Edward Smith
The Book of Mormon - Various
The Elf Queen of Shannara - Terry Brooks
Power Dads - Wayne Parker
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

July

The New Testament - Various
The Book of Mormon - Various
Dragons of a Fallen Sun - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
All's Well that Ends Well - William Shakespeare

August

The Talismans of Shannara - Terry Brooks
The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank

September

The Birth of Britain: A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Vol. 1 - Winston Churchill

October

Dragons of a Lost Star - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

November

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance - Angela Duckworth
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain

December

The New World: A History of the English Speaking Peoples Vol. II - Winston Churchill
First King of Shannara - Terry Brooks
Dragons of a Vanished Moon - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
The Book of Mormon - Various
The Contract: The Journey of Jimmer Fredette from the Playgroud to the Pros - Pat Forde

I suppose a good starting point is the Terry Brooks Shannara series.  I loved Wishsong as a kid, but rereading the original trilogy I ended up being fairly underwhelmed.  However, having embarked on the entire series, I find that I like them better and better.  This may have something to do with getting into books where Brooks had a lot more experience, but I am quite liking them now.

The Kite Runner deserves a specific mention.  I knew nothing about that book before picking it up.  There is some exceedingly disturbing content, but I love the overarching message.  A great work of art.

Power Dads was excellent, and I would recommend it for all fathers or fathers to be.  I also got to enjoy the fact that the author works for Provo City and I get to interact with him occasionally, which led to getting a signed copy.  A fitting reflection of the insightful author.

I have started making an effort to read classic works of literature that I have not read before.  I intend to keep that up for the foreseeable future, every fourth or fifth book.  I am considering my U.S. President biography reading complete with Bush.  With Obama and Trump, the books just haven't been written yet.  Those that exist seem too biased and myopic.  Perhaps I will pick that up again in the future.  In their place I am halfway through Churchill's four volume history of English speakers, which I have enjoyed.  When that is finished I likely will embark on single volume histories of U.S. conflicts.

And that's probably enough, I suspect most people are having a tl;dr response.  The list of desired books always exceeds what I can get done!

Hey there best friends!  Your perseverance is commendable.