Nightstand status in July

Another month passing away.

What do I plan to read in August?

• Make good progress through John Adams by David McCullough for Book Club in September.
• Get through more of Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs
• Emily’s Quest by L. M. Montgomery to complete my Emily series this year – whoops, already read it on Monday.
• On the Incarnation by Athanasius
• The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham

I’m sure I’ll find many others to read through the month as well. Maybe I’ll start Anna Karenina

Here is the list of books I planned to read in the month of July. I did very well. Having the list kept me accountable.

• The Metamorphoses by Ovid – library book

I renewed this thing twice. Not hard to read, but not interesting for some reason. Some of it was humorous but it just didn’t work for me this month. I read 4 chapters (135 pages) and decided that was enough exposure to this classic for me.

• Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs as part of the Reading the Classics at Tim Challies’ blog

I am reading about a chapter a week on this one. The subject is meaty and he puts a lot into it, plus the edition I have is small tight print which shouldn’t be legal.

• Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl by N. D. Wilson – Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger – not received until 7/20 – almost ran out of time.

This was an amazing book. As fun and weird as the description said, but also hits some very serious topics.

• The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Stewart – on loan from the 11 year old

This was a really fun book – second in the series. The 4 young heroes are thrown into action to save their friend, and it takes all 4 of them working together (again) to do it. Very fun read.

• The Name of this Book is Secret by pseudonymous bosch- on loan from the 11 year old

This was pretty funny. Again, young heroes, not the popular type but thrown together to solve a mystery and then find they are friends. The tone and marration are a bit different from the Mysterious Benedict Society and I enjoyed this book as well.

• If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late by pseudonymous bosch- on loan from the 11 year old

The last of my YA books for the month. Next in the series and very good story, with a few new friends thrown in. Strange ending and a few people get grounded along the way.

• The Odyssey by Homer, maybe?

I did it! And I’m glad I did. Just like The Illiad, it was an interesting read. It also got me into the pattern again as preparation for reading The Metamorphoses. I didn’t realize that it isn’t even until chapter 5 that we see Odysseus himself. Then halfway through the book he’s home and we spend the next half building up to the great purge of the suitors.

• I need to start John Adams by David McCullough for the Sept book club meeting.

I started this. If I read a chapter a week, I’ll be done in time for Book Club. It is very interesting, but slow reading. I’m sending my chapter notes out to the rest of the book club to try to encourage them to work through it.

Plus Extras I read

I made it through the entire book of Psalms and Isaiah.

I read A Test of Wills by Charles Todd – the first in a good series of mysteries. I enjoyed this one a lot! I look forward to reading more by this author.

A Fatal Grace, the second in the Three Pines mysteries by Louise Penny. She gets into relationships well, and I like that.

Then I went off course for a week and read a wonderful fantasy trilogy by Brandon Sanderson – Mistborn. Volume 1, The Final Empire, does a great job of introducing the world and characters. They achieve an impossible mission to save the world and seem to have doomed it in the process. Volume 2, The Well of Ascension, has great character growth and lots of scurrying around trying to patch and fix the damage caused in volume 1. Then just as it seems like it’s all going to work out, it gets a whole lot worse! Volume 3, The Hero of Ages, spreads our characters all over the continent as the end of the world is rapidly approaching. Well worth the 1500 pages total to see how it all works out in the end!

I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. It was fantastic! The format of letters and the characters as we learn about the occupation of Guernsey Island during WWII was just great. I laughed and cried and couldn’t put it down.

I also read Slave Hunter by Aaron Cohen about his time spent identifying and helping free slaves, especially sex slaves, around the world. Well written and interesting. Even the autobiographical information was interesting. But a depressing read, it’s unrelenting. He does a good job of reminding the reader that even one life helped is a good thing, not to get overwhelmed by the numbers or the inhumanity that the world is capable of.