{"id":1784,"date":"2017-01-10T16:11:46","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T21:11:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cuppacoldwater.wordpress.com\/?p=1784"},"modified":"2017-04-04T16:38:10","modified_gmt":"2017-04-04T20:38:10","slug":"book-list-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=1784","title":{"rendered":"Book List 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

My focus last year was less on reading and more on other new experiences. So I read thirty books instead of a more hefty amount. But here are the titles I did read, along with a blurb about each one. Some of them were lovely, and some of them I jumped in only to find I was in a pool I didn’t wish to swim in.\u00a0Maybe my mini reviews will help you avoid those. And hopefully my glowing reports will inspire you to read the excellent books I found!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Title<\/td>\nAuthor<\/td>\nNotes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Secret Life of Bees<\/td>\nSue Monk Kidd<\/td>\nFascinating cultural read, similar to “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Had a few “parts” though, so I can’t recommend all of it.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Good to Great<\/td>\nJim Collins<\/td>\nBoring. Good business concepts, but ill presented.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A Tale of Three Kings<\/td>\nGene Edwards<\/td>\nKind of interesting.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle<\/td>\nBarbara Kingsolver<\/td>\nThis book was mostly boring, with hilarious and interesting bits thrown in. You’ll like it if you’re a bit of a health nut.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet<\/td>\nSophie Hudson<\/td>\nSouthern tales, not very well written, but funny, and kinda sweet.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Do Hard Things<\/td>\nAlex and Brett Harris<\/td>\nA reread for me. Better for a younger audience than I.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Michael O’Halloran<\/td>\nGene Stratton Porter<\/td>\nSo sweet, and while very unrealistic, has\u00a0cool culture and a charming story line.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Beaulah<\/td>\nAugusta J Evans<\/td>\nLong and rather boring in stretches and full of words I didn’t know. Interesting story line though, if somewhat incredible like a lot of old novels are.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Anne’s House of Dreams<\/td>\nL. M. Montgomery<\/td>\nDelicious. Just plain delicious.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Total Money Makeover<\/td>\nDave Ramsey<\/td>\nInspiring. Makes me wish I had debt to pay off. Hah.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Belles on Their Toes<\/td>\nFrank B. Gilbreth Jr Ernestine Gilbreth Caret<\/td>\nHilarious all over again.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Anne of Ingleside<\/td>\nL. M. Montgomery<\/td>\nVery full of Anne’s kids’ personalities, which I liked.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rainbow Valley<\/td>\nL. M. Montgomery<\/td>\nEnjoyable, but not my favorite of the series, since it was more about the Parson’s kids than Anne’s.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Never Change<\/td>\nElizabeth Berg<\/td>\nEWWW.\u00a0Stay far away.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rilla of Ingleside<\/td>\nL. M. Montgomery<\/td>\nSad, but delightful in the end.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I Capture the Castle<\/td>\nDodie Smith<\/td>\nNot at all what I expected, but very intriguing. Has some undesirable parts though, making it less recommendable.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Monk and the Riddle<\/td>\nRandy Komisar<\/td>\nMore interesting than a business book should be. Also, surprisingly challenging, in wondering what to do with my life.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A House Like a Lotus<\/td>\nMadeleine L’Engle<\/td>\nUgh.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Princess Academy<\/td>\nShannon Hale<\/td>\nExceedingly well written kids’ book, making a predictable story line delightful.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Eats, Shoots & Leaves<\/td>\nLynne Truss<\/td>\nHilarious! If you have any interest at all in writing, or any grammar nazi tendencies, read this.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Healer<\/td>\nDee Henderson<\/td>\nNot as good as some of the others in the series.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bread & Wine<\/td>\nShauna Niequist<\/td>\nMakes me want to host all the parties, ever. Also eat all the food, ever. Lyn and I have even made the bacon-wrapped dates from it already, with great success.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society<\/td>\nMary Ann Shaffer<\/td>\nGreat writing style. I must have a thing for books formatted as letters.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Damsel in Distress<\/td>\nPG Wodehouse<\/td>\nI think the first long Wodehouse book I’ve read. I would totally recommend it, especially for a summer vacation book. His use of language, as always, is masterful.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Daddy-Long-Legs<\/td>\nJean Webster<\/td>\nAlways a pleasure.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chronicles of Avonlea<\/td>\nL.M. Montgomery<\/td>\nShort stories about random people in Avonlea. Some were great, others not so much.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Blue Castle<\/td>\nL.M. Montgomery<\/td>\nI may want to reread this one every few years for the next decade.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Adam of the Road<\/td>\nElizabeth Janet Gray<\/td>\nNot earth shaking by any means, but a nice read for a kid interested in medieval times.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ordering Your Private World<\/td>\nGordon MacDonald<\/td>\nRather dull, although he has good things to say.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
My life in France<\/td>\nJulia Child<\/td>\nVery interesting start. Slightly long and too many details towards the end, as biographies tend to have. Still, I wish I could have met her.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Three conclusions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I finally finished reading the\u00a0Anne of Green Gables<\/em> series. Now my childhood is complete.<\/li>\n
  2. I wish someone could teach business-book-writers how to present their good ideas in ways that you actually want to read them.<\/li>\n
  3. I love books about food, and books written as compilations of letters.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So tell me, what have you been reading lately? I’m planning to tackle a\u00a0stack already on my bookshelf, including War and Peace, so I can’t make any promises, but I still want to hear your recommendations for me this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    My focus last year was less on reading and more on other new experiences. So I read thirty books instead of a more hefty amount. But here are the titles I did read, along with a blurb about each one. Some of them were lovely, and some of them I jumped in only to find I was in a pool I didn’t wish to swim in.\u00a0Maybe my mini reviews will help you avoid those. And hopefully my glowing reports will…<\/p>\n

    Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[83],"tags":[104,105],"class_list":["post-1784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-book-list","tag-book-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8A8kG-sM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8387,"url":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=8387","url_meta":{"origin":1784,"position":0},"title":"How to Become a Reader","author":"Rachel","date":"April 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"It is not uncommon for me to stumble across conversations where I hear people remark sadly, \"I wish I were a reader.\" Well, as someone who is a reader, although of a lesser variety than some hardy folks, I am happy to offer a few tips to go from non-reader\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?cat=83"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/DSCF3445-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/DSCF3445-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/DSCF3445-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/DSCF3445-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/DSCF3445-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3628,"url":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=3628","url_meta":{"origin":1784,"position":1},"title":"Book Review: Garlic and Sapphires","author":"Rachel","date":"May 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I read this book in 2014, and loveloveloved it. 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