Best of the Bunch: January 2020

Today I'm sharing the best book I read in January.

Of the 8 books I read this month, I had two 5-star reads:

I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes

Greenglass House by Kate Milford

I loved them both, but my best of the bunch is definitely...

If I could give I Bring the Voices of My People more than 5 stars, I would. It's just so damn good. Walker-Barnes takes some thorny topics, like gendered racism and the problems with racial reconciliation in the church, and leads the reader through them with clarity and truth. She patiently breaks down the areas where others have glossed over necessary nuance; for example, when we talk about gendered racism facing women of color, we have to understand that that manifests differently for Native American women than for Asian women and differently for Latinx women than African American women, and it also manifests differently within each of those groups because of colorism. Walker-Barnes also explains how race can be both a social construct and an absolute reality, and why both of those pieces matter to this conversation. I highlighted many passages and was left with much to ponder. For all Christians and anyone else concerned with racial justice, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

What is the best book you read this month? Let me know in comments, or write your own post and link up below!

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The Night Masquerade and The Sympathizer
Five years ago I was reading: A Little Princess and Olive Kitteridge
Ten years ago I was reading: The Jungle Books

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Ten Book Cover Pairs

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week is a book cover freebie! I've been keeping a list of book covers that look somewhat similar — not all of them are obviously similar, but they're all ones where I've seen a cover at a glance and thought it was a different book, multiple times.

1. The Alienist by Caleb Carr and Little, Big by John Crowley

2. Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok and Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman

3. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino and The Opposing Shore by Julien Gracq

4. Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent and Scribbling the Cat by Alexandra Fuller

5. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz and The Seven-Per-Cent Solution by Nicholas Meyer

6. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes and The Wanting Seed by Anthony Burgess

7. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty and Rats by Robert Sullivan

8. Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin and Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes

9. The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy and The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope

10. Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple and Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin

What other similar book covers have you seen?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The Night Masquerade and The Sympathizer
Five years ago I was reading: A Little Princess and Olive Kitteridge
Ten years ago I was reading: The Jungle Books

The Ten Most Recent Additions to My (Son's) Bookshelf

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

I'm pretty sure this week's topic is referring to books on an actual bookshelf, but since I rarely acquire physical books anymore I thought about reprising the topic of recent additions to my TBR list. However, I am constantly adding physical books to my son's bookshelf — plus he got lots of new books for Christmas and his birthday — so I thought I'd share those instead!

1. Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller
I like this book because the narrator talks about how they want to be kind but don't always know what the kind thing to do is. I think that nuance is still over my 5-year-old's head, but we are able to talk about how the characters in the book feel based on the actions of the other characters, and how it can be hard to do the right thing sometimes.

2. The Boy with Big, Big Feelings by Britney Winn Lee
I thought this book might be helpful for my own boy with big feelings, but since he's never been taught to be ashamed of having feelings I don't think he really resonated with the central message of a boy who learns it's OK to share his big feelings.

3. Dragons Love Tacos 2 by Adam Rubin
We're going to see the Dragons Love Tacos musical soon, so it seemed like a good time to get the sequel to the well-loved original. This one is a bit more bizarre than the first and involves time traveling.

4. Farmer Pete Has Stinky Feet by Kim Uliana
My husband added this to our son's Christmas wish list because he thought the title sounded funny and our son would like it. Unfortunately the rhythm of the text is truly awful, and I say that as someone who can usually get into the rhythm of any kid's book even when my husband claims the rhythm doesn't work. I should have screened it against Goodreads and seen that it had no ratings except the author's (and now mine!).

5. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
We've discovered that a lot of Dr. Seuss' classic books have problematic elements, but this one at least has a message about environmentalism that my 5-year-old was able to understand pretty easily.

6. Maybe God Is Like That Too by Jennifer Grant
This one came highly recommended, and for good reason. The main character wonders how they can see God, and they learn that they can see God whenever they experience the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, patience, etc.). My son seemed to like this one, and when we were reading Be Kind the other night and talking about kindness, he commented, "Maybe God is like that too!"

7. Of Thee I Sing by Barack Obama
I like the idea of this one (comparing children's qualities to famous people throughout history) but it didn't really hold my son's attention, and I found myself having to explain who each person was in order for the text to make any sense. (For example, the page about Jackie Robinson basically just says, "He showed us how to be brave!" without any explanation for how, and my son immediately wanted to know why so many people in the baseball stands looked angry.)

8. Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things that Go by Richard Scarry
I haven't read this one with my son yet, but from when my husband read it at bedtime it seems to just be a lot of pictures with single-word labels, so it might be better either for younger kids or when my son is closer to being ready to read himself.

9. What Makes a Baby by Cory Silverberg
This was recommended as the most preschooler-friendly, gender-inclusive explanation of how babies are made, and it's mostly that, although I have to gloss over some parts due to it being not super inclusive of my son's adoption story. I also have the more detailed It's Not the Stork! for when he's a little bit older, which unfortunately is not trans-inclusive (which is partly why I'm saving it, for when the concept of "What this book says is not entirely accurate" will not overload his little brain).

10. When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff
This is a very sweet book about a trans boy who is worried that his new baby sibling is going to have a tough childhood like he did. He learns that you can't know everything about a person right away, but you can do your best and love them, which includes listening to them and making changes if needed.

What books have you acquired recently?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Cutting for Stone and A Passage to India
Five years ago I was reading: All the Light We Cannot See and Generous Spaciousness
Ten years ago I was reading: My Sister's Keeper

What I've Been Reading Lately (Quick Lit)

Today I'm linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy's Quick Lit to bring you some short and sweet reviews of what I've read in the past month. For longer reviews, you can always find me on Goodreads.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis: This is a readable, funny, charming account of a family in Flint, MI, in 1963 and the trip they take to Birmingham, as seen through the eyes of 10-year-old Kenny. I had a few issues with structure and pacing, but the stories themselves were great.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt: I enjoyed this read on the whole, though it was definitely slow in parts and took a long time to get to the central plot line, the murder. I appreciate the ways that Berendt wove together strands of different characters' stories; it would have gotten a bit boring if it was just the story of the man accused of murder.

The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor: My dislike of short story collections is well established, but I was happy to find that this wasn't a collection of disconnected stories; it's more like a novel with each chapter told from a different character's perspective, during which we get to learn about their individual backstory. It's not a happy collection, but it does end with a note of hope and empowerment. I'm glad to have read this book and would definitely recommend it.

Sorceress of Darshiva by David Eddings: This is a surprisingly enjoyable book given that our band of heroes basically spends the entire book on the road. Eddings' writing is annoyingly repetitive at times, though I suppose I can forgive him for reusing descriptions and putting his effort mainly into the character banter I love so much.

I Bring the Voices of My People by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes: This book is so damn good. Walker-Barnes takes some thorny topics, like gendered racism and the problems with racial reconciliation in the church, and leads the reader through them with clarity and truth. For all Christians and anyone else concerned with racial justice, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

The Seeress of Kell by David Eddings: This was a nice ending to the series; I don't mind a somewhat excessive happily ever after where everyone is married off and peace is restored to the entire world. On the whole, I liked this book, but it was clear that Eddings was getting a little tired of these characters after ten books. I'm glad to have reread the whole series, and it's still one of my favorites, even if as an adult I recognize more of the flaws.

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Cutting for Stone and Cold Comfort Farm
Five years ago I was reading: The Garlic Ballads and Generous Spaciousness
Ten years ago I was reading: Silas Marner

Top Ten Bookish Goals for 2020

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

Just like last year, there isn't a weekly topic on bookish goals anymore and this week is one on anticipated 2020 publications, of which I have almost none (only A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor and Don't Overthink It), so I'm just using this week to share my goals instead! In case you missed it, I reviewed how I did on my 2019 goals.

1. Read at least three books published in 2020.
I'm keeping this goal from previous years because it gives me permission to pick up new releases even when I have a long TBR list. And I usually have at least a few favorites of the year that are published that year!

2. Get roughly 1/3 of my 2020 reads from my TBR list.
I decided to set this goal a bit more realistically this year, as my reading the past two years has been about 35% off my TBR even when I set my goal at 50%. I like having the push to clear out my original, capped TBR list, but don't want to stress myself out about it.

3. Read 50% fiction and 50% nonfiction.
Typically about 1/3 of my reading is nonfiction, but I have a ton of nonfiction on my TBR list, and I also find that I rate the nonfiction I read higher than the fiction on average. This year I'm going to try to up my nonfiction reading.

4. Read at least five books on my "shelf of shame."
I'm keeping this goal again this year because I keep having conversations with people who recommend books to me that are on my Goodreads shelf of shame and I keep having to say, "It's on my list! I haven't read it yet!" so I hope to knock more of those books off my list this year.

5. Read something my sister recommends.
Keeping this tradition again this year! My sister has recommended some great books to me and I like being able to talk books with her, since we both like reading but tend to have different tastes. I'm not sure how much reading she's doing for fun while in law school, but I'm sure there's at least something from her past reading that I haven't read yet.

6. Read some modern books on feminism.
Now that I have a podcast for Christian feminists, I want to stay well-versed in the conversations happening in present-day feminism, particularly from a diversity of voices. My first book of the year was I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes (which was AMAZING) and I'm excited to read more.

7. Read some books set in Portland.
I feel like I keep stumbling across recommendations for books that happen to be set in Portland (where I live) and I'd love to make it a priority to pick some of them up. I don't know all the areas of the city as well as I would like so I also think reading a book might push me to check out new areas of the city (either in person or, at the very least, through some internet research).

8. Read a Louise Penny book.
Anne Bogel has been recommending these for years, and even though I know I love murder mysteries, I don't often make it a priority to read them, except for Agatha Christie and Tana French. I'm going to read Still Life this year, and if I like it, hopefully read a few more in the Inspector Gamache series.

9. Listen to some classics narrated by celebrities.
I keep hearing about classic books that I read 10+ years ago that have recently been released as audiobooks narrated by famous people. I am interested in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston narrated by Ruby Dee, Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery narrated by Rachel McAdams, and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood narrated by Claire Danes. Unfortunately I don't have an Audible account and I think some of these may be Audible exclusives, so I will have to figure that out...

10. Start the Miss Marple series.
I've read all the Poirot books and all the Tommy and Tuppence books, so it's time to start the Miss Marple books in my quest to read Agatha Christie's complete works. I'm not going to attempt to get through all of this year (who knows, maybe I will) but I will at least start reading those books in publication order.

What are your bookish goals for 2020?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Cutting for Stone, Cold Comfort Farm, and Pachinko
Five years ago I was reading: The Great Gilly Hopkins and The Canterbury Tales
Ten years ago I was reading: Silas Marner

Review of 2019 Bookish Goals

It's 2020! It's time to look at my 2019 goals and see how I did. Then I will share my 2020 bookish goals in another post.

1. Read the whole Chronicles of Narnia series.
My friend and I decided to do these on audio, and we discussed them via email. She had a baby around book five so I finished the rest of the series on my own, but I hope we still get to discuss the final books at some point!

2. Reread the Malloreon series on audiobook.
I got a late start on this, but I made it through four of the five books and am in the middle of the final book now!

3. Read some of the unread books on our bookshelf.
I had five books on my shelves (which are separate from my husband's and son's shelves) that I hadn't read; I read four of them and am partway through the fifth. I acquired two new books in 2019, but they are reference books for future parenting stages, so I'm OK with keeping them unread for now.

4. Get roughly 50% of my 2019 reads from my TBR list and 50% from elsewhere.
Just like the previous year, this proved to be too high a target to hit but it pushed me in the right direction; 35 of my 101 books in 2019 were from my original TBR list. That list is now down to 122, so I should get it under 100 in the next year!

5. Read at least three books published in 2019.
Success! I read eight of them. Four made it on my top nonfiction of the year and one on my top fiction.

6. Read at least five books on my "shelf of shame."
I read eight of them! My favorite was Whistling Vivaldi.

7. Read Harry Potter à l'école des sorciers.
I finished this French version of the first Harry Potter book and was able to return it to its owner with a thank-you note. As planned, I followed up each chapter by listening to the corresponding episode of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. It was a lot of fun to read it in French, and a good match for my language level.

8. Read a few books that are the first in a series.
I read four books that were the first in a series; of these, Binti was the only one for which I continued the rest of the series. I actually put a hold on the sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone while I was reading it, and then certain plot developments made me so irritated that I canceled my hold.

9. Get caught up with the Dublin Murder Squad.
I read The Trespasser and loved it! It was the first of the series that got a 5-star rating from me. Then I realized that The Witch Elm was a standalone and not part of the series, so I called this goal done and figured I can come back to that one another time if I feel like it.

10. Read something my sister recommends.
My sister managed to recommend something less creepy than her previous three years' picks: I listened to Sadie on audio at her recommendation and enjoyed it.

Bonus: Read the Tommy and Tuppence books.
This was a goal I added for myself partway through the year, since I finished up all the Poirot books the year before and saw there were only five in this series of Christie's, so I decided to tackle them this year.

How did you do with your 2019 goals?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Cutting for Stone, If You Come Softly, and Pachinko
Five years ago I was reading: The Great Gilly Hopkins and The Canterbury Tales
Ten years ago I was reading: Silas Marner