Books Read in 2017

It is time for a review of the books I read this past year. I'm participating in Sheri's Saturday Review of Books - A Best of Best link party.

I read 39 books in 2017. This is down from my 2016 total of 52. I'm disappointed in the total. I think I now have a shorter attention span. I blame technology. Actually one of the books I read but didn't finish (ha ha!) this past year was 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You by Tony Reinke.

I read 8 non fiction and 31 fiction. I also read a bunch of non fiction books that I didn't finish.

My favourite fiction books were:

1. Summer Moonshine by P.G. Woodhouse.

I read two other non-Jeeves books by Woodhouse this past year but this one was the best. Summer Moonshine describes a world I'd like to live in for a while.

2. The Circle by Dave Eggers

Dystopian fiction. The main character Mae goes to work at a company called The Circle that resembles Amazon or Google and it takes over her life. The question this book deals with is how much privacy do we maintain with todays' social media? Don't let any of your Luddite friend read this!


3. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett.

Here is the summary from the back of the book:
Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxane Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening—until a band of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds, and people from different continents become compatriots. Friendship, compassion, and the chance for great love lead the characters to forget the real danger that has been set in motion . . . and cannot be stopped.


My favourite non fiction books were:

1. Anybody Can Do Anything (a memoir) by Betty Macdonald. I read two other Betty Macdonald memoirs this past year but this one was the funniest and most upbeat. The others (The Egg and I and The Plague and I) had more sadness in them.

2. Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst. This book was a favourite not so much for the content (which was good) but because I was part of a group discussing it over the summer months. I'd like to do that again.

A fascinating non-fiction book that I enjoyed this past year was

3. Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America.

I wasn't familiar with Aimee Semple McPherson until earlier this year. What a fascinating character. She was an evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 30s in California. She was the founder of the Foursquare Church. She claimed to be kidnapped at one point in her life. I recommend learning more about her life.

The WORST book that I read this year was Into the Water.

The author also wrote Girl on the Train which was MUCH better. There were no characters to cheer for or care about in Into the Water and I believe the author really doesn't like men very much since so many were abusers in this book.

I didn't read any classics this past year. That is a shame. Some possible choices for 2018 are:
- Crime and Punishment
- East of Eden
- Hunchback of Notre Dame



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December and Christmas wrap up

our Christmas card photo

We were searching for a car for the first week or so of December. Not much fun. I did get to drive a Dodge Charger rental for a while. I'm happy with our purchase. Here's me in the Mazda:

I caught a cold after distrubuting flyers for C's Boy Scout troop fundraiser.  I'm feeling better now but I missed a few days of preparation. We had a real tree again this year. I'm hoping for a fake one next year. I had to do so much pruning to make it look right. My hands cramped up from it. I actually lost sleep due to pain in my hands. I also got tired of watering it every day.

Throughout the days leading up to Christmas we read from this book almost every night at suppertime.

We went to various Christmas light displays. Evergreen Church, the Hawks House, and Woodinville Wonderland. Hawks house was really cool.

They invite you inside where they have life size tunnels and a huge train set.

I bought pre-assembled gingerbread houses from Costco for the boys to decorate. They teamed up with their friends on the street and had a "competition."  Everything with boys needs to have a competition element! They did a great job decorating and they cleaned up afterward.

On Christmas Eve in the morning, our family did the advent reading at our church. I read the Old Testament passage and A read the New Testament one. I was able to get a video of us reading to send to our parents.

The amazing thing on Christmas Eve was the snow that started falling (and staying around) in the afternoon.  The boys were really hoping for snow so they received an extra special gift.

I didn't do much crafting this year but I finished this wreath on Christmas Eve

For our Christmas meal we had prime rib. J and the boys remembered it from last year and requested it again. I had hopes of company coming for dinner but that didn't work out. Here's my place setting with some old Christmas photos in the background.

We had Yorkshire pudding, roasted fingerling potatoes, carrot souffle, and upside down black forest cake for dessert.

My hubby bought himself a basic affordable drone. He and the boys are having fun trying it out. I received a new laptop along with a personalized skin for it (a sticker for the laptop.) Here's a photo of it.

J surprised me with it. He knew it was a favourite photo of mine, taken on our summer vacation.
A got lots of sport related gifts like a new football, a new soccer ball, a Seahawks toque. C got super hero things like a Captain America shield, a book about Captain America and a pop head.

I asked for a gingerbread scented candle and J and A went out to look for one. They couldn't find one so A improvised. I love it!

The boys spent a lot of time outside on Christmas day, playing in the snow.

J and I finished this puzzle :

We watched the Queen's message on TV which is another of our traditions.

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