I've been trying to find more fiction books that appeal to me---it's hard! Here's a look at everything I added to Mt. TBR in December. Half are fiction titles.
National Year Book and Encyclopedia, 1917. I found this book of facts and thought it would be fun to see what the nation was doing a little over 100 years ago. This volume contains all kinds of random facts about a time when the population of the US was 100 million and Jerusalem was a part of Turkey and was home to a mere 60,000 people. In this book, one can learn how to claim unoccupied public land under the nations homesteading laws---there was still land available in all states west of the Mississippi. There's also a section on how many books were published in the year prior, arranged by genres. The industry suffered an 80% set back since 1914 due to the "great European War".
The Templars by Piers Paul Read. My interests of late have turned toward the history of the Holy Land. I admit to knowing very little about this region and its timeline. Perhaps this will be an informative read?
Sweet Expectation by Mary Ellen Taylor. Not my usual type of story but the cover looks cozy, the woman lives in an attic, and she discovers a box of hidden recipes and mementos. This could be fun!
The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter by Holly Robinson. This looks like a fun and humorous memoir about the woman's life with her eccentric father. We'll see...
The Works of Anne Bradstreet, edited by Jeannine Hensley. Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) was a Puritan pilgrim to the new world, establishing herself in history as the first writer in the North American colonies to be published and the most well-known of the early American poets. Her husband and father were members of the founding committee of Harvard University. She was very well educated herself, boasting a home library of over 800 volumes. (Many were destroyed in a house fire that occurred, coincidentally, just two months before the Great Fire of London).
The Woman with a Worm in Her Head by Pamela Nagami, M.D. I will read most interesting nonfiction, but I really have a thing for medical histories/mysteries. This one ought to be fun...and gross.
Memory's Ghost: The Strange Tale of Mr. M and the Nature of Memory by Philip J. Hilts.
Ditto above.
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory. I've had several by this author in my possession, but always passed them on to others. I love reading about the history of the monarchy---but I'm picky about where the info comes from. Since this is such a well-known author on the subject, I decided to give her a try this time.
A Bride Most Begrudging by Deeanne Gist. This is my once-a-year attempt at reading Christian fiction. Of all the genres, this is one of the most difficult for me to enjoy because so much of it is contrived, preachy, and inconsistent with true set-apartness. I'd usually rather read something that is obviously worldly---at least everyone is being honest about the morality of the content. But I digress... I admit---the cover drew me in.
The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman. Another one that drew me in with the cover. I honestly think I'll end up abandoning this one before I reach the end, but we'll see...
If I Were You by Joan Aiken. Looks like a fun take on the Prince and the Pauper story---with a neat vintage cover.
Self-Reliance and Other Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Finally, in a nod to our new baby grandson, Emerson Wayne, I picked up this skinny volume to allow my mind to wander to transcendental utopias...
That's it for December. What great reads have you picked up lately?
Some of these look very interesting and I think I'm in the same boat as you as far as finding good fiction. I don't care too much for modern fiction and am more comfortable with older stuff with similar values to mine. I hope you'll have time to tell us your thoughts as you go through this pile.
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