Anna, Duchess of Cleves: The King's Beloved Sister by Heather R. Darsie

Anna, Duchess of Cleves: The King's Beloved Sister by Heather R. Darsie

Author Heather Darsie takes an in-depth look at the fourth wife of Henry VIII, Anne of Cleves. She examines Anne’s childhood and relationship with her family, life in the Cleves court, and the accomplishments of Anne’s siblings, particularly Wilhelm and Sibylle. Darsie delves into the political climate of the Continent and issues that would shape Cleves as well as Anne’s marriage, focusing especially on Anne’s brother-in-law, John Frederick, Elector of Saxony, and his impact on Lutheranism.

304 pages.

The Rig Veda (Penguin Classics)

One of the oldest sacred texts in the world, it was very interesting to see a glimpse of ancient Indian culture, as well as the mythological foundation of much of the Western world-for example, Indra, king of the gods, has many of the same qualities/abilities as the Greek Zeus, and the name of Varuna the sky god of order is a cognate of Ouranos (Uranus). The descriptions of ritual and stories of the gods were most interesting (sooo many cows!) I was looking forward to the chapter on women, until I read the introduction: "The Rig Veda is a text written by men, for men, about men". Oh... Oh no. Yes, it was as bad as it sounds, and so crude! *disappointed, but not surprised*

352 pages

Thank You Audiobooks!

Lately, I've been having trouble focusing for long enough to get through longer books. Thank you audiobooks for being there for me! This is a tribute to all the audiobooks that have helped me get through the past few months: 

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

I wasn't a huge fan of this one, but I totally get why people liked it. I liked the conflicts between faith and science, adding the immigrant experience, grief, and drug addiction on top of it. The complexity of it made the story feel very real to me. I also enjoyed the little scientific discussions scattered throughout, giving context and relevant analogies to the story.  Plus it's narrated by my faaaaavorite reader, Bahni Turpin. It was an engaging read, and this book would be great for those who like literary fiction and novels highlighting social issues. 

261 pages

Rage by Bob Woodward

I know, I know. Everyone is sick of politics by now. Why would I put myself through this book? (To be fair, I read this in October) It's partly because I've enjoyed Woodward's other books. He asks very good interview questions, and the answers given by the subject in this one are... mindboggling. Not surprising, just perplexing. I really liked how the audiobook had the actual recorded interview segments included in the Appendix. That was cool. This would be a good read for anyone who actually isn't sick of politics right now (so what, that's maybe 50 or so people, if that?).

452 pages

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam

The premise of the novel is really good! A family is on vacation, only the homeowners show up to stay while the world is falling apart around them. My biggest issue with the book is that the actual details of the apocalypse are never described besides flashes and tidbits. Was it nuclear war? Climate change? Power outages? Something else? Who knows! That isn't really the point though. This is a well written apocalypse novel for dystopian junkies and literary fiction lovers alike. 

241 pages

Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness and Family Secrets by Luke Dittritch

Dittritch is a journalist, but his grandfather was the brain surgeon who sliced out Henry Molaison's hippocampus, leaving him incapable of storing long term memories. I remember learning about H.M. in a psychology course, but this book got so deep into the personal details of the people surrounding Henry's life. Dude, this doctor was nuts! He climbed the Brooklyn Bridge when it was still under construction! He experimented on (mostly female) asylum patients  just to see what would happen after chopping up their brains! He even conducted surgery on his own wife! That is seriously messed up. Also, the psychologist who worked with Henry later in life was so possessive of him and her research that we can't even look back at her research notes anymore. *insert anger emoji* This story was engaging and shocking, and I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in medicine, psychology, or narrative nonfiction. 

440 pages

Buddha Volume 1: Kapilavastu by Osamu Tezuka

 

I really enjoyed Tezuka's Black Jack, and I've heard good things about this series so I thought I'd give it a try. It is really good! A fictional retelling of the story of the Buddha across eight volumes, this one starts with events leading up to and around his birth. There are a lot of fictional elements and even a few modern references, but mostly the artwork and story are stunning in their depiction of Ancient India. Very good start to what I am sure is an excellent series. 

400 pages

The Tanakh, New Jewish Publication Society Translation

I've been wanting to read the Bible since I was a little girl. I remember sitting in church, reading through Genesis, convinced I could get through it if I kept reading it every week. Needless to say, eight year old me never got past Exodus. As an adult, I've tried to read the Bible cover to cover multiple times, but always gave up a couple hundred pages in. I thought instead I would try and start with the Hebrew Bible, and I finally did it! This has been a work in progress since last July, reading just a few chapters every day. I also enjoyed reading a different translation (JPS) than I have in the past. Regardless of your beliefs, there is so much in here that serves as a foundation for Western literature and thought.

1622 pages

Unfollow: a memoir of loving and leaving the Westboro Baptist church by Megan Phelps-Roper

Many of us have seen the newspaper photos and read the articles about Westboro Baptist church, which began picketing to protest LGBTQ people being accepted by society, and moved on to protesting at military  funerals, carrying hate filled signs. The author of this memoir grew up in  the church, starting her picketing 'career' at age 5. She became the chief social media face of the church. But a funny thing happened along the way; arguing online with people who challenged her ideas eventually caused her to begin questioning the theology she had been taught. She eventually left the church, thus being exiled from all contact with her family. This excerpt from the book says it all:

Doubt was nothing more than epistemological humility: a deep and practical awareness that outside our sphere of knowledge there existed information and experiences that might show our position to be in error. Doubt causes us  to hold a strong position a bit more loosely, such that an acknowledgment of ignorance or error doesn’t crush our sense of self or leave us totally unmoored if our position proves untenable.

Certainty is the opposite: it hampers inquiry and hampers growth. It teaches us to ignore evidence that  contradicts our ideas, and encourages us to defend our position at all costs, even as it reveals itself as indefensible. Certainty sees compromise as weak, hypocritical, evil, suppressing empath and allowing us to justify inflicting horrible pain on others. Doubt wasn’t the sin, I came to believe. It was the arrogance of certainty that poisoned Westboro at its foundations.

In today's fractured world, we would all do well to listen to her words and experience.

293 pages

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

#BecRereads2018

I thought it wouldn't gut me as bad the second time through. But it did.

11 stars and a moon. Such a beautiful and well-written story.

Book 347 read in 2018

Pages: 384

PREVIOUS REVIEW:
This book arrived in my March 2016 OwlCrate Box, and I'm pleased it did. Otherwise, I might not have been aware of it or gotten around to reading it for months, or even years. This story is just too good to ignore for that long.

Dill lives in a small town, in the bible belt, and everything sucks. He's the only child of a Pentecostal minister who has been imprisoned--no, not for handling dangerous snakes or making his congregation drink poison to show their faith, but for possessing pornographic materials depicting minors--and a religious fanatic mother who blames Dill for the family's hardships, severe debt, and poverty. Dill's Dad is notorious, and both the ex-church community and the local community are equal parts angry, ignorant, scared, and judgmental.

The beautiful part of this story is that Dill has two very unexpected friends, and the three of them together make this one of the most interesting, lovable, and heartbreaking contemporary novels I've read all year (and in case that doesn't sound convincing, I've read 118 books so far this year, almost all YA).

It's told in 3 POVs, including Dill, and his two friends, Travis and Lydia. Each has a unique voice and different perspectives on life, their small town, and what the future holds.

I love these characters, and I wish I could have known them when I was 17. I love this story, and it left all my edges raw and frayed. I love the writing, because the way Jeff Zenter builds a story, sculpts the setting, and makes you understand and fall in love with the characters in just a page, a sentence, or even a word, is incredible. It's also different from almost everything else I've read so far this year.

This book gets 5 stars on Goodreads and Amazon, but it's 10 stars in my heart.

"A Forbidden Rumspringa" by Keira Andrews

This very well written story focuses on two young men living in a strict Amish sect in northern Minnesota.  Isaac is eighteen and feeling pressure from his parents to start courting a girl so that he can soon marry and start his own family, but he knows he's not ready.  For one thing, he hates farming and must learn some other sort of trade so that he can support himself.  His father sets up an apprenticeship with carpenter David Lantz, a quiet twenty-two-year-old who has become the head of his family after his father dies in the field of a heart attack.  He works hard to support his mother and four younger sisters but is being pushed to join the church and get married.  Although their sect does not allow "rumspringa", Isaac and David take a few prohibited trips into the "English" world where they see movies and eat junk food.  Soon, their friendship turns to love and both must figure out what they are willing to give up, or not, in order to be together.

The details of  strict Amish life and the toll it takes on those who do not or cannot abide by its rules make this much more than the average forbidden love story.  Both Isaac and David have older brothers who could not conform, and their actions have had large influences on them and their desire to please their families.  The terrible angst and guilt these two young men felt was palpable to the reader as was their surprise at falling for each other.  This book was a gripping read, and I can't wait to get ahold of the rest of the series.  224 pages (Kindle edition).

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book arrived in my March 2016 OwlCrate Box, and I'm pleased it did. Otherwise, I might not have been aware of it or gotten around to reading it for months, or even years. This story is just too good to ignore for that long.

Dill lives in a small town, in the bible belt, and everything sucks. He's the only child of a Pentecostal minister who has been imprisoned--no, not for handling dangerous snakes or making his congregation drink poison to show their faith, but for possessing pornographic materials depicting minors--and a religious fanatic mother who blames Dill for the family's hardships, severe debt, and poverty. Dill's Dad is notorious, and both the ex-church community and the local community are equal parts angry, ignorant, scared, and judgmental.

The beautiful part of this story is that Dill has two very unexpected friends, and the three of them together make this one of the most interesting, lovable, and heartbreaking contemporary novels I've read all year (and in case that doesn't sound convincing, I've read 118 books so far this year, almost all YA).

It's told in 3 POVs, including Dill, and his two friends, Travis and Lydia. Each has a unique voice and different perspectives on life, their small town, and what the future holds.

I love these characters, and I wish I could have known them when I was 17. I love this story, and it left all my edges raw and frayed. I love the writing, because the way Jeff Zenter builds a story, sculpts the setting, and makes you understand and fall in love with the characters in just a page, a sentence, or even a word, is incredible. It's also different from almost everything else I've read so far this year.

This book gets 5 stars on Goodreads and Amazon, but it's 10 stars in my heart.

Pages:384

"Playing for Keeps" by Avery Cockburn

Fergus Taylor is an architect and reluctant captain of his LGBT football (soccer) team in Glasgow, Scotland, and is trying to recover from a bad breakup when he meets John Burns.  John works for a non-profit that helps immigrants obtain asylum in Scotland and wants Fergus' team to play a charity match to raise money.  The introverted Fergus is wary but wants to help and needs to find a way to get his team back on track after last season's disastrous end.  He and John are attracted to each other but their backgrounds are very different; Fergus is Catholic and John is Protestant.

This was an excellent book with action, romance, family drama, and lots of angst concerning Scotland's sectarianism between Protestants and Catholics.  Fergus and John even have fleece blankets of the Celtic and Rangers football clubs, respectively, in their bedrooms; with the fierce, historic rivalry between the two teams, these blankets symbolize the men's many differences.  The author does a great job of explaining to the reader how sectarianism still affects the Scottish people without getting bogged down in historical details.  I can't wait to read more in this series.  326 pages (Kindle edition).

American Jezebel by Eva LaPlante

This biography of Anne Hutchison focuses on her trial for heresy and sedition. She was a forty-six-year-  midwife and pregnant with her 16^th child. In 1637, she was tried before judges of the Massachusetts General Court.

At that time, women could not vote or hold public office. They also could not be ministers, and Anne held meetings at her home in which she dared to teach both women and men her interpretation of the scriptures. In that Puritan society, the judges considered her a threat to the stability and well-being of the colony. They excommunicated and banished her for behaving in a manner “not comely for her sex.”

Many historians consider her quest, and that of her followers, at the core of the origins of our modern concepts of religious freedom, equal rights, and free speech.

346 pages

"Covet Thy Neighbor" by L.A. Witt

This novel takes place in Tucker Springs, CO, where tattoo artist Seth Wheeler meets his new neighbor Darren Romero.  Living across the hall gives the men a chance to get to know each other and maybe become friends until Seth discovers why Darren has moved to town . . . to take a job as the youth pastor at the New Light Church.  Seth is an atheist and has sworn off all religions after being disowned by his family when he came out, so he immediately pulls away until Darren asks him to talk to some of the troubled teens at the youth home the church runs.  Soon Seth realizes that although Darren has strong religious beliefs, he is nothing like the people who have hurt him in the past.  

I enjoyed this story of two guys who have a lot in common except for one major difference.  The evolution of their friendship was well written as were the personalities of the two main characters.  I'd like to read a sequel just to see how their relationship progresses over time.  154 pages (Kindle edition).

Help Thanks Wow

Author: Anne Lamott
Pages: 112

It is these three prayers – asking for assistance from a higher power, appreciating what we have that is good, and feeling awe at the world around us – that can get us through the day and can show us the way forward. In Help, Thanks, Wow, Lamott recounts how she came to these insights, explains what they mean to her and how they have helped, and explores how others have embraced these same ideas.
Opinion:
This was a bad book to start the new year off with, I pretty much hated it. It's rambling nonsense you can't follow. I haven't read any of her other books, maybe this was just a bad apple but I'm sorry I read it.

Book of the Maidservant by Rebecca Barnhouse read by Susan Duerden

Yet another book about a pilgrimage! Joanna is the young servant girl of Margery Kempe, a famous medieval holy woman.  When Dame Margery is divinely inspired to journey to Rome, she demands that Joanna accompany her. Joanna must cook, clean,wash and mend clothes not only for her mistress but for all the other nobles traveling with her.  Will Joanna ever make it back home? Will there be a home for her to return to? Was the real Margery Kempe the hypocrite portrayed in the book?  Unabridged Listening Library audiobook.  223 pages.  6 hrs. 44 mins.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, narrated by Jim Broadbent

I loved this book!

Harold's been retired for six months when he gets a letter from a woman he used to work with.  Queenie is dying from cancer and just wrote to say goodbye.  Harold dashes off a quick reply but when he walks to the post office to mail the card, he suddenly decides to keep on walking.  I didn't have any idea how this journey would end but I wasn't disappointed.  I laughed; I cried; I was engrossed.. Jim Broadbent is Harold. 336 pages. 9 hours 57 minutes, unabridged.

There is no dog

Author: Meg Rosoff
Pages: 256
 I picked this book up not knowing what to expect and really liked it. It is funny and makes you think, it is heartwarming and witty.

What if God were a teenaged boy?

In the beginning, Bob created the heavens and the earth and the beasts of the field and the creatures of the sea, and twenty-five million other species (including lots of cute girls). But mostly he prefers eating junk food and leaving his dirty clothes in a heap at the side of his bed.

Every time he falls in love, Earth erupts in natural disasters, and it's usually Bob's beleaguered assistant, Mr. B., who is left cleaning up the mess. So humankind is going to be very sorry indeed that Bob ever ran into a beautiful, completely irresistible girl called Lucy . . .

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No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam

Author: Reza Aslan
Pages: 310
I'm always interested in learning of different religions and cultures, this book was just the ticket to learn about Islam. It explained all the key players and events in an easy to understand manner.  Im glad I read it and would definitely recommend it for anyone who is interested in learning about Islam.
Cover blurb:Though it is the fastest growing religion in the world, Islam remains shrouded by ignorance and fear. What is the essence of this ancient faith? Is it a religion of peace or war? How does Allah differ from the God of Jews and Christians? Can an Islamic state be founded on democratic values such as pluralism and human rights?Contrary to popular perception in the West, Islam is a religion firmly rooted in the prophetic traditions of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Aslan begins with a vivid account of the social and religious milieu in which the Prophet Muhammad lilved. The revelations that Muhammad received in Mecca and Medina, which were recorded in the Quran, became the foundation for a radically more egalitarian community, the likes of which had never been seen before.

Irises

Author: Francisco X. Stork
pages: 288

This book is about two sisters that have lost everything, both parents and their home. They are trying to make the right decisions for them at this time in their lives while dealing with dreams for the future. This sounds like a good book on apper but it was slow moving and boring to me. I almost gave up but then it started to get interesting and then boring again. I didn't like the ending either. There were too many questions left, good thing there was a short epilogue to answer some of them.
  TWO SISTERS: Kate is bound for Stanford and an M.D. -- if her family will let her go. Mary wants only to stay home and paint. When their loving but repressive father dies, they must figure out how to support themselves and their mother, who is in a permanent vegetative state, and how to get along in all their uneasy sisterhood.

THREE YOUNG MEN: Then three men sway their lives: Kate's boyfriend Simon offers to marry her, providing much-needed stability. Mary is drawn to Marcos, though she fears his violent past. And Andy tempts Kate with more than romance, recognizing her ambition because it matches his own.