To read is a lovely thing, part 1

Andrew and Ravenna love to read, too!

In February I wrote a post about how I was in love with David McCullough and vowed that I would read a number of his books this year; alas, I have been a wayward lover and haven't so much as touched one of his books! Lest you worry that I have not been reading at all, here is what I have been reading since January. And to make things more interesting I will rate the books on a graduated scale of ampersands because I like the way they look.

Fiction:

• Graceline O'Malley, Ann Moore: A thoroughly enjoyable and descriptive depiction of life during the Irish Potato famine. &&&&/5
  
• The Matter at Mansfield: Or, The Crawford Affair (Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mysteries), Carrie Bebris. For a fluff-fiction, this was a fun read. I picked this one off the end of a library shelf, which is sometimes a risky undertaking, but for all the Austen sequels I have read this one was probably the best and most creatively written. &&&&/5
• Bride most Begrudging, Deeanne Gist. I don't like LDS fiction, but general Christian historical fiction doesn't bother me too much. Set in the wilds of 17th century early colonial Virginia, it is clean and heartwarming and yet, like most fluff-fiction, very predictable and not life-changing. The historical inaccuracies really grated on me in this one. This is a good, "I just want to relax and not think" book. &&&/5
• Deep in the Heart of Trouble, Deeanne Gist. Another Gist, historical fluff-fiction, this time set in Texas in the first decade of the 20th century. Not bad, but I definitely liked her aforementioned book better. &&/5
• Fire of the Covenant, Gerald Lund: This is LDS historical fiction about the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies. I read this one for our wards' Relief Society book club. Because I really don't like LDS fiction, this one was painful to read at times. I dislike reading fictional testimonies and would have preferred it, as he sometimes did, that Lund use more of the actual descriptions of events from the journals etc. he used while researching the book. While he does a good job at referencing his source material at the end of every chapter, Lund is very liberal about pulling material from other pioneer journals, unrelated to these companies, in order to make his book more "exciting." Though at times stirring, I found these stories just made the book unnecessarily long. &&/5
• The Virgin Blue, Tracy Chevalier: To help assuage her loneliness in France, an American woman delves into seeking out her French ancestors. The novel also tells the parallel story of one of her ancestors from the point of view of a 16th century French Huguenot. Chevalier does an amazing job with research in this one! It is a well-crafted and interesting read. &&&&/5
• Rapunzel's Revenge, Shannon Hale: This is Hale's first graphic novel and though it was cute, and super easy to read, I definitely prefer her other books better. &&&/5
  

Classics:

• Daniel Deronda, George Eliot: For a Victorian novel, this book gets its "hands dirty" with its realistic depictions of the difficulties in the lives of women and Jews in 19th century England. Little gets romanticized by Eliot as she seeks to show the reader the contradictions inherent in stereotypes. Like most Victorian literature, this is very long and occasionally difficult to read, however, it is a very useful tool to discovering aspects of English society in the Victorian era that are often disregarded by other Victorian authors. I would give this 5/5 but due to the difficulty of reading it gets &&&&/5.

Non-Fiction:

• Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time, Greg Mortenson. This is an excellent book showing the humanity of the Muslims in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which is something that has often been forgotten by many Americans since 9/11. Mortenson's mission is to educate the poor children, especially girls, of Pakistan and what he discovered was the power that a liberal education had to enrich the lives of not only the children, but the entire villages where schools were established. &&&&&/5

What is next on my book list? Well in the near future I will be reading Animal, Vegetable Miracle and In Defense of Food, I also have three self-help books that one of the women I visit teach raved about but that I have been putting off reading for the lighter stuff. Oh, and I also intend to read My Side of the Mountain. What has everyone else been reading recently? Any favorites?