Book List 2017

“Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.” 
― Francis Bacon

“Sleep is good, he said, and books are better.” 
― George R.R. Martin

“Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book.” 

― Jane Smiley, Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel

1. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
2. Love Does - Bob Goff
3. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
4. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume
5. Heart of Fire - Voice of the Martyrs
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling
7. Blubber - Judy Blume
8. Forever - Judy Blume
9. Salt to the Sea - Ruta Sepetys
10. Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys
11. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling
12. When Helping Hurts: Alleviating the Poverty Without Hurting the Poor..and Ourselves - Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett
13. Paradise Lost - John Milton
14. CliffNotes on Milton's Paradise Lost
15. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling
16. The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
17. Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between - Lauren Graham
18. Bold Women of Medicine: 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries, Daring Surgiers, and Healing Breakthroughs - Susan Latta
19. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War - Max Brooks

Red = audio books

My book life this year was different from previous years for a few reasons:

1. Signed up for Netflix ('nuff said).
2. Both books clubs took a hiatus (cutting my total number of reads for the year roughly in half).
3. Participated in Banned Book Week. Read Forever and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which sparked a couple Judy Blume reads and a goal to read through the Harry Potter series for the first time (causing me to focus less on my typical non-fiction and theologically-relevant reads and more on youth fiction).

So, without further ado, my picks for recommended reads from 2017: 

Youth - Ruta Sepetys novels, Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray. These youth historical fiction books helped me understand WWII history from the viewpoint of the eastern European front (East Prussia; Lithuanians in Siberia). 

Faith - Hearts of Fire. A book published by VOM (Voice of the Martyrs) with several short bios of women from different countries at different historical times and their faithful response to Jesus when persecuted.

Helpful and thought-provoking - When Helping Hurts. Read this book prior to my trip to Haiti as it had been recommended years ago to read if involved in ministry (local or global). It changed my view of poverty in many ways and was instructional in how to reach out to the hurting without making things worse. 

Interesting - The Poisonwood Bible. This may have been the most interesting read to me because of my experience in Africa and the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class I took last year. It serves less as a how-to do global interactions and more as a warning of what not to do. Although fiction, it reads as non-fiction since the author grew up in Africa; realistically reflecting situations easily encountered in cross-cultural experiences.