Since listing books read each month is a thing, I’m trying my hand at it. As an advocate of literature and fiction, that’s what was imbibed. Thanks to a few weeks of couch surfing (morning sickness bliss) K and J were introduced to child-initiated play while I devoured novels: desperate attempts to escape the nausea.

Things are better. We’ve returned to arts and crafts, and rock climbing/culvert crawling walks in the great outdoors. I also feel that this list should include The Color Kittens (Margaret Wise Brown), A Pocket for Corduroy (Don Freeman), and Moo, Baa, La La La (Sandra Boynton). With J joining ranks with the bookworms, these books are read multiple times a day and deserve to be included!

Unlike my esteemed spouse, I do not review each book I read. The paragraph here will have to suffice. Unless you decide to read the book yourself…which I recommend.

Enjoy!

Immanuel’s Veins by Ted Dekker

 It’s a tale of good and evil; of love and lust fighting to free or capture human souls. Mystery and intrigue among the Carpathian mountains during Catherine the Great’s reign. Dekker’s main character morphs into a type of Christ (a common occurrence in his novels) with fascinating theological themes.

Kiss by Ted Dekker

 Obviously a Dekker fan! Set in my current hometown, Kiss is a fast-paced conspiracy tale. The main character loses her memory in a devastating car crash, but acquires an odd ability to inadvertently steal memories from those around her. Soon those memories fail to match up with the story everyone around her espouses.

Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar

 There is little in the way of biographical information on Hadrian, Roman Emperor from 117 to 138AD. Yourcenar has done an impressive amount of research on the shadowy figure and produced a lyrical and poetic novel stylized as the Emperor’s memoir written for his eventual heir, the “philosopher-king” of Rome, Marcus Aurelius.

Easter Island by Jennifer Vanderbes

  Enter botany, treachery, anthropology, and a fleet of German warships at the start of WWI.  Two timelines are followed, centering around Easter Island, a story in itself. The plotlines were excellent, complexly drawn and relying on dramatic irony for their connection to be drawn.

Gilded by Christina L. Farley

Unabashedly the most entertaining escapist read of the month! Meshing folktales from South Korea into the highly competitive high school realm of today’s teens, this YF novel was fast-paced and enchanting. From one who thrills at the integration of mythology into the present, I couldn’t put it down!

Beowulf –J.R. Tolkien’s translation

 Fanmail. Forwarned. Tolkien is a master, his translation of Beowulf superb. Granted, it's only the third translation I’ve read, and I claim no knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon/Middle English language. The work, nevertheless, is enthralling, the characters’ speech rich, and the cadence entrancing.

In conclusion, a tidbit of greatness from arguably the first English novel ever written:

“Thus many a time deadly assailants menaced me grievously. With my beloved sword I ministered to them, as it was meet.” 454/455