Coming-of-age is more of a theme than a genre, I suppose, but I tend to really like books that can be categorized this way. Maybe it’s the nostalgia (I am very prone to it) or the fact that all humans share the adolescent experience so it usually resonates with me. I think, also, that any good novel will have characters that change over time (usually when they encounter some sort of difficulty) and coming-of-age provides a perfect framework to make that happen. I don’t know, do you think the term “coming of age” has any real meaning when it comes to books? Is it too broad? Regardless, here are my favorite coming-of-age books at the moment: A Prayer For Owen…
Continue Reading »

I use Grammarly’s grammar check because although you might not be able to tell from the way I look when I drop Meredith off at daycare right now or the frequency of baths taken around here, I DO have some standards. I read a whole lot more fiction than nonfiction, so when I do read it I try to make it the good stuff. A lot of the nonfiction books I read are faith-related, but since I’ve already written about my favorite books on faith I didn’t include any of those on this list. Here are the ones I absolutely loved. Nicholas & Alexandra by Robert K. Massie – This biography of the last Tsar of Russia and his wife really is a case…
Continue Reading »

This is the best wrap-up of last year that I have in me this year. It was a year, things happened, life is about to change a lot, and through it all I was reading books. Here are my favorites. The Passage by Justin Cronin: This is not the kind of book that I would normally just pick up, but it was a book club pick and I’m so glad. To me, it had it all and I got seriously invested in the characters. This reminds me that I need to read the sequel ASAP. Abhorsen by Garth Nix: Just one of the best and most unique young adult fantasy series I’ve ever read, and the awesomeness of this finale…
Continue Reading »