2015 Reading List

Many years ago I made a New Year’s resolution to read one book per month. Given my extreme love for reading, I knocked that resolution out of the park. Since then it has transformed into my annual reading list.

It has been some time, however, since I had the pleasure of posting a reading list. It has also been some time since I have read anything more meaningful than Moo, Baa, La La La! or Go, Dog. Go! (a thousand and one times to my children’s delight). So I am thrilled to share with you the titles that encouraged me to carve out some special time in the last year.

I enjoyed each of these books very much and for different reasons:

• Unbroken is a gruesomely compelling story, especially after having lived in Japan and visited the very cities that were once the POW camps described within. The novel is beautifully written and kept me up late at night — not wanting to put it down until I knew what had become of Zamperini, the Bird and others. Powerful. Chilling. Inspirational.

• American Sniper is another mesmerizing tale. Written in the voice of the author, it’s an easy read of otherwise complex situations. You already know the ending is tragic, but getting to know Kyle, his wife, Taya, and his work is amazing. I especially enjoyed his sense of humor and deeply admire his unfailing love for duty and country. A true hero.

• Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother was an interesting read as a mother with a Japanese-American upbringing. My mother certainly never drilled us the way Chua describes in her book, {does a wooden spoon and the multiplication table count?} but there were some similarities in discipline and ideology that I respect. Am I a tiger mother with my kids? Maybe in some ways; probably not in a lot more. Parenting is tough and it’s nice to commiserate with and learn from others.

• The Sun Also Rises is my all-time favorite novel. This was my second time reading it after several years, and I enjoyed it even more than the first. I adore Hemingway’s no-nonsense writing style. He doesn’t overly fluff things up; he tells you enough to paint a pretty picture and gets on with the story {unlike Tolstoy, who will leave you hanging for pages and pages simply describing the scene in Anna Karenina, and even worse in War and Peace}. The story is awesome — transporting you to Spain where you go fishing for trout in the Irati River, feel the dust rise from the bull fights and down an absinthe or two with Barnes and his crew. If you haven’t read it yet, you must. Period.

So what are you reading these days? Do you have any all-time favorites? I’m always in search of the next great read, so please share your recommendations in the comments below! Happy Reading!  — v.