Just finished Oathbringer.

Spoiler

It is getting harder to track who has which shards, but I suppose that was to be expected. I still don't like Dalinar very much, but the scene where he rejects Odium and accepts the Thrill was excellent. I am still rather worried about Shallan as the split between her various selves is both worse and better, but at least the potential love-triangle didn't become an actual thing. I'm not sure which is better: Lift's point of view or other characters' point of view as they watch her do her various things and get thoroughly bewildered. Lift teaming up with Szeth and his sword-nimi was great. I need Renarin backstory stat, but at least the royal family finally wised up and decided Jasnah should obviously be in charge. The revelation that the humans were once considered the Voidbringers didn't really come as a surprise, but I do like how the various characters are dealing with the implications of their ancestors being the invading force that ruined the world.

Now that I've finished that 1200 page epic I'm probably going back to Terry Pratchett as I got a copy of Monstrous Regiment for my birthday.

Brief Cosmere note --

At present, i'm not really in the right frame of mind to organize my thoughts on Oathbringer -- i loved it, of course, as i love pretty much everything Sanderson's written. I'm currently listening to audiobook versions of The Way of Kings and the first Alcatraz book, because i haven't given him enough money yet.

Maybe someday i'll get to the library and read something by someone not named Brandon Sanderson. *glances at other books read this year* That is, something else that i like.

SA, hiding Christmas presents is always hard, but keeping the surprise of a book makes it even worse.

I am quite possibly the worst at saving gifts, I can keep a secret, but waiting to give a gift is so hard. With just three more weeks until Christmas, I think I can wait this time.

Right after my last post I started reading Renegades by Thomas Locke and I just finished it yesterday. It was one of slowest, most annoying plots ever. Very disappointing and I have to write a review for it.

Another recent read was Death At Thorburn Hall by Julianna Deering, it's the sixth book in the Drew Farthering Mystery series. I love this series and these characters, and Death At Thorburn Hall was awesome.

I have some library books that need to be read and then I am hoping to read some Christmas books. I want to reread Engaging Father Christmas and One Shenandoah Winter this Christmas season.

SnowAngel

Dot, what do you think of Monstrous Regiment? I know I've seen it on the shelf at the library, but have never read.

How are the audiobooks, Arwenel? Has hearing them out loud let you pick up on new or different details?

I am quite possibly the worst at saving gifts, I can keep a secret, but waiting to give a gift is so hard. With just three more weeks until Christmas, I think I can wait this time.

You can make it!
Sorry to hear Renegades wasn't much fun. Have you been able to make it through your library books and start on the Christmas rereads yet?

I've been a bit slow at reading lately due to lack of time, but I'm about halfway through Conscience & Courage by Eva Fogelman. It's a survey and analysis of those who rescued Jews during the Holocaust, and it's been pretty interesting. I'm always a bit skeptical of psychological analysis, but that aspect hasn't been too dense and the author does make some interesting points, especially when considering common motives and why so many people didn't believe there was a need for rescue (at least for so long) - both Jews and Gentiles.

I also finished a reread of Black as Night by Regina Doman. It's been a number of years since I read it and time (and the accompanying challenges and growth) gave me a new appreciation of it.

I am quite possibly the worst at saving gifts, I can keep a secret, but waiting to give a gift is so hard. With just three more weeks until Christmas, I think I can wait this time.

You can make it!
Sorry to hear Renegades wasn't much fun. Have you been able to make it through your library books and start on the Christmas rereads yet?

Hoorah! I did it!

I slipped a couple of Christmas books in around Christmas: The Promise by Michael Card and Engaging Father Christmas. I still plan to read One Shenandoah Winter this winter.

I finished Before You Wake by Erick Erickson right before Christmas. It was excellent, I really enjoyed read it.

I finished 2017 with 130 books "read" (including about 20 audiobooks), going to try to read 120 books in 2018 plus 20 audiobooks. I only read 7 and half non-fiction books and listened to 2, so I guess a goal of 10 total non-fiction in 2018 should be attainable. But I plan on more than that.

My other 2018 reading goals are at least 12 Agatha Christie books since we have two boxes of them in our storage room and every unread book that I own which is about 25-30 I think.

I am read currently reading Shadow Warriors of World War II (didn't get read the first time I got it from the library, so I got it again) and Holding The Fort by Regina Jennings. I'm finding the writing style in Shadow Warriors is making it a little hard for me to really enjoy it, it feels choppy.

Scarlet just read The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies by Jason Fagone, and she recommends to those over 18. Since she enjoyed it, I plan to read it this year and hopefully this month. Valia, it sounds like one you would enjoy, if you haven't already.

SnowAngel

My reading goals for this year are to read at least 75 books (same as last year, though I wound up reading 99), finish some of the books I've started and left hanging, and finish up some series reads/rereads I've started.

Currently, I'm in the middle of Katherine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale and Tad Williams' To Green Angel Tower, the latter of which has taken me entirely too long to finish due to diverting my attention to library books (including The Chestnut King, which I need to write up my review for).

I started listening to Stephen King's The Waste Lands this morning on the way to work. It's the third book in his Dark Tower series, and I'm expecting I'll enjoy it since book two, The Drawing of the Three was one of my better-enjoyed books of last year.

Congratulations on making it with the gifts, SA! And congrats on your impressive number of books read in 2017!
Thanks for the recommendation on the Jason Fagone book! The uni library has it, so I will put it on my mental to-read list once I make it through the books I currently have checked out from there.

Congrats on reading 99 books in 2017, stwin! What did you think of The Chesnut King (and, I assume, the 100 Cupboards series in general)?

I finished 95 books in 2017, 26 of which were non-fiction. Not as good as either of you, stwin and SA, but considering that it wasn't a great year for reading or books, pretty decent.

I finished Conscience & Courage by Eva Fogelman. Overall, my initial thoughts held true, and it was a very interesting survey.

I also managed to read and just finish Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson before 2017 came to a close. I'm not sure how I feel about it - there were some things I really liked, and some that I rather disliked...

I really enjoyed The Chestnut King and Dandelion Fire, though the first book felt very thin on plot and substance (especially compared to the premise and the heft of the later books). All in all, it's a series I'd recommend to fantasy lovers, especially those who like a more intuitive brand of magic as opposed to Sanderson's style of everything is explained in scientific detail.

I finished up The Bear and the Nightingale last night and, while I'd love to jump into the second book, $13.99 for the Kindle edition seems a mite . . . expensive. Perhaps I'll catch a daily deal for it like I did for the first one.

*makes a note of Conscience and Courage* Thanks for that recommendation, Valia.

I'm not one to keep track of how many books I read ... I just keep reading. But I have read many excellent books—mostly biographies and autiobios, amidst other non-fiction—this year, having recently completed the new Martin Luther. Excellent. Eric Metaxas does not shy away from the negatives (which are disturbing, no doubt), yet there is also much that is positive. Whatever you think of the man, there is no doubt he changed the world, and his phenomenal accomplishments affect our democratic societies even today—500 years later! After reading Martin Luther, I'm itching to re-read Metaxas' large and fascinating Bonhoeffer tome again. Would like to fit that in this year sometime, along with my biennial The Lord of the Rings re-read (probably mid-year or into the fall a bit).

I have read a tiny bit of fiction, but nothing stood out aside from my regular re-read of something rather familiar around here ... the seven treasured books of The Chronicles of Narnia ♥ which truly become more precious with every read.

One of our sons purchased Darkest Hour for us for Christmas (Churchill's first agonizing while as PM). My hubby recently finished the book, and it's next on my reading list. We would really like to see the film, but may have to wait until the DVD, since the movie's release is quite limited (here in Ontario, anyway).

When I read Fierce Convictions earlier (Karen Swallow Prior), I somehow missed the Epilogue, which I then picked up again over the holidays. Well worth it! Hannah More is one of Britain's best-kept secrets. What a woman—poet, playwright, philanthropist, abolitionist. A little known fact is that her books outsold her contemporary, Jane Austen! More was indeed a household name back then (late 1700s/early 1800s).

Our other son gave me A Train in Winter (Caroline Moorehead) as a gift. 'Tis the powerful and moving story of female French resisters who were rounded up and sent in 1943 to Auschwitz, and recounts their tremendous trials and friendship in the most horrific circumstances.

We have never been big magazine subscribers, but one that we regularly receive (and so appreciate) is "Just Thinking" from RZIM. The always stimulating articles are such treasures as they delve into deep life issues. This magazine "exists to engender thoughtful engagement with apologetics, Scripture and the whole of life". We really can't get enough of what RZIM has to offer, both in print and on the radio.

My dad is turning 91 on Jan. 15, and still loves receiving books for his birthday. We bought him Jan Karon's newest Mitford book, To Be Where You Are, along with The Flying Scotsman by Sally Magnusson, which Valia and I have mentioned earlier here. I'm actually receiving this for a late Christmas gift, as well, but it's sure taking its sweet time to arrive via the post.

EDIT: I have been fascinated by old hymnody for quite awhile now, so gobble up any reading related to these wonderful songs (lyrics and music). I do love that there is a strong movement (by the Gettys, and a few others) not to lose these amazingly rich treasures in our day-and-age, many of which are hundreds of years old.

*also takes note of the recommendation of The Woman Who Smashed Codes, A Train in Winter, and Conscience and Courage*

There are so many interesting stories to come out of France in WWII. My last book of 2017 was A Good Place to Hide: How One French Community Saved Thousands of Lives During WWII by Peter Grose. It looks at the influence a pastor had on his congregation and the surrounding area, as well as the history of the community, and how all these diverse pieces worked together without knowing what was going on... It's not as dramatic as some stories, but it shows the cumulative effect of a bunch of little things.

I didn't make my goal of averaging two non-fiction books a month last year. (I finished with 23. ) I keep saying I have a truly staggering to-read list, and then I go off and read something else. But I've checked out a biography of Lucie Aubrac and I've got The Women Who Wrote the War on top of my non-fic reading pile for this month.

Congratulations on making it with the gifts, SA! And congrats on your impressive number of books read in 2017!
Thanks for the recommendation on the Jason Fagone book! The uni library has it, so I will put it on my mental to-read list once I make it through the books I currently have checked out from there.

Well, if it wasn't for the audiobooks I won't have made it, but thanks to hoopla I did it.

I am currently reading The Lacemaker by Laura Frantz and The Vanishing American Adult by Ben Sasse. Hopefully this time I will make it all the way through The Vanishing American Adult before it's due at the library, it's an excellent book - I just am not that fast a reader with non-fiction.

I am really enjoying The Lacemaker besides the gorgeous cover and the fabulously named main characters Liberty Lawson and Noble Rynallt, the story itself is highly intriguing thus far.

SnowAngel

My last book of 2017 was A Good Place to Hide: How One French Community Saved Thousands of Lives During WWII by Peter Grose.

That sounds excellent. *makes a big note of this one, as well as The Women Who Wrote the War*

I have begun Darkest Hour, and can hardly put it down. ('Though I'm trying to ignore a very few editing mishaps. ) To see Churchill's agony in these weeks after he became PM, and especially as Dunkirk took place, makes me shudder, and even weep. We look back now and say well, isn't it all obvious what decisions should have been made?. But! it surely wasn't as clear then. What a dark time for England! In the midst of it all came Churchill's powerful speeches to the people, some of which are quoted in this book. There is no doubt his memorable and utterly inspiring words stir up valour and courage—they certainly make me want to stand up and salute and defend my homeland as I read them—yet without denying the reality of the horrific crisis.

In the last few years my reading has been sporadic. This is a new year, so with my recently acquired Kindle I can try to do better.
I read LOTR every year, and at home I tend to re-read a number of the lighter books on my own shelves. Somehow in the last couple of years I had got out of the habit of borrowing from the library.
Here in UK I have joined the library, and there are also a few local charity shops where I can get cheap reading material. So between all these, I should manage to read more than in the last year or so.

My first on the Kindle was The Garment Maker's Daughter, by Hillary Adrienne Stern. It was an early 20th century USA immigrant story, with an interest in the early trade unions and poor working conditions, as well as Jewish migrants.

Now I am reading the published e-book copy of Restoration Day, by Deborah Makarios. It's a coming-of-age, young adult fantasy with lovely ideas and humour.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Dandelion Fire and The Chestnut King, stwin! It's funny, though - whenever I try to reread the series, I rarely get to DF and I have never reread the last one.

Jo, if you ever read Conscience and Courage, I would be interested to hear what you think. A Train in Winter sounds fascinating, so thanks for the recommendation!

Mel, 23 non-fiction books is still very respectable! How many fiction books did you end up reading? *takes note of the Grose recommendation*

SA, what's The Vanishing American Adult about?

Hope you're enjoying your new reads, coracle!

So, since I last checked in, I read the following:
Nothing Daunted by Dorothy Wickenden - This book told the story of two society women from the eastern US who went to rural Colorado to teach school in 1916. The premise was very interesting and there were some fascinating details, but I felt like the actually telling jumped around too much; it was a bit confusing and also made the actual time in Colorado a bit of a letdown...
Don't Hurry Me Down to Hades: The Civil War in the Words of Those Who Lived It by Susannah J. Ural - This period of history has never held much fascination for me, but I did enjoy this book. It is, as the subtitle implies, largely made up of segments from various letters and accounts of the people living through the US Civil War. It was a refreshing break from the lists of battles and dates fed in school, and I feel like I have a better idea of the war now.
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - I managed to finish this one in time to return it back to the lender when I saw them (I am a bit ashamed I waited that long to read it, though ). It raised some interesting questions, but it mostly seemed an ode to 80s culture - the appeal of which I have never understood. Also, the conclusion was a bit of a letdown:

I am currently reading Women Warriors by David E. Jones, which is a summary of history related to women and warfare. I ran across it while looking for a book about WWII WASPs, but checked Women Warriors out in lieu of the book when it turned out to be two good-sized books. So far the book has been pretty interesting, having covered women in the Arabia, east Asia, India, and the British Isle so far. There have also been fewer footnotes than I would've thought there would be so far, so I'm not sure where I will learn more about these fascinating women. To be fair, there are some, so I'm hoping there's a bibliography or something at the end.

I just finished A Song Unheard by Roseanna M. White, second book in the Shadows Over England series. I loved A Name Unknown, I was a little worried the following book would not measure up as that has been the trend with several recent series, but A Song Unheard did measure up. I still love Rosemary and Peter (A Name Unknown) slightly more than Willa and Lukas (A Song Unheard).

I was thrilled to see that Barclay (one of Willa and Rosemary's siblings) will be the main character in book three and that Margot (Lukas' little sister) will be in Roseanna's next series.

This past week I finished listening to A Chain of Thunder by Jeff Shaara. I read the first book, A Blaze of Glory, in the series way back 2013. I want to read the rest of the series, but these books are so long. Unfortunately my library doesn't have any of more audiobooks for the series. But I did enjoy listing to A Chain of Thunder, or at least I enjoyed it as much as one can when the book is about war.

The Vanishing American Adult is about the problems with education and parenting in America. It's been truly fascinating read; I already knew there are a lot of problems with the education system and lack of parents' involvement in their children's lives, but I didn't have clue that any of it could traced to particular points in time. I am sort of stuck/stopped at page 125, I meant to read ten to fifteen pages Sunday afternoon, but I picked my little brother's library book (one of the Hardy Boys' books) instead.

SnowAngel