December Books

I began the month by reading A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra. It was one of the best written books I've read this year. It was also heart-rending. I loved the idea that our lives are in large measure what people all around us, that we know and that we will never know, do. Each moment is a constellation of future and past events and therein lies the true beauty of living.

Next I read Tinkers by Paul Harding. It was also well done but I didn't love it like I thought I would. It was interesting and it won the Pulitzer a few years back, a good reason in itself to read it.

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis was one of my favorite books as a child. I love the Chronicles of Narnia but The Horse and His Boy was my clear favorite and I read it over and over again. It was delightful to take a step back into childhood.

Next was Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore. I used this book to put my mother to sleep on our drive to Portland. it was amazing how quickly she was out. I found the content interesting. The prose was a little difficult for me to get through. I suspect the author is much more experienced in presenting material than writing about it. I also had hoped there would be a greater analysis of the actual letters and their content rather than a study of the differences between Jane's and Franklin's lives.

I read the first two book sin the Inkheart trilogy years ago. I decided it was time I read Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke. Also, it was sitting on my shelf and I am trying to move through all the books on my shelves that I haven't read yet. I remember that I really like the first one. I think the third one was better than the second, but I hardly remember the second book at all so that might not be accurate. As a child I would have found the entire trilogy magical and would have loved every minute of it.

And finally, I read The Hobbit or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien. I saw the second movie in theaters and I couldn't believe my eyes. Either my memory was far worse than I suspected it was, or the movie makers took a lot of liberties. I discovered, much to my satisfaction, that it was latter. I'm not upset by this. They are doing a great job with the movies and it's likely a movie made to follow the book exactly would be quite boring. The book has exciting parts but mostly it's traveling and talking. That being said, I would have liked to see The Hobbit made into one, really well done movie.