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What I Read in November

my favorite view 5 minutes from my house

I am feeling quite behind already, having missed this post by 5 days, and not finding myself in this space quite often this Fall. Our family was sick from about the last week in October through the bare end of November, so while just about everyone had antibiotics, probiotics, vitamins, and plenty of fluids, we weren't up and about too much. That makes for some excellent days of reading, if I do say so myself. Here's what I enjoyed this month. What about you?
*Felicity by Mary Oliver -- One of my favorite poets had a new book out this past month and I obviously put it up for hold the minute I found out. This wasn't my favorite collection of her work, but certainly not the least. A good one-hour, shaped by beautiful words about the natural world. 

*Chasing Francis by Ian Cron -- I really enjoyed this one! I first found it via Tsh and it piqued my interest. I pinned it for later and recently came back to it on a whim. I am so glad I did. I actually thought I was getting into a memoir-ish/Assisi travel writing, but it was so much different. (Reading the blurb would have helped with that. Ahem.) It's a novel about a burned out Prostestant pastor who says "yes" to an invite in Italy from his Catholic -monk uncle and what he learns about his dwindling faith through the writings of and about St. Francis. It was an engaging, yet slow-breathing and catahartic read, and just what I wanted. 

*Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline -- This novel was borrowed out to me while I was in Nebraska by a friend who recommended it. I love historical fiction, but although this took me a good 50 pages to get into, I really loved it. It's about a girl who was sent on a train from NYC after her entire family died in a fire, and all the families she went through before finding a more permanent home, and the relationships she had left in the past. This is historical to the mid-north west, so if you're interested in history from Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, and the like, you might really enjoy it. 

*Why Not Me? by Mindy Kahling -- Oh, Mindy. This two-day fluff book was just what I wanted to laugh at. Her second is even funnier than her first, and I laughed out loud many times. She just has a way putting experiences and feelings together to get them just right. There was nothing significantly interesting about this book, and honestly I don't remember the chapters much. I just remember that I laughed through it and would recommend it to my best girlfriends for their vacation read. 

*For the Love by Jen Hatmaker -- I wanted to like this book. Hatmaker has a fantastic way with words on social media (namely, her facebook stories are Hilarious) but this one just didn't do it for me. It wasn't cohesive, and most of the time I struggled to find the point in each chapter as it pertains to Christianity and her topic at hand. Mostly, I think she just wanted to write a book that was funny. It was, but I was a little confused at where she was going. 

Read Aloud to the Kids

*The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare -- Both of my kids really enjoyed this story, though I'd say it was about 2 years over my youngest's (age 6) head. This is the story about two young adult boys from different cultures-one Native American and one English settler-and all the things they learn from one another. I can see why this is on so many booklists! The movie, however, was not so great. 

*Out of Control by Wanda E. Brunstetter -- I didn't enjoy this book as much as my kids did. It was about a young German Amish girl who had very little self-control, and all the trouble she got into becasue of her impatience. I found this book too thick with miniscule details. It's a part of a series, though I don't know if we'd pick up the other ones, as I found it tedious to read aloud. 



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