Summer Reading

If you're like me and always looking for recommendations of good books to read, I thought I'd share a list of the books I've read this summer. I read a couple others but didn't enjoy them much so I'll leave them out. All of these below, I'd recommend:

Catherine the Great by Robert Massie - I've never been much interested in or read anything about Russian history, but I heard this book was good so I decided to give it a try. I ended up enjoying it a lot and getting a couple other books by this author.

Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert Massie - I enjoyed this one more than Catherine the Great, probably because the historical era interested me much more. It focuses on the life of the last Czar of Russia and his family who were eventually murdered by the Bolsheviks during the revolution. Knowing how sad the ending would be, I wasn't sure I'd like it, but I was touched reading about how close-knit their family was and about the big and small turns of fate that ended up causing the tragedy.

The Greater Journey by David McCullough - This book is by the same author who wrote 1776 and the famous John Adams biography, both of which I read earlier in the year. Of the three, John Adams was definitely my favorite, but this one was good as well. It tells the story of many Americans who lived in Paris between 1830 and 1900, everybody from artists to musicians to doctors. It was really interesting to read about Paris during one of its golden ages.

My Life in France by Julia Child - I loved this one!!! If you also like food a lot, are interested in reading about Paris during the 1940's and 50's, or just like Julia Child, then you will also love this book. I found it hilariously funny and I loved reading about how she learned to cook and how she came to write her famous cookbook. She shares tons of funny stories about her husband and friends and Paris and will make your mouth water when she describes all the meals she ate! It was fantastic!

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson - This one is about the American ambassador to Berlin during the rise of Hitler in the early 1930's. I thought this book was fascinating. I still find it unbelievable that Hitler was allowed to have free reign over a civilized country like Germany in such recent history. The more I read about this period in history, the more questions I have. This book gives one prominent American's point of view of the events that led to WWII and the Holocaust. 

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand - This book is one of the best ones I've read in a long, long time! Everything about it is great. It's really well written and tells a true story that is so unbelievable it seems as if it couldn't possibly be true. It's a biography of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who joined the Air Force during WWII and whose plane went down over the Pacific Ocean. I won't say anything more so I don't spoil any of the ending, but I highly recommend this one!

Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas - This was also one of my favorite books of the summer. It's a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and is also extremely well written. If you've never heard of Bonhoeffer, he was a Christian pastor in Germany in the 1930's who was involved in a plot against Hitler and was martyred for his faith. He wrote a couple of famous books before he died, including The Cost of Discipleship. Eric Metaxas is a Christian (who gave a fantastic speech at this year's National Prayer Breakfast which you can watch online) and after reading this book, I can't imagine how any biography of Bonhoeffer not written by a Christian could ever do him justice. It was convicting, encouraging and good for my soul to read about this man's strong faith that led him to martyrdom. 

Amazing Grace also by Eric Metaxas - This is a biography of William Wilberforce, another awesome Christian who led the fight to abolish the slave trade and eventually slavery in Great Britain. The odds and popular opinion were heavily against him but he persevered over decades and eventually God granted him victory. It's another really wonderful biography of a faithful Christian, I'd highly recommend both of these books by Metaxas.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - This is the only fictional book I'm reading this summer that I've liked. It's a mystery, considered to be 'the first English sensation novel.' It was one of the best-selling books of its time and I generally like English literature so I thought it sounded worth reading. I'm not finished yet, but so far it's shaping up to be very good!

I know you're probably thinking, "Kim, don't you have 3 year old twins? How do you have time to read all these books? Are you neglecting your children?" Well, I may have two crazy little boys to take care of during the day, but I also had a husband who studied every night and therefore lots of free time at night. We also don't really have television and my computer is so old that I can't stream shows or movies on it. So I had a few hours every night after the boys went to bed with nothing else to do but just relax with a good book. And I thoroughly enjoyed all of these. It made the weeks before law school finals and the bar exam go by so much quicker! But I haven't read a word in over two weeks now that Brandon's finished! And they've been two AWESOME weeks :-)