Monday Recommendations

Monday Recommendation List

Random list of 10 books Monday! I have read and enjoyed each of these enough to flag for a potential personal library purchase.

Be bold and just choose randomly, stick to your normal genre...or step outside of your normal reading zone and try something you usually wouldn’t. You can look up the descriptions at Amazon.com, or search my blog for old posts by entering the title in the little search box in the top left-hand corner and clicking the magnifying glass.

This week-- 10 recommendations (in no particular order):

1. Rizzoli & Isles series (starts with The Surgeon) by Tess Gerritsen
2. A Time to Kill by John Grisham
3. Siblings Without Rivalry by Adele Faber
4. See Jane Score  by Rachel Gibson
5. Every Child is a Genius  by Elise Griffith
6. 501 Ways to Boost Your Child’s Self Esteem by Robert Ramsey
7. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
8. Match Me If You Can by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
9. Back Roads by Susan Crandall
10. Blueprints for Building Better Girls  by Elissa Schappell

Monday Recommendation List

Monday Recommendation List

Random list of 10 books Monday! I have read and enjoyed each of these enough to flag for a potential personal library purchase.

Be bold and just choose randomly, stick to your normal genre...or step outside of your normal reading zone and try something you usually wouldn’t. You can look up the descriptions at Amazon.com, or search my blog for old posts by entering the title in the little search box in the top left-hand corner and clicking the magnifying glass.

This weeks 10 recommendations (in no particular order):

1. Reclaiming History by Vincent Bugliosi
2. The Kommandant’s Girl  by Pam Jenoff
3. Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner
4. Into Thin Air by Jon Kraukauer
5. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
6. Baking with the Cake Boss by Buddy Valastro
7. Defending Jacob by William Landay
8. Beyond Religion by Dalai Lama XIV
9. Until There Was You by Kristan Higgins
10. Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith

Where Men Win Glory

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer

Pat Tillman walked away from a lucrative NFL career to enlist in the US Army after 9/11. Two years later he was killed, allegedly by friendly fire.

Kraukauer uses Tillman’s own words from journals and letters, as well as interviews with his family and friends, to show the kind of man he was. He also explores the controversy surrounding his shooting.

I enjoyed reading about Tillman's love for his country and the upstanding man that he was. He got so much more attention because of his NFL career. However, there are so many men and women serving in the military that have these same morals and make sacrifices to serve. If only they could get as much recognition.

Under the Banner of Heaven

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

Krakauer details the horrific murder of a young woman and her baby girl through a lens of fundamentalist religion. Dan and Ron Lafferty killed their sister-in-law and niece on the basis of “divine revelation.” He also offers an intriguing look at FLDS in America, going back to the early 19^th century. He is a talented story teller and I was sometimes absorbed in the tale. But…there is a big problem here. The book really lacks focus. It is a lot of small stories strung together in a haphazard way.

Kraukauer definitely doesn’t do the story of the murders justice. It seems that he started to tell that story, but then he diverts into the history of Mormonism. I think he should have stuck to one subject or the other. The fact that these men were members of FLDS, in my opinion, had little to do with their crime. Every religion has nuts. Not sure how to say that in a more PC way… generalizing a large religion around a few nuts is just disappointing and short sighted.

Into the Wild

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Amazon.com Description:

“In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter.  How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild…When McCandless's innocent mistakes turn out to be irreversible and fatal, he becomes the stuff of tabloid headlines and is dismissed for his naivete, pretensions, and hubris…”

My Thoughts:

Krakauer spins the intriguing tale of McCandless life, his passions and his intentions. His story is told in an honest and fair manner. Krakauer implores the reader to look deeper into McCandless and understand his motivations. A well-written book.