Rand was obviously banging her readers over the head with the same ideas over and over and over and over and over and over again, and then she'd do it again. It's a manifesto more than great literature, but I can appreciate that. I won't read it again, and I probably won't feel the need to pick up any other of her works, but I'm glad I waded through it.
This is a post my daughter made on Facebook. Yeah, I'm unabashedly proud of her and bagging on her. Heather Broyles Winters 14 hrs · Jonesville, VA · Driving in the car for 11-12 hours means it’s time for my top ten(ish) books for 2017! This was a low year for me - I read 43 books, 9 shy of my reading goal of 52. I’ll chalk that up to switching jobs and spending the first semester this year being too busy and tired to read as much. Looking through my books on goodreads, the themes of slavery, minority oppression, and poverty came up a lot. I didn’t consciously choose books that included those subjects, but I find it interesting that I gravitated to those types of stories this past year. Here they are, in no particular order: 1. Let’s Take the Long Road Home: a Memoir of Friendship by Gail Caldwell. Beautiful writing with gut-wrenching sadness and happiness. Plus, dogs. 2. Hillbilly Elegy: a Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance Really interesting look into poverty in Appalachia. 3. David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell Another solid, interesting non-fiction. 4. Homegoing by Yaa Gayasi This book caught my eye on the “hidden gem” display at my library. I loved the format of the story, weaving through multiple generations of two families deeply affected in vastly different ways by the slave trade in Africa. 5. Persepolis: a Story of Childhood by Marjane Satrapi I’m not hugely into graphic novels, but I enjoy them occasionally. This one is awesome. 6. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Another story about slavery, and this was also a doozy. 7. We Are Water by Wally Lamb One of my favorite authors, so I enjoyed this one a lot. I liked how each chapter is from a different perspective from different members of one family. 8. The Horse Dancer by Jojo Moyes Sweet, fun, enjoyable read. 9. Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle This is a very different book, and I really liked it. 10. Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald Read this if you want something really sad and long that you can just kind of disappear into for awhile. Honorable mentions: The Potlikker Papers: a Food History of the Modern South by John T. Edge Endurance: a Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery by Scott Kelly Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002 by David Sedaris Need by Joelle Charbonneau The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell Arena by Holly Jennings Worst books of 2017: The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simpson which makes me so sad, because the first one The Rosie Project was so good! Major disappointment. It Gets Worse: a Collection of Essays by Shane Dawson I just randomly picked this up because the title was funny, but it was horrible. I had (still have) no idea who he is, and this was the worst writing, ever.
Ready Player One Neighbor loaned me a copy and said I would love it. It has started slow but am now halfway through it and it has been pretty entertaining. I think all of the 80's references are a little heavy handed, but I can get past that. Cannot wait to see how it ends.
I picked up Dan Brown's Origin, Baldacci's End Game and Kilmeade's book on Andrew Jackson. I need to pick up the pace. Looking forward to reading more on Jackson
I recently finished The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin and Infinite by Jeremy Robinson. Just started Mirrorworld by Robinson. I though Infinite was very entertaining and a fun read, but folks who like their sci-fi somewhat plausible may not enjoy.
Just got my copy of A Hgher Loyalty. I'm still reading Game of Thrones, so it might be a minute before I get to it. Also got Ready Player One, thank you NorrisAlan and Chavisut
Higher Loyalty was easy to read, but it felt like he was trying too hard to say he wasn't political, but you don't get to be that high up without being a politician. He tried really hard to say he was totally impartial to the Clinton investigation and did everything in his power to not affect the election. Still working on Game of Thrones and Ready Player One is next. Reading has been difficult the past couple of weeks at the KMF house.
