Books I've Read

Unlike others in my family who read piles and piles of books for pleasure, I was only able to finish a handful for my own enrichment. I did also get to read several horse books to my horse-loving daughter, and I would say that was as much for my enjoyment as for hers! (Loved Misty, Stormy, Sea Star, but not Misty's Twilight) And I also have read countless piles of picture books to the little ones. But that is also for my pleasure; especially getting to share a loved story with Emma Darcy for the first time.

Nobody's Girl by Hector Malory - I found this book in a warehouse of discarded library books. I didn't recognize the title or author but it looked like it might be a good book. I opened the cover and read that it
had been awarded honors in France so I figured it was worth a try. I loved it from the first chapter. It is the story of a young girl who is orphaned and must find her relatives, who she believes will not accept her. This
girl is brave, resourceful and hardworking. Definitely a keeper.

Nobody's Boy by Hector Malory - After reading Nobody's Girl, I found an inexpensive copy of the first book Malory wrote. Another great story, but since I had read the other one first, I could guess the ending prematurely in the story. If you read these, start with the Boy and then read the Girl.
Another example of exemplary character and old-fashioned determination and hard work. Great read!

Preparing Sons to Provide for a Single Income Family by Steve Maxwell - I have 4 sons and so I was anxious to read this book to glean ideas. Much of it is best applied to fathers (unfortunately for me) but there were some good ideas that helped me see how I could direct my sons. A large chunk of the book deals with building good character and a good work ethic. I was definitely disappointed at the lack of practical examples, though. There are comments made through out the book about his sons buying their own homes, etc. yet we are not told many specifics on how this happened. A lot more stories of real young men earning real money would have been helpful.

Susanna Wesley - This is a biography in the Sower Series. I had heard wonderful things about Mrs. Wesley and so I was hoping this would tell me about her and inspire me. The writing in this book was quite poor. I am
told that most of the series is good, but I have only read 2 books from the series and both were very poorly written. (The other was a George Washington bio) The only reason I kept reading was I was amazed at the turn
of events in her life and wanted to know what else could happen to her. I wasn't very inspired, and it was hard to endure the writing but I would love to read a better bio of her if someone knows of one.

Royal Road to Romance by Richard Halliburton - I was pre-reading this for my son who is a geography fanatic. The geography parts are wonderful but Mr. Halliburton is a young, single man traveling the globe in search of romantic places...well, he meets a few ladies. It was written in the 1930's so nothing very scandalous takes place, but the tone of carefree love and relationships bothered me. What was truly shocking to me was his horrible racial and cultural slurs. Anyone who was different from him was inferior and he spoke of many people disrespectfully. He also broke the law extensively, which allowed him to experience amazing sights, and ultimately to write this book, but still it bothered me as a Christian adult and I certainly wouldn't want a young boy to read it.

Cotillion by Georgette Heyer - My dear daughter asked me to read this one and I totally loved it! Fantastic book. Being somewhat stupid about names in books, I should have written down all the characters in the first chapter so I could keep them straight, but half way through I was doing all right. The humor was SO good, it just screamed to be made into a movie...like "The Importance of Being Earnest." Well, I don't have loads of money to produce a movie, and I doubt someone else will do it, but the book was wonderful nonetheless!