Anne's 60 book challenge in 2023

[Anne]

47) 8/9/2023 The Ferryman by Justin Cronin What a disappointment. I loved The Passage. Really didn't like this one at all. Man thinks he's God. Elites vs the working class. Almost didn't finish. Lesson: It never ends well when man plays God.

[Anne]

48) 8/18/2023 Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King Another in the series of the Dark Tower - a long book, but really good. Jake is growing up. The ka-tet is helping a farming community. There are bits of Harry Potter and Star Wars. Plus a flashback of Salem's Lot one of my favorite King novels. I still am getting these books on libby so am not putting any money in his pocket. He's a good writer but he hates his readers so I don't want to give him money. Lesson: People will do anything to protect their children.

[Anne]

49) 8/25/23 Song of Susannah by Stephen King I really liked this one. They are getting close to the Dark Tower. The Black Ball 13 is waking up. Susannah/Mia is close to delivery time. Stephen King is part of this story as are the twin towers and other parts of Manhatten. Again a libby library book. Loved it! Lesson: Go where the spirit tells you to go. In this case the spirit is ka.

[Anne]

50) 8/28/2023 In the Blood by Jack Carr Not as good as his others, kind of all over the place. Ending is a cliffhanger, though. I will have to get the next one in the series soon! Lesson: Don't mess with James.

[Anne]

51) 9/5/2023 Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation by Pete Hegseth Interesting but I don't think most people care. They are too busy. Scary stuff happening in the schools. The anecdote that made the biggest impression on me was that the nation pushed an anti-alcohol program on third graders in the 1880s. And 30 years later they got prohibition. If they can get the kids they can do whatever they want. Lesson - get your kids out of the public schools. Now.

[Anne]

52) 9/14/2023 After Dunkirk by Lee Jackson Fictional story of a couple of families after the British evacuate Dunkirk. The French Resistance and the British that were left behind. There are several points of view which made it somewhat hard to follow. Not sure I will read more of the series. Lesson: Thank God every day you don't live in a war zone.

[Anne]

53) 9/21/2023 The Men Who United the States: America's Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible by Simon Winchester I listened to this book on audio and enjoyed most of it, especially the stories of the westward push and electricity. And I loved Simon's voice. Just beautiful. However, Simon, NPR is leftist propoganda and I've known that a long time, as has half the country. While Rush, RIP, always made known to people that he was conservative. Think about that. And FDR extended the depression. Lesson - We've been lucky as a country to have so many bright energetic entrepeneurs and explorers. Hope we keep producing them.

[Anne]

54) 9/22/2023 The Maze by Nelson DeMille Another John Corey novel. Lots of good politically incorrect humor which I am old enough to appreciate. However, the book was pretty slow in the middle and there were some awful scenes that made me want to take a shower. But the final scene was super exciting and suspensful so that made up for a lot. Lesson: Sometimes you need someone who doesn't follow the rules.

[Anne]

55) Eagles Over Britain by Lee Jackson Next book in the after Dunkirk series, about the air fights during the battle of Britain. We are stlll following the Littlefields and how they are always in the most important part of the war. Glad I read the second book. I will continue to read the series. Very informative. Lesson: Technology can sometimes be a big advantage in war.

[Anne]

56) 10/8/23 The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank A re-read. Wanted to read it again because we were going to Amsterdam and had tickets to see the annex. The world keeps repeating the same story. And Anne was a normal teenager. She couldn't stand her mother. She disobeyed. She was mean. She was a dreamer. Lesson: No matter what your circumstances you can still do something great.

[Anne]

57) 10/11/23 A Storm in Flanders: The Ypres Salient, 1914-1918: Tragedy and Triumph on the Western Front by Winston Groom Listened to this on audio. We were traveling and had an appointment to tour Ypres, so I thought this would be a good book to read first. And it was. The amount of fighting, the number of deaths, the mines, the machine guns, the trenches. Made it much more relevant when I saw the area. Lesson: France and England - and Germany - all lost a generation in WWI.

[Anne]

58) 10/17/23 The Huntress by Kate Quinn Read most of this on the plane. Suspensful, multiple point of view story that slowly comes together. I loved the characters. Quinn has a great skill at writing women characters. I especially loved Nina and Jordan. And the evil huntress was great, too. Lesson: Trust your gut.

[Anne]

59) 10/29/23 The Dark Tower by Stephen King Finally finished the last book in this series. It was pretty good. Lots of funny movements of time. But I've always believed there is no time in heaven, so why wouldn't time be funny in Steven King's world? I loved the emo robot and the young artist. There was lots of sadness too. And Mordred was horrible. A devil. But Roland gets to his Tower at the end. As he had to. Lesson: Time is funny.

[Anne]

60) 10/30/23 Day of Wrath by William R. Forstchen A scary book about what could happen to us if the terrorists coming across the southern border got organized. It was a page turner. After 10/7 seems more likely. Must pray. Lesson: We are an easy target.

[Anne]

61) 11/2/2023 Saving Emma by Allen Eskens Interesting legal thriller with two plots - a family trying to save Emma from an evil Aunt, and saving Elijah from getting shock therapy that could destroy his life. Boady is working on both issues in a frantic week and a half. Fast moving, hard to put down. Lesson: Modern people have a hard time believing God is involved in the world.

[Anne]

62) 11/9/2023 Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt First half of this book was a downer, but it got pretty good at the end. And the octopus was the hero! Loved Tova too. Cameron was a jerk at first but he grew on me. Lesson: Clean up your messes.

[Anne]

63) 11/15/2023 The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King A story within a story within another story. All were pretty good and a little scary. I had forgotton some of the language of mid world already so that made it a little difficult. There were three young boys in the three stories that I found endearing. Lesson: You just never know what is going to happen but our job is to do the right thing.

[Anne]

64) 11/27/2023 A.D. 30 by Ted Dekker Interesting story of a dessert woman who has all kinds of trouble. She has to go to Palestine for political reasons and meets Yeshua who changes her life. Pretty good story. Has a lot of Christian scripture and teaching. Lesson: Trust is the key.

[Anne]

65) 12/2/2023 Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story by Wilfred M. McClay Listened to this overview of American History on audio with a decent reader. It was 20 hours but went pretty fast I knew most of what he covered. I enjoyed how he was fair and talked good and bad and wasn't biased. Lesson: We need to know our history. We need to know our story. Unbiased.

[Anne]

66) 12/3/23 8 Habits for Growth: A Simple Guide to Becoming More Like Christ by Darryl Dash I think I'm a bit too old for this kind of book anymore. I have more time now that I'm mostly retired. This book is more for young people with families and careers who want to carve out the time to be good Christians. Still there was some good stuff. I especially liked the Rule chapter. Lesson: Watch where your time goes.

[Anne]

67) 12/4/23 The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin Wow. I could not put this one down. Read it in two sittings. It is a novel based on a real event that happened in 1888 in Nebraska and the Dakota territory - a quick coming blizzard that killed hundreds of people. Especially children trying to get home from school. Lesson: Thank God everyday for modern weather forecasting.

[Anne]

68) 12/16/23 Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan Henry OK historical fiction about Joy Davidman who eventually married CS Lewis. The romantic longings of Joy just didn't ring true to me. The writing scenes were good though. 3 stars. Lesson: Don't marry someone who just got divorced (her first marriage).

[Anne]

69) 12/25/23 Only the Dead by Jack Carr James Reece saves the world once again. But there are so many evil people that nobody can get them all. These books are entertainment for me. But there's some truth in how bad things are... Lesson: Protect the ones you love.

[Anne]

70) 12/27/23 The Bible Compass: A Catholic's Guide to Navigating the Scriptures by Edward Sri A basic overview of the bible, and I still learned quite a bit. I went to a seminar by Dr. Sri last week and thought I would read something of his. Short, well organized, a good resource. Lesson: Just keep reading the bible and learning about it.

[Anne]

71) 12/28/23 The Devil and Bella Dodd: One Woman's Struggle Against Communism and Her Redemption by Mary Nicholas Excellent book. A woman is indoctinated by her teachers to leave her faith and family and become a communist. She teaches other teachers to indoctrinate their students. She helps communists to infiltrate the catholic church. Until she realizes it's all a lie. That man cannot be God. Sound familiar? Lesson: Indoctrination is all around us. We have to fight it.

[Anne]

72) 12/31/2023 Catechism of the Catholic Church: Complete and Updated I did the catechism in a year with Father Mike. Learned so much about my faith. Finished it today. But I'm counting it as a book read in 2023. Lesson: You don't need self help books, you just need the bible and the catechism. They tell you everything you need to know to live a good life.