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It’s nearly mid December and the end of the year, so I’m trying to pack in as many last minute reads as I can to reach my Goodread’s reading goal of 2017 (which was a measly fifty books this year, I’m so ashamed).  Raise your hand if you also had ridiculously low goals that you are also about to fail for the year.

Just me? Ok, good to know.

All Over but the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg

I read this book this spring, but I’ve felt the need to pick it up again. I honestly cannot for the life of me really remember what the book was about or how it ended.  I’ve been packing up lately and I ran into this book so I figured now was a good time as ever to read it again.

So, I’m happily digging back into another memoir that I’m pretty sure was great.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Who else loves war novels? The rush, the thrill, the tension that crests so beautifully… This is a book that’s been in my TBR box for a good couple of months.  It threw me off at first with the present tense and first person POV, both of which are not favorites of mine, but I’ve cracked open the pages again and I’m determined to finish it this time.

I don’t know a whole lot about world war one, beside a smattering of facts because I always thought it was a completely stupid war, so it’ll be interesting to learn a little more.

Vienna Prelude (The Zion Covenant Book One) by Bodie Thoene

This is my fourth or fifth time reading this story.

For the past six or so years of my life I’ve had an absurd fascination with world war two. Said fascination has faded over the past two years, but nostalgia of all the hours I would spend in the library and on the internet, gulping up information comes to mind.

No matter what type of mood I’m in this story always draws me in and with the stories’s I’ve been writing lately I figure it’s time to pick up this gem again and read some really good writing.

The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi

My mom got me this book for my birthday. I started reading it immediately, expecting to start and finish it within a day or two like I normally do the first time I open a book.  For some reason this time, however, this book was half read and then abandoned on my shelf for months before I found it again last month while doing some brief cleaning (which was quickly abandoned for books).

I’m really excited to dig into this story again, from what I can remember it was really good.  She did a great job of telling a story while introducing the reader to a culture and it’s up and downs.  The story’s theme is identity, something I know I’ve struggled with over the years, so I’m eager to continue to read, catching her insight into lives, identity, and culture.

The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowery

Technically I already read these books and a review will be coming shortly, but I started them this December so I’m adding them to the list.  I enjoyed the first two books a lot, but while the rest were solid stories I wasn’t as into them.

To be completely honest, I wasn’t a fan of the villain in this series. The villain felt vague, un-developed and he was one of those ‘completely evil’ villains that I don’t like.  The problem I have with completely evil villains is there’s no emotional connection for the readers to the villain. This makes the heroes’ struggles less intense and the whole plot feels like a not quite flat soda.  The first two books, didn’t have as much of the overall villain in it, they were more of  man vs man, man vs self, man vs society type of stories.

I’ll dig more into exactly how I felt about all of this and more in-depth reasons why later this week.

Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang

This book is a little beat up as I’m adding it to my current TBR pile.  It fought a valiant battle against some spilled water a few months ago. Despite the wear and tear I’m really excited to dig into this story.

I’m a huge fan of memoirs, biographies and autobiographies, I’ve been that way since I discovered them around the age of seven or eight, somewhere in there.  Being able to pear into the past through other people’s memories, is an amazing experience.   You can always read the facts of a war or a time period in history but that’s all they are, facts without emotional ties. With memoirs and biographies, you’re there, experiencing what they’re experiencing. It’s uncomfortable, scary, and utterly amazing.

This book is about the cultural revolution in China in the ’60s. A piece of history I don’t know very well, this book will be an eye opener into another past. I can’t wait.

I’m also digging into a few Wattpad books because it’s been a hot minute since I’ve even been on the site, nothing note worthy yet, though.

I still about 12 books from my year goal of reading 50 books (I know, I’ve read more than that, but…..), what are some books that you can recommend to me?