LIST: Best Books of 2019

Top Five Books of the Year
1. Milkman
2. Where the Crawdads Sing
3. Murder at McDonalds: Killers Next Door
4. A Conspiracy in Belgravia
5. Olive, Again

25 nonfiction: 112 fiction = 137 books
90 female     46 male;  1 collection of assorted; 1 husband and wife;
78 audiobooks      16 ebook  26 library   

Best Mystery
A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas (+ the other 2 in the Charlotte Holmes series from this year) What a fabulously fun series!

Honourable Mentions Best Mystery (because I read a lot of mysteries)
The Ruin, and The Scholar by Dervla MacTiernan
Well done mystery series set in Ireland, Cormac Reilly, is my new favourite police detective

Best Start to a Series 
Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths
I read the first four in the Ruth Galloway series

Best End to a Series
The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley
I was glad the Flavia series ended, but it ended well after ten books

Best Historical Series
Irish Country Wedding by Patrick Taylor - 
I'm still loving the Irish Country Doctor series (1960s Ireland) 
Also Hugh de Singleton (1300s England) I read 3 more in this series this year

Best Recommended Book 
Bad Blood by John Carryou and Educated by Tara Westover were both highly recommended during Nonfiction November the year before, and they lived up to their hype

Best Childrens 
Al Capone Shines My Shoes, and Al Capone Does My Homework by Gennifer Choldenko 

Best Young Adult 
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Olivia Twist by Lorie Langdon

Best Book by a New to Me Author
The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin
Truman Capote and the original housewives of New York, based on true events, and fabulous!

Favourite Characters
Lara Jean, Margot, and Kitty Song, the three sisters from the Jenny Han series, To All the Boys I've Loved Before. 

I read PS I Still Love You, and Always and Forever, Lara Jean to complete the series.


Best Science Fiction/Fantasy
Saga by Brian K Vaughan
- I read Vol 8& 9, but these were the only sci-fi/fantasy books I read this year, clearly not a genre I read much of

Best Historical Fiction 
The Chillbury Ladies Choir by Jennifer Ryan
The Gown by Jennifer Robson
- love some British mid-century fiction!

Best  Book by a Tried and True Author 
I didn't realize how reliable Ann Patchett was, but the two books I read this year: Commonwealth, and The Dutch House were excellent and are sending me on a hunt for her backlist, other than State of Wonder and Bel Canto which I've read.

Best Apocalyptic/Dystopian
The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker

Best Short Story Collection 
I'll throw Olive, Again in this section because she has to go somewhere. I was a little worried to read this as I so loved Olive Kitteridge, but this collection of connected stories, all connected somehow to Olive was as excellent as this first one. I do love Olive.

Best Short Story 
The only short story I listened to this year was from the Irish Country Doctor series, a short called Home is the Sailor by Patrick Taylor

Funniest 
The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde was probably the funniest book I read, although it was a ghost story.

Most Heartbreaking
Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova
The patriarch of a Boston family gets a terrible hereditary disease.

Creepiest Novel
You, by Charles Benoit
This was a YA Sync from the summer, and was a second-person POV, and dealt with disturbed teenagers. Creepy, but quick.

Best Debut Book
Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson
Lovely epistolary midlife crisis story told through letters between a British farm wife and a Danish museum curator. 


Best Re-read
This one is easy - both The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery, and The Guernsey Literary and Pototo Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer were as good on rereads as they were the first times I've read them 

Best Audiobook 
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, and read by the author was a delightful experience. I'm not generally a poetry fan, but this was done in a blank verse style and was very moving
The Dutch House gets honourable mention for best audiobook because it had Tom Hanks narrating, and I'd listen to him read his grocery list

Most Unique Book 

Milkman by Anna Burns
I hesitate to recommend this one, but you would know very early on if the writing style worked for you, and it really worked for me. I loved the voice of the main character, a twenty something girl, with a boyfriend, trying to survive the 'troubles' in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. Very Irish stream of consciousness style, with no proper names ever used. It could have been annoying, but I got caught up with the style and her voice, and how she tried to manage living and the circular style of story-telling. 


Best Nonfiction (since I read so many nonfiction this year, I have broken this down a little more)
  

Best Nonfiction: science/history
A Force of Nature: The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford by Richard Reeves
I really enjoyed this biography of the physics/chemistry famous scientist from the early 1900s.

Best Nonfiction: nature
Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer
  
Best Nonfiction: memoir/autobiography
Troublemaker: Surviving Scientology and Hollywood by Leah Remini
If you've watched the TV show Scientology, you should try this book. I liked hearing more of Leah's experience; she's a hoot.

Best Nonfiction: true crime
Murder at McDonalds: Killers Next Door by Phonse Jessome
This was a local book, based on a murder in Cape Breton that was horrific over twenty years ago. 




A few books I loved by couldn't find a category for!
Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
Moriarty does great with large casts of how-are-they-related characters that have lots of twists and come together at the end

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
This could have been best mystery, best nature book, best book about loneliness, best audiobook (Cassandra Campbell was a narrator), best heartbreaking book and best book to live up to its hype.  For all these reasons, it was one of my favourite books of the year.

VIRTUAL ADVENT TOUR: Nan's Frying Pan Cookies

Hello, and welcome again to the Virtual Advent Tour, hosted by sprite writes. Check her blog everyday for a new Advent post from all over the world.


When my children were quite young, every Christmas Eve, my mom and I would bundle them up and we would to to visit my paternal grandmother, whom we called Nan. She lived forty-five minutes away from us, an easy drive on a winter day. The great-grands called her Great Nan. Because she was a Great Nan, and the name was perfect.

We would be taking some presents up to her, and she would have a little lunch for us as well. She had presents for all her great-grandchildren, numbering around 21. As we entered the house, heads bumping on the wind chime as we passed into the dining room (a little noise to let her know someone had arrived) and the children would run to the candy dish. 

The famous china candy dish, always kept full of little treats. I remember not wanting my kids to gorge themselves on the candy and nuts (all choking hazards!) and worrying that they would break the china. But I couldn't be the only one to move the candy dish, so, just like when I was young, treats and candy and sweets were a part of a visit to Nan's. 

Not quite the same, but this is the style, with separate china sections, all potentially breakable!

After a chat, and catch up, Nan would put out a little lunch for us. A homemade meat pie, smothered with mustard pickles, and a plate of sweets for dessert. The sweets would include shortbreads with a dollop of icing and half a walnut, peanut butter balls, and my favourite, Frying Pan Cookies. There was also dark fruit cake, but just like red wine and dark rum, the dark foods are an acquired taste, and it seems to take until your forties to enjoy these darker foods. While I didn't eat dark fruit cake then, I would now. 

But this post is meant to be about the Frying Pan Cookies, my traditional Christmas cookie. I got this recipe from her when I was young and love to make, and eat them. It would be easy to make a gluten-free version, if you have a gluten-free rice crispie type cereal.

Frying Pan Cookies

1 1/2 c. chopped dates
1 C white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cap full of vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 C Rice Krispies
1.5  C walnuts, chopped fine
1 bag coconut - I like unsweetened but use your favourite type

Mix dates, sugar and eggs in frying pan. Cook 10 minutes, smashing the dates down or until dates are soft. Cool some, then add vanilla, Rice Krispies and walnuts and mix well till it's all stickey.

Butter your hand well, roll mixture into balls then roll balls in coconut. Makes 4-5 dozen, depending on how large you roll them. These freeze really well, and can become your favourite frozen treat to sneak from the freezer.

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Winter TBR

Top Ten Tuesday topic this week is your winter TBR. I love making a list and this list is partially based on another list, the Tournament of Books shortlist for 2020. Between requesting a bunch of those books at the library, and books in my mystery series, and then my own books, there is no shortage of ideas for this winter TBR. For future topics, visit That Artsy Reader Girl.

Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Akner-Brodesser

TOB shortlist, was a publisher review book

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

TOB shortlist book requested from the library

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

loved her Brown Girl Dreaming

Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips

requested when it was on the TOB longlist and intrigued me

We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

TOB shortlist, audiobook requested from library

Rest Not in Peace by Mel Starr

#6 in the Hugh de Singleton 14th century England series

Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood

Will this be the year I get to this book? I really liked the second two books in the trilogy

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

One of those Kindle Daily Deals that looks good and I should read

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina

One of my last YA Sync books from last year

Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry

Another YA Sync book from last summer. Audibooks are great for walking, and I'm definitely listening to more audiobooks as I try to walk more.

VIRTUAL ADVENT TOUR: A Little Sparkly

Welcome to my turn posting on the Virtual Advent Tour! I've been a part of the Virtual Advent since I started blogging, back in 2007. It's a part of blogging, and Christmas that I look forward to.

As an update from the Advent Calendar post about Advent Calendars from last year, I found a cheese advent calendar for my husband and I to enjoy. Each evening we share the cheese and maybe a cracker or two on the countdown til the 25th. Oldest child, 22, has a Lindt chocolate advent calendar, middle child, 19, has a Hello Kitty Opi mini nail polish advent calendar, and youngest, 16 has a homemade (Bulk Barn) full of nuts and dark chocolate wafers. We've come a long way from the single calendar my sister and I used to share.

One of the things I like about Christmas is taking the extra effort to fancy things up.

So it's the time of year when I put some icing on the cookies, or make cookies that require rolling, and then coating in something extra or putting the maraschino cherry on the ginger cookie.

Decorating around the house and outside, and bringing out some fancy dishes to serve some h'ordoeuvres. Heck, even making the h'ordoeuvres in the first place is a step up and represents the extra effort, like the year I made Sprite's grandmother's Mushroom Turnovers. Yum!

This year, as an extra sparkly effort, I had my daughter, the aspiring esthetician, paint my nails. It is actually homework for her in her course to practice painting nails often. So I requested a Christmas red, with a bit of sparkle for the Christmas season. My accent nail has a layer of silver sparkle and I am all ready for some Christmas events.

Do you do extra things at Christmas to sparkle up your life?

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Holiday Reads

Winter is starting early here in PEI, and I've been feeling Christmas-y as a result. I have actually already read a Holiday book or two. There are plenty of great seasonal books that I've read, and some I would like to read. Check out the links to all the Top Ten Tuesday posts at That Artsy Reader Girl, and also check out the future topics.

Also in the holiday season, sprite writes is hosting the Virtual Advent Tour again this year. It is a wonderful way for sharing your holiday traditions, or songs, or ideas, really, anything you like. Sprite links it all up at her blog, and everyday there is a new post. There is lots of days to sign up for, so head to Sprite's to check out the details. I'm on tap for December 6th, and I've participated in the Advent Tour for a long, long time. It's one of my favourite Christmas (or your holiday) traditions. One year, I wrote about the Christmas books by Anne Perry, and another year, I focused on the Christmas editions of my favourite mystery series'.

My True Love Gave to Me (twelve holiday stories by young adult authors)
I've had this one I've had for a while from the library, and I am slowing reading the stories. I can't wait to get to the Jenny Han story as I've read her To All the Boys series throughout this year, and they are delightful.

A Christmas Message by Anne Perry
I've read many of Perry's Christmas novellas, as she has come up with a great concept - using minor characters from her Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Victorian police mystery series, stand-alone mysteries occur at Christmas. They are light, with characters that are somewhat familiar. This was my least favourite of the bunch, as much was set in Bethlehem, and there was too much religion and philosophy for my taste, not enough murder, although there was one murder. I'll still listen to or read another in this series, as they are quite short, but I hope the next one I read is better.

Alaskan Holiday by Debbie Macomber
I read this holiday book last year, and it was my first Macomber book ever. Sadly, probably my last, as I spent most of the book being annoyed by the characters and the gaping plot points. But to be fair, I don't read a lot of romance books for exactly this reason, and it was kinda fun to yell at the characters, like a Hallmark Christmas movie. It was alternately narrated by a male and female, and one of the voices did an annoying voice for the 'comic' character, which didn't help. Oh well, now I don't have to read any more Macomber books, and she is very prolific!

Christmas on the Island by Jenny Colgan
Now this was a great Christmas read from last year. I picked this up at Indigo last year, purely based on the pretty cover and the simple description. I'm sure it had nothing to do with me living on an Island as well! This was set on an island off Scotland, and is part of a series (yay!) by an author who writes a nice, character driven style of book, reminding me of Maeve Binchy. Not a romance, not a mystery, just a nice story. I haven't read another Colgan book, but I definitely will.

Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell
Here's another book I read last year. A nice, easy read, these Two Festive Short Stories by Rainbow Rowell were very cute. One of them is actually in My True Love Gave to Me, my book from this year. I loved Eleanor & Park by Rowell,

Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
This is now a Netflix movie that I haven't seen yet, but I never mind taking the opportunity to recommend this delightful book. Each author wrote a short story, but the three stories are all connected in some way. It has been a long time since I read this, but it left a positive impression on me.

Here's a few new books on my radar:

Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
I was just noticing that I haven't read a Sophie Kinsella book in a long time, and once upon a time I read her new books as soon as they came out. This appears to be the lastest in the Shopaholic series, and I think I might have missed a couple. Kinsella books are so much fun, and I want to get back to reading her delightful books.

Christmas at the Vinyl Cafe by Stuart McLean
I didn't realize this book was newly published, containing five never published Christmas stories? Dave Cooks the Turkey is one of the funniest stories ever! It's hard to believe that it has been almost three years since Stuart McLean died, but at least his writing lives on.

We Met in December by Rosie Curtis
What is it about the British and their Christmas stories? This looks like it could have been one of the plot lines from Love, Actually, which is one of my favourite Christmas movies.
"Following a year in the life of a twenty-something British woman who falls hard for her London flat mate"

That's it for books from this year and last, and a few potential Christmas books. Here's a post I did last year of some of my favourite Christmas books. Some pretty awesome reads on that list!

NONFICTION NOVEMBER: New to My TBR (week 5)

Week 5: (Nov. 25 to 29) – New to My TBR (Rennie of What’s Nonfiction): It’s been a month full of amazing nonfiction books! Which ones have made it onto your TBR? Be sure to link back to the original blogger who posted about that book

Another successful Nonfiction November in the books. I didn't get exploring other sites as much as I would have liked, but I did take notice of a few books that look interesting. A few were ones I was wondering about, but getting a rec from the bloggers is just the nudge needed to add the book to the ole TBR list.

Histories by Sam Gugliani  found at Rather Too Fond of Books             
Histories was the fiction book paired with Breaking and Mending by Joanna Cannon, which also looks good. Both are set in hospitals with Histories being interconnected short stories all set in a hospital and Breaking and Mending being a memoir of a junior doctor. I read Five Patients by Michael Crichton many, many years ago and loved it. Crichton would go on to create the great medical drama, ER.




Bad Science books found at Whatsnonfiction:

The Angry Chef: Bad Science and the Truth about Healthy Eating by Chef Anthony Warner

Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks, by Ben Goldacre 

I've seen Bad Science listed before, and I still want to read it. Having it paired with another science book related to healthy eating makes it sound even better.

Truth and Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett (from mindjoggle )

I  listened to two Ann Patchett books this year, and both were very good - Commonwealth, and The Dutch House. Years ago I read Bel Canto, and State of Wonder, and I am realizing that Patchett is an excellent author - solid, interesting reads. So being reminded that Patchett has a nonfiction book was timely.

Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited by Paula and Elyse ( from thefictionaddiction )

I watched the movie on CNN about the triplets separated in New York who then eventually meet as late teenagers. It's a great movie, that turns more and more horrific and the details are all revealed. So a book following the same type of story would be very fascinating to read. Why are twins so intesting?

Three Women  by Lisa Taddeo  (from novelvisits )

I've seen Three Women on my audiobook libary, and so reading a great review moves it up the list a little bit. It also has a long lineup at the library, also a good sign of a popular book.

Inheritance: A Memoir of Geneology, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro (from Sara's Bookshelves )

Similar to the separated twins idea, Inheritance is about the author finding out about who her father was.

NONFICTION NOVEMBER: Lit Hub's Top Twenty Nonfiction Books of the Decade

I wanted to do another Nonfiction November post, but didn't get one done for this week's prompt. I also didn't get any of the un-reviewed nonfiction books reviewed like I had hoped I might. Instead, I found this list of the best nonfiction books from this decade. Yes, the teens are nearly over, and it is time for some retrospectives on, I'm sure, all kinds of topics.



Top Twenty Nonfiction Books of the Last Decade

Literary Hub posted a bunch of best books of the decade (poetry, memoirs, translated, debut, overall best) lists over here, and I do enjoy a list. I've taken the nonfiction list and posted it here, with my comments based on whether I loved it or not, or whether it was already a book on my radar that I wanted to read. Let me know what you think - agree? disagree?  Lists provide lots of debate fodder. Also, any on here you recommend?

💁 - books I want to read

💖- books I also loved

👹 - books I read but didn't love

MICHELLE ALEXANDER, THE NEW JIM CROW (2010)

SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE, THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES (2010) 💁

REBECCA SKLOOT, THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS (2010) 💖

TIMOTHY SNYDER, BLOODLANDS (2010)

ISABEL WILKERSON, THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS: THE EPIC STORY OF AMERICA’S GREAT MIGRATION (2010)

ROBERT A. CARO, THE PASSAGE OF POWER: THE YEARS OF LYNDON JOHNSON (2012)

TOM REISS, THE BLACK COUNT: GLORY, REVOLUTION, BETRAYAL, AND THE REAL COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (2012)

ELIZABETH KOLBERT, THE SIXTH EXTINCTION (2014)

TA-NEHISI COATES, BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME (2015)

ANDREA WULF, THE INVENTION OF NATURE (2015) 💁

STACY SCHIFF, THE WITCHES (2015) 👹

SVETLANA ALEXIEVICH, TR. BELA SHAYEVICH, SECONDHAND TIME (2016)

JANE MAYER, DARK MONEY (2016)

DAVID FRANCE, HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE (2016)

ANDRÉS RESÉNDEZ, THE OTHER SLAVERY (2016)

REBECCA TRAISTER, ALL THE SINGLE LADIES (2016) 💁

CAROLINE FRASER, PRAIRIE FIRES (2017) 💁

DAVID W. BLIGHT, FREDERICK DOUGLASS: PROPHET OF FREEDOM (2018

ROBERT MACFARLANE, UNDERLAND (2019) 💁

PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE, SAY NOTHING: A TRUE HISTORY OF MEMORY AND MURDER IN NORTHERN IRELAND (2019)


the ones who almost made the list

MAGGIE NELSON, THE ART OF CRUELTY: A RECKONING (2011)

ÓSCAR MARTINEZ, THE BEAST (2013)

MATTHEW DESMOND, EVICTED (2016)

YURI SLEZKINE, THE HOUSE OF GOVERNMENT (2017)

RICHARD LLOYD PARRY, GHOSTS OF THE TSUNAMI (2017)

JENNY ODELL, HOW TO DO NOTHING (2019)

honourable mentions:

Peter Hessler, Country Driving (2010) · 

Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life (2010) · 

Barbara Demick, Nothing to Envy (2010) · 

Marina Warner, Stranger Magic (2012) · 

Jon Meacham, Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power (2012) · 

Oscar Martinez, The Beast (2013) · 

Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers (2013) · 💖

Mary Ruefle, Madness, Rack, and Honey (2013) · 

David Epstein, The Sports Gene (2013) · 

Sheri Fink, Five Days at Memorial (2013) · 

David Finkel, Thank You for Your Service (2013) · 

George Packer, The Unwinding (2013) · 

Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything (2013) · 

Roxanne Dunbar-Oritz, An Indigenous People’s History of the United States (2014) · 

Sarah Ruhl, 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write (2014) · 

Olivia Laing, The Trip to Echo Spring (2014) · 

Hermione Lee, Penelope Fitzgerald (2014) · 

Mary Beard, SPQR (2015) · 

Sam Quinones, Dreamland (2015) · 

Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped From the Beginning (2016) · 

Ruth Franklin, Shirley Jackson (2016) · 

Arlie Russell Hochschild, Strangers In Their Own Land (2016) · 

Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures (2016) · 💁

Laura Dassow Walls, Henry David Thoreau: A Life (2017) · 

David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon (2017) · 💖

Elizabeth McGuire, Red at Heart (2017) ·

 Frances FitzGerald, The Evangelicals (2017) · 

Jeff Guinn, The Road to Jonestown (2017) · 

Michael Tisserand, Krazy (2017) · 

Lawrence Jackson, Chester Himes (2017) · 

Zora Neale Hurston, Barracoon (2018) · 

Beth Macy, Dopesick (2018) · 

Shane Bauer, American Prison (2018) · 

Eliza Griswold, Amity and Prosperity (2018) · 

David Quammen, The Tangled Tree (2018).

NONFICTION NOVEMBER: Be the Expert (week 3)

Week 3: (Nov. 11 to 15) – Be The Expert/Ask the Expert/Become the Expert (Katie at Doing Dewey): Three ways to join in this week! You can either share 3 or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic that you’d like to read (become the expert)

Physics Biographies and Memoirs

I've chosen to highlight some physics related biographies or memoirs. The ones I've selected are good reads and written in a way that is not dry or boring. I recommend!

Let me know if there are other great physics biographies I should read!

Force of Nature by Richard Reeves

The story of Ernest Rutherford was a read from this year was good. I loved all the connections between the great physicists of the early 1900s. Just imagining the excitement in the physics world as so much was being discovered made the book worthwhile for me.

Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman by Richard Feynman

Richard Feynman was a real character and this is a collection of his stories. He's well known for popularizing physics, and his ability to tell a great story. There are several books by Feynman, and any of them are probably good reads.

e=mc2 by David Bodanis

Not a biography of any person, it is the biography of Einstein's famous equation, E=mc^2. Each component gets a chapter, and background information. Fascinating stuff!

(I tried another Bodanis book this year which was disappointing, but I think it was still interesting and well written, it just didn't cover the information that I was expecting, so I won't put it on him - it was me)

Zap: Nicola Tesla Takes Charge
Although this is a children's book, any book that discusses Nicola Tesla is going to be a winner. This would just whet your appetite for stories of the crazy inventor Tesla, but it would be a gateway book to Tesla. I'm still looking for adult book about Tesla. I've read a fictional book which was really good - Last Days of Night by Graham Moore which was a great mystery but I'd like another Tesla title - fiction or nonfiction.

Finding Wonders by Jeannine Atkins
Technically a fictional book, the information in this blank verse account of three female scientists is fabulous! My favourite book from 2017. 

Related - Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science by Rachel Swaby. More traditional biographies than Finding Wonders, great intro to all those women scientists you've probably never heard of.

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Col Chris Hadfield
And finally, Col Chris Hadfield, and real life hero/good guy with his memoir/guide to life. The more you read about Hadfield, the more impressive his is. We are so proud of him here in Canada, and this book is an inspirational read of following your dreams and having everything pay off, through all your hard work and planning. 

NONFICTION NOVEMBER: Book Pairing (week 2)

Week 2: (Nov. 4 to 8) – Book Pairing (Sarah of Sarah’s Book Shelves): This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. It can be a “If you loved this book, read this!” or just two titles that you think would go well together. Maybe it’s a historical novel and you’d like to get the real history by reading a nonfiction version of the story.


I'm going to cheat a little bit here, because these two books were offered together during the summer from YA Sync. They really go well together! I liked the history and background behind Reagan's famous 'Tear Down this Wall' speech, but the fictional account of a family separated when the wall was built, separating East and West Berlin, and the subsequent fall out of a family divided was very powerful.

Tear Down This Wall: A City, A President, and the Speech that Ended the Cold War by Romesh Ratnesar
In 1987, Ronald Reagan gave his famous speech to Mr Gorbachev and very quickly, the wall did come down and life in Berlin (East and West) changed. This (a little too long) nonfiction book looks into the situations that led up to the speech. For people of a certain age who remember the 1980s, this book will bring back those times. For younger readers, this would be a great historical record of a significant event that led to the end of the Cold War.

A Night Divided by Jennifer A Nielsen
I really enjoyed this novel following a single family whose life was completely changed the night the Berlin Wall was built. The father and brother had gone across the city to look for work the night the wall was built, separating the family of five. The mom, brother and main character daughter were left in East Berlin. Years later, the daughter sees her father on the other side, and realizes he is trying to send a message - they should dig a tunnel to West Berlin. Seeing life in East Berlin, how citizens had to survive, worrying about betrayals, and worrying about who to trust, was very well done. This is why I really like historical fiction - it allows the reader to see a moment in time, with characters that are easy to relate to. 

Any other good Cold War fiction/nonfiction reads that would compliment these two?