Jack and Jackie: Portrait of an American Marriage by Christopher Andersen

What an excellent read. Before starting this book, the only think I knew about the Kennedy family was that JFK was assassinated in Dallas, TX. I picked it up because I want to be more learned by reading more nonfiction. This one sounded interesting, and I was correct.

It is well written and moving. Andersen does an excellent job telling facts like he's telling a story, making the book feel like a fiction piece. And I learned quite a bit. Andersen moves along the lives of Jack and Jackie, beginning with birth and ending with death. He describes events as if he was there, drawing the reader in and helping us to feel present as well.

I wish he had included more pictures because several times I had to put the book down and look up a picture that he was describing or a moment he shared. I know, however, that space is limited and he had to pick just a few pictures.

The book has definitely changed my idea of JFK. I always thought since he was president and was killed that he was an exceptionally good person, flawless and perfect. I know better, especially now. He was flawed, he made many mistakes, and he was a very selfish person. But so was Jackie. To see their relationship this way, to travel along their marriage as they did, shocked and enlightened me. I'm very glad I chose to read this book.

Animal Farm: George Orwell (A book with at least one million reviews on Goodreads)

I knew going into this book that much of the satirical aspects would be way over my head. To say I'm not great at politics is an understatement, and my knowledge of world history is shaky at best, so I don't have much to say about this book as it was intended satirically, which means my review is going to be pretty useless.

I did enjoy reading it, however. Politics and history aside, it serves as a good warning for what can happen when we stop asking questions.

It is a well-written and very easy to read story, that serves as a warning and an entertaining animal tale.a

And Then There Were Nun: Jane Christmas (A book that takes place in an abbey, cloister, monastery, vicarage, or convent)

This was an interesting read to say the least. Christmas' religious journey is unlike any other I've heard which made the read fun. This was a great look into convent life.

I am struggling not to critique on a religious basis as that's not why I read this. I'll try to keep that out.

My biggest issue with the book is the overall lack of religion. Christmas loves to spout of about how religious she is and how important her faith has been to her, but actual faith in God is missing from these pages. She has a demonic encounter but relies on her self wit and books to protect her. Not once does she call upon the God who she claims is so important to her. Sure, she attends offices frequently but critiques the chanting and gives us little of the content or purpose. She studies Scripture but with the same way I studied and discussed this book.

She feels this call to become a nun, and has since she was young, and decided to finally pursue it, but then joining a convent isn't what she expected so she decides that she isn't called to be a nun after all. What? She didn't realize how much she would have to give up, and instead of giving up herself, she gives up this "call" that she has been feeling for 40ish years.

I guess the point of the book was to enlighten the world about convents and nuns, and she does so for daily schedules and clothing, but she never really goes into why one becomes a nun, what it means to be a nun, what the purpose of having nuns is, etc. She is very materialistic in her report of life for nuns, which is disappointing.

I gave it 4 out of 5 stars because it was an enjoyable read. Christmas has a sense of humor and writes well. My issues with it are more about her theology and personality than her writing. I don't quite know what to take away from the book, nor do I know what I should have gained by reading, but it was a compelling story of a woman's healing process.

The Christmas Letters: Lee Smith (Read a book during the season it is set)

This was a nice little Christmas-season read. It was easy and short, which is helpful during the busy season.

It's fun to read a story of Christmas letters and how families used to do them, and how they continue to do them. My family receives several Christmas letters each year, so I'm familiar with what they are, and I thought this read was a unique way to tell the story of one family's journey through several decades.

I loved the inclusion of recipies: some of them sounded really tasty, all were fairly simple, and they each appeared in the letter which helped me connect as a reader to the story.

I enjoyed how the letters travel through three generations allowing us to follow the family and they continued on in life. Although we got one letter per year and for only a few years, it was easy to track what was going on during those years. Each letter writer did a great job summarizing the years without making the letters read like a summary.

This wasn't an inspiring or life-altering read. The characters weren't exactly moving, but it was entertaining and helpful as I move into the season of Christmas.

Eligible: Curtis Sittenfeld (A retelling of a classic)

My forever favorite book is Pride and Prejudice, so I thought this would be a fun read. However, after finishing this book, I realized there can be no good retelling of Pride and Prejudice for me. If you're not Austen, you cannot get the characters correct. You can't tell the story the same way she did, which makes sense, really. There can be no two Austens, and Sittenfeld comes nowhere near her.

Had I been reading this book without ever hearing of Pride and Prejudice, there's a chance I could have enjoyed it, but reading through the lens of P&P made it a really terrible book. Sittenfeld took the ideas of P&P and sprinkled them on top of this book. Hardly even a sprinkling, though. You can just taste what was meant to be, but you have to suffer through the full dish without enough sprinkles.

The characters were completely terrible. Liz and Lydia switched places for the worst sister. Liz was just awful. Rude, obnoxious, unfiltered, and selfish. Lydia was actually the fun character. Sure, she was obnoxious too, but because Liz was the main character, we got more of her annoying person. Mr. Bennett isn't the best character in P&P, but his flaws are almost lovable. I think he is an endearing character in Austen's work. In Sittenfeld's, however, he is just a ball of flesh who has a few lines. He has no depth, he has no flesh, he has no lovable traits. In fact, he really has no traits. Sittenfeld also chose to make Jane completely pathetic in his story. Sure, Jane Bennett is a shy girl, but in this work, she is incapable of achieving her own happiness and must let others help her along the way. She can do nothing for herself.

In modernizing it, Sittenfeld used real-world problems, which of course makes sense, but in choosing those modern problems, he took away too much P&P for me. I'm no author, but as a huge fan of Austen's work, I just have to believe (and can imagine) a better retelling of such a well-loved classic. Sittenfeld just completely missed it for me.

Again, had I read this not knowing P&P, I probably would have enjoyed it. It's just too difficult for me to like something that was supposed to be close but was so very far away.

Home: Julie Andrews (Two books that share the same title #2)

I'm trying to appreciate memoirs more, and books like this one really help that. I think Julie Andrews is a phenomenal actress and singer, and I absolutely love The Sound of Music, so when I saw this book for $.99 at Goodwill, I decided to try it, and I'm very glad I did! 

Julie Andrews had a very interesting upbringing, and she writes about it so nonchalantly that one would think the book would be boring, but it wasn't. There were so many moments in the book when I thought, "Seriously? That poor girl. This is so horrible," but for Julie, it was just her life. What I appreciated about this book was that it was never a sob story. It was never a pity party. She never wrote to make us feel bad for her. She just wrote to tell her story. Even in the moments when you're afraid of what her step-father is going to do to her, she just writes, almost as if she's shrugging it off, but knowing her as you do when you finish the book assures you that she isn't shrugging it off. I think this is her way of acknowledging that all she experienced during her childhood led her to be the woman she is at the end of the novel, and that women is an incredible, talented, successful, joyful woman. Without her past, she wouldn't be where she was at the end. She wouldn't be flying to Disney to film Mary Poppins. She wouldn't be married with a beautiful baby girl. All the book made her who she was, and that's why she never tries to make her readers pity her or feel bad for her. In my small history with memoirs, most authors want sympathy. They want readers to feel bad that the author had to experience what they did. Julie was not that way, and that was great.

The book is well-written and well-paced. She doesn't linger too long in one period of life, but gives the main points and moves on, providing unique experiences for each stage of her early years. It was easy to read, easy to get caught up in, and yet easy to put down and pick back up, which made it easier for me to finish. 

My only disappointment was that this ended before she got to The Sound of Music, and I would have liked to hear what it was like to film that because I love it so much.

Home: Toni Morrison (Two books that share the same title #1)

This was a sad story of pain, suffering, and journeying through the trials of life to find your home. It was a very short read and moved along pretty quickly.

I struggled to follow the order of events in the book. No dates were given at the start of chapters, so it often took a bit for me to figure out if we were dealing with the past or present at any given point. At the end, I still didn't have a full grasp on the order of events. That made it a little challenging to follow the book.

I didn't understand the inclusion of Lily in the book, especially when she had her own chapter. Because of the length of the book, there was no room for her to grow or develop, so I couldn't understand why there was so much time spent on such an unnecessary (in my opinion) character/plot line. Frank talked about her quite a bit, which is fine and makes sense for the development of his character, but having a chapter from her perspective didn't add anything for me; taking me away from the main story of Frank instead. 

There are a lot of themes one could explore in this short book, which says a lot for the author, that she could pack so much into the book, but I wouldn't say the themes make this a phenomenal read. It was good, but it wasn't enjoyable, per say.