#17- 1776 It's All New to Me and It's a Little Embarassing

David McCullough's 1776 has been sitting on my shelf for a while, but I didn't feel inspired to read it until my recent trip to our nation's capitol. It has turned out to be the perfect time to pick it up because I feel like I am living the days with George Washington as he leads his troops ahead to the first Independence Day. I feel like the 4th of July will be filled with more meaning or at least more details than I have experienced in the past. I have been lucky enough to have been in many places in the world, but I am truly in love with America. I am in love with the people who were crazy enough to think they could fight the most powerful army in the world at the time and win. I am in love with their believing, adventurous, brave hearts. It makes me think about the House of Joseph and how they fulfilled their heavenly mission. Although they were so rough and tumble it would have been difficult to see them as the House of Joseph at the time they were fighting.

Washington just chased the British out of Boston and on up to New York. I can't wait to see what happens next. And yes, it's a little bit embarrassing that I don't already know.

#16 Olive Kitteridge- Is true love really so hard to hang on to?

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2009. I have learned that when book has a sticker on it that says something amazing that it won an award for, my expectations that it will be a great book increase exponentially and I am often disappointed. I feel this way about Olive Kitteridge. It is a great book that is designed to weave the story of one woman's life through the tangled history of many small town experiences. I liked Olive and I liked the way she showed up in the various vignettes. The thing I didn't like about the book is a continual theme of lack of fulfillment in marriage. I promise I am not living in a dream world and I understand that there are moments in marriages that lack the magic that was found in the beginning of the relationship, but I guess I want to hang on to my romantic notions that people really fall in love and stay in love. I struggled with Strout's perception that all marriages, even happy ones, often have some amount of unfaithfullmess. Regardless, I did love all the interesting characters she created and developed and I felt like I had taken a walk through this little town in Maine by the time I was finished. I am not adding this one to my list of favorites, but I still think it is a well-written, enjoyable set of stories that kept me interested throughout.

#15 How We Decide- You're going to love this one

How we decide by Jonah Lehrer was such a great read. Interestingly enough I read it as I was trying to make a very difficult decision. I would like to say that it gave me all the answers, but as much as it is great to have an amazing brain to work with, I am still grateful for advice from friends and God when you have a really tough decision to make, but that is all a little off the point. Lehrer takes a very complex process and breaks it down into manageable pieces. It is fascinating to hear his research and explanations on how the brain figures things out. It made me appreciate the capacity of this creation of God's that we understand so little about. I would highly recommend this book. I have been told that is along the same lines as Blink, but a better read.

#14 The Red Tent- This ain't no bible story

I have to say that enjoyed the first half of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, but it had a little more getting to know each other than I really needed and so I didn't finish reading it. The story is a fictitious version of the events of surrounding the family of Jacob and his 4 wives Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah, and the only daughter mentioned in the bible, Dinah. This book handles the touchy subject of polygamy in a way that makes you believe that it could be possible for a man to to love and appreciate two women, even if the women don't always see eye to eye. The LDS church has a history of polygamy and it is sometimes difficult to imagine how the women of my own history could have survived and even thrived in these sorts of relationships. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I am all for a polygamist lifestyle, but I thought this author made a valid attempt to show the beauty that could come from a family like Jacob's. Don't read this book for a historically accurate view of the events surrounding Jacob and the House of Israel, but you might pick it up if you are curious about a uniquely different kind of love story. I'm interested to hear if anyone else has read this book and what you thought.