Books I Read In May

May was a month filled with lots of interesting fiction and weekend trips, a worthwhile way to kick off the summer!  Here is what I thought about the books I read.  I'm implementing a star system, because I think it's easier to quickly see the bottom line on a book that way!

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - 4 stars - I have actually never read The Martian, which is Weir's most popular book, but for some reason this one caught my eye.  The main character is a microbiologist who ends up being recruited to study a microbe that has started to basically "eat" the sun.  Little does he know that he'll be called upon to go on a mission to rescue earth from this destructive little microbe, and make unexpected contact along the way.  I started this book and really could not put it down - the unusual plot sucked me right in.  I will say that there is ALOT of evolution-based elements to the plot (as someone who believes in creation I find this annoying) and some obnoxious political points thrown in here and there.  There was also an awkward conversation about *ahem* about adult things with one of the astronauts. I'm taking off a star for those, but otherwise I found this book to be an imaginative and fun read.

The Mystery Of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict - 3 stars - This book started out pretty strong, but the follow-through just wasn't there.  In case you didn't know, in real life Agatha Christie disappeared when she was a young wife and mother for about a week in the 1920's. She never talked about where she went or what she did, and to this day no one really knows what happened.  How intriguing is that?  This book explored a fictional explanation for that disappearance.  I thought the idea for this book was really interesting, but the author kind of lost me when Mr. Christie is talking to an inspector and uses the phrase "my truth".  That is not something anyone from that time period would be likely to say - "my truth", as opposed to just "the truth", is a thoroughly post-modern phrase that has really only become popular over the last couple decades. After that I noticed other modern attitudes that seemed imposed upon the characters, and I had a hard time taking the book seriously.  At the end, when Agatha is explaining why she disappeared, I could tell the author was trying to give a "Poirot" vibe to it, but the monologue lacked the incisive insights about human nature that Agatha Christie used in all her final monologues in her mystery books.  The reasoning for the disappearance seemed weak and forced.  It was a good try, but in the end this book didn't work for me as an avid Christie reader.

What You Wish For by Katherine Center - 4 stars - In this book, Sam is a teacher at a special school that has just lost it's beloved principal.  The new principle arrives, and lo and behold, it's Duncan, a man that Sam had a hopeless crush on at her previous school.  But Duncan has changed, and Sam goes on a mission to help him rediscover the guy he used to be.  This book was adorable and I enjoyed it very much.  The dynamic between the characters was believable and kept me on the edge of my seat.  I tend to like the hate-to-love trope in my chic-lit, and this one was done well.  

Content Notes: There are a few bad words scattered throughout, a couple kissing scenes that are a little intense, a moment when Sam admires Duncan shirtless, and Sam sleeps in Duncan's room one day after he just had surgery to keep an eye on him, at another point the couple almost sleep together.  I'd rate it about PG-13 if it was a movie.

Happiness For Beginners by Katherine Center - 3 stars - I enjoyed the first Katherine Center book so much, I decided to pick up another one.  In this book, Duncan's older sister Helen is trying to find herself after her divorce.  She ends up on a wilderness survival trip with a bunch of college students and Jake, her little brother's annoying friend - except she finds herself drawn to him unexpectedly - especially when she learns he's been pining for her for years. I very much enjoyed the wilderness setting and plot, which dominated the middle half of the book.  Maybe I found myself intrigued by this aspect because, like the main character, I'm in my thirties now and I can imagine how obnoxious it would be to go spend two weeks with college students in the woods. 

Content Notes: I can't recommend this one as much as the first Center book because it was more racy than the other one.  More references to you-know-what, one pretty intense scene where the main characters almost sleep together, etc.  If this was a movie I'd rate it a more racy PG-13.  I try not to read and often don't finish books that would be worse than a PG-13 movie, but this one pushed it a little bit.  

The Polar Bear Expedition by James Carl Nelson  - 4 stars - This is perhaps the saddest book about World War One that I've read so far. This book tells the story of American soldiers who were sent to Russia toward the end of World War One, and then left there for two years...for reasons that no one ever told them.  When I read The Last Of The Doughboys by Richard Rubin, one of the veterans interviewed in that book was one of these men of the Polar Bear Expedition, and even when pressed he refused to talk about his experiences in Russia.  You know when they won't talk about it at all, it had to be terrible.  About 200 soldiers died there in Russia fighting the Bolsheviks, and many of the men returned home still not knowing why they were sent there in the first place.  The book explores why this chapter of WW1 happened, and emphasizes at the end how these brave men should be remembered (the poem in the last chapter made me actually cry).  Because it sometimes gets bogged down in names/dates, I am giving it just 4 stars, but I am 100% glad I read this book.  

Company K by William March - 4 stars - This is another WW1 book that I read because the author of The Last Of The Doughboys recommended it (are you sick of hearing about The Last Of The Doughboys yet?  It's my favorite WW1 book).  William March actually fought in WW1, and then returned home and wrote this book about a fictional company and their experiences in the war.  Each chapter is basically a short story about a wartime situation, and for that reason this book is a quick read.  It is not an easy read though, because some of these stories are awful and haunting.  There are grisly portrayals of men dying.  We see many of the surviving men losing their compassion, religion, or humanity, while others make it through and go on to be successful after the war.  This book really gives a full, non-sugar coated perspective of what it would actually be like to live through such a terrible conflict.  I think if you are studying WW1, this is worthwhile reading to give a full perspective of the human experience in that war, but if you are sensitive to descriptive violence you probably should skip this.

The God Who Is There by Francis Schaeffer - 5 stars - I started this book at the same time that I started Another Gospel by Alisa Childers, but it took me longer to get through because it's so meaty.  Schaeffer is a brilliant guy, and very philosophical, so sometimes I had to really focus to get the point of what he was saying (philosophy is not my strong suit), but it was so worth it. This book traces the fall of culture from above what Schaffer calls "the line of despair" to below it.  The despair he is talking about it when men give up all hope of knowing absolute truth, or of that truth even existing, and if they are consistent in their worldview, they are left with nothing but meaninglessness. He traces the history of the progression of this despair through different aspects of culture, starting with philosophy and going through art, music, general culture,  and finally trickling down to theology.  If you are finding yourself flabbergasted by the rise of progressive Christianity (as was described so well by Alisa Childers in her book), then this is the book you want to understand how we got here.  The last half of the book is dedicated to encouraging Christians in how to approach the modern man, who has no grounds for absolute truth even existing.  Schaeffer explains how in conversations with a person who is stuck in this mindset, we need to go back further and set the groundwork so there is something to build upon in explaining the gospel.  This book was SO GOOD, and incredibly relevant considering it was written in the 1960's.  Highly recommend it, just stick with it when it gets tough and I promise it's worth it.

And that's it for May!  I am finding myself reading a lot of non-fiction in June, which is not the typical summer reading fare, but it's what I've been in the mood for.  I should have some good recommendations coming up I think!

What are you all reading as we start the summer?