A Few More Books I Read in 2013, But Forgot When I Blogged Yesterday

Over the course of this last year I lost the habit of immediately recording the titles and authors of books I finish. I am sad at this. It had been my habit for 12 years before I lost it. One result is that I didn't actually blog about all the books I read in 2013 when I wrote up yesterday's list. I also read:

The last three volumes in Susan Wise Bauer's The Story of the World. I read the first one in 2012. I read these out loud to my children for their history curriculum last school year. I do like them. I like narrative history. However, in my opinion, they do not rise to the same level as Olive Beaupre Miller's A Picturesque Tale of Progress. I think the best possible course is to read both of these narrative history series, but if you can only choose one, go with A Picturesque Tale of Progress.

I read The Wonder Clock by Howard Pyle. I can't say enough in praise of Howard Pyle's beautiful use of the English language. It is almost as lyrical as Shakespeare. Almost. I love reading his writings out loud to my little children. It often takes me a little while to adjust to his different rhythms.

I read A Cast of Stones by Patrick W. Carr, the first in a series called The Staff and the Sword. I received this as a review copy, but never offered my review, as a result of which I stopped accepting review copies. This was a very exciting fantasy novel. I would highly recommend it to readers of fantasy.

I read The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith by Irshad Manji. Ms. Manji is a Muslim lesbian, a combination I did not expect to encounter. In this book, she details problems she sees with Islam. At the end she decides to remain Muslim, but with the hope that Islam will work out these problems she has identified. I found it an eye-opening book and recommend it to people who like to read about Islam.

I read all three books in the Call the Midwife series by Jennifer Worth. I liked them, but found the description of prostitution hard to read. With that one caveat, I would recommend these books to people interested in birth stories and mid-century Britain.

I read The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. This was a sad and hard read, but in the end a hopeful book. It was an impressive debut novel.

I read The Self-Propelled Advantage by Joanne Calderwood. This was a good read. I would recommend it to home schooling mothers who feel pressured to provide every atom of their children's education.

These are all the books I've recalled reading last year since I wrote yesterday. They bring my total up to 75 books for 2013. I would like to reach 100 in 2014. I've never done that many in a year, since I started keeping track.