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Book List: January - April 2025

Inspired by a friend who is posting her monthly reading log, I'm going to try posting my book lists a few times a year instead of all at once in December. I hope this will give me more opportunity to give feedback on what I'm reading, as well as make some goals for myself in terms of genres I'm overlooking.


Adult Nonfiction
The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh (fascinating!)
Boys in the Boat (so captivating, and I am NOT interested in water sports)
George VI and Elizabeth
Jumping Through Fires (Iranian refugee who comes to Christ, might have my teen read it)


Adult Fiction
The Alice Network (WW1-2 historical fiction, 4 stars)
Did You Hear about Kitty Carr?
A Conspiracy in Belgravia (Lady Sherlock #2; I enjoy these immensely)
The Women (to read alongside our studies of Vietnam)
A Separate Peace (WWII classic, not my favorite)


Teen Nonfiction
The Librarian of Auschwitz: The Graphic Novel (rated "teen" for a few mature images)
Games of Deception (1936 Berlin Olympic basketball)
The Mythmakers (friendship of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, part graphic novel)


Teen Fiction
The Old Man and the Sea
Some Day We Will Fly (WWII historical fiction; heavy but not without hope)
A Raisin in the Sun (play)
The Weight of Our Sky (historical fiction 1969 Malaysia; very heavy but worth the read)


Middle Grade Nonfiction
Bomb (building of the atomic bomb)
Betty Before X (biography of Malcom X's wife when she was girl, written by her daughter)
The Genius Under the Table (Soviet Union, recommended)


Middle Grade Fiction
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp (reread on audio on a family trip; highly recommended!)
Jack Zulu book 2
We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old Overlord (weird, but good for tweens)
The Missing series by M.P. Haddix (7 books, time travel, read by all tween/teens in my house)
The Search for WondLa trilogy (science fiction; a little slow at times, but I got into it)
Amari and the Despicable Wonders (I'm an outlier, but I do not enjoy this series, and this was the worst)
Olivetti (cheesy at a few moments but I loved it)
Connect the Dots (fun story!)
Book Scavenger trilogy 
Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor
What came from the Stars (not Schmidt's finest, IMO)
Elf Dog and Owl Head
Bea Wolf (unbelievable comic book retelling of Beowulf -- unbelievably great, I mean)



Middle Grade Historical Fiction
The Green Glass Sea (WWII historical fiction; language considerations but otherwise 4 stars)
When My Name Was Keoko (WWII historical fiction in Korea)
My Nest of Silence (WWII Japanese internment, part graphic novel; heavy but clean)
Wolf Hollow (WWI historical fiction, some heavy themes)
Projekt 1065 (WWII historical fiction, solid choice for tween boys)
The Brooklyn Nine (historical fiction + baseball history)
The Blackbird Girls (part WWII, part Chernobyl, best for older middle grades or teens)
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson 
Stealing Home (WWII Japanese interment graphic novel about baseball)
Ahimsa (historical fiction 1940s India, little bit of violence)
Tropical Secrets (WWII historical fiction; novel-in-verse about Jewish refugees in Cuba)
The Night Diary (more 1940s India/Pakistan historical fiction)
The Red Umbrella (Cuban missile crisis-era)
My Brigadista Year (Cuban missile crisis-era; good but not great
Before We Were Free (Communist dictators in the Caribbean; I didn't have my kids read it)
Mississippi Trial, 1955 (on Emmett Till; read together with my middle grade kids)
The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 (read together with my middle grade kids)
The Long Ride (integration; girl-heavy and a little confusing; I didn't have my kids read it)
Swimming with Spies (Russia/Ukraine 2014)
One Crazy Summer (Black Panther-era California; read together with my middle grade kids)
How to Find What You're Not Looking For (1960s-era interracial marriage)


Elementary
Homer Price (audio on a family trip)
Stars of the Night (WWII nonfiction picture book)
Nicky & Vera (WWII nonfiction picture book)
The Girl Who Could Fix Anything (WWII nonfiction picture book)
Wind Flyers (WWII nonfiction picture book)
The Hotel Balzaar (a melancholy, quiet series overall -- that's not a complaint)
Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All (original and sweet)


Currently reading: The Day the World Came to Town, The Nightingale, Pride and Prejudice
Goal: something in the Christian nonfiction category

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