What I read in 2017

Hello friends, today I'm sharing my reading list for 2017. Was 2017 a general hot mess for humanity and namely the United States of America? Indeed.  So, as it turns out, 2017 was a really great year for reading.  

In third grade, my older brother won a contest for most pages read.  This was fairly easy for him since, he didn't like talking to people and would rather be reading.  As a homeschooling mother of three loud, lovely children and a life that requires me to go places and do things, I often find myself feeling the same way.  Hiding in a book is the perfect balance to the demands of life.  

A few notes: 

1.  At the end of last year, I discovered Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series. I quickly devoured them and anxiously waited for Glass Houses to be released in August.  I was so captivated by the intuitive nature of her characters and how they go so far beyond murder and into a generous study of humanity. 

2. This list includes the books I read aloud to the kids.  I love giving them beautiful stories that will linger in their hearts and carry them through life.  I highly recommend them all. 

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Because of Winn-Dixie, Where Moon Meets Mountain, Rose Cottage Adventures, The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, May B., Green Ember, Ember Falls, and Charlotte's Web.

3. I'm fairly confident that if you scroll through this list, you will find my favorites, based solely on the level at which they moved my soul. I consider soul-moving to be the greatest qualifier. 

I am not even finished with Hannah Coulter, by Wendell Berry, but this writing is unmatched.  It is the account of a women telling her life story.  It's gorgeous and honest and profound.  This is the kind of writing that I aspire to reach.

I read Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson for book club.  I didn't know it existed and now I'll never forget it.  It speaks in a deep way to my restless, wandering soul.  It walks just on the edge of insanity and conventional ways, I like it there.

Echo, by Pam Munoz Ryan, was stacked on the library shelves in the adolescent lit section.  It was massive and a lovely blue color and it took only two pages to sweep me up in a breathtaking, fairy tale (of sorts) that shines the brightest colors of the human heart.

No question, Navigating Early, by Clare Vanderpool was my true favorite of this year.  It's been described as a modern day Huckleberry Finn.   A lost boy finds his way due to the most unexpected adventures. I wonder if that's the entire point of life, the story we are all living. 

Tell me, what did you read?  What moved your soul in the best way?