Reading usually involves a few clunkers among the classics. However, I will say that, as the years go by, my sub-par reads are far fewer because I'm much more discriminating in my selections these days. It has always been true that a substantial part of my reading has been re-reading. That is to say, I read books that have become tried and true friends...books which never stop giving me enjoyment, enlightenment, and fresh inspiration. But that percentage of re-reading just keeps going up. For instance, in the 30 books I've read since that last review post (June 21st), exactly half of them were re-reads and, even in the other half, 10 were by authors who have written other things I've enjoyed.
It's this practice that has kept the clunkers to a minimum. Thus, in this last batch of 30 books, there were only 5 that earned 2 stars or less while there were 18 that earned all 4 stars. Very nice.
Now I won't bother to list those low scoring titles here but I will mention that a couple of the 3 star books were ones I would still recommend. They were Timber Line by Gene Fowler, a lively history which serves up plenty of stories from Denver's history (especially related to the yellow journalism of the Denver Post), and Gone for Soldiers by Jeff Shaara, a historical novel of the Mexican War.
But here are the 4 star reads -- genuine treasures all. They include 3 plays by J.M. Barrie (A Kiss for Cinderella, Quality Street, and Dear Brutus); a very moving novel that was the July selection of the Notting Hill Napoleons, Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys; the 7 classics by C.S. Lewis that make up The Chronicles of Narnia; 2 from Charles Dickens (Hard Times and Great Expectations); and the autobiography of bestselling author and culture commentator Andrew Klavan titled The Great Good Thing.
The list of 4 stars goes on with Francis Schaeffer's prescient theological study titled Pollution and the Death of Man; a delightful visit to Jan Karon's Mitford with the first in that series, At Home in Mitford; Joni Eareckson Tada's revised edition of Heaven: Your Real Home; and my latest, the haunting, moody novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Master of Ballantrae: A Winter's Tale.
So now it's on to December's reading which, as is my tradition, will be heavy on Dickens, Washington Irving, a Christmas stocking full of poetry, and a few other Christmastime gems. I trust your Christmas season is also blessed with some relaxing hours of reading. And, in case you're looking for a few specific suggestions, I will be posting an up-to-date list of our recommendations right here on The Book Den later this week.
