Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer

Very interesting and a lot of fun.  Recommended.

Flower Net by Lisa See

Lame.

Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin

I fully expected to hate this book because it combines three of my least-favorite things:

(1) Anything remotely similar to a self-help book.

(2) The overdone and lame-to-begin-with trend of "doing something weird for a year and then writing a book about it."  (Note:  this doesn't apply to The Year of Living Biblically.)

(3) Any book with the whiff of "this is a second book similar to a first book that was really popular--let's extend the brand!"

(So why did I read it?  Because Janssen won't stop talking about it.)

But I didn't hate it.  In fact, I liked that she:

(1) is sort of a contrarian.

(2) didn't say "you should do X because experts say blah blah blah" but rather "you know what?  I did X and it was awesome!"

(3) got a little philosophical.

(4) has a great collection of quotations.

But I didn't love it either.  I found it sometimes shallow.   But it was a quick read, and pretty interesting overall.

Note:  The publisher provided me a digital review copy of this book.

The Confession by John Grisham

This was lame, even for John Grisham.

Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut

Very weird, but I really liked it.

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

Top-notch fluff.  You want a pre-apocalyptic police procedural?  This is definitely the book for you!

As Texas Goes by Gail Collins

Can't even tell you how much I liked this.

Into the Forest by Jean Hegland

Too weird.

Love Wins by Rob Bell

Rob Bell always makes me really happy to be a Christian.  

(His analysis of the parable of the prodigal son[s] is particularly good.)

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Stephen Galloway

Didn't do anything for me. Only read it because I had to for book group.

Breasts by Florence Williams

Fascinating.  Recommended.

A Good Man by Mark Shriver

I really liked this.

A Hologram for the King by David Eggers

Kind of weird, but I kind of liked it.

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Very interesting.  Recommended.

The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan

I really did not like this book.

American Empire by Joshua Freeman

This is one of the best books that I have ever read--I was completely overwhelmed by how compelling it was.  It isn't like this is the first modern American history book that I have read, but his analysis and contextualization were pure gold.  Highly recommended.

Note:  The publisher provided me with a review copy of this book.

Extraordinary, Ordinary People by Condi Rice

 Very interesting.  I really enjoyed this.  She has a most interesting perspective and background.  

(I did find it odd that she didn't write anything about her time as head of the NSA or Sec. of State.  I do realize that the book was supposed to be focused on her family, but she does cover her career, independent of her family, quite a bit before that point.)  

(Also, I listened to this on a road trip and I feel that I deserve some sort of reward for timing since the audio ended two blocks from my house.)

Revelations by Elaine Pagels

I kept going back to the title of this book to see if I had misread it . . . I was expecting a commentary on (or interpretation of) the Book of Revelation. But this isn't that.  It is, instead, history, context, and a (very) partial reception history of Revelation.  Once I acclimated to that idea, I was able to find this reasonably interesting.

How to Survive the Titanic by Frances Wilson

meh

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

 A great read.  If you want a legal thriller, Connelly is way better than John Grisham.

Cronkite by Douglas Brinkley

I loved this.

(I have this bizarre little family connection to Cronkite:  my parents worked on a political campaign and ended up with the task of chauffeuring Cronkite around town.  Later, they sent him an invitation to their wedding and he sent back a nice note.) 

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this--it was a very engaging story.

(I should probably feel guilty for giving a thumbs up to a book with a moral outlook that does not mesh with my own, but I do not.  While I avoid excessive vulgarity, violence, etc., in books, I don't necessarily feel that the moral-of-the-story needs to mirror my personal morality for me to enjoy reading the book.)

The Aleppo Codex by Matti Friedman

Very interesting.

The Wadjet Eye by Jill Rubalcaba

I read this to the boys; it was decent.

The Physician by Noah Gordon

In general I liked this, but parts of it were flabby.