Books I Read in 2019

It seems a bit late to get a 2019 post out, but I thought I would share the books I read while everyone is still writing 2019 on various documents until muscle memory is corrected.

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Photo by Eugenio Mazzone on Unsplash

My favorite book in 2019 was Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck made me think about the various migrations that shaped the U.S. and how this particular one effected families that undertook a harrowing cross country move in hopes of a better life.

A close second was Corrie Ten Boom‘s autobiography The Hiding Place. Its a book about faith and miracles during Nazi occupation in WWII. I want to be like her father in faith and in business.

In third comes Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano. A dystopian novel about too much efficiency in society. This falls in the vein of Fahrenheit 451, one of my all time favorites.

  1. Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut
  2. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate Dicamillo
  3. Let the Great World Spin by Column McCann
  4. Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut
  5. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
  6. Orient Express by Graham Greene
  7. The Tale of Troy by Roger Lancelyn Green
  8. The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells
  9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone by J.K. Rowling
  10. Keep Going by Austin Kleon
  11. Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut
  12. Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland
  13. Educated by Tara Westover
  14. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
  15. The Making of Us by Sheridan Voysey
  16. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K Rowling
  17. This Side of Paradise by F Scott Fitzgerald
  18. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
  19. Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
  20. Beowulf Translation by Seamus Heaney
  21. There is a God by Antony Flew

I enjoy a good list. When I review this list I remember what I have have learned, where I was when I finished some of them, and how much I enjoyed reading a handful of these to my children.

To those to those that shared their favorite literature with me, I am so very grateful.

Read well this year.

Kurt Vonnegut On Short Stories

 

My friend Josh loves Kurt Vonnegut. If you know him it should come as no surprise. I bring him up today because I recently unearthed a few short stories to submit to a local writing contest. If you are a Michigander go HERE for details.

Whenever I begin a new project whether in writing or on the house I read and watch videos about how it is done. Obviously, short stories are more compact and can even be more complicated than a novel. You have to be precise in every single word in order to avoid wasting the readers’ time.

Below is a video of eight principles Mr. Vonnegut employed to write successful short stories. I am glad for his sage advice.

Cheers,

Bob