2017 Wrap Up: Non-fiction & Series

I'm combining these into one blog post, because it's already February {Edit: Now it's March? when did this happen?} and I think that these 2017 year-in-review posts are dragging on.

So here's a quick wrap up of my favourite nonfiction and series from 2017.

If I was a put together person I would have finished these way back in January, but clearly I'm not on it, so here we are. In March. Still reviewing 2017 books.

But in my defense I found out that I've apparently been battling the flu for a month or so. So motivation for blogging and life in general has been at 0%.

So here's a quick last 2017 Wrap Up post, and then we're back to our normal schedule (of sporadic posts/no posts at all. Depending on how fast I can kick the last vestiges of the flu out of my system).


First up is my favourite non-fiction reads of the year:

Nonfiction:

Sacred Mundane by Kari Patterson

This book is a celebration of the mundane. Sometimes, when doing endlessly repeating mindless tasks, it's easy to get discouraged.

And in our culture, the mindset can often be that if you're not a CEO, what's the point?

Kari Patterson explores the idea that those repetitive, endless tasks are actually how we are sanctified, and that they are vital parts of all aspects of our lives.

She uses illustrations from her own life, of where she landed up doing the boring, endlessly repetitive tasks that no one else would do, and became discouraged.

It's very encouraging, and something I think everyone needs to hear, to a degree.

I found this highly useful, and well explored. Definitely recommend!

For all the Tea in China by Sarah Rose

I reviewed this in detail here.

It's a very niche historical tale, but highly interesting.

Cairns by David B. Williams

I saw this book at a bookstore, and then a couple months I saw it again (I thought it had sold!), and because I hadn't been able to stop thinking about how interesting it looked, I bought it.

It was also funny, because when I took it to the counter to purchase it, myself, a cashier, and the bookstore owner all stood around the counter trying to pronounce it, and found none of us knew the correct way.

It's a very interesting book, so yay for purchasing books on a whim.

It's an exploration of Cairns (if that wasn't obvious from the title).

The historical significance, why people put them up, why people still build them, techniques and all that.

My only complaint is that he focused mostly on South American cultures There's also whole culture in the British Isles for making random piles of rocks, not just in South America, you know!

But this was fascinating, if a bit niche (Starting to see a trend with my impulse book decisions?).

Reflections on the Psalms by C.S. Lewis

I didn't agree with everything C.S. Lewis said, but reading his thoughts and observations about the Psalms was interesting. I read it last March, and didn't review it (on Goodreads or otherwise), so consequently I don't remember much about it, other than appreciating his perspective, even if I didn't agree.

It was written in a sort of rambling style, as if Lewis was writing to himself, puzzling it out, and then later it got published (as opposed to him writing it TO be published).

Bible studies on the Psalms are hard to come by, so I was glad that C.S. Lewis wrote down his reflections.

A Shot Of Faith (to the Head) by Mitch Stokes

This had so much to unpack, that it was the first book I've ever allowed myself to really annotate. And annotate it I did.

It's pretty much a logical unpacking of beliefs, Atheism and Christianity, in particular.

Professor Stokes makes some sweeping, broad statements and moves on (which is frustrating, because if you don't agree there's no discussion on why he thinks that way). He also makes a few assumptions on what the reader believes.

But I did enjoy the unpacking of beliefs in general, and this gave me so much food for thought that I annotated it very heavily.

Probably one of the first books I've ever annotated. And I annotated quite a bit

It made me think. Thinking is good.

Series

I didn't really read many series in 2017, but the ones I did were so great that I feel I HAVE to talk about them, so here goes:

Jinx by Sage Blackwood

This series. You guys.

A friend recommended them to me, saying that they looked like something I would enjoy, and boy was she right!

The writing style and tone is my favourite. Whimsical, light, but dealing with dark subject matter in a careful way.
Things are seen from the perspective of a child, so the dark subject matter isn't too heavy at all.

It's also well done in that it's a fantasy setting, and all the 'rules' for the universe make sense, and seem consistent.

And the dialogue is done in a modern style, but it fits, somehow.

And the series as a whole is pretty solid.

The first one sets the tone really well, the second does not suffer from second book syndrome in the slightest, and the last one is a really epic finale.

I just re-read it on a whim over a weekend, and it was just as good as I remembered, the second time.

The Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters

I adore this series.

I read the whole thing (20 books!) over the spring + early summer, and now that spring's coming back, I find that I want to read them again. Despite some of them being set in the heat of summer, or in the cold blanket of a snowy winter, there is something decidedly spring-like about the tone of this series.

The prose is amazing. I kept jotting down random quotes.

Griffin and Sabine

I couldn't decide whether or not to include these in my artsy or series, so both is good. I had equally good and viable reasons for both.

I happened to write my artsy post first, so that's the one where it ended up being more in depth.