Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Top Ten Tuesday was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
The following are things I do not enjoy when it comes to reading novels.
1. Chick Lit - This is a genre that I simply do NOT gravitate towards.
2. Poetry - Yes, I have been known to enjoy some poetry, but again this is another genre I tend to avoid mostly as poetry is really hit or miss for me interms of whether I like it or not.
3. Anything that is written as "stream of consciousness" isn't my thing. I remember having to read a novel by William Faulkner in college and hated the novel as it was a written in this style.
4. I've read a few novels by various popular authors (Neil Gaiman, Rachel Hawkins, Rainbow Rowell, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and William Faulkner to list a few of them) and have not enjoyed their books. So, I now stay away from these authors that have simply not resonated with me.
5. Cliffhanger endings are so annoying! If I even hear a whiff that a novel has a cliffhanger ending, I don't want to read it.
6. Ambiguous endings are another ending I dislike!
7. Unreliable narrators - I have a love/hate relationship with unreliable narrators. If done well, then I'm fine with unreliable narrators. If not, then yuck!
8. Small print/font size in physical books!! I have aging eyes, so smaller print/font size is annoying to me. I stick with either audiobooks, Kindle books, or physical books with not so small print.
9. Absurdist fiction - I tried it. I didn't like this genre very much.
10. Obscure genres don't interest me in the least.
What things do you tend to avoid when it comes to books?
Scholastique Mukasonga drops us into an elite Catholic boarding school for young women perched on the edge of the Nile.I'm giving Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.
Parents send their daughters to Our Lady of the Nile to be molded into respectable citizens and to escape the dangers of the outside world. Fifteen years prior to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, we watch as these girls try on their parents’ preconceptions and attitudes, transforming the lycée into a microcosm of the country’s mounting racial tensions and violence.
In the midst of the interminable rainy season, everything unfolds behind the closed doors of the school: friendship, curiosity, fear, deceit, prejudice, and persecution.
With masterful prose that is at once subtle and penetrating, Mukasonga captures a society hurtling towards horror.
I enjoyed watching this long video where Neil DeGrasse Tyson talks about the books that shaped his childhood. He had a great story about his encounter with Carl Sagan at the end of the video. Most of the books feature science in some way.
I first listened to the unabridged audio version of The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi by Rabbi Jason Sobel and Kathie Lee Gifford, which is wonderfully narrated by Kathie Lee Gifford. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this work of nonfiction and hope to listen to it again.
Ever since listening to The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi by Rabbi Jason Sobel and Kathie Lee Gifford, I've been meaning to read Mysteries of the Messiah by Rabbi Jason Sobel. This is the year I made this goal happen.
As a side note, I had a dream earlier this year where my deceased, paternal grandfather wanted me to read Mysteries of the Messiah!! He was a deeply religious man in his later years and also very outspoken. So, when ancestors speak to us in our dreams, perhaps it is wise to sit up and take notice. This dream was another reason to move Mysteries of the Messiah up on my reading list.
How did I like Mysteries of the Messiah by Rabbi Jason Sobel? It's packed with biblical information!! I am not very well versed with regards to any particular religion, so I was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information presented in this book. I will most likely have to revisit Mysteries of the Messiah a few times before it all sinks in due to the fact that I am not well versed with the bible or other Judeo-Christian texts. Overall, I really liked Mysteries of the Messiah.
I listened to the unabridged audio version of Mysteries of the Messiah, which I felt was passably narrated by Neil Hellegers. My chief complaint regarding the narration of Mysteries of the Messiah is that I felt that Neil Hellegers read this book too quickly.
Below is the publisher's summary for Mysteries of the Messiah by Rabbi Jason Sobel:
Highlighting connections that have been hidden from non-Jewish eyes, Rabbi Jason Sobel pulls back the curtain to shed God's light on the holy scriptures.
Most people do not understand how the Bible fits together—even people of faith. Too many Christians accept half an inheritance in that they are content to embrace merely the New Testament. On the flip side, Jews often experience this by embracing only the Old Testament. But God has an intricate plan and purpose for both.
In Mysteries of the Messiah, Rabbi Jason Sobel, raised in a Jewish home in New Jersey but now a follower of Yeshua, pulls back the curtain to show the many connections in Scripture hidden in plain sight. Known for his emphatic declaration "but there's more!" he guides readers from the story of creation through Revelation to see the passion and purpose of the Messiah, the Torah, and several of the patriarchs and prophets.
God's Word, written by many people over thousands of years, is not a random selection of people and stories, but they have intricate connections. Rabbi Jason connects the dots for readers, helping them see with clarity what God intended.
Also, see the short book trailer below for Mysteries of the Messiah where the author, Rabbi Jason Sobel, plugs his book.
I am giving Mysteries of the Messiah by Rabbi Jason Sobel a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.
Until my next post, happy reading!!
Wow, just wow, national exam finds that 40% of US 4th graders are below basic reading level. Additionally, over 50% of US adults are not able to read at a middle school level.
This is scary 😱 news! As a nation, how are we supposed to stay competitive and relevant without an educated workforce in the generations to come if our literacy is in crisis?
