Non-Fiction Reads for 2011

I aimed to read more non-fiction in 2011, but I didn't set myself a specific number of books I planned to read in case I disappointed myself. It's not that I tend to steer clear of non-fiction for any particular reason, I just prefer reading fiction a lot more. So I'm pleased to announce that I read a total of eight non-fiction books this year! Some of these I may have reviewed before, but others are entirely new to this blog.

1. The Sixty Minute Marriage by Rob Parsons
RATING: 8 OUT OF 10
See here for my full review. In brief, my mum leant me this book soon after I got engaged on New Year's Eve but I put off reading this book for a month or so as I found the first couple of chapters disheartening. The book contained numerous stories of how not to do marriage, most ending in affairs. I wished there had been stories from couples who had followed his advice and not made mistakes, but most were from people already in broken relationships realising what they could have done to protect their marriage. While there were a lot of encouraging suggestions about how to keep communication flowing and making sure you spend time together as a couple despite holding down busy jobs and looking after children, it initially scared me and made me think "Look at all these problems we might have when we get married!" Still, this book presented a lot of ideas for preventative action that I've taken note of. Only some of the initial sections in this book were more relevant to couples who have been married for a while and are having problems, so a lot could be gleamed from later chapters. I would recommend this to engaged and married couples, but maybe skip the first few sections if you don't want to be disheartened! As for couples who have been having problems, this book will definitely be an encouragement. 

2. Growing Up Amish by Ira Wagler
RATING: 8 OUT OF 10
This is a book that I plan to write a full review of at some point, so I won't say too much right now. I'm not a massive fan of memoirs so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book and how easy it was to become immersed in Ira's story. I felt that this book reflected issues that many closed communities experience, problems that aren't exclusive to the Amish. I will admit that I did find some parts a bit repetitive, and although it doesn't sound right to complain that someone repeats the same actions too often in their life (he can't really help that, can he?!) perhaps some parts could have been summarised more creativity to avoid making the reader lose interest. My only real disappointment with this book was that Ira didn't really dig very far into the spiritual aspect of Amish life until the end of the book. I do wish he'd explored this more throughout the novel, if not with his own personal beliefs than with what his family believed.

3. Rules of Engagement by Richard & Katharine Hill
RATING: 8 OUT OF 10
See here for my full review. This was an engagement present from my parents, and while a lot of the advice in this book wasn't new to me and my fiancé it was encouraging to read through it and realise that we'd already considered a lot of the issues that the authors suggested newly engaged couples should discuss. For us, a lot of the suggestions in this book seemed incredibly self-explanatory but maybe we're just an exceptionally well-prepared couple! So for other couples this book might be an excellent help to their marriage in terms of emotional issues. To be honest, the section of this book that I found most helpful was the part at the end that included suggestions on practical wedding matters, such as places to inform of your change of name and suggestions of hymns to walk into and out of the church to. I'd definitely recommend this book as an introductory guide to weddings and marriage, and although it is British there isn't much that isn't universally applicable. And while this book comes from a Christian publisher it's produced by Care for the Family for the general market and doesn't contain anything particularly spiritual.

4. I Do... Every Day: Words of Wisdom for Newlyweds and Not So Newlyweds by Roger & Cynthia Hopson
RATING: 8 OUT OF 10
Although I didn't find all of the entries in this devotional useful, the majority of them spoke something of wealth to either me or my fiancé. As I read this on my Kindle, I highlighted several passages to share with Simon at a later date, since he's isn't much of a reader. There were only a couple of entries where I couldn't find anything to highlight, which is definitely the sign of a good marriage book. Even if some of the information in this book wasn't entirely new to me, it still made me think over certain issues and reminded me of the important elements to a good marriage. I'd definitely recommend this book to all couples, whether newly engaged or married for several years, if you want to refresh your mind to the important aspects of marriage and gain some handy hints and tips.

5. The Mitford Girls by Mary S. Lovell
RATING: 9 OUT OF 10
This was a fascinating book, and I'm looking forward to reading some of Nancy Mitford's novels as preparation for my exam for my Reading the 1940s course. My only complaint would be that Pamela and Deborah felt a bit neglected, especially towards the end of the book. Maybe there just isn't much information about them, but it felt like they were pushed aside because they didn't lead such exciting lives. This was an incredibly fast read considering the 500+ pages, and although I put it down for a week or so as I was moving house, I jumped right back into it again this week. Very compelling writing, and the author managed to put across a balanced view of the sisters, despite their varying commitments to Fascism and Communism, which could have forced some biographers to pick a side. Mary Lovell presented the girls with all of their flaws and positive attributes, without judging their political allegiances. I just wish we could have heard a bit more about Pam and Debo as I'm sure their lives were interesting, even if they were slightly less scandalous than their sisters.

6. Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy
RATING: 9 OUT OF 10
How wonderful to find a book that so exactly echoed my thoughts on so-called modern "feminism"! While I do wish that the book had been a little more statistical and less based on anecdotes, there were some stories in here that were fascinating, such as the author's experience with Girls Gone Wild. I like to leave this book in strategic places around my flat so that my fiancé's friends pick it up and ask me what it's about. This is a book that any woman needs to read - whether you're appalled at how little respect today's young women have for themselves and their bodies, or whether you yourself think that modern feminism has brought about sexual equality; you never know, this book may change the way you think. I originally started out highlighting my favourite passages in this book but had to stop as I wanted to just read it all the way through. I'll probably read it again, highlighter in hand. I wish there were more women who shared the thoughts of Ariel Levy, but sadly the evidence is all around us to suggest otherwise. 

7. The Last Enemy by Richard Hillary 
RATING: 9 OUT OF 10
This was one of the set texts on my Reading the 1940s course, and I wasn't entirely sure what to expect in reading the auto-biography of a WWII RAF pilot. When I was discussing this course with my family my dad brought out my Grandpa's first edition of this book, which was a nice surprise! My dad loved this book, but me and my dad don't always share the same taste in books, so it was pleased to find that I enjoyed this book a lot more than I had expected. The last chapter didn't completely fit with the rest of the book (although according to the introduction Hillary fabricated part of this section) but the rest of the memoir was fascinating. A great insight into the life of RAF pilots in WWII, which was far from glamorous. It was really interesting observing Hillary as he grew from a lazy, self-centered Oxbridge boy into a man with life experience and understanding of the world. I found myself musing over this book for several days afterwards. 

8. Plain Wisdom: An Invitation into an Amish Home and the Hearts of Two Women by Cindy Woodsmall & Miriam Flaud 
RATING: 7 OUT OF 10
Initially I was really excited to read this book as I'm fascinated by the Amish, but in terms of tit-bits and trivia, there wasn't much included in this book that I didn't already know from word-of-mouth, novels and the occasional documentary. I ended up treating this book as a devotional and reading a chapter each morning, as I found that you couldn't read too much of this book all at once. Some sections provided some interesting reflections on life and God and made me consider how I could apply certain proverbs or snippets of advice to my own life. Others were simply interesting as they provided a bit of added insight into Amish life. But there were also some sections where I would read a little story from Cindy's life than another from Miriam's and not feel like I had gained anything from that morning's reading! But the same can be said from all non-fiction books and devotionals; not every aspect is going to appeal to your life. Some sections seemed disjointed, as if the authors had tried to squish to stories or anecdotes together that didn't really fit, and nearly every single one of Miriam's stories started with the same scene-setting style of writing that got a bit annoying after a while. While I picked up this book to learn more about the Amish way of life, I found myself enjoying Cindy and Miriam's musings on their Christian lives more interesting than the facts and snippets about the Amish. It was encouraging to see that Cindy and Miriam shared so many viewpoints on God, despite the differences in general Christian theology and that of the Amish. So while I was slightly disappointed in this book, it did provide some food for thought and it was generally encouraging. If you're already an avid Amish fan you probably won't learn too much in the way of new facts about their lifestyle but this does work well as a devotional and provides a lot of topics to pray over.

The Christmas Singing - Cindy Woodsmall

GENRE: AMISH ROMANCE
PULISHER: WATERBROOK
PUBLICATION DATE: NOVEMBER 4, 2011
RATING: 7 OUT OF 10

Believing that her boyfriend Gideon Beiler had betrayed her, Mattie Eash had fled from Pennsylvania to Ohio one Christmas. Now settled into her new life with her Ohio relatives, she has opened a cake shop and has a successful career as a cake-decorator, and a lukewarm relationship with reliable Sol Bender. But when a catastrophe drives her back to her home community in Pennsylvania, she finds herself face to face with Gideon again. As she prepares cakes for two of her friends’ upcoming weddings, she’s forced to spend time with her old boyfriend, who is building the home that one of the couples will move into once they’re married. Their encounters make Gideon wonder why he gave Mattie up all those years ago, and whether now would be the good time to tell her the truth about why he broke up with her. Will Mattie be content to reconcile with Gideon, or have past hurts hardened her heart too much to allow her to forgive him?

This is your typical Christmas novel. The storyline has been done many times before, which makes it comfortable and reliable for the reader, but Cindy Woodsmall inserts a few changes here and there to make the story fresh and original. This has to be the first time that I've read a novel in which an Amish character makes and decorates cakes for a living, and I was equally surprised to read about another character that frequently went on hunting trips. I found it particularly refreshing to read about Mattie making a living for herself as a single woman. Most Amish novels don't go into much detail about the lives of the women who have to support themselves because they don’t marry young and don’t wish to stay at home and be a burden to their parents. Often crafts are shown to be hobbies that Amish women indulge in when they’ve finished with the day-to-day tasks of cooking, cleaning and raising a family, but there are many Amish women who do make their living from crafts such as quilting, sewing and in Mattie’s case, baking and decorating cakes. So it was encouraging to see Cindy revealing this often forgotten aspect of the lives of Amish women, and single women in particular.

I’m not going to deny that the story of a couple who have been separated for years being brought back together by a great catastrophe isn’t somewhat predictable and sometimes over-done. I’m not a massive fan of storylines that are created out of a lack of communication between a couple, but this is partly because I’m fortunate to be a relationship in which there is a lot of communication between both partners. The reason why communication-driven plots are so popular in the romance genre is that it is one of the simplest and most common causes of problems between couples. Mattie and Gideon’s story also contained another plot point that I’ve witnessed a few times recently in romantic fiction; that of one person discovering that they have some sort of medical problem and breaking up with their significant-other in an attempt to protect them from suffering alongside them in their illness. While I struggled to relate to Gideon and Mattie’s relationship problems in this story, I’m certain that the issues of keeping secrets and failing to communicate over misunderstandings will strike a chord with many other readers. If anything, I hope that someone will read this book and come out of it with the revelation and understanding that secrets should never be kept between two people who love each other, and that no matter how difficult it is, communication is key in order for a relationship to survive.

In all honesty, I wish this novella could have been longer. In discussing this book with my book group a lot of us felt that the shortness of the book limited the amount of time that Mattie and Gideon spent together on the page, and we really wished that we could have read about the day that they spent in each other’s company towards the end of the book. But this is the general issue with novellas – they’re short and sweet, but sometimes it just feels like there’s something missing. One thing’s for sure with The Christmas Singing, and that’s that I’ll be looking out for more of Cindy’s novels now that I know what her writing is like. A novella isn’t always the best example of an author’s work, but it’s often a good indication of whether you’ll like their books.

So if you’ve never read any of Cindy Woodsmall’s novels before, The Christmas Singing may be a good place to start. It does contain a well-used storyline, but the characters refresh it and make it into something new and original. This is the perfect book to get you in the Christmas mood, especially if you enjoy romantic tales of reconciliation.

Review title provided courtesy of Waterbrook.