January AKA Inversion Hell

A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett

This is the true story of a very inspiring and brave girl: Amanda Lindhout. Like Amanda, I read National Geographic as a child, determined to see the world. Unlike Amanda I didn’t have the nerve to actually DO it. She visited Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, India, Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan. But it was in war-ridden Afghanistan and Iraq she created a career as a television reporter. In August 2008, she traveled to Somalia and was abducted by a group of masked men along a dusty road.♥

Coming Clean by Kimberly Rae Miller

Kim Miller lives in a very clean and organized apartment in Brooklyn. She grew up in Long Island amid boxes of junk and garbage so much that sleeping on the bed was never really an option. Her memoir brings to life the reality of growing up in a rat-infested home, hiding her father’s hoarding from the world. ♥

The Art of Purring by David Michie

What is the true cause of happiness? The Dalai Lama’s cat is back to help shed (no pun intended) light on one of the most asked questions of all time. Experiencing the perils of self-obsession, and exploring where science and Buddhism meet, HHC finds the secret. Filled with wisdom, warmth, and mischief only a cat can find -- The Dalai Lama’s Cat and the Art of Purring is a purrfect little read. ♥♥

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold by Daniel James Brown

Spoiler alert! This is the best book I have read in years! It’s the TRUE story of the University of Washington’s 1936 eight-oar crew and their journey to the Olympic games in Berlin, 1936. It’s told from the perspective of one rower -- Joe Rantz, who had never rowed a stroke in his life but needed the scholarship money to stay in school. Add a visionary coach, an eccentric British boat builder and the rag-tag row team made up of farm boys, logger’s sons and misfits. Read it before it’s a movie. Because it will be a movie.♥♥♥♥♥♥

The Cowboy and the Cossack by Claire Huffaker

Note: Book Lust Rediscoveries is a series devoted to reprinting some of the best (and now out of print) novels originally published from 1960 to 2000. This is one of them.

Five hundred longhorn cows and fifteen Montana cowboys travel to Siberia where the clash of cultures between East and West begins. Once safely on shore, the Cossacks arrive to escort the cowboys to their destination even though the cowboys don’t want the company. Funny, sad, not PC and a really-really good book.♥♥

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

William Talmadge, is a gentle man who endured a tragic childhood but takes solace in tending to apples and apricots as if they were loved ones. His world is changed the day two teenage girls appear and steal his fruit at the market. They are both pregnant and Talmadge opens his heart and his home.

The Son by Philipp Meyer

In the Spring of 1849 Eli McCullough is thirteen years old when a band of Comanche murders his mother and sister, taking him captive. He quickly adapts to Comanche life, carving out a place as the chief's adopted son and waging war against their enemies, including white men. Intertwined with Eli's story are those of his son, Peter, a man who has about 6 tons of emotional baggage thanks to his father's drive for power, and Eli's great-granddaughter, Jeannie, a woman who fights to succeed in a man's world.