I keep reading books

Bertie Wooster Sees it Through by P.G. Wodehouse
If you're not familiar with Hugh Laurie playing Bertie Wooster (and Stephen Fry as Jeeves), well you should be. Of course, once you do, it will be impossible not to imagine those two when you read a Jeeves and Wooster book. I've read several of the books, and they're all largely the same: Bertie gets mixed up with a girl he doesn't really want to be in a relationship with, he offends some stodgy old gentleman, generally makes a mess of a weekend at Aunt Agatha's and then Jeeves, the trusty, ingenious valet fixes everything. The story is narrated by Bertie with his characteristic speaking style. Honestly, these books are one of the rare instances where hearing it (or seeing it) might actually be better than reading it yourself. (As a note, the original title when published in the UK was Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit.)

Duskfall by Christopher Husberg
Have you ever wondered aloud: "What would happen if Jason Bourne was a Jedi, lived in Middle Earth, and teamed up with a pair of sisters that we will call Josephine Smith and Olivia Cowdery?" What? You haven't wondered that? (But I bet now you are . . . aren't you?) Anyway, that's the basic premise for this fantasy novel, which is clearly the first in a series. It's actually pretty good, despite my silly introduction. (Seriously, those parallels are unavoidable - one main character is pulled from the ocean after being shot, suffers from amnesia and is a super assassin, while another pair of characters are working on a miraculous translation of ancient scripture found buried somewhere. Yes, the author is LDS. And presumably has seen (or read) the Bourne movies/books.) But again, the writing is solid, and while some elements may have been borrowed, the story is not ripped off, nor overly formulaic.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling
I read this one aloud to the girls. I wanted to finish it myself just to see it through (Bertie Wooster and I are a lot alike), but I have decided that Shannon will be included in the remaining Harry Potter books. It's been a lot of fun to read these books as a family. As an added bonus, reading them aloud is an excellent way to notice every single time those kids struggle with a challenge that could be solved simply and easily by using a piece of magic they mastered years ago. I can only conclude that wizards are amazingly un-resourceful.

All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
You should read this book. Shannon told me to read this book ages ago, and it sat on my pile. It's about WWII, and Shannon is a sucker for anything about people during WWII, but I wasn't sure that I was excited for a fictional story about the lives of a young French girl and a German boy during the war. But you don't have to be dumb like me, and should just go ahead and read the book. It's both exciting and beautifully written. It's almost like it won a Pulitzer and spent 118 weeks on the New York Times best seller list for a reason.

The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
This is the first novel featuring Miss Marple, who went on to solve many more mysteries. While this is not her best work, Agatha Christie novels are always solid with a mystery that seems impossible until the hero finally works it out for you. It's also fun to read a story written in 1930, when telephones were new things, most people didn't own cars and evidently the Vicar could just tag along with the police during murder investigations and no one batted an eye.