Every year we set resolutions to read more. While we read a lot as it is, there are so many great books that are waiting to be read and we want to get to as many as we can. Of all the books we read in 2015, these were the ones that stood out the most. If you love beautiful writing and a compelling story… Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See was impossible to put down. The way he strings words together is unlike anything we’ve read before. This novel is about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. With short chapters, alternating story lines, and descriptions that will make you want to re-read lines twice, All the Light We Cannot See is powerful and vivid. If you’re into history and classics… The Good Earth by Pearl Buck is an unforgettable and heart-wrenching story about a farmer, Wang Lung, and his selfless wife, O-Lan during the 1920s in China. Follow this family’s journey through the many changes China undergoes during this turbulent time.

If you loved The Goldfinch… The Secret History by Donna Tartt is a haunting and mesmerizing story about a group of college students in Vermont who . It feels as though you’re being let in on a big secret, and you’re the only one who knows. We adore Donna Tartt’s writing and the way her stories have depth, unique descriptions, and a whole lot of mystery. Astronauts, space, and the wives of America’s Mercury Seven… We met Lily Koppel, author of The Astronaut Wives Club at BookCon this year, but that’s not why we loved reading her latest book. navy blue gingham blackout curtainsThe wives of America’s Mercury Seven astronauts were brave and strong, and overnight they were turned into American royalty, with their every move scrutinized by the media and public. traverse curtain rods target

This book gives an inside look at who these women were and just how important they were in getting to the moon. If you’re fascinated by time and fate… A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki is one of those books that really makes you think. We’ve never read a book quite like this. Each chapter alternates between a 16-year-old Japanese girl, Nao, writing in her diary and the women, Ruth, who finds Nao’s diary washed up on the shores of the remote island she lives on. target threshold shower curtain couponCovering topics such as bullying, time, and fate, A Tale for the Time Being is engaging and truly brilliant. curtains fishpools If you want to laugh and feel empowered…threshold blue and brown paisley shower curtain

If you read and loved Mindy Kaling’s first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), then you’ll appreciate her second book, Why Not Me? In her new book, Mindy shares a more behind-the-scenes coming-of-age look at her life as creator, star, and writer of The Mindy Project, as well as her other endeavors in Hollywood. This book may be a light read, but it is both hilarious and empowering. You’ll have a great time reading it. If you’re intrigued by dark and heartbreaking humor…eclipse curtains corinne If you don’t have bounds of time to spend reading but you hate leaving a book unfinished, Fortune Smiles is a great solution to this dilemma. argos shower curtain linerA collection of riveting short stories, Adam Johnson creates fascinating yet realistic stories about people dealing with a complicated personal life tread on by political confusion. 

This book will get stuck in your mind and keep you thinking all day.  If you want to learn more about women’s roles in Nazi Germany… Hitler’s Furies is about Nazi Germany and the women who played a role in the horrors that occurred is not one to pass-over. Although the content is often graphic, the book does a very good job of presenting and exploring a side of history that is predominantly buried and purposefully forgotten. If you’ve been wanting to read an American classic that’s more relevant than ever… This classic book (The Tortilla Curtain) tells the story about immigrants – both legal and illegal – and the ways they interact with American society and the way society interacts with them. There are plenty of twists and turns in this exciting novel that will keep you engaged and flipping the pages as fast as you can. What books did you read and love in 2015?On the Literature of Eating Disorders The DSM-IV was published in 1994, but I found a copy at a library book sale in 1999, the weekend John F. Kennedy Jr.'s plane...

Congratulations To Joshua Swainston For His Poem Published In Open Thought VortexCongratulations to Joshua Swainston, Online Professional and Creative Writing Major, whose poem BetwEssay ContestThe Elie Wiesel Foundation Prize in Ethics Essay contest, now in its 27th year, challenges college sSlam Poet Regie Cabico To Perform At CWU On Jan. 31Slam poet Regie Cabico to perform at CWU on Jan. 31Crime and Punishment Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary Part 1, Chapter 1 It's an extremely hot night in early July."A young man" leaves his room at S. Place and heads toward K. Bridge.Fortunately, on his way out he doesn't run into his landlady.The fifth-floor room he rents from her is horrible, but meals are supposed to be included.Since the landlady lives on the floor below him, he has to pass by her kitchen door to get out of the building. That door is almost always open.Whenever the man passes it, he feels uncomfortable and maybe even scared.Thinking of this makes him ashamed, and he scowls.

Because he owes the landlady lots of money, he doesn't want to run into her.It isn't that he's or the nervous/afraid type. It's that lately he's been grumpy and tense, in a gloomy way, and so self-absorbed that he's hiding from life.The man is extremely poor, but it doesn't bother him because he's stopped bothering with the business of ordinary life (like paying the rent).But, he's still afraid of his landlady.By the time he gets to the street, he's surprised that he actually is scared of her.He begins to wonder how he can think of doing something so bad (don't worry, the bad thing will be revealed before Part I is over) and still be scared of silly little things like landladies.He's talking to himself (possibly out loud) about how fear keeps people from achieving what they could if they weren't afraid. He wonders what people's biggest fear is.According to him, people are most afraid of doing a new thingand even more than that, people are afraid of new words.He berates himself for talking too much.

He's hardly been leaving his room lately and spends lots of time curled up in a corner, muttering to himself and thinking wild thoughts.Not sure why he's left his room now, he wonders if he could really do the mysterious bad thing we heard about before. Whatever it is, he's not sure if he would really do it or not.It's hot and dusty, and St. Petersburg has a unique summer stink that aggravates his nervousness.All the drunks walking around make it worse. So, he gets a really hateful look on his face.(According to the narrator, beneath his rags, the young man is very good looking: tall and cut and thin, with brown eyes and hair.)After complaining about the surroundings for a moment, he forgets where he is again and starts talking to himself.Wait, he thinks, maybe my thoughts are so messed up because I haven't eaten in 48 hours.He's dressed in complete ragsmost people wouldn't go on the street that way. But, he's so deep in his own feelings of contempt that he doesn't care what he looks like.

Some drunk guy starts making fun of his hat, and he gets nervous.It was a good hat when he got it, but now it's old and really funny looking.Thinking about the hat gets the young man excited.The hat could mess everything up. It could make people notice and remember him!He has to get rid of it and get a normal raggedy hat to match his raggedy clothes.Item: there are "exactly seven hundred and thirty" steps from his house to where he's going.Last month, he had started fantasizing about doing it (the bad thing), but now he's gone beyond fantasizing and is doing a practice run.Totally freaked out and full of nerves, he gets to a huge building.Many poor working people live in the building, and lots of people are coming and going.He gets through the gate and to the dark stairs without being noticed by any of the porters. The darkness is nice; If I'm this petrified now, on a practice run, he thinks, imagine what it will be like if I really do it.When he gets to the fourth floor, he notices that the people living there will be movingmeaning that the old lady will be the only one living on this floor.

He rings the old lady's bell, shaking, his nerves shot.She's around 60, a tiny, dried-up woman with horrible eyes and her hair in a long, greasy braid.Coughing and moaning, she gives him mistrustful looks.Now, we learn the man's name when he tells it to the old woman. His name is Raskolnikov.He reminds her that he's a student who pawned something the month before. (The old woman is a pawnbroker.)Wondering if she's always this suspicious, he says he wants to pawn something else.Raskolnikov is invited in and sees the sun setting, through the window.This freaks him out. The sun will be just like this when he does the terrible thing. Trying to memorize the room, his eyes move everywhere.He knows the place is so clean because Lizaveta cleans it. (You'll find out who she is soon enough.)Raskolnikov shows the pawnbroker, Alyona Ivanovna, the pocket watch he wants to pawn.Now some tricky pawnshop happens. Alyona wants him to pay up and get the ring he pawned out of hock.Raskolnikov wants to pay the interest on the ring in a few days and for Alyona to give him 4 roubles for the watch now.

She says she'll only give him a rouble and a half and that she wants the interest on it in advance.He wants to walk out, but he has nobody else to pawn his watch to. He also has some other reasons for being here.Alyona goes behind a curtain, and Raskolnikov hears her opening drawers.He's thinking about the different places she keeps her keys. His thoughts make him ill.Alyona comes back and gives him 1 rouble and 15 copecks.She's charging him a month's interest in advance on the money she's loaning him on the watch and a month's interest on the ring.He takes the money and lingers in the room, telling Alyona that he might have something special to pawn next weeka cigarette case. She tries to get rid of him. He asks if she's all alone or if her sister is there, too.She says it's none of his business. He finally leaves, stumbling and confused.On the street, he starts yelling at himself, sick with horror that he'd been thinking of doing something so bad. He doesn't know what to do with himself.