I've come to anticipate and look forward to writing my end-of-the-year book list post, so here goes. Here are the books I read in 2023.
'A White Bird Flying' - Bess Streeter Aldrich. (This was a re-read from my teen years. About a girl who wrestles with her love of writing and the love of her boyfriend...having to choose between them; career vs. marriage/family. I enjoyed the re-read; there is depth and heart and wholesomeness).
'Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane: Authorship, Place, Time and Culture' - John E. Miller. (An in-depth look at the similarities and differences of the famous mother/daughter writing duo; how they interacted and how their relationship played into their writing of the Little House books and how the places, the time and the culture in which they lived influenced their writing too).
'Let Your Life Speak' - Parker J. Palmer (A recommendation from the Next Right Thing podcast. About vocation and calling. Insightful in many ways. I did have some epiphany moments...especially when the author was talking about how he was always making detailed books about airplanes when he was a boy and he thought he should chose a career path in the air force or engineering, but what he realized later that he was more fascinated by the bookmaking/writing process than the actual subject he was writing about, which led him down a career path of writing/speaking/teaching).
'The Giver' - Lois Lowry (A classic. I picked this up one evening at my brother's house -- his son was reading it for school and it was lying about, and me, ever the bookish person, got engrossed in the story, read a good portion of it that evening and then got it from the library later. I forgot how much I had enjoyed it the first time).
'Gathering Blue' - Lois Lowry (While I was on The Giver streak I decided to try another in the series. This was a first time read for me and wasn't so enthralled by it as The Giver. I know it's a children's book, but I enjoy children's books, so wanted to try it out, although I felt it left something to be desired).
'Mrs. Tim of the Regiment' - D. E. Stevenson (Does a year go by when I don't read a book by D. E. Stevenson? Probably not. I got hooked on this book this year and then read the entire four books in this series. See below!)
'Mrs. Tim Carries On' - D. E. Stevenson (Book Two in the Mrs. Tim series)
'Mrs. Tim Gets a Job' - D. E. Stevenson (Book Three in the series. This one is probably my least favorite of them, but still entertaining)
'Mrs. Tim Flies Home' - D. E. Stevenson (Book Four in the series. This one might be my fav)
'Try Softer' - Aundi Kolber (This book was recommended to me by a friend, but my therapist in 2021 had also sent me excerpts from this book pertaining to what we were discussing. This book might just change your life. But for real. Aundi Kolber -- yes, who I follow on Instagram -- is a therapist who is all about...grace. Trying Softer is essentially about being kind to yourself and honoring your story and what you've been through as a trauma survivor. I don't necessarily see myself as a trauma survivor per say, but as I get more in touch with who I am and my story I do see the hard parts of my story and where I have learned to survive and not honor the things I've been through, especially emotionally. Would recommend this to anyone, but especially if you have a history of abuse or trauma).
'As You Wish' - Cary Elwes (This book was so fun! Ah...who doesn't like The Princess Bride?! Behind-the-scenes stories of the filming of The Princess Bride, told by none other than Westley himself...or by Cary Elwes...)
'The Gospel Without Compromise' - Catherine de Houek Dohetry (I read half of this because I think I got bored...not to say that she didn't have good insights, but...I don't know...I think I just got bored. And the older I get, if I'm not enjoying the book or have to read it for a certain reason or want to glean what I can from it, then I don't read it. What was it about? A very Catholic perspective of caring for the poor and 'the problem with youth today' so to speak).
'The Giddy Knight' - C. L. Maccaferri (This is a children's book that my cousin wrote and no, her real name is not C. L. Maccaferri. My cousin had wanted to write a children's book for many, many years and she finally did. This was a book about the adventures and misadventures of a young, unlikely knight. It is full of action from one scene to the next, sure to delight children in the middle school age. It is a fun read and I am proud of my cousin for doing what she wanted to do. This is the link to where you can buy it -- and remember, I don't get any compensation, I just want to give her a boost).
'I Work At a Public Library' - Gina Sheridan (Hilarious encounters from a librarian who works closely with the public. Every day brings something new...)
'Deadly Rainbows' - A. A. Akibibi (This book was one that another of my cousins wrote and no, his real name is not A. A. Akibibi. 😉 This is a book about the space adventures -- and misadventures -- of a young 11-year-old boy. Very sensory in the telling -- lots of visuals and scents and sounds. There is several very beautiful scenes towards the end of the book that I found myself going back to. This book is one of three...the second is coming out in 2024. Here's a link where you can view and purchase if you wish -- just because I love my cousin).
'What We See When We Read' - Peter Mendelsund (A fascinating, visual book about what we see when we read, quite literally. I found it helpful as a writer. To summarize: You don't have to spell everything out. The reader's imagination does a good job at filling in).
'The Giddy Knight 2: The Gods ARE Crazy' - C. L. Maccaferri (The second book in the Giddy Knight books...as of now, there are only two in the series. I found the portrayal of the gods highly amusing and think my cousin did a great job with this one. Link to purchase here, because you know, I love this cousin too)
'Fall Back and Find Me' - Sarah Hanks (I wrote a post about this book already -- you can view that here. I read this book as part of Sarah's launch team so I got the Advanced Reader Copy. Sarah has a smooth, flowing writing style that is a pleasure to read. This is a split-time novel that deals with issues such as chronic illness, identity and adoption. Christian fiction)
'The Voice of the Heart' - Chip Dodd (This was loaned to me by a friend; the same friend that recommended Try Softer. Another book that delves into emotional heart issues. This book was hard for me to read just because I found his style of writing kind of difficult to get into. He tells and explains more than giving examples from real life situations or stories, which make it kind of dull, although some of what he was saying was very good. Maybe it just wasn't what I needed at the time)
'The Girl From The Papers' - Jennifer I. Wright (Wow...a Bonnie and Clyde type story, intense, alive, drama-filled. This story drew me in and held my attention til the very last page. This is a Christian fiction novel which is typically is not my favorite genre, but the writing and story line were both vibrant and real and I would read other novels by the author).
'A Trail of Apple Blossoms' - Irene Hunt (I didn't realize this was such a short children's book and after I had ordered it from the library and saw what it was I almost didn't check it out. But since it was such a short, easy read I went for it. A sweet tale about the legend of Johnny Appleseed for young readers).
'The Small Rain' - Madeline L'Engle (After reading L'Engle's book 'A Two Part Invention' I was curious to read her first novel, 'The Small Rain', so this year I finally did. I found this book really depressing. Like, really depressing. Whether it was her choice of subject, a coming of age novel based on her own experiences, or SPOILER ALERT, the fact that she loses a friend tragically due to a fall that produces a broken neck -- as I did so very recently -- this book seemed way, way, way too close for comfort. I even checked out the sequel 'A Severed Wasp' after I read this book, but honestly, I couldn't read it and took it back to the library after a page or so. Not to say that 'The Small Rain' wasn't well written, it was just a difficult read for me)
'Creating Time' - Marney K. Makridakis (This book is about how to view time differently. It dives into the science of time and also gives many hands-on projects for you to do so you can artistically 'reinvent' time for yourself. Creative and innovative, especially if you actually DO the projects, which I didn't, mostly because I was reading this book around the time my sister-in-law had her lung transplant so I had a lot of other things on my mind. I would highly recommend if you are someone who struggles with time management, if you are artistic, or if you are curious about time)
'The Dutch House' - Ann Patchett (This was another book I heard about from Emily P. Freeman through the Next Right Thing podcast. In her podcast she says that she 'loves books that have houses as one of the main characters'. I would tend to agree with her in that statement, however, this particular book was another depressing one for me and I did not enjoy it at all. I think I only kept reading because...well, I honestly don't know why. Maybe because the writing flowed so smoothly and seemlessly from one scene to the next and is written no naturally that you barely notice that you're reading. Maybe. So why did I not like it? I think that one reason was because the story is written in the first person from a masculine perspective, although the author is a female, which can be tricky to write. Another reason I didn't like it is because the house itself did not seem friendly; it seemed cold, grey and standoffish. I did not get warm fuzzy feelings from reading this book, in fact, I thought the characters had major issues that were unresolved and as the reader I felt frustrated with them. Very weird family dynamics to be sure. Can they not see...?? Maybe, again, it was too close for comfort? That being said, no matter how naturally the book was written, at this point I have no desire to read anything by Ann Patchett ever again. Maybe I will change my mind one day, as apparently, she's brilliant...?).
'Peanuts: The Gang's All Here' - Charles Schultz (After a couple of intense, depressing books, I needed something to lighten the mood. What better way than with Snoopy, Woodstock and the whole host of Peanuts characters?! This was a collection of Peanuts cartoons and I found them refreshing)
'The Bone Sparrow' - Zana Fraillon (A children's book about a boy in a refugee camp in Australia who makes friends with a girl from the outside world. This book was very beautifully written with delightful and charming imagery, but also does not gloss over the harsh reality of life in a refugee camp. In fact, the constrast of those two -- the imagery and reality -- made this book even more beautiful)
'Calico Bush' - Rachel Field (This is another children's novel. Side note: This fall I took my little nephew to story time at the local library and as he played with the toys I would browse the J Fiction section and check out what captured my attention. This is one of the reasons why a lot of the books I read were kids books. 'Calico Bush' is a classic and one I found very intriguing and thoroughly enjoyed about pioneer/settler life in the 1700's. If you don't like Native Americans being referred to as 'Injuns' and cast in a bad light, this may not be the novel for you. However, I believe we can learn both from books like this and our past mistakes as a society)
I think one of my goals for what I chose to read next year will be more novels written for adults, rather than children, although I do like reading young adult and children's novels.
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