Not sure I remember how to blog any more, but talking about books seems like a great way to try again. Here's a look at my 2022 reading year.
January: finished 11 books.
Really loved: Powers of Two by Joshua Wolf Shenk. (Side note: this is a GREAT deal on Kindle right now!)
Didn't care for but it's probably a good book club title: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. (It's also very long so beware of that before you suggest it at your book club.)
February: finished 8 books.
Really loved: All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot. (Love these books and the show too, although they're different things in my mind.)
Great read aloud: The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene duBois.
March: finished 11 books.
Really loved: Send out Your Light by Sandra McCracken
Beloved re-read: Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers.
April: finished 7 books.
Really loved: The Radiant Midnight by Melissa Maimone.
A must for Beatles fans: The Lyrics Vols. 1 and 2 by Paul McCartney
Comfort reading: two Christies, Death in the Clouds and The Secret of Chimneys.
May: finished 10 books.
Comfort reading: A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters. (I bought a LOT of Peters books from a thrift store, which inspired this re-read.)
Interesting: Reading Evangelicals by Daniel Silliman.
June: finished 12 books.
Most beloved re-read: A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis.
Comfort reading: started an obsession with Dean Street Press / Furrowed Middlebrow reprints (usually the digital editions) with 3 titles featured this month including titles from D.E. Stevenson, Ruth Adam, and Margery Sharp. (I think I finished at least one each month following this as well.)
July: finished 8 books.
Best book of the ENTIRE YEAR: You Are Not Your Own by O. Alan Noble. Highly recommended!
Comfort reading: more DSP / FM books, but I particularly loved Molly Clavering's Susan Settles Down.
August: finished 9 books.
Appreciated: All That's Good by Hannah Anderson
Lots to consider: Robert E. Lee & Me by Ty Seidule.
The end of August / beginning of September is also when I began reading through the "Miss Read" books in publication order. These are great, light reading when I need a change of pace.
September: finished 6 books.
Fantastic biography: Subversive: Christ, Culture, and the Shocking Dorothy L Sayers by Crystal Downing.
Froth for when you need a change of pace: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico (and no, I haven't seen the movie yet).
October: finished 7 books.
New to me mystery series: The Windsor Knot by SJ Bennett. (Obligatory "I really miss the Queen" statement here, but imagining her majesty solving crimes was a fun way to process some grief.)
Food for thought / stretched my brain: Imagining the Kingdom by James K.A. Smith.
November: finished 7 books.
Finally escaped from the "to read" stack: The Ruthless Elimnation of Hurry by John Mark Comer.
Helpful and recommended to others: Attached to God by Krispin Mayfield.
December: finished 7 books.
Broke my heart and I'm still thinking about it: King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild
Shortest but possibly sweetest book of the year: The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden. Our edition has illustrations by Barbara Cooney which are just icing on the Christmas cake. (I didn't count all the picture books I read aloud this year but this title is in between picture / chapter as far as amount of words so I decided to count it.)
Forgotten but deserves to be re-discovered: The Silent Bells by William MacKellar. If your children are outgrowing some of the great holiday picture books, this little Weekly Reader chapter book would make a good addition to your holiday reading.
Despite being horrible at blogging and mostly neglecting my Instagram as well, I do keep up with Goodreads on a regular basis. If you do too, I'd love to be friends there.
I'm looking for some more great books in 2023 and I'd love your recommendations!
