Y'all. We've hit the end of 2024! We're nearly a month into 2025! 2024 was a CRAZY year for me, but one of the best ever, and I'm so grateful to God for all of the blessings that he has literally HEAPED upon me! ...including but not limited to a whole bunch of awesome new books. ;)
I ended up reading 192 books in 2024 (I think that's the correct count...long story, but I confused myself a little) of which 59 were rereads! I'm a little disappointed that I didn't quite make it to 200, but my goal for 2025 is 250! We'll see how that works out. (It's only 20 books a month! No biggie, right? ...right?)
As always, with my GBB for the year, the books are in no particular order, this is a super skimmable post, and I hope you enjoy!
Good
This was an interesting read that I expected to be really funny, based on the title...and it was, but it also tackled issues of finances in marriage, and how a marriage can heal when one spouse makes Big Financial Mistakes. And what forgiveness in marriage can look like. And what people actually need. So basically what I'm saying is I came for the goats and stayed for the Messy But Wholesome Marriage Content.
This. Was. Hilarious. Probably my favorite recently written mystery I've ever read, and I don't really...like most mysteries? But I liked this one a lot? Basically, it has the most transparent unreliable narrator EVER and a whole family full of chaos, so it was a chaotic large-cast novel at the same time as being a fabulous mystery very *consciously* in the tradition of the Golden Age of Detective Novels, and it was Epic. And Hilarious. (Also, it's set in Australia. Because why the heck not.)
Okay, I didn't know that there was a genre of house that was built in units of time, but if I was aware that such a type of architecture existed, I would have 100% expected a book to have been written about it. And the fact that I found out about such a style of house from an excellent book that was written about it bothers me not at all. This book was phenomenal...a very slow-burn MG novel that has one foot in a fantasy world and one firmly planted in the real world. It's complex without being too complex, and fascinating and scary without being terrifying. And the SETTING...*chef's kiss*.
Granted, this book had a lot of the parts of Georgette Heyer that are not as much my favorite about her work...that is, slightly dim men plotting together and getting into Slapstick Difficulties. However, it also includes a lot of the parts of Georgette Heyer that are my favorite of her work...that is, a man trying to win the heart of a woman who he doesn't think loves him and vice versa, a young woman getting into difficulties and pulling a whole bunch of men into her orbit (brothers, brothers' friends, husband, etcetera) in order to get her out of those difficulties...etcetera. It doesn't have quite as much heart as some of Heyer's other books, but it's hilarious, and that was what I needed when I read it, so it was a success. :)
I have several Landscape Architecture-y books in this list (and no, I'm not sorry), most of which I discovered while I was in England. This book chronicles the authors' exploration of an ancient English Orchard through the seasons, and all of the life and ancient traditions and history that it's bursting with. It's a really relaxing and beautiful read. (It also has a lot of fascinating facts about British ecology, etcetera.)
So, in Facts Sam Didn't Know About Stuff She Loves, the practice that James Herriot took over from "Siegfried Farnon" in the All Creatures Great and Small books is still in existence, and the vets in that practice still write books about it.
If that isn't enough to make you want to read this, I don't know what is.
Okay, full disclosure: there's some same-sex romance content in this book. However, it's just in fanfic that the main character was writing, so I managed to set that aside. Because the rest of the book is such a pitch-perfect college story, and I LOVE it. The disorientation of trying to find friends and figure people out, the urge to just hide in one's dorm room, the finding of one's people...it's all there. Also, the fact that the main character writes fan fiction at all is fantastic. Just...y'all, besides the disclaimer at the beginning, I loved this book so much.
I didn't know anything about this Servant of God (who died very recently, in 2012) before reading this book, but since then, I have developed a great admiration for her, and I have a feeling I'll be asking for her intercession at some point in the future! (Although hopefully not for something crazy.) Her story really brought home the idea that holiness is something that's attainable by everyone, and that God sends us the circumstances that are needed to make us saints. It was a really beautifully written account of her life (written by friends of hers, in conjunction with her husband (!!)) and I would highly recommend it.
I'm pretty sure this series is at least 40% of how I survived my time in England. Don't get me wrong: I loved England, loved everything about living there for 1/3 of a year, and still miss it at least weekly if not daily. But being there was at times very lonely, and sometimes a bit depressing, on top of the sheer quantity of schoolwork I was expected to do. I clearly needed something Light and British (I was trying to only read Brit lit while I was there) to help me feel better, and this was just the ticket! It's a series of mysteries set in the Yorkshire Dales (I love things set in the Yorkshire Dales) with a sweet slow-burn romance that spans the whole series. And while they are perhaps not the best-written things in the world, nor necessarily the best-executed mysteries, they were a great set of comfort reads, and I would highly recommend them as such.
A completely different genre of fun-English-book, but I will never not be obsessed with Elizabethan England and the persecution of the Catholics during that era. This book fed that obsession in the best possible way--it's a biography of Nicholas Owen, who was the main maker of the priest hides that saved many a life when Catholic houses were being ransacked for priests. He was not only a fantastic carpenter and actually a layman, but also a martyr and now a saint, and his life is fascinating to read about, and there aren't many other books about him. Thus, I'd recommend this one. :)
It's kind of cheating to include this in a list of books, because it's really short, basically a monograph, but I loved it for many reasons. One of which is that I just love Wendell Berry in general, but another is that he not only defends not having a computer, but also defends the idea of household industry: the whole house working together for the common goal of the common good of the house, especially husband and wife working together. It's an idea that has a lot of "pull" for me for some reason, and he does a great job of explicating it.
I've loved several Thomas Hardy's that I've read, and so decided to give Tess a try while I was in England. I really enjoyed a lot of things about it--the writing is fabulous, as always with Hardy, and social commentary is always great--but GOSH it was dark! Especially the ending! I know it's meant to be very pointed social commentary about the double standard between men and women at the time, but I wasn't expecting it to get nearly as dark as it did. It did what it was meant to do, but I wouldn't recommend reading it unless you're in a good mindset.
Magical British beings whose roles are decided by their handedness (or do they decide their roles or then their handedness?) and who also run bookshops? Sign me up! Add weird British mythology and huge wolves and London? HECK YEAH.
This book fascinated me. A dad, diagnosed with a possibly terminal illness, assembles a 'council of dads' to be his 'voice' to his young daughters if he doesn't survive. Each chapter is dedicated to a different member of the 'council of dads' and the point of view on the girls' dad and on life that he brought to the table, while also telling the story of the dad's illness and [not really a spoiler since he survived to write the book] recovery. It made me think a lot about the blessing of the 'village' that I'm surrounded with by virtue of our church and my parents' friends, as well as what I'd want hypothetical children of mine to know if I was deathly ill.
This book was handed to me by friends while I was staying with them, and covers a fairly unconventional topic: morticians. The MC is a mortician who has been called to help embalm the bodies of those killed in a Welsh mining accident that destroyed a portion of a mining town, including the elementary school. This mortuary work brings up his own personal history and the complexity therein, including his stint in a British Cathedral choir (I don't remember which one) as a boy. It's a riveting book that traces the intricacies and complexities of a life and the imperfect people in it, and I really enjoyed it. (There are some fairly prominant same-sex attracted characters in the book, fair warning. I thought it was enjoyable regardless.)
I will say that I still like some of Jonathan Stroud's other work better (Lockwood & Co., anyone?) but these weird Wild West dystopian novels centered around two teenage outlaws were rollicking fun, and I have some very strong memories of reading them in Southern Spain when it was 108 degrees (!!) which felt very appropriate. Lol. Stroud really has a knack for distinctive and memorable characters and settings, everyone from the uber-lovable, if slightly inept Browne and the menacing baddies who are after him to the sparky, spunky, easily exasperated Scarlett. I loved Scarlett & Browne's vibe (I hesitate to call it chemistry, because it feels very platonic, but anyway), and the whole book was a deligthful romp.
I will admit that I picked up this book primarily for the title: anything that has to do with Aquinas's Remedies for Sorrow (a nap, a warm bath, and a glass of wine) (plus crying, sharing with a friend, and contemplating something true/beautiful...he was really onto something, wasn't he?) is something that I am interested in. This is at least partially because I was gifted these remedies as advice by a very saintly priest at a time when I really needed them, and they bore a lot of fruit in my life. But the actual content of the book drew me in just as much: an Orthodox mom in Alaska grappling with the fact that her youngest daughter was born deaf. I'm fascinating by d/Deaf culture (as many of you know), and by memoirs, and by St. Thomas Aquinas, and this was the perfect mix of those three things for me.
A fascinating and unexpectedly good retelling of the Scheherazade (I just want you all to know I spelled that right the first time, without spell check) story, mixed with Hansel & Gretel, and set in modern day New York. When a young writer who's Rather Obsessed with horror stories is lured into a strange apartment, he quickly realizes that he has gotten himself into a World of Hurt that he probably won't be able to get himself out of unless he can overcome his writer's block. Featuring a young writer who fears he's crazy because of what he likes to write, and a young woman who doesn't believe she can ever escape, but who secretly harbors a tiny flame of hope.
I was recommended this book via a friend's younger brother (younger brothers, mine or other peoples', frequently give excellent book recommendations for whatever reason, I'm realizing this is a pattern in my life) and wasn't expecting to be quite as obsessed with it as I was... It follows an alchemist's apprentice who suddenly becomes mixed up in a plot much bigger than himself, that involves secret meetings and interpreting alchemical symbols to solve puzzles, and meeting mysterious bookshopkeepers, all in medieval London. (I love medieval London. Actually, I love modern London. I'm just a fan of London in general.) One of the things I love about it is the MC's mentor's emphasis that the powers of alchemy (which he generally uses for healing) are from God, and a gift to be used responsibly. Very cool.
This was written by a Catholic author that I know slightly through Discord, although I picked it up because it looked cool, not because of that. It's a heist book, which isn't always my jam, but it's also a heist book set in an alternate version of Renaissance (ish?) Italy. Let that sink in. In addition to that awesome setting and having really lovable and distinctive characters, it explores themes of responsibility and morality and perfection, and whether it's worth striving for virtue if we know we're never quite going to attain it. It starts off kind of slowly, but it has a good build, and I finished the book wanting more.
This was utterly hysterical in the tradition of The Hundred-Year-Old-Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared. When a fakir travels all the way from India to Paris to buy a new bed of nails (the better to bilk people in India with), he little suspects the adventures that are going to befall him, criss-crossing across Europe, and meeting many remarkable people. It's wonderfully written with super tongue-in-cheek humor, and I enjoyed it muchly. (There is one slightly inappropriate section, not super bothersome.)
Better
For some unaccountable reason, I hadn't read the Greenglass House books about Lucy and her brother until this past winter. I have a tradition of reading a Kate Milford book to my two youngest siblings every Christmas break, and I had (nearly) run out of regular Greenglass House books to read them, and my sister had just read Raconteur's Commonplace Book and The Thief Knot (so disobliging of her) so I ended up getting both Bluecrowne and The Lefthanded Fate out of the library. I read them TLHF, and I read Bluecrowne (which I've been reading to them this break, actually). And I really enjoyed it! Of course, I missed Milo and his storylines, but Lucy and her brother are also engaging characters to follow. I especially love all of the Chinese folklore that's wove in, and the fireworks! (And the boats, of course. One can't go wrong with a good ship, or even a boat.) Greenglass House itself makes an appearance, too, and one can't go wrong with that, either. :)
Like Bluecrowne, I had rather resisted reading Pax for a long time, mostly because a relative whose taste I don't necessarily trust had gifted it to me, and because my sister had read it and taken to using the book's signature "swear" word, which bothered me. XD I finally picked it up this past January and (shocker!) really enjoyed it, although it is a bit of a sad one. It's about a fox and a boy and the whild, and it's just incredibly sweet, poignant, and beautiful. <3
I didn't love this one as much as I loved Station Eleven, but it was a fascinating story, super vivid and sensory in a really haunting way. It's the story of how a pyramid/Ponzi scheme falls apart, with all of the devastating consequences that entails, drawn out in the stories of individual people, and I had a hard time putting it down!
I always love books about livestock management, and this one was an in-depth look at raising Galloway cattle in Galloway, Scotland. I read it while I was studying abroad in England, which made it all the better! The book doesn't only talk about raising cattle (although I'd have loved it even if it had just been about that), but also sketches the people who go with the lonely and alien landscape of Galloway. Oh, and even more fascinatingly for me, discusses how older styles of agriculture and returning to them can have massive benefits for native wildlife. So that was awesome.
A super sweet, short MG read about a small town which hasn't had a library since one burned down decades before. A boy decides to try to figure out what happened to the library, using his detective skills, and writes to his favorite detective author to ask for help. An orange cat find an infant library and decides it needs to be guarded. A strange household does their best to live with each other, even when routine grows grueling, and secrets are troubling. Oh, and there may be ghosts... (Seriously, it's adorable, very Kate DiCamillo-esque without having the DiCamillo hint of nihilism. I loved it.)
I picked this up off the shelves because I'd heard great things about one of the author's other books, and recommended it to two friends of mine for bookclub. Henceforth, we became Rather Obsessed and Unable To Be Normal About This Book. It's one of the best vampire novels I've ever read, with wonderful comedy of manners, compellingly drawn characters, a fantastic setting (steampunk-y London-y city, with societal commentary, anyone?) and twists up to HERE! (Plus the main character owns a vampire teashop. Really.)
My siblings and cousins and I read Dracula in October, and although we didn't end up finding a time to have a book club about it (or not yet, lollll) we very much enjoy referencing it in everyday conversation and talking about how Dracula has a tiny baby brain. It was fun to read The Original Vampire Novel and see how various aspects of it have sparked different vampire "systems", or general conventions that persist to this day. (It was also really fun how the beginning of the book he was trying to be super subtle about what Dracula was and was like "he had POINTED INCISORS" and it's like "okay so he's a vampire". It would definitely not have come across like that when the book came out, but after umpteen other vampire novels...lol.) It definitely made me want to reread A Bloody Habit though.
So, there's this journal that was written by a midwife, Martha Ballard, in the early American colonies (Maine, iirc?) that chronicles her daily life and the events of her midwifery practice. I read a nonfiction explication of it last year that I loved (A Midwife's Tale by Lauren Thatcher Ulrich), so when I heard that a fictionalization of her life existed, I couldn't wait to read it! And it definitely didn't disappoint. It was super well-written, and definitely drawn, incorporating bits from her diaries! I will, however, add a content warning, because it's about midwifery, and also incorporates some fade-to-black scenes and references to babies born out of wedlock.
This one is by another Catholic author that I know slightly through a Discord server I'm in, and it's fantastic. It's a faerie-y book, where a young woman, bound by blood into a deal with the Good Neighbors sets off into the Other Realm in order to save her uncle, and becomes basically a murder hobo in the process. Definitely not a book for children, but an enthralling read for a teen or adult, and she tackles themes of revenge and what it means to be human, which I loved.
A very contemplative and poignant book, about a butler who is on a trip/day off and contemplating his time as a butler, his employer and his greatness, and the various incidents of his life. It's quiet and slow, but thought-provoking and rather sad...it's set just as butlers were going "out of fashion" in England, so in addition to everything else going on in his life, the MC (who is an unreliable narrator not on purpose but because of his own emotional miopia, which is my favorite kind) has to deal with the fact that his way of life is disappearing.
If you've ever wanted to read a thoroughly feminine horror novel, this would be it. It's like The Secret Garden meets Big Little Lies meets What To Expect When You're Expecting. A whole bunch of women who've been having trouble carrying a pregnancy to term assemble in this mysterious mansion to take an experimental treatment that will hopefully result in a live birth from their current pregnancy. It quickly becomes clear not only that something weird is happening with the doctors, but also that there's something magical about the estate...and that some of the women would do anything to leave with a baby in their arms.
A self-aware retelling of the story of David in the modern day...a daughter's father is dying, and she is confronting the reality of his life and the things he's done, the good, the bad, and the ugly. In typical L'Engle form, it's beautiful and thoughtful and explores human nature, especially the nature of all the women involved, while not at all glossing over the evil that was committed. It is, I think, one of her less dramatic books, but I didn't like it any less for that.
This book, on the other hand, was highly dramatic, and in some parts rather disturbing. It's about three generations of family, some of whom have made absolutely horrible mistakes (and sinned grievously), while others have been upstanding and virtuous. There's lots of family tension and some absolutely heartbreaking moments, but there are also moments of incredible grace and beauty, and examples of how to undo a "generational sin".
I was super excited that Nadine Brandes was releasing a book this year, and it didn't disappoint! (Although I still like others of her books more.) It's a fascinating and entrancing dystopian, set in a world where people are catching a mysterious virus that traps them in a simulation and gradually pulls them in until they can't get out. The MC and his brother are trying to create a cure when they both catch the virus, and discover that the simulation is a lot more complex than I thought. There's a whole lot of hope packed into it, and while, as a Catholic, I thought that some of the theology/philosophy of the book could have been done better, I still really enjoyed it.
A beautiful collection of reflections on metaphors in the Bible and how they apply to the Christian life, and how we can explore them both in our lives and in various forms of art. I love how she talks about how metaphor is really important to us as humans, and the metaphors we use matter for how we think about ourselves... for instance, if we use machine metaphors ("I need to charge my batteries") we start expecting ourselves to act and react like machines, whereas if we use garden metaphors ("I'm in a dry season") we can let ourselves ebb and flow in a more human manner. It was really cool!
I loved this book, because it's MG/YA-y, but the main character is actually a mom--like, how often does that happen? Her daughter is in a freak accident, and she herself ends up being called away into a magical land that needs her help. It's fascinating to see a fairy-tale realm from a mom's point of view (even if she does end up in a younger body--which is part of the humor of the book), and her journey is really beautiful, both physically and emotionally.
Best
Having finished the Miles series (and reread several of the books in said series this year because I will never get tired of either Miles or Cordelia), I needed something else to fill the gaping hole in my life left by the absence of new material from Lois McMaster Bujold. And this book (series, really, although I've only read two of the three books) answered that description masterfully. It's set in an alternate version of medieval Spain (I was hooked right then and there), and sets up a world where instead of Christianity, the 'orthodox' religion is Quintarianism--devotion to the Five Gods. And yes, that's a little weird, but Bujold does an incredible job of writing the rituals and thought patterns that would actually go along with a five-god religion, and I found that fascinating. On top (or rather, against the backdrop) of all of this wonderful worldbuilding, there is a cursed family and a man who seems to have been sent to undo the curse, with plenty of delightful court machinations along the way. Guys it's SO GOOD.
Full disclosure: I didn't finish this series, because they were making me depressed. But the first one is so good. It was on the NY Times list of something like the 100 Most Influential Books of the 21st Century, which piqued my interest. It turns out to be the recounting of the beginning of a lifelong friendship (or frenemyship?) between two young women in 20th century Naples. It's fascinating and harrowing and such an incredibly different (but well-drawn) world than the one I live it. The relationship between the girls--which ranges from close friendship to extreme rivalry--is mindblowingly well-described (she has a knack for writing about what things feel like in a super accurate way). It's something of a tragic story, but I would say it's thoroughly worth reading.
My mom and aunts went through a phase of being really obsessed with this book back when I wasn't quite old enough for it yet, so I was really excited to finally read it this year, and it was even better than I expected! It's about a professor with Asperger's (although he's in denial about it) who decides it's high time to get married and starts on a Wife Project, complete with a questionaire for prospective candidates to fill out. Rosie, who stumbles into his life, fits none of the Wife Project criteria, but somehow he ends up spending a lot of time with her--more than any of his Wife Project candidates. Weird, right? ;) The book is delightful and excessively hilarious.
A friend of mine picked this up at the library and shoved it at me (as she should, lol) and it ended up being one of my favorite MG books of the year. The MC lives with her grandmother in I believe Nantucket, and it follows one of her summers and the people who end up in her life, the people who end up out of her life, and her attempt to figure out what her place is in the world, especially without present parents. It was funny and sweet, the characters felt very real, and the seaside setting is one of my favorites. :)
Madeleine L'Engle, man. What a writer! This book is (apparently) semi-autobiographical, and follows the adventures of a young pianist from New York whose mother dies when she is rather young and is subsequently shipped off to boarding school in Europe (Switzerland, I believe). After Europe, she ends up back in New York, and has to wrestle with how to build an adult life there. And while that isn't the most riveting synopsis ever, it's a very riveting book. As is her wont, L'Engle has a whole bunch of memorable characters with complex relationships and that, coupled with the coming of age story, yields an excellent book.
This was an early read this year, and consists of the letters between Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his fiancee during his time in prison before his execution. They're beautiful but so sad (because they're dreaming about a future together that obviously never happens) and a really great example of what true love consists of. It would have been really easy for Maria (his fiancee) to say "this is too hard, I'm going to walk away", but she didn't, even though it was really hard, and didn't end happily. That's a beautiful thing!
If the synopsis of The Small Rain sounds overly boring (even though it's not) the synopsis of Other Side of the Sun sounds insane (and I'm not going to give it in full, because spoilers), but basically it involves generational trauma and witchcraft and complex family dynamics and slavery in the deep south. It's mildly harrowing to read, but L'Engle imbues the story with meaning in a way that makes it good to read, even if it's really hard. Of all of the L'Engle I read this year (and I read quite a few of her more 'adult' novels this year), I think this is the one that has stuck with me the most.
Okay, these books are two sides of the same coin, and I think it's important to read both! Walter Ciszek (now Servant of God Walter Ciszek) was an American Jesuit priest who was imprisoned in the Soviet gulag for for nineteen years before being exchanged for a Soviet prisoner and brought back to the United States. His story of faith and life in the Soviet Union is unbelievable and really inspiring. The reason I say these books are two sides of the same coin is that WGIR covers the actual events of his time in Russia, while HLM talks a lot more about his spiritual life during that time, and his radical reliance on God, basically an interior/exterior division. And both books are excellent and super formative.
This was my Russian Novel Of The Year (it's a tradition now and has been since my senior year of HS), and I loved it! (I just generally love Russian novels, what can I say.) One of the things I think is most valuable about it, though, is its theme/message/whatever that adultery is not fun. Like, sure, you may have fun physically and emotionally in the first bit of an affair, but the security of marriage is just lacking, and because the person you're with is cheating with you, you have no guarantee that they're not also going to cheat on you. Which leads to a whole bunch of overthinking and jealousy and controllingness and uncontrollable emotional Stuff, and sometimes even Something Drastic. Adultery is not fun. And sure, a loveless marriage is also Not Fun, but it's better than adultery. And I think that's an important theme for a book to get across! XD Lest you think, though, that the whole book is about Adultery Isn't Fun, though, there is an adorable love story, featuring one of my favorite moments between a newly marriaged couple couple, when the husband is like "oh my gosh, I'm so in love, we're going to be in this Heavenly State Forever and nothing will ever come between us, we're going to Float in a Bubble of Love" (paraphrased, obviously), and his wife is like "okay, so what about these new curtains?" And his bubble of love pops precipetously. XD (But they still have a really happy marriage!)
Okay y'all. I may have a new favorite Gary D. Schmidt book. Or at the very least, a new second-favorite Gary D. Schmidt book (sorry Okay For Now), because MY WORD THIS BOOK. THIS. BOOK. I can't. Hercules & his brother's nursery? Unbelievably awesome. The dog? Adorable. Sunrises? Perfectly described. Viola the Vampire? I can't even. The Tree Incident? I died. Mr. Hupfer? I'm not crying, you're crying. I really, really don't have words to describe how much I love this book and how much I just want to crawl inside it and live there. I'm begging you to read it. XD (For the record, my favorite GDS book is The Wednesday Wars. No, this isn't open for discussion. ;) )
This book reminds me of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, but hey, it was much less depressing, hence it making it into the "Best" list. A mysterious woman shows up with her son and starts living in an abandoned house, so obviously the main character falls in love with her...only to find that she has a troubling and heartwrenching past, and that Things Are Much Deeper Than They Seem. Like Tess of the D'Urbervilles, this book tackles the plight of women at the time and the societal double standards between men and women, but for lack of a better word it's a lot less stabby, and a bit more nuanced (there are also many fewer cow farm scenes, lol). I will say, though, that I was Very Irritated with the MMC for having this woman come to him like "I had to leave the last place I was at because someone fell in love with me and wouldn't leave me alone", to promptly have him fall in love with her and not leave her alone, and act like his situation is different. What the heck bro.
I definitely had a "slightly abstract Japanese Literature" phase this year, which was a lot of fun, and this was one of the books from said phase that I really enjoyed. Basically, there's this phone box in someone's yard. The phone isn't connected to anything, but people go there to talk to the people they love who have died. In the aftermath of a tsunami, several people are drawn there together and end up getting to know each other, especially one man and one woman. It's a simple premise, but it's beautifully written and very poignant.
And this is my other "slightly abstract Japanese Literature" book! I loved the quirkiness of the characters, especially the librarian who makes everyone felted things. Adorbs! It basically tells a bunch of disjunct stories that are all connected through the library and the book recommendations (and felted objects) that people receive there. The individual stories don't connected to each other (verb. sap.) but do tend along the same theme of "a book can change your life". Which of course I heartily endorse!
I'm a big fan of Diana Wynne Jones but haven't read a ton of her books outside the Howl's Moving Castle trilogy and The Islands of Chaldea. But I branched out a little more into some of her other fiction, and while it's no Howl's, it was still super fun! Basically, alternate England in which magic is real and there is A Merlin who's attached to the king's court, and the king has to travel throughout England constantly to keep England's magic in balance. Except suddenly it seems like something has happened to the Merlin and Weird Things are happening with England's magic balance. Roddy, one of the children of the court, has to team up with Grundo, her best friend, in order to figure out what the heck is going on...although their friendship may change in the process.
Sorry-not-sorry to suddenly stick a landscape architecture book in the middle of all of my literary recommendations, but oh my goodness this book totally changed how I think about landscape! It's about a high-class British couple who decide to change their agricultural estate back into a wild area, and how they do that with the aid of large ruminants, wild horses, and wild pigs. It's fascinating, and her descriptions of the changes in the landscape are beautiful, and I would highly recommend it even if you're not a landscape architect.
I read this one on a train to northern England, and that was really the perfect place to read it...I remember the feeling of reading it almost more than the book itself, although I did really enjoy the book! It's Newman's own account of his conversion and of the difficulties he went through in discerning his need to become Catholic (and his difficulties afterward). It also covers a lot of his involvement with the Oxford Movement, which was fascinating, especially the mental gymnastics done by those involved in order to Make It Make Sense.
This was one of the last books I read in 2024, and also one of the most transcendent reading experiences I had. I read it slowly, more so than usual, because I wanted to savor it, I didn't want to end! It's really a modern fairytale: it reminds me of Lloyd Alexander and Elizabeth Goudge but like...more so. It's the story of a unicorn who one day realizes that she's the last of her kind and goes to find them. It's the story of a wizard who can't use magic unless the magic wants to work through him (in a way that reminds me of intercessory prayer). It's the story of a woman who is Better Than That. It's the story of a prince who falls in love with a princess. And it is PHENOMENAL. No spoilers, but you're going to love it.
So, tell me...did our reads overlap at all this year? What is your favorite book on this list? What was your favorite book you read this year?
SAM. YOU DON’T KNOW HOW I’VE WAITED FOR THIS. ^_^ Yay!!!! I was starting to think that you’d forgotten about us!!
ReplyDeleteAs someone getting back into mysteries Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone sounds like it should be next for me…
I don’t understand anything you said about The House of Months and Years but I am 100% intrigued. XD
Fangirl has been on my list forever. If I read it now I probably WON’T do my homework but I don’t want to wait until after college…hmmmm, this sounds like an issue of time that might not be resolved. XD
Scheherazade (no way could I spell that correctly, so bravo xD) + Hansel & Gretel?? Like, I can’t even process this??
For YEARS Pax was in my top 5 favorite books of all time. <3
I remember talking when you were reading Dracula and based on that conversation I wouldn’t have pictured it in your Good qualification.XD I’m so glad you enjoyed the rest of it!
You casually mentioning how My Brilliant Friend was on the list of most influential books of the 21st century. My dude, I’m pretty sure it was NUMBER ONE. XD I only remember that because I’d NEVER heard of it, but if it’s on your Best then maybe it deserves it.
The Rosie Project sounds adorable and something that I would cry muchly during. XD
So, weird connection, but I might love the Fr. Walter Ciszek books because my absolute favorite movie from 2024 was about people who were imprisoned. I don’t know why this is a thing with me, but I’m not going to fight it.
Count for books that I’ve read here: 3. But hey!! One is Anna Karenina! Which of course, as you know, is only one of my tippy-top favorites of all time. Because LEVINNNNNNNNN!!! MY BOY!!!!! *sobs* I love him so much. Like??? Him and the sweet lady, the two of them together is in my list of preciousness of all precious.
And then another is of course Herc Beal. *flails*
I regret to say that all you needed to say for The Last Unicorn is ‘a prince who falls in love with a princess’ XD All the other stuff sounds scrumptious, too.