2024 reading roundup

Looking back on the books I’ve read during the past twelve months is my favorite way to close out a year. Books have always been linked to memories for me, so as I scroll through my Goodreads account, it’s a sweet little walk through the past year. Cheers to a great year of reading! Here’s my top 10 reads and a few misses.

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My Top Ten

Spells For Forgetting was my first book of 2024 and still stands as a favorite. It was a suspenseful and delightful read, just the right amount of mystery and a perfect length that kept the plot moving along. This was my first book by Adrienne Young, but I went on to read The World of the Narrow series, and The Unmaking of June Farrow is top on my to-be-read list this year.

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And to stay in order, Drowning was my second book of 2024, and it was a could-not-put-down, read-in-48-hours kind of book. As suggested by the title and cover illustration, this book is about a plane crash into the ocean, Terrifying. I can hardly believe I read it. But this book came strongly recommended from a trusted friend and fellow reader, and I am so glad I picked it up. Now, I wouldn’t recommend reading it the week before you board a plane, but I’ve been on multiple planes since with no fear. Just clear your schedule before you start reading.

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When I read The Frozen River last May, I quickly declared it one of my best reads in 2024, and that still holds true. If forced to pick only one favorite, this would be it. This was a compelling story with captivating characters, doing exactly what historical fiction is meant to do—shed light on a time or group of people from history I really hadn’t much considered. And the author’s note at the end was such a cherry on top!

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First Lie Wins kicked off my summer reading, and I loved every page. I’ve never been one to try to figure out a mystery as I read it. I’d much rather get caught up in the twists, turns, and surprises, and this book had plenty! In my Goodreads review, I wrote, “I held off all day from reading the last chapter because I didn't want this book to end.”

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Is it appropriate to call The Women the book of the year? 4.6 rating on Goodreads? 4.7 on Amazon? That’s impressive. Nearly every Best Books of 2024 list I’ve seen includes this gem. Kristin Hannah nailed it again, and I actually finished reading this book on Veteran’s Day which was unplanned and made the book even more powerful.

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Confession. It Ends With Us was my first Colleen Hoover book, and I was blindsided, thinking this was a light-hearted romance. I brought this book to a girls’ weekend at the beach for goodness sake, not realizing the heartbreak, emotion, and intensity of this outstanding story. I couldn’t put it down, and immediately grabbed the second book. It feels necessary to add that I have not seen the movie and am not sure I want to.

I’ll also take this opportunity to apologize to the two men sitting on either side of me on the plane to Florida. The tears, gasps, and tissue collection may have seemed extreme, but it was fully warranted.

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Everything about The Measure is begging for a book club discussion! This was certainly one of my favorite books to read this year, but it was also one of my favorite to discuss. Compelling, creative, terrifying, and thought provoking. Warning, this book did bring on a hum of anxiety for me as it reminded me so much of 2020.

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I read None of This Is True on vacation with friends, and there were many moments I just wanted to excuse myself from the fun to go read. This one was a wild ride, and I couldn’t put it down.

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The Last Love Note was a great combination of heart wrenching, endearing, funny, and feel good. Well written characters and an all around enjoyable read!

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I don’t read much nonfiction, but When Strivings Cease was a highlight of my year packed with truth. I read through this VERY slowly because I wanted to absorbed every word, and I could easily go right back to the beginning and start again. Ruth is such a woman of wisdom, and I love learning God's Word from her.

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A Few Misses

One in a Millennial is the one book I did not finish this year. The constant puns were funny at first, but soon became exhausting, and although the references to all things of my childhood and teen years certainly made me smile, the essays felt aimless. I stopped after 50 pages.

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Our book club read The Midnight Library. Half of us love it; the other half did not. You can guess which half I fell into. I don’t even remember the specifics, but I really struggled to get through this one.

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Put your swords down. I know. I know. The Wedding People is on so many My Favorite Books of 2024 Lists, and although it was certainly not a total miss for me—I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads—I wanted to include it here in hopes of finding someone else, anyone else, who did not love it like the rest of the world seemed to. The dialogue was great, and I even laughed out loud a few times (bachelorette party with the panda bear slides!), but I think I was so put off with the casual, almost comical suicide plot that it was hard to recover and really enjoy the rest of the story. Anyone else on this island?

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Hit me up with all your recommendations and TBRs for 2025. You may also come at me with all the reasons you loved The Wedding People. I can take it.

Happy Reading!

cheers to traditions that just didn't stick

Christmas 2012 was our first Christmas as a family of three, and in true new mom style, I was all in for creating Christmas memories. It was our time to start new family traditions, and the possibilities were endless. 

Get a picture of baby Charlotte sitting on my lap and decorating this cookie. We have to decorate cookies every year!

Let's cut down a tree this year. From now on, we’re getting real trees AND cutting them down ourselves!

Gingerbread houses? Caroling? Oh, and a Christmas countdown where our kids can open an envelope every day and do something Christmasy! 

Matching Christmas pjs? Obviously. 

I think it’s important we do some volunteer work during the holidays.

And gathering for a time of Advent every Sunday evening. 

Town Tree Lighting Ceremony, Zoo Lights, Drive Thru Nativity! Let’s do it all!

When I was younger, my dad read The Night Before Christmas every Christmas Eve. My older brother and I sat next to him on the living room couch for the short, simple story. No fanfare. Charlotte turned three months old on Christmas Eve, and in all our hubbub over starting family traditions, I decided that The Night Before Christmas on the living room couch wasn’t going to cut it for this new family. Instead, Stephen and I declared that every Christmas Eve, our family would cuddle in bed to read The Polar Express with flashlights under the covers. Adorable, right? Bless us. 

So that first Christmas Eve we zipped up our little girl in her fleece Christmas pjs, and the three of us snuggled into bed with a flashlight, starting one of many favorite family traditions. I envisioned our family growing, more children squeezing under those sheets with flashlights, even headlamps, to climb aboard the magical Polar Express. I imagined our children coming home from college for winter break insisting we continue the tradition. And then, grown adults in matching Christmas onesies barely fitting into a bed together, giggling with holiday glee. Oh, and then the first grandbaby! This was going to be the most precious of Becker family traditions!

Spoiler alert. It’s never happened again. 

Not once. 

*****

95% of Instagram scrolling rots my brain. I am no better for it and usually worse. But that 5% is golden, and a few weeks ago one of my favorite reading influencers posted a video with this caption on the preview: “If your holiday traditions aren’t working now that you have teens and tweens.” Honestly, I didn’t listen to what she said about the topic—the title was enough, and it prompted a good dose of freedom in how I thought about traditions this year.

This is my 13th Christmas as a mom and the only long-standing Christmas tradition our family has is one I am not even involved in. For 12 years, Stephen has taken age appropriate children to the mall on the Saturday before Christmas to shop for gifts for me. He then takes them to “fancy lunch” at Maggiano’s, and it is not an exaggeration to say my children talk about this tradition all year long. Although I am very grateful for a quieter day at home the Saturday before Christmas, there is some irony to the fact that my children’s favorite holiday tradition is not a family tradition; it is a dad and kids tradition. And unlike my Polar Express under the sheets attempt, this tradition wasn’t declared or decided upon. It just sort of happened one year. And then again the next year. And the next. 

There was once a time we went to the Zoo Lights every Christmas season, but a couple years ago I didn't renew our zoo membership, and not one child has asked to go back. 

We actually did have 4 year run cutting down our tree at a Christmas tree farm until one year we hauled ourselves out to the middle of nowhere only to learn the trees were stricken with root disease and our only option was a tree from the barn that had been shipped in from Wisconsin. We’ve never been back, but Ed’s Feed and Seed is just 15 minutes up the road and has become an exceptional replacement.

I did create a Christmas countdown with little envelopes strung across the mantel, and for years we opened an envelope every day to reveal that day’s activity. This worked when I was home with toddlers and preschoolers, looking for something to fill our days, but now that my children spend their day at school, we have no need for 24 daily Christmas activities. 

For many years, our family celebrated Santa Lucia Day on December 13, a Swedish holiday where the oldest daughter dresses in a white robe and candle wreath passing out lussekatter buns. This holiday is so nostalgic to me, and I love that our family participates, but this year, on the evening of December 12, I realized I didn't have saffron to make the buns and just didn't have it in me to run to Kroger. So we skipped it this year. I hope we celebrate next year, but it didn't make the cut this year.  Sorry, Lucia.

So what did stick around?

This year our family went to the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra holiday concert. We’ve actually done this three years in a row, and honestly, I enjoy it way more than the Zoo Lights. I’m hoping to go again next year. Sounds like a tradition in the making, but I’ll hold it loosely.

Our family also gathered on Sunday nights this month (or Monday nights for the weeks Sunday got away from us) for a time to remember this Advent season- the coming season of Christ. This is also something we’ve done most years and perhaps resembles a tradition, but our Advent time this year looked way different—in all the best ways!— than it did years ago when we gathered toddlers for candle lighting and Bible reading. Our kids can read the Bible, discuss the Bible, and even plunk out a tune on the piano. 

And just this weekend we decorated Christmas cookies. We’ve done this most years, and I’ll go ahead and say, we’ve become pretty serious cookie decorators over the years. We’ve perfected the cookie and frosting recipe, and with the help of squeezy bottles, jellyroll pans, and disposable tablecloths, we’ve nailed the clean up time. 

Turns out many of the traditions I tried to create when my kids were tiny served a purpose but haven’t stuck around. One or two—perhaps ones I didn’t expect—rose to the top, but now we can look around and say, “Hey, remember when we _________ last year? We liked that. We should do it again.” And major bonus, traditions with kids who no longer need a double stroller, diaper bag, 17 snacks, layers in case they get warm, and backup mittens in case they get cold are way better.

So happy Christmas, and cheers to the traditions of the past. May we remember them with fondness.

Cheers to traditions that took a year off. May we give ourselves grace, not guilt.

And cheers to traditions that evolve as our families change. May we celebrate those with joy.

but i peed in a diaper, and that has to count for something

We should have left five minutes ago. Hopefully traffic won’t be bad. 

“Hurry up,” I call out to the kids. “You don’t need coats. You won’t even get out of the car.”

“Milo doesn’t have shoes on,” Charlotte points out as I hunt for my purse and keys. 

“That’s fine. He’s not gettin’ outta the car either! But hurry, we gotta go!”

“It’s snowing!” I hear all three children yell as they shuffle out to the van parked in the driveway—a driveway that just fifteen minutes ago was black pavement but is now dusted with fat, icy flakes. 

Snow? I didn’t know it was going to snow. Oof. Now we’ll definitely be late.

We have twenty minutes to drive to the Hamilton County Job and Family Services office where our one-year-old foster daughter has weekly visits with her mother. We’ve made this trip many times for her visits, and on a sunny day without traffic it is a twenty-three minute commute, but the roads in our neighborhood are just slick enough that I can’t take my hands off the wheel to fiddle with my phone for the updated estimated time of arrival. I know it will be past 4:00. 

My brain searches for alternative options. It will take at least an hour of white knuckles to get us to downtown Cincinnati, but as the van slides along, maxing out at 10 mph, I know there are no other options. These aren’t plans I can cancel. We are new to the foster parent world, but I’m pretty sure it goes against protocol to ask the caseworker to take our foster daughter home with him for the night and offer to pick her up once the roads are clear. 

Nevertheless, I call the caseworker to give him the heads up that we’ll be late, secretly hoping he’ll have a genius plan B that involves me turning this Honda Odyssey around and heading back home. 

“Like, how late do you think you’ll be?” he asks. 

Words frantically fall out of my mouth. “I’m guessing it will be another hour. I`m so sorry. The roads are terrible, and it’s bumper-to-bumper traffic. I didn't even know it was going to snow today.” Please offer to drive her to my house. Please offer to take her home. Please have a plan B. 

“OK…well, be safe, and call me when you get here.” He hangs up.

Alright. I guess we’re doing this. I stare at a minefield of red tail lights in front of me and want to cry, but instead, I start doing what I always do in moments of panic—an incessant amount of rambling self-talk in hopes that my rational words might convince everyone, primarily myself, that indeed it is true—we will be OK. 

“OK. This is OK. We’re going to be OK.” Has anyone ever strung those two letters together so many times in a row? “We have gas. Almost a full tank, in fact. Thank you, Lord. I have my phone. I have a charger. I should plug that in.” A smile forces its way across my face as I peek into the rearview mirror. Surely the three kids know I'm faking it. Please don’t call my bluff.

My rambling continues as I detail the items we are missing. Coats for one thing, but we have blankets and heat. Milo has no shoes, but the three-year-old probably won’t be doing much walking. Shoot. I didn’t have him—or anyone— use the bathroom before we left. He will likely wet his pants, but that’s manageable. 

But while on the subject of going to the bathroom, I need to pee. Getting off on an exit to find a gas station will add an hour to the trip. I can hold it. I think. The lane lines have disappeared and the highway feels like a giant game of tetris. Google Maps shows nothing but red lines, and the travel time is increasing as we sit motionless for long stretches before creeping a few feet at a time. I remind my shoulders to lower back into place, and decide I should call my husband. 

After explaining the panic of my current situation to Stephen—in a contrived calm voice so my children think I’m adventurous—we are left at a stalemate. There really is no solution but to keep going. Speaking of going, I really do need to go to the bathroom. Soon. 

“You can do this, Joy,” Stephen tells me. “Just take it slow. You’ll get there when you get there. And try to have fun.”

Have fun. That is such a Stephen thing to say. I dream of being the type of person who could laugh at this situation and have fun. 

“Can we play music?” Andrew yells from the back. 

Play music? Are you kidding me? I need to concentrate. I need to plan how to handle my rapidly filling bladder. Stephen would play music, probably Hamilton. He’d be rapping and dancing and assigning each child a different part of My Shot to memorize. But I don't want music. I want to keep rambling my pep-talks and prayers. 

Stephen calls back a few minutes later. “I found a hotel near the Child and Family Services building. You can check in there for the night or at least for a few hours before driving back home. I explained the situation; they know you’ll be alone with 4 coatless children.” 

Exhale. Bless him. 

But I still don’t want to play music. And I still need to pee. Bad. I read an essay once about a mom peeing in a diaper, and I remember thinking that it wouldn't be so bad if the situation was dire. This was definitely feeling dire.

“What are you doing?” my oldest asks as I swing my hand behind me and reach into the seatback pocket for a diaper.

“I’m not totally sure, but I think I’m going to try and pee in this diaper.” They are stunned, not sure whether to laugh or scream with disgust. 

I unbuckle my seatbelt and finagle the diaper into place, a more difficult task than I imagined. The stopped traffic is working in my favor because I now have both hands off the wheel—one stuffing the diaper into the front of my pants and the other pulling from the back. My right foot presses down tightly on the brake pedal as I lift my booty off the seat so I can fully spread out the diaper. Maximum absorption will be necessary. I keep my eyes forward, hoping the cars next to me are so focused on the snowy road they stay oblivious to the fact that a grown woman in the next car has her hands down her pants. 

“Are you doing it? Are you peeing?” The children squeal with delight and disbelief. 

“Not yet. But stop yelling. I can’t pee if you are screaming!” A disagreement breaks out as to whether or not I am being serious, and I too begin to doubt my plan. Will I actually be able to go? How much liquid can a diaper hold? What if I miss or overflow and end up sitting in a puddle of my own urine for the next couple hours?

“I need everyone to be quiet. Here, I’ll turn on some music, but I need to pee in peace.” I spend the next thirty seconds willing myself to go, commanding my body to relax. I know my children are on the edge of their seats, waiting for an update. 

My bladder lets out a drop but immediately stops before I tell it to, as if it’s testing the waters to see if this is really allowed. Another drop. And another, until the floodgates are opened with no ability to stop. If forced to give a percentage, I’d say 80% ends up in the diaper. It was a good day to wear black jeans. 

“I did it,’ I announce as I wiggle a bloated diaper out of my pants. 

The backseat is filled with commentary. “You did it? She did it! Did you really do it? No way! That’s so gross. That’s so cool. Let me see the diaper! I want to pee in a diaper! Can I try?’

I can’t help but smile. I might not be the parent who plays car games in a blizzard, but I peed in a diaper, and that has to count for something. 

*****

It is 6:30 when we pull up to the back door of the Child and Family Services building, nearly three hours since we left home. The Hamilton soundtrack is playing at a sensible volume and a bulging diaper is rolled up and tossed on the passenger side floor. 

The caseworker hands me our foster daughter—please don’t take away our foster license—and leaves me on the deserted street, snow still falling. We drive the half mile down the road and find the hotel parking garage. If anyone comments on my coatless children or shoeless toddler, I don't hear them. I am laser focused on getting the five of us into that hotel room, a haven to regroup and plan the next step. The Disney Channel takes over childcare while I turn my attention to dinner. The first three pizza places I call cannot deliver because their workers haven’t shown up. 

“Roads are pretty bad out there,” one man says to me over the phone. I spare him the details of my last three hours and call the next pizza place.

“One medium cheese pizza. Is that all?” the man asks me. 

One pizza. No drinks. No desserts. No garlic knots. Stephen would definitely order garlic knots. But I am too anxious to eat. My mind is telling my body to relax, to celebrate, to order a 2 liter of Pepsi for goodness sake—but my body knows better. The night is far from over, and I can’t have too much fun unless I know the plan for the rest of this night. 

“Yep. That’s all.”

“We’ll be there in 30 minutes.”

I end the call and close the bathroom door. I take a deep breath, thankful to have made it safely to the hotel, but also wishing I could be more fun tonight. I am scared, flustered, and solely focused on the next step, but I want to be the parent who makes fun out of a mess rather than the one who panic-prays, pep-talks herself to death, and only orders one pizza. Maybe I should call back to order the garlic knots. Maybe I should jump into the bed and watch some tv with the. kids. That doesn’t feel like my style, but I want my kids to remember this night as a crazy adventure rather than a night with their crazy mom. 

*****

It is close to midnight when we pull the van safely back into our driveway. 

“You only ordered one pizza?” Stephen asks as I recount the details of our night after changing my pants.  “Oh babe, that’s so cute.”

“It’s not cute. It’s lame.” 

“What matters is that you’re all safe. And I bet the kids had a great night.” he tells me.

I want to believe it. 

******

Months later, long after the snow has melted and the summer has come and gone, we are driving to school, the oldest two in the far back, the toddler in his carseat, and a new foster baby buckled in behind me.

“Do you remember that time we got to stay in the hotel and eat pizza because it was snowing so bad?” Andrew calls out.

“Oh yeah! And we got to watch Property Brothers!”

“And mom peed in her pants!”

“Correction!’ I announce. “It wasn’t in my pants. It was in a diaper. (Long pause.) Most of it.” They erupt into laughter.

“That was the best night ever.”

“Yeah. I hope we can do that again sometime.”

hello again. here's what i read

I will briefly acknowledge that it has been just over a year since I posted anything in this space. No reason. No excuse. Just didn’t write as much this year, and the writing I did was private processing rather than public sharing. For no one’s sake but my own, I will remind myself that taking a break from something, even something I love, is perfectly acceptable and any weird ounces of failure, guilt or other junky voices saying that real writers don’t take breaks can kindly step aside. I am here today, and today I feel like writing. So, hello again.

I will tiptoe gently back into this space with a cozy topic. Books. Which ironically was the topic of my last post a year ago, so it feels appropriate to go ahead and quote myself, right?

“Looking back on the books I’ve read during the past twelve months is my favorite way to close out a year. Books have always been linked to moments and memories for me, so as I scroll through my Goodreads account, it’s a sweet little walk through the past year.”

So here it is. My top reads, my favorite read alouds with my kids, and a few misses.

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Favorite Books

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Demon Copperhead: My last book of the year and certainly one of my favorites. The writing is extraordinary. Kingsolver is a master of storytelling in a raw, unique, painful, and beautiful style with so many lines that took my breath away. I will long remember Demon and this cast of characters.

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All My Knotted-Up Life: I am a long-time fan of Beth's Bible studies. When my son asked me who Beth Moore was, I responded, "She is the person who has taught me the most about the Bible." And I should have added, she is the person who taught me to love the Bible.

As usual for me, I read about half this book and listened to about half of this book. I adore Beth's voice and the way she tells a story, so the audio was an absolute delight. The vulnerability, honesty, and pain of this book is so beautiful and such a gift to the reader. Beth's knowledge and love of Scripture pushes me to keep opening my Bible and keep learning. Even in all the messiness of her story, she proclaims the goodness of Jesus, but not in a sappy, obligatory way. I am so thankful for Beth, her Bible studies, books, and this memoir is certainly another great gift to her readers.

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Carrie Soto is Back: I was hesitant to pick this one up at first because I really didn't like Malibu Rising, but I'm so glad I did! I was hooked from the beginning. This book wasn't what I expected in all the best ways. Carrie is an unforgettable character, and I didn't want her story to end. Movie, please.

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Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun: I LOVE this series, and just like the first 2 books, I flew through this one! My only frustration was that I didn't realized there are more books coming out, and now I have to wait until next year to find out what happens!

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Celebrities for Jesus: I was hesitant to listen to this one. I want to be informed about ways Christians are misrepresenting Christ, but books like this can easily make me cynical, and I don't want that. I thought this book was well done, told very matter-of-factly, rather than purposely tugging on emotions. The content is heartbreaking, but I thought the author handled the facts and her opinion with integrity and wisdom. This is an important topic, and this book gave me a lot to think about.

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The Last Flight: I was hooked from the beginning! This was a unique plot, and the suspense was just the right amount for me—someone who scares rather easily.

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Habits of the Household: Books like this give me so much great content to think about and discuss with Stephen! I love being challenged to think intentionally about the habits of our house, all filtered through a lens of grace and not perfection. This book was practical, humorous, and covered in Gospel-centered truth. A great read!

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Lessons In Chemistry: This one barely needs a review it was so popular book this year. This book was such a delightful surprise. I didn't really know what it was about going in, and the pink, chick-lit looking cover is misleading. It was quirky and humorous, timely, and so different than anything I've read. Elizabeth Zott is a memorable character in all the wonderful ways, and I really enjoyed this book.

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The Tech-Wise Family: Excellent book about a topic that is really important to me. I have strong feelings about phones/TVs/tablets and am constantly thinking about how to best guide our family to use them in beneficial ways without wasting our real life scrolling. I thought this book had practical ideas and also extreme examples; however, I was not put off by the more radical ideas. In an area like technology, and specifically phones, most of us are just doing what everyone else is doing—picking up our phone hundreds of times each day for mindless entertainment. This addiction has lead us to a point where we need extreme and perhaps radical guidelines if we're going be choose a better way. Highly recommend!

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Take My Hand: One of my favorite books of the year! This book beautifully and painfully humanizes big issues like government overreach, reproductive rights, and health literacy. A heartbreaking book but so important and so powerfully written.

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Fourth Wing & Iron Flame: Oh man. What to say about these two? It has been a long time since I was this captivated by a series, unable to put them down, neglecting my responsibility just to read one more chapter. I feel sad I will never get to experience reading these book for the first time ever again. From the very beginning Fourth Wing gave me major Hunger Games vibes-which is maybe why I loved it so much! I guess the surprise of my reading life this year is that books about dragons soared (pun intended!) to the top of my favorite books list. I’m hooked. But I feel compelled to give a disclaimer: these books are steamy. Very. Steamy.

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Favorite Read Alouds with the Kids

This year held some special classics like Charlotte’s Web with Milo, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets with Andrew. I also went back to a favorite from when I was in fifth grade and read Cages with Charlotte. However, the absolute stand-outs of the year were The Wild Robot series with the boys and The Lion of Mars with Charlotte.

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A Few Misses

Happy Place: Oof. What happened? I loved the other Emily Henry books I've read, but this one was rough, and I struggled to finish it. I didn't care about any of the characters, and their friend circle was annoying rather than endearing. Plots that hinge on a miscommunication frustrate me as I wait hundreds of pages for the characters to finally clear things up. The last 100 pages were overly dramatic, even for this genre—I mean, airport chases, brain surgeon to pottery, really? I felt bummed this one was such a miss for me.

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Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow: I wonder what I would have thought of this book had it not been so hyped up. I was #822 on the library wait list and was so excited when it was finally my turn. So many people told me you don't need to love video games to love this book, but I'd say that a general enjoyment and basic level knowledge of video games would certainly enhance your love of this book. I thought it was just fine. The beginning was good, the middle was slow, and the end got better but could have been about 100 pages shorter. I struggled to finish and was glad when it was over.

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Start with Hello: I wanted to love this one. Every ounce of my heart agrees with the message of this book, and Martin's passion for her neighbor is so evident, beautiful, and inspiring. Unfortunately, the writing felt choppy and all over the place for me. Each chapter had so many sections and subheadings that felt disjointed. I ended up skimming the last couple chapters. The table of contents was my favorite part. I thought the chapter titles conveyed the heart of this book in a clever and thought provoking way. I know so many people who loved this book that I'm left feeling like I missed something. Maybe I need to try another one of Martin's books.

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The Christmas Pig: I am adding this one to the list prematurely because we haven’t finished it yet. I starting reading this aloud to the kids in December, and we are slooooowly chugging along—mainly because I don’t like it and have little excitement to pick it up each night. We’ve come so far that I will finish (plus Andrew really loves it), but it has been rather disappointing.

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As always, hit me up with your recommendations and feel free to come at me with all the reasons you loved Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I can take it.

Happy reading.

reading in review: 2022

Looking back on the books I’ve read during the past twelve months is my favorite way to close out a year. Books have always been linked to moments and memories for me, so as I scroll through my Goodreads account, it’s a sweet little walk through the past year.

Whether it was on a plane ride to Rome (the perfect time to read The Power of Fun), the first pick from a new book club I joined (oh, Finlay Donovan, you’re killing it), the book devoured in a hammock by the lake (I’m looking at you, Book Lovers), or the audio book the kids and I listened to in the school drop-off line (but gotta watch out for those cuss words in James and the Giant Peach), each book reminds me of a moment in 2022.

I read more this year than ever before- 47 books, 12,695 pages—thank you for doing the math, Goodreads. This is up from 32 books the year before, and I’m looking back on this year of reading with such joy.

So here it is. My top reads, a couple favorite audio books, a few misses, and two tips that helped me read more this year than ever before.

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2022 Favorite Reads

Click on each book to see my Goodreads review.

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Favorite Audio Books

Both of these books were narrated by their authors. Listening to Tucci and Graham read their own words bumped up each of these “pretty good” books to “absolutely delightful” books.

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A Few Misses:

Goodreads and Amazon tell me a lot of readers like these books, but I was left with an “eh, it was fine” kinda feeling.

I really wanted to like this one. It wasn't what I was expected when I read the summary of year-long delights, and I only enjoyed a handful of the essays. Gay's unique voice was witty and refreshing, but it took me forever to get through this book, and I was never excited to pick it up.

This one was good but not great for me. The biggest problem was I didn't care about any of the characters. Their "rich and famous problems" were written about in such a way that I obviously couldn't relate, but I also couldn't find any common ground. There was an attempt to bring depth to each character, but it just fell flat for me.

Oof. This was a tough one to get through. I would have dropped it around page 100, but I was reading it aloud to my kids and they liked it more than I did, so we plowed through—which took two months! Way longer than it ever takes us to read a book. This is a sweet story, but this book should have been half as long. There are paragraphs and paragraphs of detailed description that add nothing to the story and actually caused me to zone out. The characters are likable but not memorable. (If you're looking for a sweet story with likable characters, I would go for The Very Far Far North a hundred times over!) This book ends with a cliff hanger that is meant to propel you into reading the next two books in the series, but even these unanswered questions are not enough motivation for me to pick up the next book.

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My Reading Tips

1. I tried something new this year! I always start a book with the hard copy in my hand. Once I get a few chapters in, I begin to also listen to the book on audio. Fifteen minutes on the way home from preschool drop off, another fifteen minutes on the way to pick up Charlotte at dance, another thirty minutes as I go for a walk around the neighborhood, plus reading the hard copy in bed each night helped me read more books this year. I use free apps through my library like Hoopla and Overdrive to check out all my audio books. For whatever reason, my brain must start with the actual book in hand before adding the audio version.

2. After finishing a book, I have a strict rule to start a new one within 24 hours. In order to do this, I always have at least 5 books already checked out from the library, ready and waiting for me. I make sure there is a variety of genres within those books because I can’t predict what I might be in the mode for next, but whatever I choose, I get started on the next book right away. If I let too many days go by, I start to lose my reading enthusiasm and momentum.

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Looking Ahead

As you can tell, I use Goodreads to chronicle my reading life. I love to see what my friends are reading, so if you’re a Goodreads user, be sure to find me and create your own reading challenge. I get nearly all my book recommendations from other readers, so hit me up with all your 2022 favorites, too!