In the Storm

Favorite books.

At the six month mark I am taking stock of what I've been reading. 71 books thus far this year and with a goal to read 100 books in 2021 I am well on my way to surpassing, blowing away, that goal, and I am thrilled. As I was perusing all the new books and re-reads I have been enjoying, writing mini-reviews with each one, and rating each book using a 1-5 Star rating system, what is the norm in the good read world, books that I loved - and were memorable began catching my eye. Discarding re-reads, and only selecting those books that I haven't read before, that were new to me, I began compiling a list of my favorite books in a half a year of 71 books read. 

I selected my 12 favorites - so far this year. I have noticed I have been a bit more strict in my rating of books. If there were too many things that annoyed me about a book, even though I overall may have loved the book, I would not give it 5 Stars. But, I might give it 5 Stars if what annoyed me was redeemed by, say, the ending. I also realized that I am being more true to myself rather than, maybe, following the crowds views on rating a book. Thus, if everyone likes a book but me, I'm okay with that.

Favorite book from January - June 2021, easily goes to Fredrick Backman's Anxious People. My book club read this for our February read and I loved it! It was laugh out loud funny as well as amazing conversation and discussion. Such a fan of Backman's writing!

I read Amor Towles', Rules of Civility, his backlist and first book, after I'd already read A Gentleman in Moscow last year for book club. Of the two, I would still pick A Gentleman in Moscow as my favorite of his, thus far, but Rules of Civility was dang good! I am anxiously anticipating his third book, out in October.

I finally read Taylor Jenkins Reid's critically-acclaimed, Daisy Jones and The Six and followed that up with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I adored both books, easily 5 Star reads, but with Evelyn Hugo inching by Daisy Jones in the running for a TJR favorite. I have Malibu Rising on my TBR and my bookshelf.

Surprisingly, a book I read for book club but also the Classic's Club, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, easily made my favorites list, and a 5 Star read!

Have you read any of these? Would they be on your favorites list?

2021 Reading Goals

2020 was a fairly successful reading year in that I met the majority of my reading goals. The 'read a book published every year since I was born' 2020 goal was a wash, however. While I read 40 of 57 books, that goal unmet, and the year 2020 for all its angst, is the very reason my reading goals are shifting for this year, 2021. 2020 turned out not to be the year to tackle a serious book challenge and I decided for 2021 I will - I must - take a breather. I am not cutting back on reading. Book club is still on! I will continue to host my book club in my home once a month. I will continue to read reviews and flesh out an array of thoughtful, fabulous titles to include into our quarterly book club picks. Jeff and I will continue to read books aloud, together, each morning before work. I will tackle classics to suit my long-term goal. But, for 2021 I am taking a minimalist approach toward my reading goals. Similar goals to previous years, but altogether simple reading goals.

Read 100 total books. Sure, I have read more books in past years. This year is not about quantity, but quality. I don't want to race through what I read unless it is truly one of those un-put-down-able books that everyone loves and that I am finding I just cannot put down. Not really a goal but I would like to read books from my own overflowing bookshelves. Tackle those bookshelves and flesh out those books I maybe thought I would read one of these days and those that will remain on my to be read, ever-growing list. This, of course, is not to say that I will forego the library. I plan on updating my Holds list before the end of the year and rotate books through as I lose interest or find other books I'd rather be reading. As someone who is a mood reader, holds are always hit and miss and often arrive at inopportune times. When I first put a book on hold at the library I'm excited to read that book but I have found the excitement wanes and when that exact book is ready for me to pick up I either don't remember adding it to my Holds list, or that ever-changing mood has won out.

However, between the books on my shelves and the books on my library's shelves, the books Jeff and I will read aloud and the books I will buy and read for my book club, and those classics, I'm pretty sure I can read 100 total books in 2021.

 

Read 8 books aloud with Jeff. We have a finely tuned habit each week day morning before I head to work. We read portions of our latest Christian non-fiction book, and then we read the Bible, together. In 2020, we didn't quite get through the entire Bible so in 2021 we'll finish out reading and checking off those last books we still need to read and then we'll begin again (probably using a different Bible reading plan). We have already started the first of 8 books, Run with the Horses by Eugene Peterson (he is the author of The Message Bible translation), that we'll finish in January 2021 sometime. These 8 books will be part of the 100 total books I want to read in 2021.

Read 12 books for Book Club. We read one book a month and meet the last Monday of every month to discuss what we've read. It's a true book club in that we talk books, probably, 90% of the time. If we see each other outside of book club, we generally always mention - books! We already have our January 2021 book picked out, even. We will be reading Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi.

Read 12 Classics for The Classics Club. My goal for The Classics Club is read 51 Classics in 51 Months. In order to continue to move toward that goal at a steady jaunt I hope to read 12 classics this year. And continue to document the classics I have read.

 

Finally, I will be documenting what I've read via memory keeping. Similar to my reading goals my memory keeping will take a minimalist approach. I will use a 4 x 8 Citrus Twist album (I haven't decided on the color). This will give me flexibility in what size I create my pages. I can insert 4 x 4, 4 x 6, 3 x 8, 4 x 8 pages, fold-outs, or double page spreads of any of the mentioned sizes. I plan on creating a mix of digital, physical, and hybrid pages while landing on the minimal: clean lines

What I've Been Reading | August 2020

While I didn't read very many books this month, unusual for me, I did, however, read quality books; fabulous books; memorable books. Take, for instance, A Gentleman in Moscow, my book club read for August. I will recommend this book to everyone. It was breathtaking, absorbing, - amazing! 5 Stars! Surprisingly, my entire book club loved the book, too! This. Rarely. Hppens. 

I recently did a mid-year review of my 2020 Reading Goals and realized I am behind in the heftiest category, read a book published in every year since I was born. However, this month did not help that category much at all, adding only 3 titles to my goals.

This is what I've been reading in August 2020:

2020 Reading Goals Mid-Year Check-in

I have been wanting to run a thorough mid-year check-in on my 2020 Reading Goals for over a month now. Since I actually added to my already lofty reading goals when I began the Classics Club reading challenge to read 51 Classics in 51 Months, I also figured, instead of a brush over of my goals, I needed to take a hard look at where I stand with my goals, how far I've come and what I might need to do to accomplish those goals, or even change things - mid-year. Although I am not typically a 'change my goals in the middle of year' kind of gal, I listened to this podcast recently on the value of a mid-year check up of ones reading life. "It's not necessarily looking back. It's what do I want to change moving forward."

I also wanted to take a moment to celebrate my successes, however small they may be. Learn from, maybe, where I have taken a wrong turn away from, instead of towards, my reading goals. And, to set my mind and heart into re-focusing on the end goal.

Here is a look-see at where I stand today?

I began with updating my spreadsheet I had created, a simple 2-columned word document with every year since I was born in one column and as I read a book published in each year included the title of the book in another column for a total of 57 books. Plus, I am charting the additional goals in the same way.

Read a book published in each year since I was born. To put it bluntly, I have read 28 of 57 books for this category of my reading goals. At more than half way through the year I am not even half way done with this goal. The difficulty, I am aware, is that 1) I am not simply reading for this goal. I am reading for my book club that I host once a month and I am also reading for enjoyment which, I cannot lie, often supersedes my goals. And 2) it is more difficult to acquire a book for a specific published year than I thought, in a timely manner. It also hasn't helped that for a couple months our local library was closed due to COVID-19 quarantine procedures. But, it has also been trying deciding on a book for a specific published year. While I don't necessarily want to read the most popular, some of the most popular books I've already read, or I have zero interest in reading. I have found over the course of these months that the 70's were a difficult publishing decade for really good books, or books that I might find of interest and it is the decade I have the least read in.

The 1980's books I have read are mostly back-listed books of other authors, such as The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingslover and The Housekeeping by Marilynn Robinson, the author of Gilead (a favorite of mine from earlier this year) I have read before and enjoyed, or books that have made a comeback, or revival such as Kindred by Octavia Butler.

One positive of the books I have read in this category is the books that I have read that I would never have read without this goal (or self-challenge), such as A Wizard of Earthsea, published in 1968, a young adult fantasy novel which is so far out of my reading genre, yet, I loved it! Or A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. Honestly, I had little interest in Hemingway, although as I have become the best part of a reader, I am sure I would at some point pick up the classic.

Right now, the question is can I make a comeback and actually finish this portion of the goal? How would I modify the goal, even, if I decided to scale it back? Without being able to answer those questions, and while I have less months to read the second half of this goal is a lofty endeavor, I still think I can make it to the finish line.

Modern Mrs. Darcy 2020 Reading Challenge. The categories I have completed are in read. As you can see below I am almost finished with this challenge. I am positive I can complete this challenge and this part of my reading goals for the year.

    a book published the decade you were born: Where Eagles Dare

    a debut novel: Little Bee

    a book recommended by a source you trust: The Poisonwood Bible (my book club recommended this; they actually could not believe I had not already read it)

    a book by a local author: Flannery O'Conner's, The Complete Stories

    a book outside your (genre) comfort zone: A Wizard of Earthsea (a young adult fantasy)

    a book in translation: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

    a book nominated for an award in 2020: TBA

    a re-read: Gilead

    a classic you didn't read in high school: Slaughterhouse Five

    three books by the same author: possibly Barbara Kingslover (already read 2 books), Deanna Raybourn (read 2 books), or Marilynn Robinson (read 2 books)

Read a-loud books with Jeff. My goal this year of reading a-loud with Jeff is 8 books. We have read a-loud together, Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman, Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado, Life Without Lack by Dallas Willard, and Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller. We are currently reading and are more than half way through, Louder than Words by Andy Stanley. I'm sure we'll finish this book by the end of August, easily. Which leaves 4 months to read the remaining 3 books needed to complete this goal. I am fairly comfortable, barring an unforeseeable surprises, that we'll continue our morning reading time together and finish strong, reading at least, the 8 books.

Between the Covers Book Club reads. This, at the beginning of 2020 would have been a no-brainer, but post-COVID-19 had me concerned. Thankfully, we have Zoom and while we did not discuss our March Book Club book (I hadn't figured Zoom out and we were all in shock mode), I read our book club read each month. We began meeting again in person in June, even though it was a small turnout. I've already scheduled our books for discussion for August, September, and October and I am beginning to gather potential book club books for November and December.

NEWLY ADDED: Joined the Classics Club. Because I am a voracious reader these days and eager to read everything and challenge myself and broaden my reading horizons, I have added another challenge, or goal, to the year. However, this goal is long term and will surpass this year and even the year after. I joined the Classics Club. The requirement was to read at least 50 classics in less than 5 years. I set my Classics club goal at 51 Classics in 51 Months. You can go back and read all about my goal and the books I hope to read here.

what I've been reading | may 2020

My reading life was back to normal this month. I am thrilled! I dug into my 2020 Reading Goals and updated my spreadsheet, identified where I stood in my goals and where I needed to hit the books hard. As our local library is now scheduling appointments for pickup of books on hold, I, purposefully, made a list this month of those books I might want to read in the years - read a book published in every year since I was born - I have left. My husband and I finished another read a-loud this month which means I am on track for completing that goal this year. This summer I think I will work on completing Modern Mrs. Darcy's 2020 Reading Challenge, also a part of my 2020 Reading Goals.

In my May my book club met via Zoom and hopefully it will be the last month we will have to meet online. We love meeting in my living room together discussing everything book club read. What Alice Forgot was our May book and many consider it their favorite thus far of all book club reads. Even over The Alice Network, which for those of us who read that it was excellent.

Surprisingly, this month, most of the books I read were 5 Star books and only two I gave lower scores. I read such good books.

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. Fantastic, compulsory read, and clever plot. This was my Between the Covers book club read for May and everyone loved it and several consider it the best book we've read for book club, even over The Alice Network. The book garnered some lively and intriguing discussion. Definitely, a book we won't soon - forget. Alice wakes up in the gym and later realizes she's lost 10 years of her life. Who she is now 10 years later is not who Alice ever expected she'd become. There are several telling voices, one offered by Alice's sister through epistolary writing, letters to her psychiatrist, and the additional story line that I couldn't get enough of. This will definitely be one of my top reads of the year. 2020 Reading Goals, read a book published in every year since I was born - 2009

Walk the Wire by David Baldacci. Another episode in the Memory Man series, my favorite Baldacci character, an FBI agent with hyperthymesia and synesthesia -- resulting in his never forgetting anything and his counting in colors and seeing time as pictures in his head. Without giving everything away, there is another Baldacci character who has a prominent part in the storyline. Good storyline, however, the direction Baldacci took with the motive for the murders was - frustrating and had me shaking my head - really? And, we didn't find that out until the very end. Captured my attention but the lackluster last chapters found me wanting a different ending.

 

The Giver of Stars by Jo Jo Moyes. Thank you Moyes for redeeming yourself after Me Before You, which I liked - except for the ending. I enjoyed The Giver of Stars immensely. Several slow spots that made it difficult to plow through, but how much I loved this book far outweighed the pace. An exceptional book about a subject, bringing books to the folks who live in the deep hills of Kentucky, and the women who took on the challenging expedition. Big plus, it is a book about books! Rich with historical reference on a subject I knew nothing about and now I find so intriguing.

 

 

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (auditory by Books with Mrs. Bomgardner). What a joy to listen to Suzy Bomgardner (I'm a good friend of her mom!) read aloud The Velveteen Rabbit, one of my favorite children's book as an adult. I'm not a fan of audible books, mostly because my mind wanders and miss the story, but Suzy read the book on YouTube so I could listen and watch if I needed the connection. "Once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

 

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. For so long I have shied away from this book. I have even checked it out from the library several times only to put it down again and - again. However, my book club was surprised when they heard I'd never read it and everyone raved about it so, I decided to dig in and get it over with. I know. That was my approach. But, what I found was a beautiful, excruciating story told through the voices of the women, a wife and daughters, of a missionary in the 50's-60's who set out to the Congo unprepared in order to save the Congolese to God, only to do everything wrong a missionary could to wrong. 2020 Reading Goals, read a book published in every year since I was born - 1998.

Life Without Lack: Living in the Fullness of Psalm 23 by Dallas Willard. No fear of life. No fear of death. How do we live a life everyday enjoying the presence of God, practicing living in His presence; practically living in His presence. Experiencing peace and freedom, and contentment. This was our latest, Jeff and I, read a-loud together and read in the bestest possible way, slowly, savoring. At times overwhelming difficult to grasp, yet so much to ponder. If you think you know and understand Psalm 23, think again. 2020 Reading Goals, read a-loud 8 books with Jeff. This is book 4/8.

 

 

Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin. Within 8 vignettes are vivid stories of faith and family, bitter love and sheathing hatred, racism, religion, or Christianity at its worse, and life in Harlem all themes that permeated these stories. After the first story I was able to settle in to Baldwin's style of writing. I am not sure if this is his intent but I was quite frustrated at the whites portrayed in his stories; at their behavior. This would be an amazing book to discuss story by story because I think there is more to each story than meets the eye. 2020 Reading Goals, read a book published in every year since I was born - 1965

 

 

The Freedom of Self-Forgetfullness by Timothy Keller. This short, 1-hour reading by Timothy Keller explains gospel-centered humility versus self-esteem whether high or low esteem, the difference, and finding our identity not in self-worth or esteem, or the applause of man. But our identity is always - first - found in Christ and what He has already done on the Cross. Over the past couple of months one person after another has referenced this short little book and for a Christian it is a must read.

 

 

 

Get Out of Your Head, Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts by Jennie Allen. Another must-read Christian non-fiction. So very applicable for me and so many. The thoughts that are so often running through our minds are not the truth, and, yet, it is Truth that we should have racing through our heads for a healthy way to live. Changing our mindset can impact the way we live out our lives in Christ. We have a choice what goes into our heads. I can stop those fearful thoughts. Our identity is not in our worst sin but our identity is found in Christ. This is another book on my permanent book shelf of - books I love and books I wish I could download into my head.

 

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley. I heard about this book from Modern Mrs. Darcy and while I was drawn to her simple, sweet mini-review it was the books cover that drew me in more; the colors, water blues, and even better it is a book about books. I was also thrilled to find there was a mix of epistolary writing (a favorite of mine) via messages and letters that are left in books in the bookstores' library. This YA book is about navigating friendship, the painfully rough edges of loss, and unrequited love. But, it is even more - or at least just as much - about books as the story is centered in the spines of a secondhand bookstore. 

what I've been reading | january 2020

I definitely got off to a slow start - reading - this year. I seemed to be spending my time setting my 2020 Reading Goals or chasing after my One Little Word®, landing on LEARN before I ever cracked a book open. But once I started I had a book in hand every single day of the month. I began with a super fun, not-scary, murder mystery with well-drawn, likable characters, clever banter and splendid prose, a Veronica Speedwell Mystery by Deanna Raybourn - A Curious Beginning. And ended with my Between the Covers book club, our January read, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, which is just as good, if not better, read a second time through and thoroughly discussed.

A Curious Beginning, a Veronica Speedwell Mystery, by Deanna Raybourn. What a delight!!! Although light on mystery it was chock-full of clever banter, well-drawn, highly likeable, clever, and whip-smart characters - and just so much fun. There were, however, a few parts that seemed misplaced, and I was confused to where the story was going but I believe, in this first in a series, they were included to develop the characters' backgrounds. I would have preferred a slower development, fleshed out with each passing book. Aside from that I adored this first-in-the-series and I am positive I will read the others.

 

 

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. We chose the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Gilead, for our Between the Covers book club read for January 2020, and I could not be more ecstatic, or undone, at the exquisite prose. Gilead is also my book selection for 'read a book published in each year since I was born' - 2004. Probably, the first fiction book I took pages - and pages - of notes. So many quotable, memorable, brilliant words.

 

 

 

 

The Cloudspotter's Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney. As part of my One Little Word® for 2020, which is LEARN, I want to revisit meteorology, my job, learn new things, re-learn old things. My extension goal is to revise the high school meteorology class for homeschoolers with the potential for a side business of teaching meteorology to high school homeschoolers in the fall, using my own newly-developed meteorology class. This was an easy-to-read book, although sometimes long-winded, on the science, history, and nuances of clouds. I took it to work with me - I am a weather observer - and would pick it up off and on throughout the month when the weather was fine.

 

Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I read this book, the first towards my 2020 Reading Goal - read a book published in each year since I was born. Wild was published in 2012. So, I'd heard and read some fabulous things about this raw, gritty, 'spectacular...a literary and human triumph,' - says the New York Times Book Review. I agree with literary. Not so much with spectacular and definitely not human triumph, except Strayed did hike the PCT (although not in its entirety) so in that sense it was a triumph. But, in the life sense I read no triumphs. It was definitely an engaging read. I couldn't put it down, actually, although I wanted to because Strayed's life choices, which continued even to her last days on the trail, seemed to learn nothing, no profound revelations, and were just so bad. There was so little to get excited about. I only enjoyed the trail life but even that was derailed by - again - her life choices. And, she was all about forgiving herself but she didn't seem to care whether she asked others for forgiveness, nuts. And, it seems to me that all her 'problems' were of her own making, although she didn't see that throughout the entire book. What is it she learned? I'm stumped. Nothing profound, here. The book did, however, make me want to go hiking and it was so well-written memoir. I do wonder if maybe Strayed figured things out afterwards, in the years following.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. I read this book published in 1966 for my 2020 Reading Goal - read a book published in each year since I was born. As I was perusing multi-lists of books published there were many years I hadn't heard an inkling of the books on the list so I read the synopsis and reviews when making my decisions to add books to my list. For 1966 I added Flowers for Algernon and The Jewel and the Crown. I added a few years worth of books to my hold's list at the library and Flowers for Algernon showed up first.

 

 

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. I read this book published in 1996 for my 2020 Reading Goal - read a book published in each year since I was born. Having read Krakauer's Into Thin Air I knew without a doubt that I would enjoy his investigative writing on Chris (Alex) McCandless, the young man who walked into the wilds of Alaska and never walked out. What happened to McCandless up to the time his remains were found? What led McCandless to lead the life he apparently had? So many questions and Krakauer handles every imaginable avenue with superb writing and engaging text.

 

 

A Quiet Life in the Country by T.E. Kinsey. Set in the early 1900's in England, a Lady and her lady's maid (who, as we find out, have the unconventional relationship of the times, as best friends rather than Lady and Lady's maid) have moved from the big city for the quiet life in the country and stumble upon a murder. The ladies insinuate themselves into the investigation as well as begin investigating on their own. Another murder, and a theft firmly plants the whip-smart, clever, quick-witted, and delightful ladies characters into solving the plethora of mysteries. Having read enough books with British language of the times, there were still some language-usage barrier that I had to navigate, but did so without it hindering my delight of the writing, whatsoever. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

"Are You There God? It's me, Margaret" by Judy Blume. Yes, it's true, I never read this growing up but during my research I saw this book at the top of every list of books published in 1970, I knew I had to pick this book for my 2020 Reading Goals - read a book published in every year since I was born - for 1970. It's a coming of age book, not young adult, but middle grade and should be read considering the times. Throughout the book Margaret has regular conversations with God. She also is confronted with many things kids are confronted with growing up in the middle years, kissing boys, menstruation, gossiping, self-esteem, mean-girl attitudes and navigating the school years. Her teacher gives her class a year long assignment and Margaret chooses choosing a religion. Throughout the year she engages in the surface understandings of various religions and ends up 'unfriending' God (although she misses Him afterwards). What Margaret doesn't realize is that it isn't about religion and she had the beginnings of a relationship all along.

 

All About Me 2019 | Book Club

Our Between the Covers book club held the second meeting last Monday and it was a resounding success. We came together to discuss our FIRST book club selection, The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. After a short time of fellowship, dessert, a delectable Southern Caramel Cake I had baked that afternoon, and coffee, we began a lengthy and compelling discussion of The Alice Network. Everyone participated and contributed without a conversation intermission.

I had great trepidation leading up to the meeting, but I prayed fervently for a successful book club, and by the end of the meeting I was giddy. It seemed to be a resounding success. The last few minutes of the night we reviewed the selection of 6 books I had chosen for September's book club reading. It truly was a difficult choice but we all agreed upon Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens with the caveat that several of the books from the list would make it into offerings for October.