Reading 2024: Fiction

 As promised, here are the fiction books I read this year: 

1.    Beartown by Fredrik Backman

2.    Kindred by Octavia Butler

3.    House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

4.    A Land More Kind than Home by Wiley Cash

5.    The Skin and its Girl by Sarah Cypher

6.    Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

7.    The Long Way Home by Louise Penny (Inspector Gamache series)

8.    The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club series)

9.    A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

10.    Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

11.    James by Percival Everett

12.    As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

13.    Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

14.    The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman (Thursday Murder Club series)

As I mentioned in my post on non-fiction, I read more NF than fiction this year, although it was only one more, so it was about even. 

I liked all of these, but the clear favorite was number 13, Theo of Golden, the story of an elderly gentleman who goes to live in a seemingly random community in Georgia and makes an indelible mark. You are not likely to find this on any reading lists (by all indications, it is self-published), but I think you are likely to find it as compelling, poignant and moving as I did. 

Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 5 were all selections from the book club I started attending early in the year, and all books I would not likely have read had it not been for that group. I enjoyed all of them and had the good fortune to visit Edith Wharton's (author of House of Mirth) home, "The Mount," on my trip to New England in October. Unfortunately, as the year progressed, for a number of reasons my book club attendance lapsed, but I hope to go back in January. 

I continued my plodding along in the Inspector Gamache series with The Long Way Home. It was up to the usual standards. I also marked off two more in the Thursday Murder Club series, both of which were excellent. 

Covenant of Water is a close second behind Theo of Golden, by the author of Cutting for Stone. Weighing in at over 700 pages, I use it as my excuse for reading fewer books this year! 

James and Demon Copperhead (another long one) were also page turners worth calling out. My nod to the classics was As I Lay Dying (which I picked up at the recommendation of a friend who is reading through all of Faulkner's works). John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany might not yet qualify as a classic, but it's one I had heard about for years but never gotten around to reading. It was worth the wait. 

A Land More Kind than Home is the second I've read by North Carolina author Wiley Cash, who I discovered last year. I highly recommend.

The TBR stack for 2025 is already high. Several of you who read this blog have made good recommendations over the years, and I hope you will keep them coming. 

Reading 2024: Non-fiction

As far as quantity of books, I did not have my best year in 2024, coming in at 29. I doubt I will finish another one by year-end, so this is probably a good number. 

Interestingly, non-fiction edged out fiction this year. I must say I read some very good non-fiction books, as follows: 

1.    How to Know a Person by David Brooks

2.    People to be Loved by Preston Sprinkle

3.    American Carnage by Tim Alberta

4.    The Kingdon, the Power and the Glory by Tim Alberta

5.    The Spirit of Our Politics by Michael Wear

6.    Prayer in the Night by Tish Harrison Warren

7.    Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar Dillard

8.    Mostly What God Does by Savannah Guthrie

9.    LIV and Let Die by Alan Shipnuck

10.    Hannah's Child by Stanley Haeurwas

11.    Ghosted by Nancy French

12.    Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream by Doris Kearns Goodwin

13.    An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin

14.    A Fine Sight to See by Sophie Hudson

15.    On Call by Anthony Fauci

As you can see, there are a couple of repeat authors, Tim Alberta and Doris Kearns Goodwin. 

The first Alberta book listed (America Carnage) is about the Trump presidency, while the second one (The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory) centers around the unlikely, but very real, partnership of Trump with evangelical Christianity. Both are excellent, although I am probably biased as I agree so strongly with Alberta's point of view on Donald Trump. 

The second book listed by Doris Kearns Goodwin is the joint memoir she began with her late husband, Richard N. Goodwin, and finished following his death. The first is a detailed account of the LBJ presidency and more about his life, from the front row seat the author had by working for him, and post-presidency when he asked her to help write his memoirs. I loved both of these.

I would call out three others: Prayer in the Night, Tish Harrison Warren's (my favorite Anglican priest, who also wrote Liturgy of the Ordinary) lovely homage to the Compline Prayer; Hannah's Child, theologian Stanley Hauerwas's memoir which is at times hilarious but also so deep I had to read certain passages over and over; and On Call, Dr. Anthony Fauci's autobiography which, if I had to pick a favorite from this list, this would probably be it. While most of us came to know him because of COVID, this retrospective on his life covers much, much more. 

I would recommend all of these listed and hope you will find something of interest. 

I will be back soon to close the year with my fiction list.

(In the meantime, Merry Christmas!)

Thankful

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. 

I elaborated on this theme in my Substack column, to which many of you subscribe (for which I am grateful), so I'll not say much more about that other than to wish all of you reading this a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you will get to enjoy time with family and/or friends. 

I am mainly stopping by here so I will have at least one entry for the month of November. It is not for lack of material that I have been scarce in this space but, rather, finding -- or making -- the time to write something of interest. 

When I do take time to write more, I want to tell you about an unexpected trip I made a few weeks ago to south Arkansas to attend the funeral of a high school friend. I got to see dear friend Kelly and other friends from long ago, and at times I felt guilty enjoying myself as much as I did when it was for such a sad occasion. 

But then, I thought, I hope Joe (our friend who passed away) would want it that way -- for old friends to gather and honor his memory, while enjoying each other's company. I'll tell you more later, but it was a reminder of the importance of relationships, whether they are from long ago or newer ones. 

I will also be back to tell you about the books I have read this year. I have not added them up, but I believe non-fiction might have outnumbered fiction, which would be unusual for me. More to come on that. 

My son-in-law's cancer journey continues. More on that later too, and I would continue to humbly ask for your prayers for him. 

Hope all of you enjoy time with those you love over the next few days. I'll be back soon.