2023 fiction

Here are the fiction books I read in 2023. Back soon to give commentary on my favorites and/or least favorites. 

1.    The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham

2.    The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman 

3.    The Year of Jubilee by Cindy Morgan

4.    American Dirt by Jeannie Cummins

5.    Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. 

6.    Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin

7.    When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash

8.    The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

9.    The Dog Stars by Peter Heller 

10.    Go as a River by Shelley Read

11.    The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

12.    Water from My Heart by Charles Martin

13.    Never by Ken Follett

14.    Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

15.    Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

2023 non-fiction

With a few minutes to spare on this Christmas Eve morning, I will list the non-fiction books I read this year.  This is for all of you, but especially blog friend Ed, who only reads non-fiction! :-)  

1.    Not In it to Win it by Andy Stanley

2.    The Marriage Bureau by Penrose Halson (This one is a historical novel, based on true events, but with some liberties taken with the dialogue. I'm calling it non-fiction.)

3.    The Sea Between Us by Yoseley Perera and Billy Ivey

4.    Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara

5.    Spare by Prince Harry. 

6.    All My Knotted Up Life by Beth Moore

7.    Pops by Craig Melvin

8.    In Search of History by Theodore H. White

9.    How to Stay Married by Harrison Scott Key

10.    From Strength to Strength by Arthur C. Brooks

11.    Never Settle by Marty Smith

12.    Laundry Love by Patric Richardson

13.    Leadership: in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin

14.    Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

15.    Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba Donati

I'll post fiction reading from this year in a few days, and I'll make some comments and tell you my favorites after that. There are some really good ones here! 

Season's greetings

Season's greetings to all. 

I'm definitely rethinking this blog. My Substack "newsletter," a continuation of the column I wrote for a local publican for 11 years, is my priority right now, so this space does not get as much attention as I might like. 

But since this is the place where I met a handful of friends I like to stay connected with, I want to keep it going. Postings here, for now, will simply be less frequent. 

I hope next week to post about books I read this year -- fiction and non-fiction. I have the list ready, so it should not be difficult to share here. 

I'll also share some pictures from our annual international Christmas. This year's country is Korea, chosen in part due to a comment from a reader here last year who cautioned us against lumping all Asian countries together as we did one year. 

Point well taken, and this year we are focusing on Korean food and decor. Wife and I visited a local Korean restaurant a few weeks ago and we will get most of our food from them, which will certainly make it much easier for preparation. 

So I hope to close out the year strong here. 

Now it's time to get ready for Christmas. Wife and I will go to Daughter's house in Huntsville Christmas Eve. We'll go to church with them and have dinner and will come home Christmas morning after we see what Santa brought our three grands there. 

Younger Son and his wife will join us here late Christmas Day, then everyone else will arrive the 26th. We'll pretend that is Christmas Eve and have our Korean dinner that night, then have our family Christmas on the 27th. 

There are 13 of us, with a new one due in April --Younger Son's first, a boy, and our sixth grand. 

I hope however, wherever and with whomever you are celebrating, it's most enjoyable. Merry Christmas and hope to see you back here soon!