I had no intention of abruptly ending the year of blogging in mid-December on the subject of “rawdogging.” But the frenzy of activity swept us through Christmastide and into the new year with not-a-one blog post in sight!
I also cannot resist a list of reading materials, so before we venture too far into January, I have drawn up a list of some favorite reads of 2024. I’ve grouped them in three general categories as follows:
Children’s Books
Like C.S. Lewis, I contend that there are no “children’s stories” but only good tales that can be enjoyed by both young and old. A few of the titles that captivated me this year, I would include:
- Rufus M. by Eleanor Estes: Somehow, I was not consciously aware of “The Moffats” until this year. At the recommendation of a family member who was read to from the series as a child, we brought them into our home. In particular, “Rufus M.” is a marvelous book. The vignettes presented in each chapter offer different perspectives of childhood, innocence and growing older with the difficulty and harshness, but more than that, the delights and wonders of the world.
- Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers by Ralph Moody: This is a flashy and braggadocious book that conceals a quiet, moving story. The way the family members are conveyed in their courage, warmth, and idiosyncrasies is the kind of narrative portraiture that stays with you. I’ve found myself reflecting variously on the characters and the wild events of this book.
- Twig by Elizabeth Orton Jones: This is a far out choice, but something about it was irresistibly delightful. The brief, whimsical story follows a little girl, named Twig, on an adventure of being shrunk down to miniscule size in the dirty, ordinary yard of her apartment building. She then has minor adventures with the magical creatures therein. Short and fun.
- Kildee House by Rutherford George Montgomery: This quiet, meditative book captivated my imagination. Its themes are timely, it’s characters memorable. This is a simple and good story.
- Linnets and Valerians by Elizabeth Goudge: I read this book in 2023 but began 2024 still thinking about it and have since been reminded of it frequently. Goudge manages with great believability to create a family of wild children who respond well to patient discipline. A book of remarkable characters with great insight into taming savages.
Novels
Novels got short shrift this year amid lots of other happenings, reading, a nursling, and an obsessive interest with non-fiction (an unforgivable lapse of taste and common sense on my part). Still, there were a few that warrant note:
- True Grit by Charles Portis: Read for book club, this was the unexpected favorite. The narrator is unique, the action incredible.
- The Feast by Margaret Kennedy: Arguably, the perfect summer read, but this would be enjoyable any time of the year.
- Olav Audunsson by Sigrid Undset: The new translation of the Master of Hestviken, the tetralogy following the life of a Swedish man from boyhood to the bitter end, this is un-put-down-able! Undset’s gift for capturing human foibles, her ability to paint the bleakest of interpersonal turmoil, and the riveting setting of Medieval Scandinavia, there is so much to recommend this. But be forewarned: If you are prone to fits of despair, enter at your own peril. The gloom that enfolds the narrative is intense, but, as with Undset’s other work, there is a brilliant ray of hope over everything if you have eyes to see it.
Non-Fiction
- The Compleat Woman by Valerie Shore: I think I have raved enough about this one. Ironically, in a series of interviews that proclaim again and again that “there is no difference between men and women,” a group of women showed me how to be a mother with a career in a clear-eyed and uncomplicated way that I really enjoyed. Men will not get much out of it! This is a book for women, as the title obviously suggests. My reading of the Compleat Woman was greatly enhanced later in the year by Catherine Pakaluk’s “Hannah’s Children.”
- First Bite by Bee Wilson: Bee Wilson remains the woman who researches food and explains to me convincingly why I am wrong. A clever and mind-bending experience thinking about what we eat and why. It was in reading this book that I came to the startling conclusion that in all the discourse on breastfeeding versus formula-feeding I had never once heard someone talk about how things taste. Doesn’t taste have something to do with the way we learn to eat?
- A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken: An unexpected addition to the list is this memoir. When I first read it a decade ago, I would not have expected to list it as a favorite. This time through I found it to be a genuinely childlike story of true love. It helps that Vanauken is a good writer with many amusing asides along with the story of his earthly love and conversion to eternal love.
- The Empowered Wife by Laura Doyle: Let me join the ranks of women who must admit: this book changed my life. There is before “The Empowered Wife,” and there is after, for me. It is not a miracle, and it is not for everyone at every time, but Doyle articulates something of the mysterious interplay and dynamism of marriage with practical suggestions for encouraging harmony and intimacy. As Doyle said in an interview, hers is ultimately a self-improvement program. When people claim that it does not work for them it’s a bit like someone saying, “I tried exercise, and it didn’t work for me.” How? Resist if you must, but the results are nonpareil.
- With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa by E.B. Sledge: This was another book I read in 2023 but was thinking about in 2024. Perspective changing.
Onward and upward into 2025! First on the list is a much-needed dose in the department of novels. Happy reading!
