First of all, please forgive me for not getting this up until now. I see that last year I promised to post this list on Dec. 1st so that some might purchase them for Christmas gifts. I have it noted on my calendar for next year!
I read a book about 15 years ago titled Nothing Remains the Same – Rereading and Remembering by Wendy Lesser. It was about books that she had read as a young woman and then her experience with them 20 or so years later. While I didn’t read it this year, I plan to enjoy it once again (!) as I have been revisiting a few favorites and noticing how I have changed as I interact with the titles as a more mature person. Have you experienced this? This year I read aloud Peace Like a River by Leif Enger to my teens. This was my second time through it. I liked it the first time but I loved it this time. I can’t wait to read Virgil Wander this year. I also reread City of Bells. How can Elizabeth Goudge get better with each reading? Perhaps I am paying more attention.
So here is my list with the top five recommendations listed first! Please link to your list if you have one and let me know if you have any thoughts about these. This is a record of the books I read mainly at night when I retire for the day. It does not include the books I read for our school nor does it include the dozens of books I read only portions of. The Bible, devotionals, Charlotte Mason’s 6 volume series, and research stuff – none of that is included here. An “*” means I highly recommend the title.
1. Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell – In Ourselves, Part II, Charlotte Mason devotes 8 pages (!!!) to this story as it relates to what she calls “The Final Unchastity”. Does she devote that much time over consecutive pages for any other title? Having enjoyed Gaskell’s North and South, I knew I would like the writing style. So, go read Ourselves, Part II, Chapter VI The Rulings of Conscience In the House of the Body: Chastity (Part 3.) That should whet your appetite for this novel. Mr. Benson was the most intriguing character to me and my commonplace book was greatly enlarged. The book reflects Victorian sentiments about sin and the “fallen woman”. If I had a book discussion with teens going on right now, we would definitely read this book. The Penguin Classics edition has very helpful notes.
2. On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior – I enjoy all of Karen’s books – both Fierce Convictions and Booked have been on my lists! Here’s why I like On Reading Well so much. The following quote is about Charlotte Mason and part of her process in choosing examples for her books.
Ourselves was largely written abroad, dictated to Miss Kitching.
‘We must find an instance of that,’ Miss Mason would say, and
an example of behaviour would come either from her or from
Miss Kitching, both delving into the realms of literature and
history.p. 88 The Story of Charlotte Mason by Essex Cholmondeley
And without going into too much detail (in my talks on Ourselves we really explore this concept), these examples from literature were one part of Mason’s ideas on moral education/character development. I feel that much of what Karen so skillfully does in this book is to delve into the realms of literature and history to inspire us about character. Each chapter was a delicious journey and will make you want to read (or reread) all the books mentioned.
3. Humble Roots: How Humility Grounds and Nourishes Your Soul by Hannah Anderson – Hannah lovingly shares the theology of humility through beautiful gardening metaphors. I love her personal stories about her life at a small church in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I also love reading about humility.
4. Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin and John Everett Millais by Suzanne Fagence Cooper – I dabble in reading about the Pre-Raphaelites. I enjoy their art. While in the Lake District this past year and visiting the Ruskin Museum, I picked up this title. It is a bizarre true tale and well-told in this book. (The movie only skims the surface.)
5. Prairie Fires – The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser – all LIW geeks should read this one. Full of the historical background and cultural influences that surrounded LIW’s life. The author brings her own bias, however. Nary a mention of LIW’s faith and its influence but when you reach the end, you read about her Bible that was covered in notes and thoughts. Knowing all she lived through, in particular her rocky relationship with her daughter, one wishes we could dig into Laura’s thoughts about God and the universe.
6. The Jumping Off Place by Marian Hurd McNeely*
7. spill simmer falter wither by Sara Baume
8. The Great Good Thing by Andrew Klavan*
9. American Phoenix – John Quincy and Louisa Adams, the War of 1812, and the Exile that Saved American Independence by Jane Hampton Cook
10. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Shaffer and Barrows*
11. Home by Marilynne Robinson
12. Lizzie Siddal – The Tragedy of a Pre-Raphaelite Supermodel by Lucinda Hawksley
13. Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown
14. Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
15. The Philosophy of Art in the 21st Century by James Stroud
16. Made for More by Hannah Anderson*
17. The Dragon’s Trail – The Biography of Raphael’s Masterpiece by Joanna Pitman*
18. 24/6 – a prescription for a healthier, happier life by Matthew Sleeth, MD*
19. Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
20. City of Bells by Elizabeth Goudge*
Past lists of reading goodness:
How about you? Have read any of these? Do you have your own list? Share it here or link to your post!
Teaching from peace,
Nancy
I just have to say that I love Andrew Klavan’s book, too! It is one of my favorite Christian books. I also loved Humble Roots, and I am a big Unsedt fan as well.
Love you good list!
Dear Susan,
I really enjoyed that book, too. I read an excerpt for our morning meditation at the LER last year!
Warmly,
Nancy
Your lists are always so wonderful and give me many items for my own TBR!! I was blessed to get to read so many books that fed my soul this year. A few really wonderful modern books — Laurus, A Gentleman in Moscow (reread…), Hamlet’s Blackberry, Off the Clock (time management, best book on this I’ve read). And some really awesome classics — The Professor by Charlotte Bronte, several books by Edith Wharton, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte. This year I am excited about the possibility of tracking down some more of Sigrid Unset’s out of print books since I’m reading and really enjoying one of them now, The Faithful Wife. I had no idea she had written so many modern novels that had been translated to English, until I happened across this one in a secondhand shop in Boston. Also in my stack: Peace Like a River, Virgil Wander, more books about Italy by Tim Parks, Atomic Habits, more Edith Wharton, a few by Henry James, and I’m going to try AGAIN to get into the Divine Comedy. And I just put Ruth by Gaskell into my cart 🙂 Thanks Nancy!
Hi, Andrea! You have a wonderful list, yourself! I read One Day in the Life with a group of teens about 5 years ago and to this day I remember the epiphany I had about the servant. That still makes me smile. And I read all four Master of Hestviken and all three Kristin Lavransdatter books years ago during a Undset binge. I really want to read her Catherine of Seina. I should go buy that now…
Warmly,
Nancy
I went on that same Undset binge a few years ago! KL and Master of Hestviken are just both incredible. My husband really enjoyed MH too. Had no idea she had written about Catherine of Siena! Thanks for another great tip 🙂
I’m a fan of Leif Enger, too and was very excited to get my library copy of Virgil Wander. It did not disappoint–it reminded me a little of Wendell Berry’s Jayber Crow. I love that Enger only puts out a book every handful of years; I think that time in between leads to such quality stories. 🙂
Now I am really excited to read it! That’s high praise! I agree. And I also like that he’s from Minnesota. It shows.
Warmly,
Nancy
I have never read any Elizabeth Gaskell (but I love the BBC production of North and South & I LOVE Wives and Daughters and received the DVD for Christmas,) and you’ve inspired me to check her out this year. I’m writing her on my list this morning. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society is such a sweet book. And I’m also intrigued by Humble Roots–it sounds right up my alley.
My lightweight list is here: https://thejoyfulhouse.blogspot.com/2019/01/2018-reading-list.html
Thank you for always posting your lists! I love reading them every year!
Hello, Polly!
I need to watch Wives and Daughters. Thank you for your kind words. I will hop on over to your list now.
Warmly,
Nancy
Hi Nancy! I also really loved Ruth by Gaskell when I read it. Very thought-provoking! I love how Ourselves tied into a lot of the other things you were reading. A City of Bell is my favorite Goudge. 🙂 I love your list because there are so many unique biographies, an area I’m not as versed in. Have you seen the Potato Peel movie on Netflix? Did they ruin the book? 😉 Just so you know, I look forward to your list every year. Here is my link to my favorites below:
https://ampine-hearthridgereflections.com/2019/01/02/favorite-reads-of-2018/
Dear Amy,
Yes, I saw it. First I saw it when it was released…in the Lake District! Then I watched it on Netflix in the U.S. No, they didn’t ruin the book. The book is better (more details!) but the movie is delightful, I think. YOUR list always has inspiration for me! Going over to read it now…
Warmly,
Nancy
What?! How lovely to have seen in first in The Lake District! Swoon…anything in the Lake District. Haha! So good to know that it was lovely.
I knew you’d appreciate that detail…
Nancy – Great list as always! I am curious how you choose books…perhaps you have addressed this before on your blog somewhere. Choosing a book makes my heart palpitate…well, not really, but it is very overwhelming for me because there are SO.MANY.GREAT.BOOKS out there!! Then I lose focus and try to read several (and I mean several) at once. Failure every time! Ha! I am not great at following those “Reading Challenges”. I really, really want to because then problem solved; but I feel penned in by them. But then I spin in circles when I am choosing. *SIGH* Ahhhh…..what a problem to have, right??! 🙂 Happy New Year! (My latest approach to choosing is having my 11-year old go down to my new beautiful bookshelves and randomly pick one for me! LOL!)
Thank you, Dani!
I agree that they are so.many.great.books out there. And reading challenges work great for some but I’ve never used them. So Charlotte has this quote from Ourselves that you might be familiar with:
“We must not amuse ourselves with the notion that we have done something when we have only formed a good resolution. Power comes by doing and not by resolving, and it is habit that serves us, whether it be the habit of Latin verse or of carving. Also, and this is a delightful thing to remember, every time we do a thing helps to form the habit of doing it; and to do a thing a hundred times without missing a chance, makes the rest easy.”
Vol. 4, Ourselves, Book 1, pp. 208-209
My habit is to pick books based on what I’m interested in or what I might need to read with others. When life gets complicated, I choose a living book for YA that I can easily read. That does double-duty as a pre-read and also mother culture. Like you, I have a very long queue! They are on my nightstand and each evening I read some from what I am up for. Each night. Every night. And I can only stack so many on my table. Because I have tried to choose based on quality, I do try and finish whatever is there, yet I like the choice each evening. So I don’t have a straightforward answer but only what has worked for me and that is the habit of reading every evening. Slow and steady.
Press on! Read the next thing!
Warmly,
Nancy
I commented on your instagram that I loved Humble Roots. I’m excited to reread it again with my book club this year. Im curious what you thought about Marilynn Robinson….I read Gilead this past year and didn’t love it although many people do. Ourselves is on my list this year and I’m adding Ruth to my list I think now. Sounds awesome. You can see my to read list here http://www.daisyeyes.com/2018/12/31/reading-goals-2019/
Hi, Aimee!
Thanks for sharing your interesting list! It looks like you have lots of richness and depth planned for the new year in the reading department. Marilynn is a brilliant writer; I especially like her essays. I liked Housekeeping, Gilead, Home, and Lila. Gilead made me think hard about some things and I reread it years ago. Home was also good and I really enjoyed seeing how she developed Jack’s story, but it was also depressing and made me want a better resolution – something more. Perhaps that was the point. Lila was an astonishing story of John’s second wife. Sometimes she shares a sentence so perfect, I write it down immediately. But I don’t know that I “love” her work. And my response to her writing is to want to think about it some more, not discuss it with a group. Does that make sense?
I have also learned that when others (usually older and wiser!) say something is very good or important to read, I might not feel the same way the first time I read it. So I set it aside to think about it and then try again later. Most of the time I come around and realize the value (for instance, Flannery O’Connor) – but not always (for instance, the Mitford series. Hold the tomatoes. I’ll try again soon!). I hated Miss Read stories the first time I tried them. What was the point here? I gave them another try a few years later and read all.of.them with pure delight.
But isn’t this conversation about books part of the richness, the stuff that makes us unique and human? We don’t all have the same tastes in books and hearing what others love and don’t love is fascinating to me. It clearly is to you, too.
Warmly,
Nancy
What a wonderful list, Nancy. I’m currently enjoying On Reading Well, I’m reading it with a friend, and we are reading or re-reading the books in it.
Your list and reading experience is always so inspiring.
I intend to read Peace Like a River this coming year.
Silvia! It’s so nice to hear from you! How are you and your beautiful family? Thank you for your kind words and always-encouraging attitude. That’s a great idea for On Reading Well.
Warmly,
Nancy
Great list. I’ve got to download mine from Goodreads and then will rank my top 10. However, one of them is Prairie Fires. I loved the layering in of history to Laura’s story. So many historical gaps were filled in. And Rose?! What can I say? I noted the lack of faith references, but knew that she was rooted and grounded, so the lack didn’t bother me too much. Really enjoyed it! On Reading Well is pegged for my first start of 2019. ? I also love Elizabeth Gaskell (Cranford), but didn’t know about Ruth. Thanks for that! Let me add one to your stack (possibly): Sheperdess of Elk River Valley, by Margaret Duncan Brown. She stayed on in Colorado after her husband died of the 1918 Spanish flu and raised sheep all alone on her homestead. Her companions were her books! It’s amazing and all in her words, as she kept a diary for many years. Her niece’s husband was the executor of her estate and found her writings. I think you’ll love it. She is strong in faith and love for nature. I ordered through Bas Bleu Catalog.
Thanks, Jan! Shepherdess of Elk River Valley sounds interesting! I will look into it. And I would love to see your top 10 list!
Warmly,
Nancy
Wow – Shepherdess is a bit expensive right now!
Ah, your recommendation to order at the Bas Bleu catalog is affordable!
I know! Couldn’t believe the difference between Amazon and Bas Bleu! It’s on BB’s recommendation list, so maybe they have a special relationship with the publisher. Also forgive the misspelling of Shepherdess! I knew how to spell it, but my right thumb does odd things with Autocorrect! I hope you read the book. I’m rather smitten. ?