In the middle of our granddaughter's soccer game last weekend, my son-in-law inquired about my favorite book in 2024. I had no idea. Even after perusing my list later that day, I still didn't have a definitive answer. I loved the story in this one. The characters were incredible in that tale. I never knew the backstory behind that historic event. This narrative really made me think. And those other books, oh, I will definitely read again. (And some of them I already have). I read history, theology, some great novels, and lots of children's books. And the Bible, which holds us all together, more than we can know.
Here is my list for 2024. Hope you enjoyed some of these as well. Of making many books there is no end... Ecclesiastes 12.12.
Alongside my list of titles, for years I have archived notes or quotations from most of the books I read. I have included just a few nuggets from this year at the end of my booklist.
1. The Sound of Life’s Unspeakable Beauty by Martin Schleske (2020)
2. Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather (1931)
3. Waymaker: Finding the Way to the Life You’ve Always Dreamed Of by Ann Voskamp (2022)
4. The Many Assassinations of Samir, The Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri (2023)
5. The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis (1953)
6. The Eyes & The Impossible by Dave Eggers (2023)
7. Lifting the Veil: Imagination and the Kingdom of God by Malcolm Guite (2021)
8. Life After Power: Seven Presidents and their Search for Purpose Beyond the White House by Jared Cohen (2024)
9. The Reading Life: The Joy of Seeing New Worlds Through Others’ Eyes by C. S. Lewis (2019)
10. My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer by Christian Wiman (2013)
11. The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA by Liza Mundy (2023)
12. If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland (1938)
13. I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger (2024)
14. Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L’Engle (1980)
15. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia, MD (2023)
16. The Watchmaker’s Daughter by Larry Loftis (2023)
17. The Writing Life by Annie Dillard (1989)
18. Rules for a Knight: The Last Letter of Sir Thomas Lemuel Hawke by Ethan Hawke (2010)
19. Blue Ice and Other Stories from the Rink by Frank Ewert (2009)
20. Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus, Become like Him, Do as He did by John Mark Comer (2024)
21. The Women by Kristin Hannah (2024)
22. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande (2014)
23. The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez (2024)
24. Another Day: Sabbath Poems, 2013-2023 by Wendell Berry (2024)
25. The Elephant of Belfast by S. Kirk Walsh (2021)
26. Beneath the Swirling Sky by Carolyn Leiloglou (2023)
27. The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo (2024)
28. A Long Road on a Short Day by Gary D. Schmidt and Elizabeth Stickney (2020)
29. Blessed Are The Peacemakers: Christ’s Teachings about Love, Compassion and Forgiveness by Wendell Berry (2005)
30. On Wings of Love: Stories From Mission Aviation Fellowship by Lee Roddy (1981)
31. The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History by Sharon McMahon (2024)
32. Reclaiming Quiet: Cultivating A Life Of Holy Attention by Sarah Clarkson (2024)
33. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White (1952)
34. The Bible
The Sound of Life's Unspeakable Beauty by Martin Schleske (2020) Allow yourself to be led. Turn your troubles into prayer requests and let them come to rest before God.
Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus, Become like Him, Do as He did by John Mark Comer (2024) Don’t fight against your season; work with it.
Everyone is preaching a "gospel." The question is not "Are you preaching the gospel?" It's "What gospel are you preaching?"
The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez (2024) It’s a cemetery for stories, the woman replies. Con su permiso, how does one bury a story? If a story is never told, where does it go?
My Bright Abyss by Christian Wiman (2013) All too often the task to which we are called is simply to show a kindness to the irritating person in the cubicle next to us.
There is nothing more difficult to outgrow than anxieties that have become useful to us.
The Many Assassinations of Samir, The Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri (2023) The lesson is that prayer is not for the moon to stop for us. It is for us to stop and consider the work of heaven.
I ask Samir what we will do. He says, "God will think of something."
The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo (2024) “There are days,” said the countess as she put on a hat that featured a yellow bird, “when the soul can be rescued from despair by the right hat. Although some days, of course the soul seems beyond rescue, and then there is nothing to do except to be patient and wait for the light to return, with or without a hat upon your head.”
This, thought Marta, is one of those days.
Life After Power: Seven Presidents and their Search for Purpose Beyond the White House by Jared Cohen (2024) [John Quincy Adams] …in a much lower office found a much higher calling.
And he’s shown that defeat is not the end of the road – it can be the beginning of a new path.
[Jimmy Carter] “My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, whenever I can, for as long as I can.”
[George W. Bush] The next morning [after getting back to their ranch after 13 years as governor and president] Bush woke up early, as usual, and he asked Laura who was going to make the coffee. “You are,” she told him.
1 comment:
Great stack! I'm going to lift that quote from Wiman. My list for 2025 is already growing, many of which I started and fizzled out on last year when the next bright, shiny object inserted itself. This year, I'm determined to finish more!
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