Year: 2024

Book Challenge Complete

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I challenged myself to read all the books on my Women Writers mug this year, and I completed the challenge about a month ago. You can read more about my 2024 Reading Challenge here.

Most of the books are important historically more than because of good writing or engaging plots. One book stood out to me for personal reasons: The Scarlet Pimpernel.

I wasn’t sure if I’d already read it, so decided to read it in case I hadn’t. About a chapter in, I started thinking about my older brother, who died almost a decade ago. There was nothing about the book or characters that should have made me think about my brother, but all through my reading of The Scarlet Pimpernel, I thought about David.

As children and teenagers, David and I were big readers. We read a lot, and we talked about books too. Although I didn’t remember the book (even as I was reading it), I was certain that David had suggested I read it and then we must have talked about it together. It was definitely the kind of book we both would have enjoyed as teenagers.

So, I’m happy I did this challenge, although I don’t see myself doing a 2025 reading challenge. I already am constrained in what I read by my three book clubs and the books I read for work.

Stay tuned, as my post of the best books of the year, 2024 will be coming soon.

Non Serio in Stevens Point

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Last year, before we left Gdansk, when our friends in the Polish choir, Non Serio, suggested coming to visit us in Wisconsin, we said, “Yes! Do!” Meaning it but not expecting that it would really happen. Well it did! Lucky us!

The choir spent several days in Chicago, sight-seeing and singing concerts, then came up to Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

So, we held a welcome party for them with help from the Polish Heritage Awareness Society of Central Wisconsin. We ate, we sang, and we had a wonderful time.

Then, the Polish members of the choir met their host families and went off to experience life in small town America! Andy and I hosted Zbigniew and Brygita. Lucky us! Brygita made delicious potato and cheese pierogi. We showed them around downtown Stevens Point, popped in at the Riverfront Rendezvous, ate at the Cozy Kitchen (a real American diner), drank at District 1 Brewing , drove to DePere to visit the Oneida Nation Museum, and spent an absolutely incredible five days with them.

Of course, this choir wasn’t in Stevens Point only to socialize. They had concerts to perform! Non Serio performed at Michelsen Hall on the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point campus, both alone and with a pick-up “Yankee choir” of Americans.

Non Serio also performed on the Main Stage in Pfiffner Park for Steven Point’s Independence Day festival, Riverfront Rendezvous, finishing just before a downpour of rain that soaked yours truly.

Non Serio’s final performance occurred at St. Peter’s Church, where they sang at the Saturday mass.

They headed off to Chicago early on Sunday morning, to give one more Chicago concert before their flight to New York City, where they have several concerts before heading home to Gdansk.

I cannot express the depth of my gratitude to these wonderful people. When we were in Gdansk, they welcomed us into their choir family–even me, who cannot sing! They are kind, fun, interesting, and open to everything. They are wonderful people. I cannot wait to return to Gdansk, to re-connect with these friends. My heart overflows.

A Busy Bookish April

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I’m doing some April events and invite you to come!

Friday, April 5, 6-9pm. Cornerstone Press Gala. I’m a Cornerstone Press author and will be helping them celebrate 40 years of publishing. The event is free, but they request a “ticket” purchase, so they’ll know how many people plan to attend.

Friday, April 12, 7-9pm. Caravan Wine Shop will be hosting a Wilde Wagers event. I’ll do a short reading, we’ll discuss the book (those who have read it), and you can buy the book (if you haven’t read it). Most importantly, Keith will have some ratafia, a beverage ordered by Genevieve when she is trying to be Olivia. What is ratafia? What does it taste like? Come and learn all about this interesting beverage (and my book).

Saturday, April 27, 10am – 6pm. (My assigned time is 10am-noon) Bound to Happen Books‘ Local Author Festival. Local authors will be at this bookstore, selling, talking, signing, and maybe more? Stop by and learn about writers in the community.

My 2024 Reading Challenge

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I don’t usually do reading challenges. I mostly just try to keep up with my book clubs (I’m in three), with what’s new in children’s literature, and still have time to pick up recommended books every now and then. However, several years ago, I bought this mug of women writers at my favorite local bookstore, Bound to Happen Books, and every time I use it, I wonder about some of the works.

I’ve read many of the novels, short stories, and poetry on the mug, but not all. My goal is to have read them all by the end of the year. If you cannot properly see the names on the mug, they are listed below. The titles in regular font, I have already read. The titles in bold are what I’ll be reading this year:

  1. Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti
  2. The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
  3. The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon
  4. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
  5. A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft
  6. Vera by Elizabeth Von Arnim
  7. The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
  8. Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
  9. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  10. The Old English Baron by Clara Reeve
  11. Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth
  12. The Age of Innocence by Edith Warton
  13. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
  14. Our Nig by Harriet E. Wilson
  15. The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield
  16. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
  17. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  18. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
  19. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  20. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (I might have read this??)
  21. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  22. An Australian Heroine by Mrs. Campbell Praed
  23. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (I might have read this??)
  24. Middlemarch by George Eliot
  25. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
  26. The Female Quixote by Charlotte Lennox
  27. Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton
  28. Oroonoko by Aphra Behn
  29. The Bondwoman’s Narrative by Hannah Crafts
  30. Hope is the Thing with Feathers by Emily Dickinson

How many of these have you read? Do you have a favorite?

Do you have a reading challenge for the year?

Best Books of 2023: July – Dec 2023

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I read so many excellent books in the first part of 2023, I made a blog post about it. The second half of the year was equally amazing. Below are my favorites of the books I read, July-December of 2023. Again, there are so many I’m going to attempt just one-sentence summaries with links to the authors’ pages for each.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr: Using the Greek myth of Aethon, creative and amazing characters, from the past, present, and future find meaning in the midst of great peril.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro: In the not-so-distant future, Klara is an “artificial friend,” a robot with sentience and the goal of aiding her troubled teen “owner” into a happy and stable adulthood.

Artemis by Andy Weir: This fast-paced thriller, set in the future on the moon, features the fabulous Jasmine Bashara, a small-time criminal tempted to make a big-time heist that will get her into more trouble than she can imagine.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabriella Zevin: The story of three friends who create a video game company. This well written description is stolen from the author’s website: this is a “novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, games as art form, technology and the human experience, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect.”

The Butterfly Collector by Tea Cooper: Australian historical fiction. I was lucky enough to get an ARC to read for a Historical Novels Society review.

A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat: (intended for ages 9-12) Set in a Thailand-like fantasy world, a child born in prison and a child born to a prison warden seek justice and truth. In part, the story mirrors Les Miserable with added excitement and great world-building.

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell: I finally got around to reading this much-hyped book, and it deserves all the praise it got. This is the story of Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet. Exceptional writing and story-telling.

The Lies of Locke Lamorra by Scott Lynch: Another book I should have already read. Fantasy at its best. The story of Locke Lamorra, the renowned thief and rogue, from his orphaned childhood to his most dangerous exploits.

Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket: If you enjoyed his Series of Unfortunate Events, you’ll love this Snicket mystery which involves diving into philosophy. I couldn’t find anything about this book on the Lemony Snicket website, but this one at his publisher’s is clever.

I was lucky to read two phenomenal books set before, during, and after the Japanese occupation of Malaysia:

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng: This book is written so softly, so beautifully, so peacefully, you almost don’t think of it as a book about pain and loss and war and torture, which it is. Short-listed for the Booker Prize.

The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan: The story of the Alcantara’s family who are Chinese-Malaysian, told through the perspectives of Cecily (mother), Jujube (teen daughter) Abel (teen son) and Jasmin (young daughter). The decisions each makes will have devastating impacts on the rest of their lives.

Letters from Clara edited by Janet Newman: This is the only nonfiction book on my list. These are the edited letters of Clara Pagel of Wausau, Wisconsin. On her own, she traveled the world from 1936 to 1939 and wrote letters home to her friends and fellow YWCA members. Her curiosity, intrepid spirit and thoughtful insights about the world, just before it broke out in war, are fascinating.

One Came Home by Amy Timberlake: (for children ages 9-12 and adults) When the sheriff decides that the unrecognizable body in her sister’s dress is her sister, Georgie Burkhardt doesn’t believe it and sets off to find her sister. Set in 1871 Wisconsin, during the massive passenger pigeon roost, as well as the Peshtigo fire, this is fast-paced, historical thriller for kids.

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton: Using interviews, articles, and letters this tells the story of fictional rock duo Opal and Nev’s rise and fall in music history. Walton is masterful in the changing voices of those interviewed and her descriptions. Everything feels so real. An amazing look at the music industry and its handling of gender and race.

The Eyes and the Impossible by David Eggers: (for ages 8-12 and up) I hope this wins the 2024 Newbery Award. Johannes is a wild dog that lives in a large park with other animals, including two buffalo who reside in a comfortably large pen. As the elders, the buffalo make decisions and solve disputes among the other animals. Clever and fast, Johannes is the eyes for the buffalo, running around the park and reporting on what is going on. I won’t give anything more away. This is an enchanting animal story with beautiful, full-page illustrations by Shawn Harris every 20 or so pages.

The Mermaid and the Bear by Ailish Sinclair: A magical love story set in late 1500s Scotland that encounters the devastation caused by hate, jealousy, and the abuse of power. This story made me cry.

Thanks for making it to the end of this long post! I read 96 books last year (almost 100!), and SO many of them were excellent. How lucky is that? I wish I could have recommended more, but this post has already gotten very long.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about these books, your own favorite books of the past year, or anything else you’d like to mention.

Happy 2024 and may it be a great year of reading!