For the second year in a row, I have set a reading goal of 100 books. I managed to read and/or listen to 119 books. I have always been a voracious reader, resorting to reading cereal boxes when there was nothing else handy to read. I will probably exceed the 100 books again this year at the rate I’m going. So far, I’ve read seven books. I’ve broken down my goal into smaller ones as well: to read a classic a month, to read six nonfiction books this year, and to complete a formal reading challenge.

My reading challenges come from two sources: The Book Girls, who host several challenges such as the Book Lover’s year-long challenge with a different book related theme each month, a decades challenge, a “lifetime” challenge, and an In-case-you-missed-it challenge. Read with Allison also has a challenge list that inspires me to push out of my comfort zones. I also subscribe to the Book of the Month Club and the Aardvark Book Club as a source of books.

So far in January, I have finished seven books already.

I actually started two books in December of last year, The Secret Garden and The Teller of Small Fortunes. I had never read The Secret Garden as a child, but I had seen the movie with Gary Oldman several years ago and enjoyed it. I was entranced by the book and the way Mary and Colin grew as characters.

The Teller of Small Fortunes was a slow starter for me, and I put it aside during the holidays. However, once I picked it up again, I was hooked. This is the story of a fortune-teller who finds a family as she travels from town to town telling “small fortunes,” hoping to avoid the attention of the guild of magicians and seers. It is also a story of reconciliation and second chances.

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books caught me by surprise. I expected it to be more humorous, and there are some comic moments. But the subject is all too serious–and timely. Lula Dean sets out to clean up her town by getting rid of books that she believed would corrupt the young people. Strange things begin to happen, though, when she sets up her own Little Library in her front yard, stocked with “safe” titles, she thinks. People start getting books and adding their own. Then Lula decides to run for mayor after her rival runs on a plank to remove the statue of a Civil War general, who just happens to be Lula’s great-great-great grandfather. That’s when all you-know-what breaks out and the truth about the popularity of Lula Dean’s library comes to light. The novel is so timely because it mirrors what is happening throughout the country today as more and more communities face questions of censorship.

Every so often I have to reread a favorite classic. I have had a love-hate relationship with Wuthering Heights since I was in high school and my English teacher wanted me to read it. It was one of those books that I was not quite ready for at sixteen, but ten years later, it became MY book and the basis for my master’s thesis. On StoryGraph, Wuthering Heights is classified as a romance, but it is unlike the typical romance. If Cathy and Heathcliff are in love, it is a dangerously obsessive love. What I love about this novel now is the language Emily Bronte uses. It is clear that she is heavily influenced by the first generation Romantic poets Wordsworth and Coleridge as well as by Byron and other later Romantic writers. The final paragraph of the novel has to be my all-time favorite passage in literature:

“I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath, and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.”

Lord Redmond and Daniel Haze return in Irina Shapiro’s latest mystery in the Redmond and Haze Mystery series. This time, they investigate the murder of a medium who had helped them in a previous case locate Daniel’s missing daughter. They also grapple with their trust of those who claim to communicate with the dead. Daniel uses his expertise as a police officer working for Scotland Yard while Lord Redmond uses the medical sciences to provide important clues to solve the crime. I’ve already pre-ordered the next book in the series.

The Stolen Queen is a historical mystery/thriller, according to StoryGraph. When an important artifact, a fragment of a statue of a little known female Egyptian pharaoh is stolen during the annual Met Gala, a curator must face a tragedy in her past to recover the stolen piece. She must also return to Egypt, the place where she faced that tragedy. With the help of Annie, Charlotte not only recovers the stolen artifact, but she also recovers her family. I enjoyed the dual time periods. The novel starts slowly; however, the last third of the book moves very quickly, and I was hard pressed to put it down. (I may or may not have stayed awake until the wee hours of the morning reading.)

I’m not sure what to say about Therese Bohman’s Andromeda. It is a very short novel, just under 200 pages. It is beautifully written, the language often poetic. Bohman creates some beautiful metaphors about reading and the importance it can have. There are two narrators: Sofie, a young intern hired to become an editor for the publisher’s Andromeda imprint, and Gunnar, the editor-in-chief, who mentors and grooms Sofie with the idea that she would take his place when he retired. The book is roughly divided into two halves with each narrator telling his or her story. Sofie focuses on her relationship with Gunnar and the publishing business whereas Gunnar narrates his “life story.” The thread that runs through both parts is the importance reading and books had in their lives and in their relationship. I have to admit, though, that I’m not sure I can say I liked the book, but I will say that I’m glad I read it.

Now, I’m ready to start book number eight from a pile of books I bought last year. That’s another one of my goals: to read last year’s purchases. I think I’m going to read Mistress of Lies by K. M. Enright next. I’ve seen it come up on several “best of 2024” lists recently. It’s been collecting dust for a while.