In April 2023 I posted a “What I’ve Been Reading” post. I’m slightly embarrassed to say how many books I’ve read since then, but at that point I had already read more books in a year than I had the prior year, so I guess my own progress should be my measuring stick. 🙂

That embarrassing number is three. I’ve read three books in the last nine months. Four, if you count reading Little House on the Prairie to my big boys. But for all practical purposes, three. All of them parenting books, two of them by the same author.

I read Abbie Halberstadt’s M Is for Mama and Hard Is Not the Same Thing as Bad back to back. I’d already read the first book a while ago but wanted a refresher before diving into her second book. Turns out I liked M Is for Mama even more the second time around. The first time I read it I was really hoping for a more formulaic approach. Your kid does this; you do this. Of course, that’s not how life, and especially not parenting, is. Going into it this time knowing it wasn’t going to be like that allowed me to better process what she was saying, and I really enjoyed and was blessed by both M Is for Mama and Hard Is Not the Same Thing as Bad. Highly recommend both books.

I also read Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Earley. After reading two books written from a mother’s perspective, it was really refreshing and interesting to read one written from a dad’s perspective. I started in right away with sticky-noted sections to show to Eric later. That's the real test of how much I like a book. 🙂

I’m actually not feeling very book-review-ish at all at the moment. I'm more excited about what I'm going to be reading next. 🙂 So if you want to know more about the afore-mentioned books and what’s inside them, just do yourself a favor and go borrow or buy a copy. Very worthwhile reading, all three of them, especially if you’re in the parenting trenches.

2023 was definitely the year of the parenting books, which was really helpful and good, but I’m hoping to do some lighter reading in 2024.

Which is hilarious because by “light” I mean rereading all my favorite classics.

I had a great Christmas gift idea this past year. Sometimes when I can't think of a good gift, I try to think of what I would like to get, and then I do that. So this year (I mean, it's technically last year, but it feels tacky to keep saying that), I bought pretty copies of my favorite classics and gifted them. Honestly, you can't really go wrong here, especially if you buy the pretty ones. If the recipient reads the book and likes it, they'll have received a gift they're happy about; and if they don't read it, they'll still have a beautiful book to put on a shelf, and just that is a gift to be happy about. 🙂

Buying all these classics made me want to read them all again myself, so that’s my first reading goal of 2024. I’m already quite a ways into Far from the Madding Crowd and loving it so much. It's the only one on the list that I've only read once before, and it's almost like reading a new book.

In case you’re interested, here’s my list in order of favorites.

First up, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. This has been my favorite book since I was quite possibly a teenager and definitely since I was in my early twenties. I have no idea how many times I’ve read it or even how old I was when I first read it. I think my mom is the one who directed me to it. 🙂 When Eric and I were dating, Eric took one of my copies (I have three) along with him to Bible school to read while he was there, and people were quite impressed he was reading his girlfriend’s favorite book. 🙂 I just love the writing and the story so much. Jane. Mr. Rochester. Thornfield Hall. Perfection. And that lovely opening line . . . "There was no possibility of taking a walk that day." Walking and rain and gloom all feel delightfully synonymous to me with Jane Eyre.

My second favorite is A Falcon for a Queen by Catherine Gaskin. I randomly picked up this book at a book sale in Madras in 2012, and I don’t know when I actually read it. I had no idea it’d become one of my favorites; I just liked owning old books! I’m so glad I grabbed it though. It was actually fairly difficult to find a nice hardcover copy to give away, even with such handy tools as Amazon, Ebay, and Thriftbooks at my disposal. This is another beautifully told story. I remember opening this book and reading the prologue again and again, it was just that good. It sets the stage so perfectly . . . wistful, melancholy reflection in a place so wild and beautiful. "And forever, ceaselessly, my eyes search the skies for the sight of a falcon."

My third favorite is Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. I think I’ve liked every Thomas Hardy book I’ve read, but this one is definitely my favorite. Again, wonderful writing, and a story that is part sweet and part maddening, with all sorts of hilarious little tidbits and characters thrown in. I'm enjoying rereading it so much, and I found myself wanting to show so many parts of it to Eric that I decided he just needs to read it. 🙂 "Do you happen to want a shepherd, ma'am?" Gabriel and his cold-hearted darling . . . oh yes.

Eric will have to wait on reading that one though, because he is a very good husband, and when I said, "I really want to watch Tess of the D'Urbervilles with you because the music is amazing, but you should really read it first," he said, "Do you have a copy?" To which I looked at him incredulously and immediately left to go get yet another favorite off the bookshelf. Of course I have a copy. 🙂The last two books that I gifted are toss-ups on where they should come in the list, and honestly The Lord of the Rings and probably Les Miserables should come before either of these, but I didn’t really want to gift an entire series or a huge, fat book for Christmas, so I didn’t include those. There were also a few runners-up that just didn’t quite make the cut when I thought about gifting them, namely Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.

But back to my list . . .

Number four is Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I’ve hated Charles Dickens (A Tale of Two Cities), and I’ve loved Charles Dickens (David Copperfield), but this one is my favorite by him. I think it’s also one of the first classics I read and actually enjoyed, which opened up a whole world of old material that I didn’t know I’d love so much. I've read it multiple times but not recently enough to have any favorite lines. I'm excited to read it again. Pip. Miss Havisham. The lovely Estella. That elusive and mysterious benefactor. And countless other crazy and surprisingly detailed characters thrown in throughout the entire book. Charles Dickens is so good at that.

And lastly, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Believe it or not, this might be the only Austen book I’ve read. I’m not sure if I even own any of her others, so maybe once I’ve exhausted this list I should make a trip to the thrift store. 🙂 This feels like such an easy, fun read for a classic, and the story is just delightful, that famous first line included. "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." Elizabeth Bennet. Mr. Darcy. Need I say more?

Anyway, I'm excited about my winter reading list, and I'm off to a great start with Far from the Madding Crowd. If you haven't read it, you're missing out. 🙂

I thought about telling you to comment with your favorite classic and I'd choose someone to send one of my copies of Jane Eyre to, but I'm not sure I want to part with any of them. I had actually wrapped one of them up to give away and ended up unwrapping it and putting it back on my shelf after buying a different, prettier, non-sentimental-to-me one. So I won't make this a giveaway, but I would love to hear your favorite classic regardless!

And speaking of classics, look what I found when we were in Kansas City. 🙂 (Of course, if you're the observant type and saw my cover photo, you'll know already what it is.)What a cool library idea.

Long live the classics. They just don't write books like they used to.