2024 in Books

I promised to post about my favorite books of the year and I delivered! With just over an hour to spare. Happy almost Near Year! I belong to 3 book clubs--a parenting book club, a friend book club, and a neighborhood book club. I read a lot of books I wouldn't otherwise read. I read 64 books this year! Don't count the books in this post because writing about all of them could become my full-time job.

A book I want to brag about: 

• "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business"

This book has a section on nail biting. Andrew happened to be in the room when I got to that part and I had him listen to it. Since then, he has kicked that habit. He no longer bites his nails! He has for years-- ever since I've known him. For this purpose alone, I should say it was the best read of the year.

My Goodreads stats: 

• 21,653 pages read
• Shortest book: 137 pages "Ejaculate Responsibly A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion" By" Gabrielle Blair
• Longest book: 560 pages "Homecoming" by: Kate Morton
• Average book length: 338 pages
• Most shelved: "The Song of Achilles"
• Least shelved: "The Power of Stillness"
• My average rating for 2024: 4.2 stars (I don't rate many books)
• Highest Rated on Goodreads: "The Sun Does Not Shine"

My top 12 reads this year (not in order)... It was hard to trim this list down...

• "Anxious Generation:" I can't stop thinking or talking about this book. If you need more of a plug for the book, Andrew's brother who is not a reader, read this book. It consumed our Thanksgiving dinner conversation in the best way. Several were engaged and involved with lots of firsthand examples and experience. It made me realize I need to tweak some parenting things and give my kids more free play.
• "Frozen River:" Very engaging. I ate this book up. Reading about Martha the midwife during this time in history was captivating. Rape warning but it wasn't too much.
• "Summer Romance: Everything I want in a romcom. Loved watching Alice become herself. Especially liked and related to her organization. "If I sounded stressed on the phone, she'd drop everything-- so I could clean out a closet in peace. She was the only person who fully understood how restorative cleaning out a closet is for me..." Amen.
• "The Sun Does Not Shine:" I loved seeing the joy he was still able to find despite awful circumstances. Also what an incredible story about forgiveness.
• "The Unmaking of June Farrow:" Time travel. Heartwarming. Love story. Recommend.
• "In Order to Live:" Heartbreaking. Eye-opening. Loved audio. Journey to freedom.
  
• "The Kitchen Front" Clever idea to use rations for a cooking competition during such a horrific time. Grew to know and love the characters.
• "How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told:" The author was witty which helped balance out the sad stuff. Very raw and real. I loved the chapter written by his wife. Loved that the author is religious and talked about church, God, and scripture. Wow, talk about forgiveness. 
• "Good Inside:" I couldn't take notes fast enough. So much good parenting stuff that I've started implementing. 
• "The Women:" Love the subject matter and didn't know much about it. Wasn't my favorite book by Kristin Hannah, but still great.
• "Moonraker's Bride:" Could not put this down. Had me captivated immediately. This book is out of print, so good luck finding a copy. We passed a well loved book around for months in book club.
• "The Things We Leave Unfinished:" Chapters rotated telling 2 different stories- one about a great grandma during war and one about her granddaughter. The author did a beautiful job showing love and balanced war and sadness well. I did have to do some skipping in 2 spots...

Cleanish Rom-Coms

• "Dear Henry, Love Edith"
• "The Rom-Commers" (language)
• "I Hope This Doesn't Find You"
• "The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley"
• "Divine Rivals"
• "The Second Chance Year" (a little swearing)-- reminded me of "Midnight Library. Good reminder that changing the past doesn't always go the way you wish.
• "The Bodyguard"
• "You Are Here" (language warning)
• "The One With the Kiss Cam" The UT premise made it fun.
• "You Are Here" Very realistic and charming love story. (Swearing)

Loved the Audio

• "What Happened to Rachel Riley?" The different tones for emails and text messages was hilarious. 
• "The Office BFFs:" I insist that you must listen to the audio. It was delightful. Hearing the behind the scenes info about one of our favorite shows was lovely.
• "Good Different:" Great read about autism and the different needs people have.

Heartwarming books

• "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry"
• "The Witch of Blackbird Pond"
• "What You Are Looking For Is in the Library"
• "Heirloom Rooms: Soulful Stories of Home"
• "Huda F Are You?:" Important message

Sad/Heavy Reads

• "The White Lady"-I wouldn't recommend reading this book in December.
• "Between Shades of Gray"- I read this book for a second time to get a refresher for book club. It was sadder than I remembered.
• "We Were the Lucky Ones"- I reread this book as well for book club. It's now a series on Hulu.
• "The Wager"- Another book I read for book club. I attempted reading it on a 11 hr drive and the timing was not right. Tried again when I wasn't trapped myself and it went better than expected.
• "The Orphan's Tale"- Engaging and finished quickly. Definitely heartbreaking.
• "Man's Search for Meaning"

Reading Rut

• "The Golden Spoon"
• "Iveliz Explains it All"
• "Alone"
• "Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals": Listening to this on a redeye international flight to Brazil while managing a baby was a bad call.
• "The Seven Year Slip" (language)
• "Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice" Liked this better than the 3rd book but disappointing compared to the beginning of the series.

Thrillers

• "What Happened to Nina"
• "First Lie Wins:" Didn't live up to the hype for me. Swears and sex too.
• "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes:" Felt like a thriller. It's never fun to root for the bad guy.
• "Wrong Place Wrong Time:" LOVED
• "The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year:" Cheesy and fun rom com mystery to read at Christmas time. Fast and engaging. (language)

Non Fiction Reads

• "Nuture Shock: New Thinking About Children"
• "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry"
• "Present Over Perfect"

Wasn't sure how I felt about the ending...

• "A Song to Drown Rivers"
• "Beyond That, the Sea"

Book Club Wins (A couple of my top 12 are from book club too)

• "The Collected Regrets of Clover:" Highly recommend! If I explain that it's about a death doula maybe you'll run so pretend I didn't say anything.
• "Homecoming"
• "Heartless Hunter:" Fantasy ish vibe with witches (there is some language and sex)

Book Club Fails

• "The Spy and the Traitor:" It took me 4 attempts to finish this book (tried multiple forms of this book: audio, kindle, and hard copy). I had to host this month for book club. The last 3rd of the book finally picked up but I would not recommend.
• "The Teacher:" I have no desire to hear details about a sexual relationship between a teacher and student. Yuck. In fact, after a few of us read the book for book club (with lots of skimming/skipping), it was tossed out and another book replaced it. 

My sister Jill is a librarian. For Christmas every year, she gives me a book. I look forward to this so much. I got "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" this year. She said it unanimously won best children's book in a group she's involved in. We're going on a road trip and this book is calling my name! What should my book goal for 2025 be?? What other books should I add to my "to-read" list?

Tis the Season

When I was tucking Isabelle into bed Christmas night, she couldn't help but shed tears. "Mom, I don't want December to be over!" There are lots of things to miss but unwrapping a Christmas book every night and eating a piece of candy while listening might be at the top of her list. 

Sunday, December 22

Don't the boys look extra dashing in their new matching sweaters?

I sound like a broken record but children make Christmas unforgettable.

Things were far from perfect on Christmas Eve. There were many fits, we were scrambling to finish the book "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" and wrapped up while decorating Christmas cookies, the game we played as a family wasn't loved by all, our Chinese takeout order wasn't ready on-time and we ended up with the wrong order, I ran out of eggs and Andrew had to brave the chaos of the store, one child wept after opening their gift from a sibling because they "didn't like it," (though 3 minutes later that child changed their mind, apologized, and was happy), etc. BUT it was all worth it. Making sugar cookies for Santa was priceless even though I complained about it. I wanted to make an easier cookie. The kids put so many sprinkles on some their cookies that the cookies crumbled because they couldn't support that much weight. ha

Christmas Day was everything I fantasized it would be. Eating endless stocking candy, playing, and family. I finished a book I adored and ate so much I had to unbutton my pants. Andrew nailed the roasted chicken. I got to snuggle a newborn. I am now the proud owner of a pizza oven. I will keep you posted about that...

December is a magical month. Here is a glimpse of what our December looked like in our house:

Christmas Eve Jammies

Penny was waving and saying "hi" to the camera. For a timed photo, I think it turned out pretty cute. We had reindeer and gingerbread pajamas. 

Christmas Eve Movie

We met Grandma Langlois at the theater near her house in Lehi to see "Mufasa" which was a popular idea. We went to the 8:45am showing. Grandma would have preferred the 8:10 movie. Since when did movies start so early? I'm glad we went when we did so we avoided a lot of the mayhem. We did a gift exchange with grandma. My opinion of the movie: beautiful scenery, 2 hours was too long, and I missed the original music. The kids liked it! I didn't have to take Penny out once! We did wander the back of the theater at times.

Tuesday, December 24

Andrew took the older rascals to the movies. I went on a walk and to Jessica's to watch the newest season of a show. Sonic 3 was popular with our kids. James has made several drawings since then and I have heard them playing make believe Sonic games.

Saturday, December 21

Nativity

It didn't turn out to be a big spiritual moment. In fact, the timing was smack dab in the middle of tantrums. We did it anyway and though it might have been our shortest reenactment yet, the costumes were well liked and we watched a beautiful portrayal of the special event.

Basketball Season

James was on fire this season. I don't know what suddenly clicked but he is now a star player. James definitely has the height for basketball. He scored lots! During one game he made 5 hoops! Another time 4 baskets. The last game 2 hoops. He scored other games too and I wish I had kept better track. I shrieked, "shoot it" a lot. I wish the league kept score... James' friend Taft was on his team again. It went so well we signed James up for another season which begins in January. Yahoo! For participating in junior jazz, James got 2 free jazz game tickets. Going last year was a highlight. To prevent hysteria, we got Isabelle a ticket to join the boys at the game this time. She's ecstatic. 

Saturday, December 21

Baby Dorothy's Birthday!

Jess and Chris welcomed Dorothy Pearl to the world on Tuesday, December 17. She is an angel. So precious and tiny. Happy for the Crandalls and  for us.

Stats: 

December 17, 2024

6 lbs 14 oz

19 in

Christmas in Color

We drove through Christmas lights with the Hendricks. They spoiled us and paid to upgrade our tickets and we got the VIP experience. The kids enjoyed the light up swag in the car. Penny's animation was at an all new high. McCall said watching Penny alone made the night worth it. Penelope got to sit on daddy's lap briefly. Not being constricted in her carseat brought out giant smiles. Love these dear friends and enjoyed conversation and cookies after.

Friday, December 13

Santa

Andrew took the kids to the night of sharing in our neighborhood. Santa is always there. I was teaching at home. Penelope would not give Santa the time of day.. She was terrified of him. It surprised me in some ways because at storytime at the library the last 2 weeks, she has gone up and sat in strangers laps. She also says "ho-ho-ho" multiple times a day...

Monday, December 2

December, I will miss...

• getting the mail for once... Our Christmas card wall is full this year! 
• finding random treats on our doorstep.
• the plethora of music and playlists to listen to.
• Christmas high fitness! sooo fun and kicked my booty.
• singing Christmas carols as a family
• annual favorite things party. This year I brought the game "Santa Cookie Elf Candy Snowman." I bought a copy for us too.

Still to come this month... Our 12 year anniversary is on Saturday which makes me feel ancient. One more blog post for this year is in the works. Stay tuned for my book post for 2024. I still have time to sneak in another book or two...

Piano Performance

Christmas music is the best. It's a busy time of year but I squeezed a piano recital in. The catchy Christmas songs have been on repeat in my head since September when students started preparing for this performance. A Christmas recital seemed like the perfect excuse to tell students to dress up in pajamas. How cute! I thought the casual attire would help make it a more low-key event. 

My students worked hard! I enjoyed playing a couple of duets. It's a teacher pay-day to watch the pianists progress and improve! I have been teaching some sisters for over 4 years now. There were 3 sing-along songs which was a great way for students to practice accompanying and helped break the recital up. All of my students had their pieces memorized! I asked them to bring their music just in case and good thing I did. A couple of people had the jitters and struggled with their memory.

The piano was incredible! I was there early and wished I had more time to play that rare instrument. It was a 9 ft piano and the sound it produced was unbelievable. Both pianos on stage were used at one point. The acoustics in the room were fabulous and the microphone was handy when students announced their songs.

Jessica attended and supported me which meant the world to me. She is about to pop and has a lot of things on her plate, but I was so grateful to have her there cheering me on. She recorded the recital and I was able to send the recording to my mom. Jessica and I usually do joint recitals, but earlier this week one of her violin students had a book recital. I accompanied her student Sophia at her recital where she played every intense song in book 4. It has been a music filled month. (Not to mention the musical numbers I'm working on for church.)

I'm teaching fewer students now that I have Penny

My kids were devastated and bawled when they learned that their school "classic skating night" was the same evening as my recital. Superhero Dad made their dreams come true. After the recital, he took the older kids roller skating. They thrived thanks to patient friends, a roller-skating aid they could push, and cotton candy. Everyone was happy! Until school called early the next morning... 

(Izzy changed into a formal dress for the recital which made me giggle since I went in my pjs.)

All in all, it was a satisfying evening full of music! In lieu of a treat for performers at the end, I got each student a piano Christmas ornament engraved with their name on it. Etsy pulled through. I don't know if I'll add to the Christmas chaos next December with a piano recital, but I'm glad I tried a holiday recital! Until next performance...

Family Pictures

Malia (our niece) did it again! She's an incredible photographer! She took our family photos on Friday, September 27 at Bridal Veil Falls in Provo. The pictures turned out even though Penelope was peeved we interrupted her nap (ahem beauty sleep). I want these pictures in my blog book! They are now printed and displayed on our wall. They bring me so much joy. Our Christmas cards turned out cute too thanks to these pictures. We are blessed to have Malia!