 Writing Home was my fourth book, and it released in 2021. Four years ago, January. It's still one of my favorites, although every one of my books is my favorite in some way or another.
Needless to say, it broke my heart when I found out the publisher who had released Writing Home was dying at the end of last year. Writing Home still has one paperback copy on Amazon, and that is all. But, I'm working on republishing it. Because it's still a really good story. And because I have an amazing friend who knows how to do all these publishing things and is willing to help me figure this out.
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 When I ended 2023, I had not reached the goal I set myself in the Goodreads yearly reading challenge. And while it doesn't really matter, it still frustrated me. So, I lowered the goal for 2024 by five books. This is me, trying to learn how to live this life I've given myself with two kids, four jobs, etc. I figured that was attainable because I ALMOST read that many back in 2023.
Y'all. This year I read 125 of 120 books. I kid you not. I could have just left my goal the same as it has been for the last however many years. Life is crazy. Anyway, want to know a little more about what I read?  If you've followed me for long at all, you know I love all things bookish. Socks, T-shirts, mugs, etc. Therefore, it probably doesn't surprise you that I own a shirt and earrings that look like a Christmas tree made of books. I just can't help myself. They're too cute.
So, when my publishing company family decided to participate in our own version of Jolabokaflod, I was intrigued.  Do you ever read about a food found in books and think, "What is that?" Or, are you like me, and you go on Pinterest and do a search for a recipe? I can't help it. I love to learn about new foods. Let me rephrase that: I love food!
And it's always fascinating to me to read about new foods in books. A few weeks ago, I was reading The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek for our book club (If you want to know what I thought of it, that's another conversation, but feel free to ask!). In the book, the main character makes a Scripture cake. Do you know what a Scripture cake is?  At the beginning of the summer, my daughter's most-anticipated activity of the summer was reading. She didn't have to put a book down and go to class or do homework. She could simply enjoy as many stories as she could squeeze in. And she squeezed in a lot. I'm not sure how many hours she got this summer because she lost track around day three. But my son kept track of his reading log for a contest we'd entered and he logged 7,307 minutes (over 121 hours).
Don't worry. We did more than read this summer. But we did burn through quite a few stories and make multiple trips (per week) to the library.  Do you read with your children? My husband and I have always read books to our kids, but the books have become more mature as the children have. I've mentioned several times that we've been reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books together adn we're almost finished with that series. We're hoping to start in on Narnia soon.
But we're also sharing a love of reading another way. I've shared quite a few of my favorite books from growing up years with my daughter. She's read quite a few of the Oz books by Baum, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, and Anne of Green Gables, among others. I love seeing her fall in love with characters I've loved for so long.  My daughter is nine and very much not in the "boys are cute" stage yet. Which I'm totally fine with. She thinks they're good friends and sometimes funny, but she doesn't want a boyfriend. Honestly, until this year, she didn't really want to read any books with that stuff in it either.
But, in the last year or so, she's read a few of my favorite stories, like Anne of Green Gables (and most of the rest of the series) because she absolutely loved Anne and wanted to know when she was going to marry Gilbert. And, as we've been reading through the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, she's watched Laura be courted by Almanzo. And y'all, the giggles!  For the last few years, most of my reading has been done on my kindle. It's so convenient. I can carry literally thousands of books with me at a time, the screen lights up a little so I can read in the dark, and a lot of the books are where I can borrow them from my library without having to leave home.
Also, it fits conveniently in my purse. It can be read with one hand, even with turning the pages. And it has a very nice feature where I can hover over a word and find the definition if I need it. I love my kindle. Seriously, LOVE my kindle.  For the last few years, I've set my Goodreads yearly reading challenge at 125 books. And passed it. For like three or four years in a row. Of course, those were years I wasn't releasing FOUR books of my own. And working four jobs. And probably a few other things.
Needless to say, this year, I probably won't make it to 125 books marked on Goodreads. Part of that is I read a few collections that had multiple stories in them, but Goodreads only marks them as one. Other factors are that some of the books I read this year haven't released yet. ;) (Benefit of being an editor.) And of course, I read my books several times too, but didn't count them on my tally. That would give me four more.  Goodreads says I'm still 10 books behind schedule. I still don't completely believe it. For one thing, several of the books on my list are collections, which means more than one book included. For another, I've also been reading some with kids and my Bible and some other edits that haven't released yet. So, I'm probably about on par, but whatever.
It's the middle of the year. Where are you on your reading challenge? What are some of the best books you've read this year? I've got to admit, this has been a really good year for reading. Want to know some of my favorites? |
This is a place for me to tell you about what I'm writing, talk about the process or where some of my ideas came from, or even have other authors come in and talk about their books.
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