2023 BOOK REVIEW

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When last year came to a close, I was disappointed that many of my reads were just average. As 2024 started, I had a desire to read more great books. And, that definitely happened!

It was a great year in reading!

Two stars next to my top 6, one star next to some of my other favorites:

  1. The Measure – Nikki Erlick ⭐️

  2. Becoming – Michelle Obama ⭐️

  3. You Are My Sunshine – Sean Dietrich

  4. And Yet: Poems – Kate Baer

  5. Independence – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni ⭐️⭐️

  6. Lessons in Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus

  7. The Sweetness of Water – Nathan Harris

  8. I’m Glad My Mom Died – Jennette McCurdy ⭐️

  9. 5 Things to Pray for Your Spouse – Melissa B. Kruger

  10. All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir – Beth Moore

  11. Georgie, All Along – Kate Clayborn

  12. We are Displaced – Malala Yousafzai ⭐️

  13. Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt ⭐️⭐️

  14. Dear Future Mama – Meghan Trainor

  15. Coronation Year – Jennifer Robson

  16. Kitchen Confidential – Anthony Bourdain

  17. Beyond the Wand – Tom Felton

  18. The Light We Carry – Michelle Obama

  19. Try Softer – Aundi Kolber ⭐️

  20. The Wishing Game – Meg Shaffer ⭐️

  21. Tell Me Everything – Minka Kelly

  22. The Secret Book of Flora Lea – Patti Callahan Henry ⭐️⭐️

  23. The Try Softer Guided Journey – Aundi Kolber

  24. Hula – Jasmin Iolani Hakes

  25. The Great Reclamation – Rachel Heng

  26. Sourdough – Robin Sloan

  27. Heartburn – Nora Ephron

  28. Pilgrim: 25 Ways God’s Character Leads Us Onward – Ruth Chou Simons ⭐️

  29. Party of My World – Jodi Benson

  30. The Miracle Goes On – John W. Peterson

  31. Tom Lake – Ann Patchett ⭐️⭐️

  32. If You Would Have Told Me – John Stamos

  33. None of This is True – Lisa Jewell ⭐️

  34. The Secret Keeper – Kate Morton ⭐️⭐️

  35. Killers of the Flower Moon – David Grann

  36. Bright Lights, Big Christmas – Mary Kay Andrews

  37. Corrie’s Christmas Memories – Corrie ten Boom

  38. Advent: The Season of Hope – Tish Harrison Warren

  39. Upon Waking – Jackie Hill Perry ⭐️⭐️

  40. The Uncommon Reader – Alan Bennett

My favorite place to track my reading is Goodreads–let’s be friends!

Here’s to more great reads in 2024!

 

2022 BOOK REVIEW

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I knew 2022 would hold a lot. I started the year very pregnant with twin boys and would birth them in the coming weeks. Looking back, my goal of reading 3 books/month while raising newborn twins was a bit lofty, however, somehow I squeezed in the last book in the final days of the year.

It was hard to pick my favorites because I honestly didn’t have a lot of stand-out reads. There were a lot of good books, but not many great ones.

I am putting two stars next to my favorites and one star next to those with honorable mention :)

  1. The Keeper of Lost Things – Ruth Hogan

  2. West with Giraffes – Lynda Rutledge

  3. The Louder Song – Aubrey Sampson⭐️

  4. Naturally Tan – Tan France

  5. What the Wind Knows – Amy Harmon

  6. Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe – Heather Webber⭐️

  7. Bittersweet – Shauna Niequist⭐️⭐️

  8. Forty Days on Being a Six – Tara Beth Leach

  9. What Kind of Woman – Kate Baer⭐️

  10. Raising Twins – Shelly Vaziri Flais⭐️⭐️

  11. What We Didn’t Expect – Melody Shreiber

  12. The 1619 Project – Nikole Hannah-Jones

  13. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte

  14. People We Meet on Vacation – Emily Henry⭐️

  15. This Time Tomorrow – Emma Straub

  16. Take Back Your Family – Jefferson Bethke

  17. How to Keep House While Drowning – K.C. Davis

  18. The Night Watchman – Louise Erdrich

  19. Prayer in the Night – Tish Harrison Warren⭐️⭐️

  20. Every Summer After – Carley Fortune⭐️⭐️

  21. Felicity – Mary Oliver

  22. Beach Read – Emily Henry

  23. Purple Hibiscus – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie⭐️

  24. Home Stories – Kim Leggett

  25. Love & Saffron – Kim Fay

  26. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand – Helen Simonson

  27. Troublemaker – Leah Remini

  28. Long Live the Queen – Bryan Kozlowski⭐️⭐️

  29. Rock Paper Scissors – Alice Feeney

  30. Confessions of a Crappy Christian – Blake Guichet

  31. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens

  32. Emmanuel – Ruth Chou Simons⭐️

  33. The Wonder of the Greatest Gift – Ann Voskamp

  34. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing – Matthew Perry⭐️

  35. Notes on Grief – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie⭐️⭐️

  36. Delicious! – Ruth Reichl

My favorite place to track my reading is Goodreads–let’s be friends!

Here’s to more great reads in 2023!

 

WHEN LOVING MEANS LEAVING: A POEM FOR NICU MOMS

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The water told me you were coming. 

A mid-night warning to prepare. 
But, it didn’t prepare me. 
It couldn’t. 

For the fast pains. 
For the small bodies. 
For the lungs that needed help to breathe. 
For the fluorescent lights and sterile room closing in, as I was left with the longing to hold you. 

For the daily check-ins.
For the cords and cables.
For the begging of progress. 
For the ounces and milliliters. 

For the balancing act. 
For the empty nursery. 
For the tears. 
For the leaving. 

Where to put the love that was carried and felt for months? 

I guess that’s when loving means leaving. 

Through the sorrow, I leave you to learn.
Through the sadness, I leave you to grow. 

I’ll be learning and growing, too.