Reading Year in Review 2025

In spite of the fact that my brain was in a fog (teaching overload) for almost six months this year, I managed to squeeze in quite a few reading gems. Here is the list: 

Favorite re-read: Charlotte's Web audiobook (read perfectly by E.B. White)

Biggest effort, but worth it: Metamorphoses by Ovid (review forthcoming)

Favorite light reads: Elizabeth Caddell's Wayne Family series (reviewed here)

Favorite book by a new-to-me author: Old Herbaceous by Reginald Arkell (1881-1959). I cried buckets of tears over this bittersweet fictional memoir. (review forthcoming)

Best non-fiction: John Oswalt's audiobook on the book of Isaiah, and Pages from a WWII Chaplain's Diary (reviewed here.)  And, although I'm not finished with it, Gerald Wilson's NIV commentary on the Psalms brought me many hours of delight.

Favorite mystery: Surfeit of Lampreys by Ngaio Marsh (Inspector Alleyn #10), reviewed here.

The novel that made my blood run cold: Address Unknown (letters exchanged before WWII between a Jewish American and his German friend from 1932-1934.)

The book that lived rent-free in my brain for weeks: Beauty by Roger Scruton (A difficult book that I'll be reviewing next month.) 

The book that delighted me quite unexpectedly: Cinderella (29 Different Versions)

Honorable mention goes to a YouTube channel that I've really enjoyed, The Commonplace with Autumn Kerr. Although my homeschooling days are over, I enjoy her wonderful book recommendations. (Also, her emphasis on how to live like a human in a digital world.)

Here is the list of all the books I read in 2025: Goodreads link

What about you? What were your favorite books of 2025?

Blessings,

Surfeit of Lampreys by Ngaio Marsh

Surfeit of Lampreys is the tenth entry in the Roderick Alleyn detective stories. It opens with antics of the Lamprey family who always seem to be on the cusp of financial ruin, but who are marvelously unperturbed by it. They are scatter-brained yet delightful, and everyone (except their creditors) seems to fall under the spell of their charms.  

I kept wondering how Marsh was going to turn this happy-go-lucky tale into a murder mystery, but I needn’t have worried. The murders do happen, and their gruesomeness is in stark contrast to the fun-loving Lampreys. Another welcome contrast to the murderous mayhem is Alleyn’s sidekick, the unflappable Inspector Fox. Shortly after a horrific murder, Fox appears in all his placidness, which is quite a comfort to the reader. With each successive novel, I love him more and more!

I always enjoy the literary references sprinkled throughout Marsh’s books. This one included nods to Dickens, Shakespeare, Hans Christian Anderson, and even Beatrix Potter. She even threw a bone to Charlotte Brontë fans with this conversation between Henry Lamprey and Robin, a young family friend:

“What do you think of us, Robin? You’re such a composed little person with your smooth head and your watchfulness.”

“That sounds smug and beastly.”

“It isn’t meant to. You’ve got a sort of Jane Eyre-ishness about you. You’ll grow up into Jane Eyre, I daresay, if you grow at all….”

And then there is the great writing: From Chapter Nine: Alleyn had been confronted with the Lampreys for only some twenty minutes, but already he had begun to feel a little as though they were handfuls of wet sand which, as fast as he grasped them, were dragged through his fingers by the action of some mysterious undertow.

From chapter Thirteen: Alleyn began to feel as if Tinkerton was a bad cork and himself an inefficient corkscrew, drawing out unimportant fragments, while large lumps of testimony fell into the wine and were lost.

The novel contains a touch of romance and a fair bit of light profanity. Nevertheless, this was one of my favorite entries in the series so far.

Any other Ngaio Marsh fans out there?

Christmas blessings,

Reminscing about Books #7

This will be my last nostalgic post this year because my teaching schedule is lightening up, and soon I'll have the head space for reading and reviewing. I've missed writing about books!

In the year 2014, I wrote my one and only post that went viral (in a modest sort of way). I had discovered Librivox a few years earlier and was able to recommend some of the better readers. That garnered enough interest to get almost 8,000 views (rather than my average of about 50). One responder told me about Adrian Praetzellis who is absolutely remarkable as a narrator, especially for Treasure Island.

Two children's classics bowled me over that year: Charlotte's Web (reviewed here) and C.S. Evans' beautiful version of Sleeping Beauty (reviewed here and here). 

My final gem was David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (reviewed here). I'd been trying to like Dickens for decades, and this book turned me into a devoted fan. 

That was also the year I wrote my personal favorite post on Christian romance novels. I got a lot of suggestions for "better" Christian fiction, but am still not convinced. I devoured Grace Livingston Hill books as a teen, and read other Christian authors until I was about thirty. But when I began to read the classics (especially Trollope), I somehow lost my taste for the fluffier stuff. (I still like an occasional light, fun book, as you know if you've read this blog for any amount of time!)   

Have you found that your reading tastes have changed over the years? 

P.S. Amazon usually has an end-of-the year deal on Kindle Unlimited for 99 cents for three months. I saw it earlier, but couldn't find the link to post here. It would be worth it just to read the first ten Ngaio Marsh novels. But there are also quite a few D.E. Stevenson and Miss Read titles (cozy British village settings).

Blessings,

Reminiscing about Books #6

My last post was on the literary riches of 2011, but the next year was no different. In truth, because I read a book per week (sometimes two), 80 percent of them aren't worth blogging about. BUT the "cream" that floats to the top makes it all worthwhile. 

In 2012 I read a mix of theology, biography, detective fiction, and classic children's literture. I read my first Betsy-Tacy book, and was enchanted. (Review here.) Andrew Murray's book on The Two Covenants was profound, and gave me a deeper appreciation for the Old Testament (and for how all of it pointed to the future reality of the Cross.) I reviewed it here.

I rarely read modern titles, but Unbroken by Lauren Hildebrand was so highly tauted that I caved in. I could hardly put it down! (Review here.) Another WWII favorite that year was Helmet for my Pillow (reviewed here). 

I love books, but am very careful to wait for good deals so that I can stay within my budget (I'm basically a cheapskate!) Anyway, when I heard about The Truest Fairy Tale, based on the writings of G.K. Chesterton, I went against all my financial principles and sent away for a copy. It was worth it! (Reviewed here.) 

The last two highlights were Elizabeth Goudge's The Dean's Watch (reviewed here), and the Lord Peter/Harriet Vane mysteries by Dorothy Sayers. (I reviewed the first book, Strong Poison, here.) What a glorious year!

Blessings,

Reminiscing about Books #5

Well, 2011 brought quite a revolution to my reading life when my husband gave me a Kindle! I was not interested at first. (Some of my regular readers may remember that I wrote many blogs about how digital reading causes us to read less deeply), but I finally succumbed because I could carry dozens of books with me when I travelled and because my favorite genre, literary classics, was almost always free. 

Anyway, my Kindle opened the door to discovering some lesser-known vintage authors such as O. Douglas, Ralph Henry Barbour, and C.N. Williamson, whom I have thoroughly enjoyed when in need of light, clean reading that is not dumbed-down. (I wrote two posts on favorite titles here and here.)

I was introduced to three wonderful new-to-me authors in 2011: Jon Hassler (review of Green Journey), Joseph Crosby Lincoln (review of Fair Harbor) and Maurice LeBlanc (review of The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin). 

It was also the year I first read the first two Lord of the Rings books. Truly, you are never quite the same after reading them. 

A good year for literary riches!

Blessings,

What I Read and Watched in October 2025

One of the items on my schedule recently was to fly to Sri Lanka and speak at a few events planned by my sister who is a missionary there.

The 20-hour trip allowed me to watch more than my usual quota of movies so I was able to watch three that have been on my radar for a couple of years. "Sullivan's Travels" (1941) had come highly recommended by Anthony Esolen (in his monthly newsletter "Word and Song"). It managed to be quite funny while still addressing some serious issues. "The Miracle Club" (2023) is a story about four women who leave Dublin to go to Lourdes seeking healing for various maladies. Mostly, they just need healing for their brokenness. Will God grant a miracle? Or is it all false propaganda? The movie shows that there is more than one way to be cured. It was especially poignant for being Maggie Smith's last performance.

The final in-flight movie was "The Great Escaper" with Michael Caine, the true story of an 80-year-old WWII veteran who flees from his nursing home in England to attend D-Day celebrations in Normandy. Caine is brilliant in the role and I loved the conclusions made about the value of a life well-lived. (Please note that airplane movies are often edited to be more family friendly so I do not know if the original movies had bedroom scenes or heavy profanity.)

I was able to do quite a bit of reading during my travels and enjoyed two Ngaio Marsh titles: Surfeit of Lampreys (#10 in the Roderick Alleyn series) and Death and the Dancing Footmen (#11) both of which were excellent mysteries.

When I got back to Brazil, I read two books about WWII in the movies, and watched a film (on YouTube) from 1943 called "First Comes Courage" about a female spy in Norway. It had its cheesy moments, but it was VERY suspenseful.

I also enjoyed an abridged version of Emma, wonderfully narrated by Emma Thompson.

Finally, I had a glorious serendipitous moment this month. I've been reading three fables a week from Ovid's Metamorphoses. On a Monday I read the story of Pomona, a woman gardener who I had never heard of before. On Tuesday, I was reading a Richard Crashaw poem about rotten apricots and he blames Pomona (!) Later I saw a reference to her in Little Women.

Don't you just love the literary life?

Blessings,

Reminiscing about Books #4

2010 was a good year for accumulating new favorites. It was the first year I read D.E. Stevenson. Winter and Rough Weather is the third in a trilogy, but stood up on its own. I've read almost 40 of her novels since then and very few have disappointed. I even own 20 of her audiobooks! She is light without being fluffy, which gives me a good break from heavier reading.

I'd read some C.S. Lewis by this time, but when a friend loaned me Experiment in Criticism. I was so enamored that I shamelessly underlined fifty percent of it. (Of course, I bought her a replacement copy.) I wrote a review here.

Also that year, I read Peter Pan, and was absolutely charmed. (Reviewed here)

Two Catholic novels stretched me in good ways: Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller and Silence by Shusako Endo. In my review of Silence, I explain how I've learned to appreciate the gravitas that Catholic authors bring to their fiction. Canticle for Liebowitz (reviewed here) turned me into a die-hard dystopian novel fan.

Another delighful discovery was Wednesday Wars, YA fiction by Gary Schmidt (a living author, for a change), which I reviewed here. 

Any thoughts on these authors or titles?

Blessings,