Friday, December 28, 2018

Reading Year in Review - 2018

Although I read over 100 books this year, only about a dozen had the "wow" factor.

Books that took the most careful reading, but that paid off the most in the end were: Problem of Pain, Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity and Abolition of Man. (A big thank you to Carol B. for hosting the C.S. Lewis Read-Along.)

Most effortless fun: The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan, Katherine Wentworth By D.E. Stevenson, five of the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and the entire Thrush Green series by Miss Read.

Best audio: News of the World

Best WWII: Miracle on the River Kwai by Ernest Gordon (renamed To End All Wars to match the unpleasant 2013 movie version)

Best new-to-me author: Mervyn Peake (I read his poetry, but he is better known as a novelist and painter.)

I read 10 Christian fiction titles and was not surprised that I did not love any of them. Kathryn Springer's The Hearts We Mend and Melanie Dobson's Chateau of Secrets were the best of the lot. I completed 8 (of 12) titles from my Back to the Classics challenge and 23 (of 26) from my Christian Book Challenge - although 5 were DNFs.

With the exception of News of the World, all my favorites were books that have stood the test of time. I sometimes wonder why I waste my time on the other stuff.

Blessings,

3 comments:

Barbara H. said...

Great list! C. S. Lewis does take careful reading, but it's so worth the effort. His hold up under multiple rereadings as well. I haven't read The Abolition of Man yet, though. I enjoyed 39 Steps last year for the first time. I've heard good things about Miss Read and need to try her books. I've only read a couple of Dobson's, but really enjoyed Chateau of Secrets .

Sherry said...

I think News of the World is a book that will stand the test of time. I do understand the impulse to stick to the tried and true, however.

Carol said...

I made the mistake of reading a Christian fiction title someone had given me about 10 years ago, It was short, thankfully, & it was a Christmas story but it was pretty lame. Now that I’ve been reading classics for a while everything else is a generally a bit of a let down.