2024 in Books
A year of reading in review by Glenda Mumme
Today’s guest post is written by the very person who taught both Hannah and Ellie to read: our mother! Read on as she takes us through her year of reading in 2024, and the books that did and didn’t leave a lasting impression!
Life is lived in stages and I’m in one where I don’t read as much as I once did. Looking at my yearly challenges on Goodreads I finished well over 50 books in years past while this year that number was 27. Of those 27, 12 were re-reads while 15 were not.
Of those 27, three were recommended by a friend, three intrigued me, one disappointed me, one I don’t remember, one was just ‘okay,’ two were Shakespeare plays, two were Austen novels, two were written by Lewis, two by Homer, one by Virgil, and three by Undset.
Of those 27, one I didn’t even remember how it got to be on my shelf but was glad it did.
Of those 27, 16 were read with a book club, my spouse, or my longtime friend while 11 were ones I chose.
First up, the book club selections. There were four book clubs vying for my reading time this year: a podcast, a homeschool mom friend group, Read the Classics, and the Wittenberg Academy Book Club. I’ll go through them in that order.
The Close Reads podcast is one beloved by many, including my daughter and a friend. They follow along with all the books on the regular podcast as well as the bonus podcast. One year they gifted me a subscription to that bonus podcast in which longer novels are read and discussed at a slower pace. I have enjoyed the slower pace and continue to keep up the subscription. This year I read and listened to the podcasts on Sigrid Undset’s trilogy Kristen Lavransdatter (The Bridal Wreath, The Wife, The Cross) and Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park. Both of these I had read once before but many years ago, and both of these had only made a ‘good, but not great' impression. Upon re-reading, I realized I clearly did not remember the majority of the plot of either story, andI appreciated both more this second time through. Although I am not amongst the many who swoon and gush over Kristen Lavransdatter and Mansfield Park, I rank them as very good and among the list of books I will read again.
The Read the Classics Book Club is me, my daughter, and a local friend. We started in 2018 or 2019 by working our way through a chronological list of classics (as compiled by my daughter Hannah). Last year, instead of continuing with the next on the list, we decided to reread some in order to delve deeper into these classics. We started with Homer. Wow. I have read and enjoyed The Illiad several times, but this reread captured me like none other. I was engrossed from the first, never got lost, and wondered how I had always thought it was only about battles and vibrant descriptions of war wounds. As I read it, I began to think that this was my favorite, when before it was always The Odyssey.
That thought continued as we began our rereading of the wanderings of Odysseus. I admit I was disappointed as I started The Odyssey;it seemed boring and slow. But then the magic reappeared and this classic became once again a beloved book. Near the end of reading, I happened to realize that a quote attributed to Martin Luther which I dearly love is an applicable theme of this book, “Let the wife make the husband glad to come home and let him make her sorry to see him leave.”
The third classic we read this year was Virgil’s The Aeneid. This was my second reading and one I struggled with again. I know it is loved by many, but to me it has always seemed to be a complete rip off of Homer. Knowing the problem was most likely my ignorance, I toiled on, finally realizing one of my obstacles was not knowing the Roman gods and goddesses as well as I do the Greek gods and goddesses. So with a printed cheat sheet as a book mark, the encouragement of the book club who tolerated my childish moans and complaints, and the battles which sparked my interest, I finally started to enjoy The Aeneid. After finishing it and reading the postscript by translator Robert Fitzgerald, I began to realize why The Aeneid should have a standing on its own. It still doesn’t capture my interest like Homer, but I appreciate the brilliance of Virgil and why this should be read multiple times.
My third book club is one with fellow homeschool moms. Originally started in 2012 as a way for the group to educate ourselves by reading through the book lists in Susan Wise Bauer’s The Well-Educated Mind, I joined in 2017, starting with the book Anna Karenina. I’ve enjoyed this group ever since. Slow and steady, sometimes with more people and sometimes with just two, the “Teaching Ourselves For a Change” book club is now working its way through the history list. In 2024 we completed four:
The Great Crash 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith
The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell
The Longest Day, June 6, 1944 by Cornelius Ryan
Roll, Jordan, Roll, The World the Slaves Made by Eugene D. Genovese.
The best of the four was Longest Day. Cornelius Ryan did a splendid job writing this novel to be suspenseful, engaging, and amazing. I would definitely read it again. The Great Crash 1929 and The Road to Wigan Pier were both interesting but I doubt I would ever read them again. Roll Jordan Roll was long and tedious. Seemingly sharing every possibility in each of the myriad of categories he wrote about, Genovese’s research was obviously thorough. I did learn once again that what I thought I knew about slaves, slave holders, and the United States during these times was negligible. I am glad I read it but I don’t plan to ever re-read it.
The fourth and final book club of the year was for Wittenberg Academy. I chose to lead a discussion on Jane Austen’s Persuasion for the scholars. This was another re-read for me. I also listened to the Close Reads podcasts on this book in preparation. Both Austen novels I read this year would normally never be at the top of my “favorite Austen novel” list. But having re-read them, they are higher up than before. I really enjoy how well Austen develops the characters and the ways she has them grow.
My husband and I decided we would listen to C.S. Lewis novels while following along in our own copies. We finished two: The Abolition of Man, and The Great Divorce. I had never read either and felt my head spinning with the first and being delighted with the second. I will tackle The Abolition of Man again one day in the hopes that more will sink in while The Great Divorce is one I’ll definitely re-read.
My longtime friend and I decided to embark on reading the Bard. Both of us have read or watched some Shakespeare plays throughout our lives, both as students and as homeschool moms. But neither of us have delved too deeply into his plays nor have either of us read all of them. We are now correcting that with the help of “The Play's the Thing” podcast. We finished two plays this year: King Lear, and The Merchant of Venice. Both were very good, but of the two, I think I would pick The Merchant of Venice as my favorite, much to my friend’s delight as it is her very favorite play. By reading the play, listening to the podcasts, reading other articles, making notes and discussing with my friend, it all became a cohesive whole for us. This happened also with King Lear, but more so with The Merchant of Venice. We both agree that just reading these two plays together has helped us learn about Shakespeare and we look forward to working through more of his cannon in 2025.
That leaves the 11 books I chose to read just on my own.
Two of those, the final books I read in 2024, were re-reads: A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy and A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Both are comfort reads for me; easy to embrace and to enjoy.
One was a disappointment to me: My Berlin Kitchen: A Love Story by Luisa Weiss. Not that I thought it was bad, it just didn’t have the sparkle of other similar travel-food novels I’ve read.
One, Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, I really don’t remember. With each book I complete I do write a short review on Goodreads to help me remember the impression I had of it. With most books, I can remember without looking, but this one I couldn’t.
Another book I read that I would label as just “okay” was Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield. Again, not that I didn’t enjoy it, nor that it didn’t make me ponder ideas, it was simply lost among all the rest of life this year.
Three books I read this year intrigued me:
Prisoners of the Castle: An Epic Story of Survival and Escape from Colditz, the Nazis’ Fortress Prison by Ben Macintyre. It is one of my favorite genres, historical non-fiction. I learned a lot reading this; the existence ofthis castle, the resilience of the prisoners held there, and the dedication of the officer in charge. I enjoyed this one so much, I handed it to my husband to read when I was finished, and I even discovered that one can still visit this castle and book an overnight stay.
The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny is the nineteenth novel in the Armand Gamache series. If you have yet to read any, I suggest you start. But do so at the beginning, because although each book has a contained mystery, the overarching character development throughout the series is one best enjoyed from start to finish. As with many series, some books are better than others, and this one is among the better. Action-filled from the first line, Penny captures urgency, fear, and foreboding with the writing. I enjoyed it so much that I am contemplating doing a re-read of the entire series in 2025.
The third book that intrigued me was First Frost by Craig Johnson. I saw it on my shelf and had absolutely no memory of how it got there. It is an autographed copy and had a Wyoming bookmark inside it as well. Neither my daughter nor my friend had ever heard of it so it wasn’t them who shared it with me. I had no memory of buying it while visiting family in Wyoming or of them recommending it to me. Although I had watched the Longmire series on Netflix years ago with my husband, I never knew there was a book series upon which it was based. With all that intrigue and mystery, I sat down, began reading, and was hooked. Good characters and an interesting plot meant I picked it up each time I sat down. I so enjoyed this book, I texted my sister asking if she had ever heard of the series. She hadn’t but promptly ordered the first in the series to begin reading. I also handed it to my husband and told him we now have a new series to read. It was only while he was reading that the mystery of where this book came from was solved. Seeing it on the ottoman one day, our son asked me, “Who’s reading the book I got you?” What?! You bought it for us? Sheepishly I had to explain I had no memory of him giving it to me but am delighted he did. We love it and will read more in the Longmire series.
Three books were recommended by friends:
The Dean’s Watch by Elizabeth Goudge was the first. My friend has read many (all?) of Goudge’s novels and thought I would enjoy this one. She was right. It had the right amount of mystery, character development, and plot twists and I was quite entertained.
The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri was such a delight. I love opening lines and this one was quite clever: “The first time I was stoned to death by an angry mob, I was not even a criminal.” From then on I wondered what twists and turns the tale would take, how it often reminded me of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, and just how much the ending made perfect sense. A truly wonderful story that I want to buy for my shelf to read again and again.
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner was such a good book. The discussion of friendship between two couples reminded me so much of my own life and the many years of friendship my husband and I have with another couple. The writing was so beautiful with such vivid descriptions of nature and people that I was reminded of Wendell Berry. No wonder, with an internet search I discovered that Berry was a student of Stegner at Stanford University. This is an enjoyable book that I think I should own for myself so I can re-read it again and again.
The last book, which makes 28 (or is that 93?), is the Holy Bible. I do not add it in Goodreads, but I am glad I have added this to my yearly reading. This is the third time I’ve read the entire Bible through in a year. Why I never did that before I was 50 years old is a sad commentary on my personal piety. I do get behind at times and have to catch up. I struggle through all the genealogies, get lost while reading about the kings, and try to keep up with St. Paul. But no matter how much I am missing, I am being richly blessed with this daily reading. God’s Word is true, and I encourage you to find a way to incorporate a yearly reading of it in your schedule. It is never to late to start.
That is the end of my 2024 reads. Not a top five list, but an overview of all that I read, why, and my impression at this point in my life. On the docket for 2025 so far is Confessions by St. Augustine with the Read the Classics Book Club, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century by Barbara Tuchman with my homeschool mom book club, Much Ado About Nothing with my friend, and my current read, Anya Seton’s Katherine, a historical novel that I received as a Christmas present.
Happy reading!
Glenda Mumme is a Lutheran pastor’s wife, mother to five grown children, and grandmother to six grandchildren. She enjoys reading, cooking, cleaning, traveling, walking, snowshoeing, and baking.