2022 had the most babies and the fewest books read, both in total, and off of my “to read” list for the year. This was predictable.
I read 7/11 of my “to read” books, and 85 books/26k pages across the year. Nothing earlier than 1950, either, I think (though Goodreads gets this wrong if I read a recent translation of an ancient text sometimes).
I like to read outside my time, and happily, this year I’m guaranteed to, because I’ve signed up for a reading group through the Catherine Project where we’ll be discussing Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres by Henry Adams (1904) and The Autumn of the Middle Ages by Johan Huizinga (1919).
So, why keep assembling this list, if I expect I won’t get to all the books this year? Or at least, why not make the list shorter?
I like making this list because it’s always limited to books I already own, and putting them on the list gives me permission to prioritizing them. I don’t know how many I’ll read this year, but I know it will be more than if they weren’t officially on the list, and I look forward to what I’ll discover.
I’ve grouped the books for 2023 with the books that are most linked to Other Feminisms at the top, and then no particular order to follow.
- (√) Motherhood, A Confession by Natalie Carnes
- (√) The Autonomy Myth: A Theory Of Dependency by Martha Albertson Fineman
- (√) Maternal Thinking: Toward a Politics of Peace by Sara Ruddick
- (√) Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It by Richard V. Reeves
- (√) Fragmentation and Redemption: Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion by Caroline Walker Bynum
- (√) Saga of Saints by Sigrid Undset
- (√) The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila: A Biography by Carlos Eire
- (√) Subversive Habits: Black Catholic Nuns in the Long African American Freedom Struggle by Shannen Dee Williams
- (√) Translating Myself and Others by Jhumpa Lahiri
- (√) The Falcon Thief by Joshua Hammer
- (√) Silas Marner by George Elliot
As the list suggests, I tend to have more non-fiction than fiction coming into my house, and I’d love to know how you pick your fiction reading. I tend to long more for another reader, since I want to talk about the book. I considered signing up for Whale Weekly (a substack of Moby Dick readers) but this didn’t seem like my year!
My sister-in-law invited me to join her Well-Read Moms group a couple years ago and that’s been good for expanding my horizons a bit. Each year’s list has some books I’ve read before, but also some new ones. They don’t always hit it out of the park (cough*East of Eden*cough)[1], but there have been some gems, notably “The Remains of the Day,” “Two Old Women[2],” and “Jayber Crow.” My particular group of moms isn’t heavy on other people who will reliably finish the books, but it gives me more discussion than I’d get otherwise!
I also have a dear friend who lives several states away so we don’t have any direct book discussion[3], but we write letters and always include what we’ve been reading. And there’s a dad who teaches writing and literature to homeschoolers here; my daughter loves his classes and I end up reading whatever he assigns to her[4], but he gives me some extras too, hence I finally read “A Canticle for Leibowitz.” Boy, had I been missing out.
If you haven’t read Dorothy Sayers’ “Gaudy Night,” I think it’s up your alley. “The Little World of Don Camillo” is also outstanding; I know there are more in the series, but the ending of that one is so perfect that I’ve hesitated to go on and maybe ruin the knife-edge.
[1] Steinbeck loves his writing, but I disagree with his estimation.
[2] This one would fit well with Other Feminisms.
[3] Why don’t we talk on the phone? I don’t know; we like corresponding, though we take in-person when we can.
[4] And I re-read whatever I decide my high schooler needs to read. “Dracula,” now there’s a book I think I’ll need to re-read annually or something. Theology of the body AND the Ignatian rules of discernment, two for the price of one!
I loved Gaudy Night! Don Camillo is on my “to read” shelf, but he hasn’t made it to the top of the shelf yet.
I choose fiction from this list of must read books.
https://www.artofmanliness.com/living/reading/100-books-every-man-read/
It’s been a real help when I between nonfiction books I’m usually more interested in. I’m interested in how to find more contemporary fiction tho.
I also try to find fiction to read aloud to my sons. We have been working our way through Harry Potter and the kid friendly saints lives are big hit with both the boys and me!! I have been very pleasantly surprised by how edifying those books have turned out to be.
Not exactly on topic, but I’m doing an online Lent discussion group with college friends and tonight the conversation led to me mentioning “Building the Ben Op” and one friend said, “Oh, she just moved here!” You picked a place filled with truly delightful people from my class at UD!
Oh delightful! I love this neighborhood.
My friend said it’s a very “Benedict Option” kind of place. 🙂
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