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Danielle Lazarin's avatar

Thank you for saying that about books finding us at different times! I have embraced my oftentimes chaotic reading desires and it’s been great. Have been meaning to post about the trio of books I’m reading now that would make one think I was three different people and which pleases me greatly.

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Abby Rasminsky's avatar

I love that. Yes, write it.

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veena rangaswami's avatar

Yes! I had Great Circle sitting on my shelf for 2+ years until I read it at the top of this year — I knew I needed to be in the right frame of mind for it, and waiting until I was ready made such a difference in my reading experience.

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Jessica Grosman's avatar

What’s the trio of books - I’m curious?!?!

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Jessica Grosman's avatar

Alice Hoffman FTW

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Danielle Lazarin's avatar

My first!

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Jessica Grosman's avatar

Magic Lessons is my favorite Alice Hoffman book.

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Brenna's avatar

I love an end of year book recap! I read a few that you liked too. My favorite book of the year was My Brilliant Best Friend by Elena Ferrante. I loved how it described the dark parts of intimate friendships. It’s something I’ve known about all my life but never seen depicted so clearly. Plus I’m living in Napoli now so it helped me understand life here. Thanks for sharing, I’ll add some of these to my list!

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Abby Rasminsky's avatar

Loved My Brilliant Friend.

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Jessica Grosman's avatar

I love when I remember a book by where I read it! This past July, while vacationing in mid-coast Maine and waiting for the rain to stop long enough to hike in Acadia, I read Little Monsters. Wonderful summertime read. While waiting for a delayed flight home from Maine (a different trip), I read a great big chunk of Wellness. I keep fastidious lusts and track my reading & TBR in Goodreads, but traveling with books makes them even more memorable. Here’s to another year of great travel with books!

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Abby Rasminsky's avatar

Little Monsters has been on my TBR pile forever!

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Jessica Grosman's avatar

Have you read Wild Game yet? I found both Wild Game and Little Monsters to be very intriguing reads, but requiring the right time and head-space to appreciate the stories.

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Coree Brown Swan's avatar

We spend every Christmas at my parents’ in Portugal and I will sometimes save things I really want to dive into. Demon Copperhead last year, the Fraud this year.

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Brenna's avatar

I love a Maine read 😄 I read Lucy by the Sea this year and loved it. I’ll add these to the list!

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Jessica Grosman's avatar

There are so many books set in Maine! Wellness isn’t, FYI. Next on my Maine list is The Berry Pickers.

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Brenna's avatar

Ah I see ☺️

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Peabody Bites's avatar

Thank you for this. I read a LOT but have not managed to settle to a routine of recording what I read. Would you mind sharing how you keep the notes and built the habit of doing so?

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Abby Rasminsky's avatar

I write it all down in a notebook...that then I lose. So I’m not really the best person to talk to about organization! I used to write down the books by month.

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Danielle Lazarin's avatar

I use notes app! Organized by year, because I could never keep up notebooks and always wanted to remember when chatting with people.

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Leandra's avatar

I use a spreadsheet. I keep my TBR list at the bottom of the page and can copy it over into the next year, if needed.

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veena rangaswami's avatar

I also use a spreadsheet! It helps me keep track of the different categories I want to focus on for that year, and it makes it so easy when a friend asks me what I've read that year — all I have to do is share the link and they can see everything I've read since 2019.

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Abby Rasminsky's avatar

!!! That’s impressive!

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Jessica Grosman's avatar

Goodreads is an easy place to organize reading and to build a TBR list.

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Jessica Grosman's avatar

I also keep lists on my phone (in Notes) of what I’ve read (with dates) and a TBR (with the date added).

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Sandra Martin's avatar

I need a bread baking book! suggestions? i can't seem to make a decent loaf anymore, so a basic recommendation please! & happy new year!

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Abby Rasminsky's avatar

Hmmm. I find challah the easiest but I’ve also loved making bread from Alexandra cooks online. No knead bread is such a good place to start -- Mark Bittmann!

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Yvonne Pasquini's avatar

Love this - What a great list! Added some of these to my To Reads. I am old school and use Goodreads to keep track of my reads of the year. That web site hasn't changed since 2008.

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Leslie Carlin's avatar

Thanks for sharing these reads, Abby. I'm making notes! So true that revisiting books is like traveling backwards in time to remember the places, feelings, and people they evoke. I've just reviewed my own literary year (mostly conveniently recorded for me on Libby:) and am awash in memories of Cambridge. (Re-reading, I see so many 're-' words. That time of year, I guess.)

I love that you're parenting a half-grown daughter while your bedside is piled with half-read parenting books!

xoxo

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Abby Rasminsky's avatar

Oh my god, only you’d see that! Makes me cry!

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molly magee's avatar

Yay, Abby!! I love this!!

We read quite a few of the same books this year:) And NORA GOES OFF SCRIPT is one of my all-time favorites!

Have you read any of Gillian McAllister's thrillers?! I read WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME & absolutely loooved it - and then read quite a few of her others. She's great!!

xoxo

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Abby Rasminsky's avatar

No! Will investigate...

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Anna Lee's avatar

Jenny Erpenbeck’s Kairos was my favorite this year! Beautiful sentences, consuming story. Thanks for sharing these recommendations!

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Cate Stern's avatar

I felt like I time-traveled along with you. Thank you sharing these titles!

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Leandra's avatar

I just finished The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. Even though it broke my heart I didn’t want it to be over. I’ve read three Maggie O’Farrell books that I really liked this year: Hamnet, This Must Be the Place, and After You’d Gone.

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Abby Rasminsky's avatar

LOVED The Great Believers and also Maggie O’Farrell!

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