- Take my hand
- A study in Charlotte
- Wench
- The last of August
- Come as you are
- The Case for Jamie
- A question of Holmes
- A beautiful terrible thing
- Signal fires
- All my knotted up life
- Someone else's shoes
- Between the Mountain and the Sky
- The Paris Apartment
- Time Lottery
- Becoming Free Indeed
- Of Boys and Men
- The extraordinary deaths of Mrs. Kip*
- Woman on Fire
- Hang the Moon
- On Mystic Lake
- The lost and found bookshop
- Homecoming
- You could make this place beautiful
- The highly sensitive person
- I'm just a kid with an IEP
- The silent patient
- My body and other failing empires
- The in-between
- How do I Un-remember this?
- Lessons in Chemistry*
- You shouldn't have come here
- All the Lonely People*
- Remarkably Bright Creatures*
- Breath as Prayer
- The island of missing trees
- Learning to walk in the dark
- The Blue Castle
- Battlefield of the Mind
- The ruthless elimination of hurry
- Tom Lake
- It only gets worse
- Between sisters
- Home Front
- Distant Shores
- Spare
- Small things like these
- Foster
- We are the Light
- The Wishing Game
- Taft
- The Boys from Biloxi
- The winemaker's wife
- Miracles and other reasonable things
- Nothing is missing
- Everybody come alive
- The prodigal God
- Commonwealth
These are the titles of the fifty-seven books I read in 2023. This does not include the Bible studies or the start of another round through the Bible. Some of these I read for other people because I'm a firm believer in reading before recommending. Someone casually suggested a "Christian marriage book" years ago to support another friend. That book was good for fire starter only and likely evidence in abuse cases. Anyway, because I know a lot of people from a variety of backgrounds, if someone shares something I know little about, I track down information or helpful books to pass along. After all, I'm reading something anyway, I may as well be learning along the way. However, as extensive as this list appears, it was a significant reduction from 2022. Fifty-two weeks ago, I was shocked to discover I'd read ninety two books and vowed to reduce that count in 2023. Recognizing that many novels indicated a lot of life avoided was the driving force for monthly check-ins on my reading list.
(*)Indicates my favorite titles from this year.
2023 wasn't our year, as a whole. Greg lost his job, my job situation is anything but pleasant, my health took several hits, Lauren's marriage crumbled and Makenna welcomed Noah back into her life after finalizing their divorce. This has been complicated for a lot of family members. Ty had several difficult teachers and ended up at home for two quarters while we regrouped. We were left grappling for understanding as to how so much can crumble in such a short time.
By early summer, I put the "Tell Me Something Good" jar away. I was actually ticked off when I saw it sitting on the counter. It felt like a taunt, "can you still find something good? How about now?" I don't think it will return but something similar to jot down cute moments, silly comments or anything that makes us smile would be good to look back through fifty-two weeks from now.
There were highlights of course, time spent with Austin, Erin casually winning the title of Miss Louisville and competing on stage for Miss Kentucky. She achieved what she set out to do. Her cervical cancer story was spread and she earned scholarships to aid in finishing her master's degree. Kate's early graduation was well celebrated and of course, Erin and Evan's wedding was delightful. Lauren added a happy little handful of a puppy to the family and whereas he is a mess, he does make us all laugh when we see him. Makenna's achievements with her students are profound and Ty has adjusted well to his new school. Life isn't easy, but it isn't all bad either.
I saw a friend who was in town from Houston once I recovered from a mild illness. They rented the cutest little shotgun house in town and hosted a small open house for friends to get together. I'm grateful I was able to step into a quiet evening with friends during the strange week between Christmas and New Year's, where I often had no idea what day it was or when I needed to eat. No schedule means odd habits and lots of rest. I'm grateful for the lot of it.
Ty requested one of the larger beds be moved into his upstairs room. Since we had two guest rooms, it was fairly easy to grant his request. Bringing the twin bed into one of the guest rooms, freed some space for me to have easy access to my yoga mat. Kristil has agreed to work through a thirty day yoga challenge with me virtually this month and now I have space created to maintain that commitment. Diesel, who was already claiming half of Ty's twin bed is pleased with the change as well. He now helps himself to half of the queen bed but Ty can finally stretch his growing legs.
Lauren left to support a grieving friend this evening so we scored a dinner date with our favorite grandson. He "helped" me with my yoga commitment. I have to assume it was a lot like yoga with baby goats. At one point, he was laying across my back while I practiced cat-cow stretches. But his giggles are amazing and I don't take the yoga too seriously anyway. I just like the way I feel afterward.
