for posterity and before January is over.
2025 was a huge year. so many transitions. ending well in Hyattsville, moving across the country, surprise pregnancy, settling into a new house, neighborhood, school rhythm in a totally different environment. there’s a lot of rereads on this list and comfort books that saw me through all the upheaval. and I’m still going with the Well-Read Mom list even though I haven’t found (or started) a group here yet. the WRM books have the asterisk.
*The Pearl by John Steinbeck – a reread, though I really didn’t remember it at all. SO INTENSE.
*The Father’s Tale by Michael O’Brien – confoundingly long. I appreciated some of the journey through Russia, reading it in cold wintertime, and some of the themes, but also felt like I was beat over the head with them for a 1000 pages. but it was fun to complain about with friends. a love/hate relationship with this one, don’t think I’d recommend.
*Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi with reflections by Franco Nembrini
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry – a read aloud to the girls. made me want to visit Chincoteague Island before we left Maryland but alas.
*King Lear by William Shakespeare – only me and one other mom made it to this discussion and it was lovely. but not a very fun read, lol.
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkein – when I found out Chris got the job in San Diego and we’d definitely be moving, I felt like Frodo – why did the ring come to me? – leaving the Shire and heading off into the terrible unknown (with a brief respite at the Rhode Island beach house/Rivendale first!) so this was a comfort reread for sure.
100 Great Catholic Poems edited/commentary by Sally Read – still slowly reading my way through this, and discovered I really enjoy Sally Read’s poems also
The Railway Children by E.B. Nesbit – a delightful read aloud to the girls
*Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell
Abundance by Ezra Klein – listened to this as I was packing
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkein – kept going with my reread of the trilogy as I was first trimester, depressed and missing Hyattsville this fall.
Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkein – so much great imagery about the king with healing hands I’d not noticed before.
*Persuasion by Jane Austen
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett – one of Zelie’s favorite read alouds and also mine. Mistress Mary quite contrary is such a great character.
In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden – another reread. I love the way she writes.
*Giants in the Earth by O.E. Rolvaag – a Norwegian novelist I never would have come across if not for WRM. the intensity of the Dakota territories in winter is fascinating and horrifying, lots of parallels to The Long Winter by LIW but this one goes much deeper into the interior life of the characters, especially the mother.
Olav Audunsson parts I and II by Sigrid Undset – continued with Norwegian novelists with this epic novel by Undset that I’d never read before. I’m currently in part III and it’s more similar to Kristin than I expected. I love her writing, the interior life, the conscience, the landscapes. so good.
*Christmas Around the Fire: Stories, Essays, and Poems for the Season of Christ’s Birth by Ryan Topping – a delightful collection to read during the Christmas season, and I got to read it by an actual fire during our visit to family in New Jersey. 🙂
And that’s it!
Glimpses of Joy 