“Emma has been meaning to read more ever since she was twelve years old. But I have done with expecting any course of steady reading from Emma...She will never submit to anything requiring industry and patience, and a subjection of the fancy to the understanding.”
I remember watching Emma, the 2009 BBC series, for the first time on the carpet of my Grandma’s living room. I distinctly remember feeling a kindred spirit with the snarky, confident, and clever heiress with a habit of matchmaking. She was everything I wanted to be, she spoke her mind liberally and was strong willed to a fault. It all began (in the movie) below the white lace of a side table. Where Emma found comfort in drawing up stories for her little dolls. There were two things that made Emma and I the same. Our love for lists and dolls! This quote by Mr. Knightley always made me agitated when I read the book, and reread it a few times after that! Like Emma, I’ve always been meaning to read more, and can draw up a nice list!
Since I no longer play with dolls under the grand piano in my Grandma’s front room, I must “endeavor to read more.” While I differ from Austen’s endearing Emma on other points of character and witt, I do share a willful spirit that when I set my mind to something, I will see it through!
Last January I set myself a challenge on Goodreads to read 21 books in 2021. I’ve finished the year reading 26 titles. (That’s 10,329 pages by the way) Between hardback, paperbacks, and audiobooks, I’ve managed to accomplish this task thoroughly and enjoyed the process as well! Of 26, 24 of them were fiction, and 6 of them are mysteries so I am branching out some! I reread 5 books and revisited 4 authors that are old friends of mine! 7 were historical fiction and 5 were audiobooks of the more children’s fantasy genre. I read 6 that are considered “classics,” and 3 of those belong to my beloved Jane Austen, of course!
I’ll start with one of my first books of the year that also happened to be one of the most influential reads. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly was a historical fiction inspired by the life of a real heroin of World War II, Caroline Ferriday. The lives of three women are set on a collision course from New York City, Holland, to Nazi Germany. Here’s my five star review from February.
It’s been over a month and I’m still thinking about this book. The Rabbits. The evil I didn’t know mankind could be capable of, the brainwashing that happened in all levels of the Third Reich. I loved this book. Between Lilac Girls and a few other books I’ve read recently [That skip around narrators and viewpoints] I was a little thrown off at first by the storyline jumping but to be honest I think it was the best way to tell these three women’s stories. The speed in which I completed this book is due in part by quarantine and partly because I couldn’t understand how these three distinctly different women from different backgrounds and nationalities could come together. Nothing short of heart wrenching and stunning.
Another of my favorite authors, Katherine Reay, was represented by three titles this year. My favorite of which was the Printed Letter Bookshop. It was what got me on my kick of reading this year. I was lost in several of the titles quoted throughout the novel and once you read this book, turn to the end for a comprehensive book list that rivals Emma Woodhouse! Reay never ceases to whisk me into her stories with messy and relatable characters who navigate friendships and family relationships through the lens of some of your favorite authors. Printed Letter Bookshop and its sequel Of Literature and Lattes are two of her only novels not based on any particular book or characters. The whole of the story is based in a surviving small book shop so the wisdom of some of my most nostalgic titles are on every page. Her book Austen Escape is what got me listening to Jane’s finest works while waiting in the carpool line. Definitely add it to your TBR if you want a good escape into the world of Jane Austen, horse drawn carriages, balls, and a cynical engineer.
The book that took me the longest to finish was one of my only nonfiction books, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortlund. It was one of those slow burn books with lingering questions and lots of reflection involved. Not really what I would consider to be a quick read! Words can’t describe how much this book has truly changed the way I look at the heart of Christ for me and the world we live in.
In the one place in the Bible (Matthew 11:28-30) where the Son of God pulls back the veil and lets us peer way down into the core of who he is, we are not told that he is “austere and demanding in heart.” We are not told that he is “exalted and dignified in heart.” We are not even told that he is “joyful and generous in heart.” Letting Jesus set the terms, his surprising claim is that he is “gentle and lowly in heart.”
-Dane Ortlund
Our heart is what defines and directs us, so spending some time attempting to uncover the heart of our savior is well spent. I can’t give a better review than the one a close friend and mentor of mine told me when recommending it, “This book changed how I view Christ.” That was it, went straight to Barnes and Noble that same day and I hope you will too!
Neither of us have the time for me to review every book individually here, so check out my Goodreads for more details and to see my book list for this year! If you have questions about any of the books I read, or want to make suggestions I’d love to hear them! You can email me from my About page or reach out to me on social!
Here are my final suggestions.
Most thought provoking: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Best vacation/airplane read: Maisie Dobbs by Jaqueline Winspear
Fantasy: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Look up trigger warnings)
Historical Fiction (Educating and tear jerker): Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Historical Fiction (Mystery and romance): A Hundred Suns by Karin Tanabe
Coffee shop read: The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay
Audiobook: Hercule Poirot, Richard Armitage narrates these Agatha Christie novels on Audible!
Mystery/Thriller: The Rook by Daniel O’Malley (Look up trigger warnings)
Would read again: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (This was a reread!)
P.S. Just as a note I recommend everyone look up book trigger warnings before reading a suggestion! Everyone has different sensitivities and I always find it better to know before you begin reading so you’re not caught off guard.
