Here’s to the last blog of the year! Not including school books, I read 50 books this year! That’s much more than I expected. Let’s dive into my reads from the last third of the year.

The Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall (3/5 Stars): Unlike the earlier entries in the series (which I reviewed in the last Reading Recap), this one fell a little flat for me. It was slow to start, though the ending was well done. The book also accomplished the same tackling of mature emotional themes while appealing to a younger audience, which the first three do well. My biggest issue was the change of main characters from the eldest three Penderwicks, now early college/late high school after a time jump, to Batty, who is now the same age as her older sisters at the series’ start. From a genre perspective, this change makes sense to keep the book appealing to the target audience. For me personally, I was more invested in the eldest sisters after following them for three books, and wanted more of their growing up story. So I feel overall mixed about this one.

The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall (3.5/5 Stars): Ditto what I said above about book four in the series. I liked this one only slightly more than The Penderwicks in Spring, because it brings the series back where it began: Arundel. I love a good full circle. However, this book feels most disconnected from the others in the series, as it follows the youngest daughter (only just introduced in the previous book) and doesn’t have much interaction with the older sisters. Also, the story’s promise of a wedding goes slightly unmet, as the book skips over the actual wedding it was building up to. Overall, though, The Penderwicks is a delightful series, especially for young girls between the ages of 8-12, so I do recommend it highly.

The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer (5/5 Stars): Everyone needs to read this book. It is a phenomenal and brief read that powerfully points to God and all His marvel and majesty. So, so, so good.

The Sandman and the War of Dreams by William Joyce (3/5 Stars): I had such high hopes for the Guardians series since I love the DreamWorks Rise of the Guardians so much, but unfortunately, I keep finding myself a little disappointed. In this book, the fourth and next-to-last in the series, very little actually happens, other than exposition on characters’ histories and a set-up for some terrible climax to come. I will say, though, that it does finally develop some of the set up for modern Santa Claus, which is what I expected from the very first book (reviewed last year). All in all, this one was just okay.

Morgoth’s Ring by Christopher Tolkien (and J. R. R. Tolkien): (5/5 Stars): The tenth volume of The History of Middle-Earth series, which traces J. R. R. Tolkien’s development of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings, continues the series’ trend of really interesting context and background information. I love this series because it encourages me in my writing journey, as I slowly take my time with some of my more complicated fantasy projects, much like Tolkien did over his lifetime.

The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill (4.5/5 Stars): This historical fiction mystery was a delight to read. I love Morrill’s style; it’s relatable for me and has just the right amount of dashing romance. The mystery element was strong, intriguing, and not too obvious. It’s a wonderful read!

The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (4/5 Stars): This mystery novel gave me Knives Out vibes immediately. It’s a bit of a double mystery: the protagonist is trying to solve a murder, but also trying to solve how he got into this situation in the first place as he hops across eight different witnesses of the murder and repeats the same day over and over again. (And remembers nothing of his own real past.) It’s a bit of a mind trip with plenty of twists and turns, with some I was able to predict and others I didn’t see coming. I liked it, but it wasn’t my favorite, which I blame on my genre preferences. I also would’ve liked a little more closure and insight into the world development, as I still had questions by the end, though technically everything does get resolved. Overall, very interesting book, and I’d be interested to read more of Turton’s novels.

The Lost Tales of Sir Galahad by Various Rabbit Room Authors (5/5 Stars): I LOVED this collection of short stories. It’s framed as an academic discovery of an old text, which is delightful for an academic nerd like myself. Each short story is delightful, humorous, and thought-provoking on spiritual themes.

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (4/5 Stars): Dumas is definitely one of my favorite older authors – I loved The Count of Monte Cristo – and The Three Musketeers certainly captures a sense of epic adventure and political intrigue, much like Dumas’s Monte Cristo. While I certainly loved moments of The Three Musketeers (specifically the beginning and any interactions between Athos, Porthos, and Aramis) the book also had slower moments and elements I didn’t enjoy. Fun ride overall, but with some aspects that affected my enjoyment.

Within These Lines by Stephanie Morrill (4/5 Stars): This historical fiction, by one of my favorite authors, focuses on the imprisonment of Japanese-American citizens and immigrants during World War II. It’s also a love story between a Japanese-American boy (Taichi) and an Italian-American girl (Evalina). It’s a wonderful work that highlights an aspect of World War II history that tends to go overlooked or glossed over, and is really well done. My favorite parts of the book were definitely from Taichi’s perspective as his family is forced from their home to live in one of the camps. I found Evalina’s perspective okay; hers was slightly less interesting than Taichi’s. All in all, a great book.

Defiant by Brandon Sanderson (4.9/5 Stars): I’ve been so excited for this book, especially since the last book (Cytonic) ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. And oh goodness gracious, my anticipation for this book paid off. It is a fantastic finale to a series I’ve really enjoyed, with beautiful themes that resonated with me, and fantastic interactions between characters that made me laugh out loud and cringe and cry. It was a great book, but there’s something holding me back from giving it a full five star rating. Some plot points seemed to progress or pop up really fast, but part of that might be my own unclear memory on what exactly book place in the previous books. I think I just need to reread the whole series together to fully decide where I land with this book, and so I can better appreciate how this one brings everything together.

The Writer’s Map edited by Huw Lewis-Jones (4/5 Stars): This unique book is a giant love letter to maps and the wonder of fictional worlds. It celebrates several iconic maps, both from history as well as from fiction, with articles written by various mapmakers, illustrators, and writers who have been captivated by the stories maps tell. My one criticism of this collection: some of the essays’ content gets really repetitive, as several writers will essentially comment the same thing about a different map. That being said, there are some really fun, unique, and well-written essays included, too. I especially liked the essays about making maps and props for the Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings movies. Overall, very cool book!

Miracle on 10^th Street by Madeline L’Engle (5/5 Stars): I’m a big fan of Madeline L’Engle, and this collection of Advent poetry, reflections, and stories was a great addition to my Christmas book line-up. My favorite part of this collection are her poems, as they are so worshipful and tender and absolutely perfect for reflecting on the amazingness of the incarnation of Our God & Savior. Highly recommend this one!

That’s it for my 2023 reads—and this year’s blog posts! Happy New Year, and here’s to 2024!