2023 End of Year Book Review



Here are my favorite books that I read in 2023:

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. I read this on vacation and absolutely loved it. It's the best book by Lowry that I've read. It is a story about a girl during World War II in Denmark. It is based on true stories about the Danish resistance against Nazi occupation. *I highly recommend reading juvenile and young adult fiction on vacation.

Plant Science for Gardeners and Soil Science for Gardeners by Robert Pavlich. I read two of these books over the winter and loved them. He explains the ins and outs of how plants grow, what they do, what defense mechanisms are, etc. He also explains what soil is and how soil works. It helped me a lot in the garden. It also made me wonder and marvel at the world.

Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. I read this in kind of a book club with two of my kids-they read the abridged young adult version. We really loved it The story was excellent. It was the story of the rowing team that formed at the University of Washington and then rowed in the Berlin Olympics just before World War II. It was amazing on every level. It is what creative nonfiction and popular history can be.

The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks. I heard him doing interview with Wendell Berry in Louisville several years ago. I finally got around to reading the book and loved it. It helps me understand life in rural contexts, even if his context is in Britain. It's just wonderful.

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi. The kids recommended this to me and it was really fun. It's a well-written and fast-moving story about a boy in medieval England on the journey to find out why people are trying to kill him. It sounds like a thriller and it moves fast but it's more of a young adult literary story. I understand why it won awards. I enjoyed reading and discussing this with the kids.

The Bark of the Bog Owl and The Secret of the Swamp King by Jonathan Rogers we started the second book as an audiobook on vacation and I got so into it that I went back and read the first book. We will be finishing the series this December on our trip for the holidays. This is a book I ignored or resisted for years and now regret it. It is a great story about a boy in an epic kingdom prophesied to be king.

On Writing Well by William Zinsser. I've read this several times, and it's wonderful every time I read it. It is encouragement to write as well as you can.

Marriage by Paul David Tripp. This is the only great book on marriage I've read. There might be other ones, but I haven't read them. It is a great encouragement and has been a blessing to others that I've read it with.

*photo generated with Canva Magic Media ai photo generator. 

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