Books Read in 2023

It was a very good reading year – 95 books finished! I could not reach that number without audiobooks as I am not a fast reader (although I am faster – when I focus – than I used to be). I don’t think I’ll try for 100 in 2024, especially since I’m tackling several pretty long ones (like The Life of Samuel Johnson) but it is encouraging to see my reading and listening muscles growing stronger. 🙂 In the list below I’ve indicated which were audiobooks or read-alouds with one or more children, and also noted rereads (a good book is worth returning to!). The stars are the rating I gave them on Goodreads – for me, 5 stars is really good/wonderful, 4 is very good/solid, 3 is so-so or maybe “meh”, 2 is pretty awful, and 1 is dreadful (I don’t get many books in the latter two categories because I would usually abandon them if they were headed in that direction without a good reason to keep reading).

  1. Keeping Holiday by Starr Meade (read-aloud, reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  2. Competing Spectacles: Treasuring Christ in the Media Age by Tony Reinke ⭐️⭐️⭐️
  3. Persuasion by Jane Austen (audiobook, reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  4. Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman (mostly audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  5. Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters by Abigail Shrier ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  6. Between Two Worlds by Cheyenne van Langevelde ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  7. Howard’s End Is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home by Susan Hill (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  8. Letters to Malcolm Chiefly on Prayer by C. S. Lewis (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  9. Becoming Free Indeed by Jinger Duggar (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  10. Poetics by Aristotle ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  11. Mrs. Mike by Benedict Freedman (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️
  12. Mythos by Stephen Fry (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  13. Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  14. Parenting Toward the Kingdom: Orthodox Christian Principles of Child-Rearing by Philip Mamalakis ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  15. How to Think by Alan Jacobs (audiobook, reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  16. Dead Man’s Ransom by Ellis Peters (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  17. Pilgrim Theology by Michael Horton (mostly audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  18. A Practical Guide to Culture by John Stonestreet & Brett Kunkle (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  19. Othello by William Shakespeare (audiobook & hardcopy) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  20. The Great Passion by James Runcie (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  21. Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners by Dane Ortlund ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  22. Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration by Pope Benedict XVI (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  23. The Ballad of the White Horse by G. K. Chesterton (Librivox audiobook & paperback, also read with my boys in Morning Time) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  24. Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew Crawford (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  25. The Word in the Wilderness by Malcolm Guite ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  26. On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder (read-aloud, reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  27. 1984 by George Orwell (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  28. The Ship of Dreams by Gareth Russell (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  29. The Code of the Woosters by P. G. Wodehouse (audiobook, reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  30. The Vanderbeekers on the Road by Karina Yan Glaser (read-aloud) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  31. The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction by Justin Whitmel Earley (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  32. Norms & Nobility by David V. Hicks (reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  33. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (read-aloud) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  34. Surrender by Bono (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  35. The Gentle Art of Tramping by Stephen Graham ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  36. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  37. Lady Susan/The Watsons/Sanditon by Jane Austen (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  38. Nemesis by Agatha Christie (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  39. Messy Beautiful Friendship by Christine Hoover (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  40. The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher (audiobook, reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  41. The Vision of Sir Launfal by James Russell Lowell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  42. The Warden and the Wolf King by Andrew Peterson (read-aloud) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  43. Bandersnatch by Diana Pavlac Glyer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  44. The Convivial Homeschool by Mystie Winkler (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  45. Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  46. The Didascalicon of Hugh of Saint Victor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  47. Tales from the Perilous Realm by J.R R. Tolkein (read-aloud) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  48. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster (read-aloud) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  49. Reading for the Love of God by Jessica Hooten Wilson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  50. Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  51. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  52. Gather: Exploring the Wonder, Wisdom & Worship of Learning at Home by Pam Barnhill & Heather Tully ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  53. Formation of Character by Charlotte Mason (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  54. How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler & Charles Van Doren (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  55. The Rule of Saint Benedict ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  56. Hard Times by Charles Dickens (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  57. Winters in the World: A Journey through the Anglo-Saxon Year by Eleanor Parker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  58. Philosophical Thoughts by C.S. Lewis (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  59. The Truth by Terry Pratchett (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  60. The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis by Jason M. Baxter (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  61. The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New by Marty Machowski (read-aloud) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  62. Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  63. The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  64. Bearing False Witness by Rodney Stark (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  65. The Magic Apple Tree by Susan Hill ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  66. The Discarded Image by C.S. Lewis ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  67. Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  68. Beowulf retold by Michael Morpurgo (read-aloud) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  69. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  70. Be Thou My Vision: A Liturgy for Daily Worship by Jonathan Gibson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  71. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (audiobook, reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  72. A Daughter of the Samurai by Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto (read-aloud) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  73. Watership Down by Richard Adams (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  74. The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  75. Honey for a Woman’s Heart by Gladys Hunt ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  76. Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️
  77. Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  78. Rembrandt Is in the Wind by Russ Ramsey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  79. On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  80. The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  81. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  82. The Door in the Wall by Margurite de Angeli (read-aloud, reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  83. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  84. The Golden Key for Life and Leaders by Kornelis Sietsma ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  85. By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder (read-aloud, reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  86. Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  87. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (audiobook, reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  88. The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-ups by Gina Ingoglia (read-aloud) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  89. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson (read-aloud, reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  90. On the Incarnation by Athanasius of Alexandria (audiobook, reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  91. A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas (audiobook, reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  92. The Temple by George Herbert ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  93. The Pilgrim of Hate by Ellis Peters (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  94. Another Year of Wonder by Clemency Burton-Hill ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  95. The Prayers of the Bible by Gordon Keddie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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