218 - 2023 Books and What I'm Reading in 2024
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Resources from this episode:
Val Marie Paper - Prayer Journal | use code “WORKANDPLAY” for 10% off
Books I Read in 2023:
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Earley, Troy and Ruth Simons
Books I Wanted to Read in 2023:
Books I Plan to Read in 2024:
Show Notes:
Today is my annual book club episode where I share my very favorite books that I read this last year in 2023 and also what I have planned for 2024. You can always find that current list updated at nancyray.com/bookclub or you can follow along and read with me if you choose. It is very relaxed or you can just catch up on the podcast episodes as I release them. So I’m excited. I read some really good stuff this year and I have some exciting picks for next year and I can’t wait to share them with you today.
For the full episode, hit play above.
I don't know if you've ever seen the movie About Time but it's one of my favorite movies of all time, actually probably is my favorite movie of all time, and it's the story of this guy who realizes that the men in his family have time-traveling abilities and they can go back in time, change things about their life, redo some things if they want but they can just go back in time in their own life and like relive parts of their life.
It's funny because this guy realizes it or he's told about it when I think he's like a teenager or something by his dad because his dad is, it's only the men in the family who can do this and his dad of course has traveled backwards in his life and traveled in time and so he tells his son about how he can do it and he explains it. So his son does it for the first time and then he goes back to like present time and he's like “oh my gosh dad I can't believe this” you know whatever so his dad starts sharing these life lessons with him that he's learned like you know his son is thinking all about like “oh my goodness, a career or girls” or like whatever. And his dad looks at him and is like “Oh no, no, it's books books are the thing that you want tons and tons of books that is the best secret to life.”
And I love this part in the movie because it's not always success is not always what culture tells you it should be or what you think it might be um, but a lot of success in life is just learning and enjoying life and that is what books are for and books have been one of the most special parts of my life this year if you have been listening to every episode then you've listened to episode 212 where I share about Harry Potter and Wingfeather saga and the Chronicles of Narnia and how much they've meant to me this year and how amazing they were for me and my family but the more I live the longer I live the more I realize how much more my life is enriched by books and so with that said, I just encourage you if you're not a reader, do whatever you can do to read just a little bit more just like one more book.
I'm not like a crazy reader. Okay? I don't read like like some people can read 50 books, 70 books in a year that's not me. But I still value it and love it and just do what I can. So let's look back to 2023 and I'll share with you all the books that I read and my very favorite ones.
So like I've already mentioned we finished Chronicles of Narnia we actually started it in 2022. We finished it as a family this year I think we finished the last 4 books this year. Will and I read all of the Harry Potter series for the first time ever starting in January we ended I think in June um, and we would kind of take turns, trade off reading the books and then we both read the Wingfeather saga which is 4 books, so Harry Potter's 7 books, Wingfeather Saga is 4 books Chronicles of Narnia in total is 7, and so those were hands down my top favorite books that I read all year, those 3 children's series and you can hear more about those in episode 212 if you want to go back and listen to them. But they're the best decisions I made all year about reading and I am so excited to one day share all of those book series with my kids. Wingfeather and Harry Potter I feel like are a little bit too mature for them quite yet, but we'll probably do Wingfeather next when Millie gets a little bit older and then Harry Potter later-later when I feel like she's and all of our kids are just really spiritually mature enough to handle it.
Okay I'm going to share the rest of the books that I read this year too but I just have to mention that those are like my top ones they brought so much joy to my life. The next one I want to share is Remarkably Bright Creatures. I picked this one up at the last minute before Will and I went to Cancun on our fifteenth-anniversary trip and read it over the course of those five days it was a perfect vacation read. It was kind of crazy like fiction book it talks about an octopus like it's very interesting but very captivating and I really enjoyed it.
Okay, those are all the fiction books. Now we're moving on to more, well, just nonfiction. So Four Thousand Weeks. I started off the year with that, I did a whole podcast episode about that. It's episode 183, it was really good and really helpful to just realize that most people's lives are made up of four thousand weeks. It's a finite amount of time that we have and it's kind of like how are we going to spend those weeks. It was a little, you can go back and listen to that episode if you want an in-depth review, I feel like there were some nuggets that were so good in that book and then others that were like kind of depressing like he's not a believer so you know he talks about like this is all you've got. Like this is it and I'm like well no, there's a lot more after these four thousand weeks and that kind of affects how you view them. So it's interesting. It was it was a good read I enjoyed it. But go back and listen to that other episode if you're interested in reading about it. You can hear more.
I read Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin, that was so good, I enjoyed that one a lot. Definitely the best part about it was when she outlines the four tendencies that people have and it really helps you understand about yourself and kind of the tendencies that you carry. So I Definitely recommend that one, really helpful in a practical way, and just like a really good thoughtful book.
The Power of Writing it Down by Alison Fallon, this was really fascinating. I have always been a written processor. I like to write out things that I'm experiencing or learning and I have filled journals for years and years like, I, that's just how I kind of process life the good and the bad and everything in between and I write out my prayers a lot anyway. I have always sensed that there is some sort of scientific explanation and there is and she goes through this in the book of like how powerful it is to write something down, how it really takes something that's like in your mind and putting it on paper how that really helps you to see something and see it back to you and process it in a way that is different than if you were to never write it down and she actually goes through a lot of studies and how that's true, really fascinating stuff and I just really enjoyed it. It encouraged me just to keep writing like even if nobody ever sees it just to keep writing, even if it's just for myself.
I so enjoyed the book The Blessing um by Carrie Trent Stageberg and and her dad and just how practical and helpful it was just to be a blessing to your kids at all times. That episode where I interviewed Carrie was so encouraging to me. So if you skipped that one this year go back and listen to episode 196. You can always find my podcast episodes by just typing in nancyray.com/podcast/the number, so just type in all that, episode 196 and you can go back and listen and it just was really really encouraging and practical ways to bless your children and the biblical explanation behind it and like why that's important
Carrying on the theme of a blessing, another book that I'm not quite done with but planned to finish before the end of the year is called The Blessing of a Skinned Knee by Wendy Mogul this is a fascinating read too. I know I'm not quite done. But what's so interesting about it is the author is Jewish and she talks a lot about how she really really took on and embraced her Jewish faith later on in life. And she talks about how as she did and as she learned about God and the Old Testament and Jewish teachings and family traditions, how that translates into healthy parenting. So she talks about the blessing of a skinned knee and like what that looks like as far as letting our children grow up and giving them the space to make mistakes and to get hurt a little bit while also being under our supervision and care so that they learn themselves and and learn to be fully functioning adults in the community. But kind of what that looks like with the Jewish faith.
Now what was so interesting is I'm a Christian and I'm reading it and there are certain things in the book that I was like oh oh that's so interesting like that's her take on on this as coming from a Jewish faith perspective versus a Christian faith perspective. It was just it was fascinating. I think it’s the first book that I've ever read with a Jewish author and that was just very interesting to me and so some of the things I disagreed with and some of them I thought wow this is really good. So anyway. Overall I really enjoyed the book and I really do enjoy reading other authors that aren't Christians occasionally and just hearing how they process things and what they believe and yeah, it just in a lot of ways strengthens my own beliefs because I’m working those things out in my mind as I'm reading them like why do I believe the things I believe. Anyway, that was a side note. It was really good. Really great parenting tips in that book.
Um, another one I listened to this year, I did not read but listen to was Try Softer by Aundie Kolber and that was beautiful. So she's a Christian therapist, Christian counselor, she wrote this book and I just feel like it really is eye-opening to the strength and importance of counseling in a believer's life and I really think that counseling and therapy is so important and it really brings so much healing that will last throughout your life and will just be a blessing to everyone around you to yourself and to your children if you take the time to do the work of counseling and kind of going back in your past to analyze things and it's hard. It's so hard. But this book, she's a believer and she talks a lot about how the Lord meets us in counseling so it was really, really good.I definitely recommend listening to that.
Another book that my sister just sent to me that I read it was interesting and kind of out of nowhere. It was called Wintering by Katherine May, I didn't really talk about it anywhere I didn't really let anybody know as reading it. My sister just sent it to me and I just read it and I think I did that really early this year. And it was good. It was really good.
So the tagline of Wintering is “the power of rest and retreat in difficult times” and the concept of the book is how there's going to be times in our lives where we need to pull back and we need to winter. Like as a verb, and I actually have a podcast episode planned in a couple weeks where I'm going to just share ways that I'm wintering this winter but it was really eye-opening. I think we just get this message all the time and I know I have and, just like setting goals and planning and going and doing and we don't allow the time and space for like big life changes to happen like if there's like a big illness or a family member you have to take care of or the birth of a baby or anything that just kind of pauses life, that it's really important to just kind of allow yourself to be in that season of like rest and retreat. And that's really important, just in the flow of like seasons of life. It was a really, it was a great book. I thought that it was really enjoyable
And one side note of that book is she talks about doing like cold plunges like going she would do it in the ocean when there's ice at the beach, I mean crazy, crazy cold. But that was a very interesting part of the book. This is a total tangent but I just have been more inspired to try this whole cold plunge thing. Around the time I was reading the book I went to Beaufort, North Carolina at the coast in January with some of my dearest friends and I was taking pictures in and around the water for my best friend's new album that just came out.
(Total side note and plug for that. It's by Samantha Ray it's called Matriarch It's so incredible. Just if you're looking for something to listen to. Just go listen to Matriarch by Samantha Ray.)
Okay, sorry that was side note, but I was taking pictures for her for one of the songs on the album called Wash my Jair and we were out in the cold and I was reading this book Wintering and reading all about these cold plunge things and Sam and I decided to get in the water in the ocean in January and do a cold plunge. And oh my word, it was so fun and it was so freezing. Jess got in with us too, I don't think Heather did. Anyway those are the Minkies, you guys have heard me talk about the Minkies I did a whole podcast episode with the Minkies. It was the 4 of us and we were doing like our Minkie getaway and we all did a cold plunge, Heather watched it was so freezing and so fun. Um, but so invigorating and now I totally want one of those like ice bath things. Okay, I'm not actually going to get one but I'm just letting you know.
Okay, this was total tangent on the podcast but hey that's fun!
Alright so, three books that I wanted to read this year that I didn't were The Stories We Tell by Joanna Gaines, Lazy Genius Kitchen by Kendra Adachi and then Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends.
Alright, so now I'm going to talk about the books that I plan to read in 2024 pretty excited about this list. It's not up to 12 yet, this is a a little bit of a shorter list for this year. I might add 1 or 2 more. But I'm gonna keep it shorter I'm gonna let it be, I mean. I kind of give myself some wiggle room to add some things later on. So I'm going to start off the year with Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan like the original one because we have read Little Pilgrim's Progress which is beautiful and incredible and if you're still looking for something like a book to give your children for Christmas, look no further, Little Pilgrim’s Progress with the illustrations and the bunnies. It's one of the best it is like one of our family's favorites, but it inspired me to read the actual Pilgrim's Progress. A friend of mine said she wanted to read it in January and I was like, yes me too. Let's do it together. So we’re gonna do that.
That same friend recommended Set the Stars Alight by Amanda Dykes. It's like a Christian novel she said it's so good. It's one of her favorites and I just wanted a really good story this year. I also am planning to read Made for People by Justin Whitmel Early.
That also reminds me that I totally left off a book that was one of my favorite books I read this year And what I read I think it's because it was an audiobook. Um, but I read Habits of the Household and it was one of my favorites this year, was so good, I listened to it so great and I really want to read his new book Made for People.
Moving on, Until the Streetlights Come on by Jenny Yuric. sS you maybe you've heard of the thousand hours outside movement or podcast. It's been a recent podcast um or a podcast that I've like recently added to my queue, I am loving it. She's great at interviewing people. And she just recently wrote a book and I really want to read it. I'm so excited about that and it's all about play. It's all about the power of play, for your children for you and how important it is and so every year she has these like printables that you can download for free on her website. That's like tracking how to make sure you're spending at least 1000 hours outside every year. It's great, we've done it before, it's really fun. So I want to read Until the Street Lights Come On.
This is a really random one but stick with me. One of the books I want to read this year is called The 2-hour Cocktail Party. It's by this guy named Nick Gray. I don't know that's so random to me that I just would not expect that'd be a guy that would write this thing because I feel like so many of like the hosting and party books who written by women like Martha Stewart, Joanna Gaines, anyway this guy apparently has written this very detailed book on how to host a gathering, like a cocktail party but like this can be applied to any kind of gathering and I heard about it on the Coffee and Crumbs podcast early last year and it was so intriguing because one of the ladies on there said it was such a practical step-by-step guide to osting that it gave her things to think about that she had never thought about before.
I'm about to be 37 and I'm like I just feel like I want to up my hosting game and have more gatherings in again with this theme made for people, being in community, playing more hosting more parties. It's like kind of a theme all of these are working together. But I just want to learn from this guy who's apparently amazing at hosting parties.
Okay, the next book is Take Back Your Time by Christie Wright. She wrote this a couple years ago, I just haven't read it yet and Christie Wright is one of the Dave Ramsey personalities but she is awesome. She leads like the business boutique and talks a lot about entrepreneurship and time management. This is her like time management book and I'm really excited to read that. The Stories We Tell by Joanna Gaines, Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends, those are two that I really want to make sure I read this year as well because I didn't get to him this last year.
Then for our family read-aloud book series. We are going to start the Green Ember series. So many of you have recommended this. It’s the same adventure Christian adventure storyline and this like a series I think of 4 books and then they have a few mini stories or mini books after that I think I'm not totally sure but we are asking for those for Christmas for the kids and us and we plan to read those as a family this year.
And that is it. That's it that's what I read this last year um that's what I'm planning to read this upcoming year and I'm really excited. About it. So I hope that maybe you have found 1 or 2 books from this list that you would like to read um that would hopefully enhance your life and make it a little bit better.
Thanks for listening to episode 218 of work and play with Nancy Ray. Everything I've mentioned today, all the links to the books and the old podcast episodes can be found in my show notes at nancyray.com/podcast/218 and you can find me at nancyray.com or over on Instagram @nancyray. You also can find these book lists at nancyray.com/bookclub and you can follow along there throughout the year and we can talk about them a little bit more over in Patreon you can head to patreon.com/workandplay and I look forward to connecting with you there. It was Jane Austen who said “I declare after all, there is no enjoyment like reading. How much sooner one tires of anything than a book when I have a house on my own I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.” Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time.
