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Hello! Welcome back to Work & Play with Nancy Ray. After a month-long break this summer, I thought that we would kick it off by talking about my favorite books that I have read so far in 2024.

For the full episode, hit play above or read through below.

Well, I hope you have had a lovely summer. I have had so much fun with the kids and with my husband. I have kind of unintentionally taken off Instagram, work, and everything and have enjoyed it so much. But I am back and I am excited to go through a list of books that I have really enjoyed this year. Now, at the beginning of the year, I set out with a list of books that I want to read and I make a list of them. You can always read that over at nancyray.com/bookclub. I love to share them with you there because if you ever want to read along with me, I think that is so fun because I usually talk about them on the podcast, do a quick recap, and three takeaways.

This year, and honestly last year too, I don’t know if it’s my age, but I just value the recommendation of a friend so much more now than I ever have. I have pivoted a little bit from my original list of books that I want to read for the year. I will take a recommendation, grab the book, and start reading it. Then I’ll take another recommendation or hear about a book or podcast, and start reading it. It’s really fun. It feels a little bit more freeing. So I’m a little behind on my book club reading, but man I’ve got some good new books for you today that I have really been enjoying reading this year. Let’s jump in and I’ll share my favorite books so far from this year.

The first one is called Set the Stars Alight by Amanda Dykes. A dear friend recommended this to me and I really appreciate all of her recommendations. It is a Christian historical fiction novel about Lucy and Dashael. Lucy and her parents grew up in a very quaint, small home in England. Dashael doesn’t have a steady home life and he ends up coming to their house and they will read a lot of stories together. They have such a vibrant home life and Dashael is kind of taken in by this family. Tragedy strikes and they grow up. Lucy and Dashael were separated for many years, but they reconnected later. They are reconnected through their work even though they do very different things with their work. Lucy researches history and different events in history. Dashael is an astronomer. A story that’s a mystery and requires some research draws them back together. It’s a love story. It’s a specific genre that I don’t think I have ever read before. It is really pure and it has a really rich love story. It’s so interesting and so specific to the time period they are living in. There are two timelines. You are reading about Lucy and Dashael and their story now. Then you are also flipping back 200 years before to the people who were living and learning about this ship that they are trying to find and research. Both storylines are so compelling and they are so good. The author is a Christian so there are themes of redemption that are woven throughout the whole story. I just really recommend it. It was a lovely read.

The next book is a totally different book and category. It was one of the most profoundly impactful books that I’ve read this year. I love the author, Justin Whitmel Early. He wrote “Habits of the Household”, which is not the book I read this year. I read his latest book, Made for People. This book is all about friendship. I am forever astounded by him. I would love to have him on the podcast sometime. Just a quick background if you don’t know anything about him. He is a lawyer, a contract attorney. He has four boys, is married, is a believer. He is also a prolific author. He has written three books now and I believe he is writing his fourth. What struck me so much about this book called Made for People is that it is all about friendships and how we really are made to be in community with one another. What struck me about this is this guy is so busy and the friendships he is talking about are so robust, rich, and intentional. He made me think of the way I do friendship so differently. He challenged me on so many levels. It was really beautiful. If you feel lonely or you feel like you want an example of how to be a good friend and how to find yourself in and cultivate covenant friendships (long-lasting, committed friendships), I highly recommend Made for People. He references scripture a lot. He draws from personal examples in his life a lot. One of the specific examples that I took and applied this year was that once a year, he’ll get away with his friends. The last time he did this, it was a group of ten guys and he had questions that all of them would write out and answer before their weekend together. I think there was a list of ten questions (some were deep and some were light) and when you showed up at the weekend, they would have a night of reading answers, but you weren’t allowed to read your own answers, so another friend would have to read your answers for you.

Anyway, I have a group of friends that I get away with once a year. I suggested this to them and was like, “Guys, I feel like I want to go deeper with you guys and really know where you’re at. Would y’all be open to writing out these answers ahead of time? I made up my own questions. It was so beautiful and rich. We ended up in tears a lot at the time. When you get together with those covenant friendships and lifelong friends, you want so much to share the deep things in life, but it never really feels like there’s adequate time. That was one takeaway for me that was really special and so intentional about the way you spend time with your friends.

Another quick side note is that Justin has this standing weekly phone call with a friend for accountability and digging deep. They just pick up the phone and get right into it, ask four questions, and then hang up the phone and that’s it. He is like, at first it’s awkward and it feels weird, but the fruit of it is so worth the awkwardness of it. I loved that. So I definitely recommend Made for People if you have not read that book yet. It was fantastic and really challenged me on how to be a better friend as an adult. I really loved it.

Okay, the next book is called Last Light by Terri Blackstock. I was not planning on reading this at all. This is such a random read for me, but I went to one of those “favorite thing” parties for a friend and one girl who I had never met was at the party and she brought three copies of this book and was like, “This book is so interesting. I love it. I have read it several times. I give it to my friends.” I’ll give the intro of the book. This dad and daughter land on this plane. They get off the plane and are walking to the airport. As they do, they look back and planes behind them start crashing on the runway. They get into the airport and all of the power is off. Basically, some disaster has happened where all electricity is out. They don’t know if it’s an EMP or an attack. They have no idea what is going on, but it happens all at once when nobody has electricity. It goes on like this for days and they have to find their way home. This is a genre my husband is very into. I am not, but I was like, “Hey, this will be great. I can read this novel and then talk to Will about it a little bit.” What I love about this book in particular is that it is very thought-provoking. What would I do if that happened? It is very thought-provoking, but also, it is from the perspective of a Christian family. How do you actually live generously, thinking of others? How would you live out the gospel in that circumstance? It’s like every man for himself, you are trying so hard to just survive, and people turn really crazy. It is very thought-provoking, so that was really good. I am going to actually continue the series. There are four books in the series. I have not read any of the other ones, but I really enjoyed the first book. Very interesting, out of the box, out of my normal kind of read.

Okay, the next book is The Women by Kristin Hannah. I am sure you have heard of The Women or maybe you’ve read it by now. Any friend that I see who has read The Women is like, “Okay, we have to talk about it. What did you learn about the Vietnam War? Can you believe that happened? What about the ending? How did you feel?” I feel like this book has really affected people. Another person I was talking to about it recently said, “I think about it at least once a week. It has left a mark on me.” I agree. Let me also just say, it was very heavy and difficult for me to read. Some nights, I would go to bed like, “I can’t read this anymore. This is hard.” It’s basically reading about the Vietnam War from the perspective of a nurse who is putting these bodies back together over there while America is just going on like normal over here. Then, she comes back home and she’s trying to live life, but has so much PTSD and nobody was acknowledging the fact that women were even over there serving in the war. It was a very, very heavy book. I learned so much, but I would still say it is such a good book and so worth the read. Even though it’s hard for me to read, these people had to live it. This is part of our history.

What really made me want to read it is that my friend Molly Stillman wrote a book (this is my next book recommendation by the way) called, If I Don't Laugh, I'll Cry. A large part of her story has to do with her mom. Her mom was a Vietnam nurse and she recounts her mom’s story in her book some. It aligns so well with The Women. So I read Molly Stillman’s book first. Learned about her mom, the life of her mom, and her mom’s service in the Vietnam War. Then I was like I really want to read The Women. It was incredible how the stories lined up. Kristin Hannah’s book was fiction, but she did a ton of research. Anyway, If I Don’t Laugh, I’ll Cry is my next book.

I think that The Women and If I Don’t Laugh, I’ll Cry should be read together. I really do because they are both so different, but both are so good in such different ways. Molly is a very vibrant author. She shares about so many different areas of her life that are so incredibly unique. She loses her mom at a young age because her mom was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam. She gets this inheritance from a long-lost grandmother of a quarter of a million dollars. She ends up spending all of it, going into major debt and finding the Lord at the time that she’s trying to get out of debt. He redeems so much of her loss in life. It’s just a crazy, wild story. So I definitely recommend reading both of those together. Very different, but they support each other.

Okay, one more book (actually a book series) that me and the kids are LOVING. Then I’m going to share a few more books I’m not done reading yet, but I am currently reading. So this book series is How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell. I have to stop and say if you’ve seen the movie (we are big fans of the movie), you have to know that the books are wildly different and in my opinion, so much better. They are crazy good! There are twelve books, which is a lot of kids’ books. They are long fiction books, but they are so good. I am fully invested. We have deemed this the summer of dragon in our house. We have listened to so many of them. It is about Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and his dragon Toothless. The dragons in the books can talk, they interact with people, and they are very funny. There is not a love story like Hiccup and Astrid. Astrid is not even a character in the books, but he has these two best friends that you get to know as the books go on (I don’t think one of them is even introduced until book four). They are so funny and great. It’s all about bravery, being different from everybody else and what’s expected, being clever and really valuing using your brain over what’s expected of you and fitting in. I have really enjoyed them. I will not let the kids listen to them without me because I need to know what’s happening in the story. I highly recommend this for kids.

I do want to give a couple of disclaimers because there are some things that get a little interesting along the way. We have had some conversations with the kids. By the way, my kids are 3, 5, 7, and 9 while we’re reading it. The 3-year-old has no idea what’s going on. The 5, 7, and 9-year-olds are loving it. Also, my 5-year-old, he can deal with some scary stuff pretty well. He’s not super sensitive. My 7-year-old is more sensitive. My 9-year-old is great. Just use discretion there with the ages of your kids. The only disclaimers I’ll give is they do talk about violence and fighting a lot because they’re Vikings and they value fighting, sword fighting, and being pirates. There are some crazy things that happen in the story and I feel like you should know that. So my friend, Gena, recommended this to me. She said her son has read them or listened to them all several times. She was like, “Just be aware that in the third book, there is a character introduced and her name is Big Booby Burtha.” I laugh that I’m even saying that on this podcast. She was like, “Just want you to know that name is in there and you might have to have a conversation about that and we have and it’s very funny.” She is a hilarious character, but that is her name. So there are a couple of things like that in there that are maybe funny, but maybe you do or don’t want your kids to hear that. I think that it’s quite funny.

There is a witch introduced later on. They talk about sacrificing people to dragons, but it ends up being an adventure and they all cleverly figure out a way out of that. It’s like these brutal groups of Vikings or people that are trying to live, but the good thing about the story is that there’s always a message that is like, “There is always a better way than violence.” It’s not actual crazy violence that’s spelled out. It’s like warriors and fighting. I wanted to give those disclaimers because it’s very important what we allow our kids to listen to. You may not feel like your kid is ready for that. Those are the only negative things I can say about it. Overall, I highly recommend it and think that it is so well written. My favorite part about it is the narrator. He is crazy. David Tennant, I think is his name. I have never in my life heard someone hold down so many different voices for so many different characters in so many different books. I’m like, “Who is this guy?” He is the best narrator I’ve ever heard and he has this thick accent that just adds to the story so much and it’s so fun.

So in addition, to the other books I’ve mentioned, the How to Train Your Dragon series is just some of my favorite books I’ve read this summer. We have read eight of them and we’re going to try to make it through all twelve. I think we’ll finish them all sometime this summer. It’s going to be so fun.

Alright, these next four I am going to go through quickly because I am not done reading them. I feel like I can’t give a full description or endorsement. I am reading The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. A lot of people are talking about it. I can see why. It is so well researched and it is talking so much about the mental health of our kids who are raised in more of a screen-centric childhood versus a play-based childhood. He is comparing/contrasting play-based childhood versus phone-based childhood, how that has switched in the last decade or two, and what the repercussions have been. It is fascinating, it is frightened, but it is so important and vital for parents to read. It has been really good.

The next book is Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. A writer and author friend of mine recommended this. I have been thinking about getting back into writing and blogging. She said, “This is my go-to book. I just kind of flip it open and get inspired. I was like, “I want to get inspired by another author.” Anne Lamott is a fantastic author, but this is the first book I have ever read by her. I have heard quotes by her for years, but I have never actually read a book by her. So starting out with my first Anne Lamott book, Bird by Bird. It is instructions on writing in life. I have enjoyed that.

Decluttering at the Speed of Life by Dana White. I am loving this book. I read a few chapters and then I go tackle a room in my house. It is so inspiring. My favorite takeaway so far is the idea that your house and everything in your house is a container. So your refrigerator… you don’t need a bigger fridge. You just need to work with the container that you have. You don’t need a bigger kitchen. You just need to work with the container that you have. You don’t need a bigger house. You just need to be better at fitting things in your container and getting rid of things that don’t. It has been a helpful mindset shift for me.

The last one I’m reading is Until the Streetlights Come On by Ginny Yurich. She is the host of the 1,000 Hours Outside podcast. Just a really great read. The mindset of how we do life in our culture today, with our kids, playing outside or inside, and all of the benefits of being outside.

That’s it. That is my wrap-up of 2024 of the best books that I have read in 2024 so far and a few that I am still reading or still listening to. It has been a great year of books for me and I’m really excited to keep reading. Maybe I’ll have to do a follow-up of the rest of my favorite books of this year. Hopefully, this gives you something really good to read whether it’s a parenting book, a friendship book, or just a good novel. Maybe it just gives you some good places to start. I am just so grateful to be back on the podcast. I am grateful you are back with me listening. I have some really fun things lined up for this fall. I am working on lining up some interviews with authors that I am stoked about. I am so pumped about some of these interviews. With or without interviewing them, I want to read their books, but what a gift it is to be able to talk to them and learn a little more behind the scenes. So stay tuned. Next week, I am going to be talking about some good getting back into the rhythm of going back to school, mindset shift with the fall, some things that I am doing. I hope to see you back here next week.

I am going to close with this quote by Walt Disney who said,

“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island.”

Thanks for listening and I’ll catch you next time.

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