Here’s what I read in 2024 on Goodreads.

Since joining the site, I have participated in their “Reading Challenge” each year, where you select a numerical amount in January that you want to read by the end of the year, as I like keeping a record of what I read. I’d have to look back to see at what point I stopped sharing the total # of books read here; the number is irrelevant to me.

While this has been my view for a while, last year I selected “1” as my 2024 Reading Challenge goal on this website, to more closely represent this Inner Truth: it’s about the experience, not the measuring of the experience.

As in, person A could read 30 books this year, and each is a slog that they force themself to finish. This takes a lot of effort (as there wasn’t delight in the process), draining life-force and using up life-hours the person could have been enjoying something they actually like.

Person B could read 20 books this year, 15 books that some part of them thinks they “should” read, in order to be perceived a certain way by others. And 5 books required by some certificate or education degree, chosen by an institution or singular teacher.

Person C could read 5 books this year, each juicy and life-giving. Those 5 could be read in exactly Right Timing, reaching for the book exactly when it feels aligned, going at the pace that feels right in their body, being completely in the experience of reading while reading, (not finishing to finish). You get the idea.

A measurement of one piece of an experience does not tell us the whole experience.

And, if you’re new here, nothing is prescriptive. This is my experience at this point in time, based on close noticing of my preferences and mammalian inclinations for years, what my body likes. If your body is totally jazzed and loves choosing a numerical goal, then please do so! I celebrate discernment. I celebrate self-knowing. I celebrate each person choosing what’s right for them. You know what’s right for you.

To the books!

The book that touched me the most this year, an absolutely right-timing read, was

The Lady’s Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness by Sarah Ramey

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More that touched me in some way—whether by feeling so aligned, transporting me to imaginal worlds, expanding my perception, or some other experience:

Fiction

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

(YA) The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

(YA) Wise Child by Monica Furlong

 

Non-Fiction

The Light Between Us: Stories from Heaven, Lessons for the Living by Laura Lynne Jackson

Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss

P|andemic: Fear is the Virus, Truth is the Cure by Mikki Willis

My Grandfather’s Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge, and Belonging by Rachel Naomi Remen

If Women Rose Rooted: The Power of the Celtic Woman by Sharon Blackie

Take Back the Magic: Conversations with the Unseen World by Perdita Finn

 

Memoir

**These first two with double asterisks I originally had in a category called “really good writing.” You know, those books where the writing itself is a beautiful craft, the words so delicious, how have they done it? Both happened to also be memoirs.

**Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley

**Riverine: A Memoir from Anywhere but Here by Angela Palm

Help Is on Its Way: A Memoir About Growing up Sensitive by Jenna Forrest

Widening Circles: A Memoir by Joanna Macy