Books to Close My Year and Open Yours

what I read as 2024 came to an end

For the Littles:
Bea and Mr. Jones by Amy Schwartz
A businessman and his kindergarten-age daughter switch places - and everyone just accepts it. The kindergarten teacher admires Mr. Jones, who excels in school, and the advertising executives admire Bea’s business acumen. The illustrations are kind of bubbly black-and-white, and you can tell it was originally published in the ‘80s. I thought this was a fun book about being happy with what you spend your days doing.

For Family Read Aloud:
Pie by Sarah Weeks
When Alice’s Aunt Polly passes away, she leaves her famous secret pie crust recipe to her cat—much to everyone’s chagrin. This book was a fun mystery type of book, with pie recipes included. I liked the 1950s setting and the pie details (who doesn’t?); skip the epilogue though—my kids outright rejected the epilogue as if it never happened.

The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day
This book was written in an uncommon style for a middle grade book—more of a reporter / investigation, with short chapters, jumping between the history of the Mona Lisa theft and the life of Da Vinci. Half of my kids liked it, half hated it. I thought it was an interesting historical fiction and that we learned a lot about the time period—but I did think it was a bit dry at times. I’d pick this one up for your kid that loves nonfiction!

Mystery of the Roman Ransom by Henry Winterfeld
The sequel to one of my favorite historical fiction / mystery middle-grade novels, Detectives in Togas. The boys are once again entangled in a mystery, this time involving a slave from Gaul and a secret message that is a matter of life and death. I thought it was every bit as good as the first one—if you are studying Roman times with your kids, this is a great way to show them how the ancient Roman culture worked practically.

For Myself:

Saint Agnostica by Anya Krugovoy Silver
This is the last book Silver wrote before her untimely death from cancer, and it is raw. She holds nothing back, asking God the hard questions, desiring to be free from pain but still wanting so much to see her son grow up and to keep living in this imperfect world. I like a faith that wrestles, because that is the faith I have too - Jacob and the Angel, Job with his questions. If you aren’t crying while reading the book, wait until you get to the dedication page lovingly written by her husband, since the book was completed before she passed away but published afterward. A favorite poem from the collection:

Lessons and Carols, Advent
by Anya Krugovoy Silver

I’m told that light meets the darkness
and is not overcome. But I am overcome,
again and again, each day a stumble into grief.
I want to slap the maudlin out of myself.
Where has my fearlessness gone?
Where is the owl that once perched on my wrist?
My husband curls his arm round my waist.
Woe, world-sorrow. I long for so much.
Angles fly around the church dome
as if this world didn’t belong to sparrows.

Wounded in Spirit: Advent Art and Meditations by David Bannon
This is the third time I’ve read this book. I don’t really know anything else like it—it is a daily advent reading focused on a single artist (complete with gorgeous prints of a representative artwork). Each reading gives a bible verse, a brief biography of the artist focused on the artist’s grappling with spiritual concerns and with loss, and a smattering of poetry and quotes. The book is written by and for someone who has lost a child and finds solace in scripture, fine art, and poetry - so I think the audience is probably a dozen or so people. Even if you have not lost a child, I encourage anyone who has gone through a loss —whether by separation of death or another heartache—to pick this book up. I believe it could be read at any time of year where you could use a little bit more hope. (Local friends - I own this one, and you are free to borrow it!).

Thank you so much for reading my reviews this past year! I hope that I helped you find some good reads and that you begin 2025 the right way — with a book in hand (and five on the nightstand). Blessings and best wishes for 2025!