I learn something from other readers’ year-end lists of favorite books. I’m bound to find something interesting – an author with whom I’m unfamiliar, a title that’s new to me, and sometimes rediscovery of a classic. My own list looks different from what I might have expected when the year began. Let me offer it to you, with my best New Year’s wishes to you and my hope that you’ll find something new to enjoy.
Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset: three volumes, one epic story. Years ago, I abandoned the book after only a few dozen pages. This time, I had the good fortune to discover a newer translation, by Tiina Nunnally. That was the key that unlocked the treasure for me.
World Between Worlds: a novel based on the early life of Caterina, the Mystic of Siena by Jenny duBay uses the works of St. Catherine of Siena as the basis for historical fiction. (I received a review copy.)
The Lions of Winter: Survival and Sacrifice on Mount Washington by Ty Gagne. Gagne’s detailed account of a New Hampshire wintertime hike gone awry and the harrowing rescue work that followed honors a volunteer responder who lost his life trying to save others.
Evolution of a Valley by Page Helm Jones is a brief regional appreciation that appealed to me both as a history buff and as a woman who loves hiking in New England.
The Quiet American by Graham Greene is set in the 1950s in the midst of violent disruption in Southeast Asia. His chief characters – a Vietnamese woman, the British journalist who narrates the tale, and the titular quiet American – are determined to do the “right” things by their lights, with painful results.
I wrote more extensively about these books at Braided Trails, my Substack blog. I hope you’ll join me there.
Looking for more suggested reading? You can check out the monthly “Open Book” roundup hosted at My Scribbler’s Heart and Catholicmom.com.
Ellen Kolb 