Happy to see you back, @ErinE

Hi, all. I have some thread catching-up to do when I get back home! Yes, @loesje22000 and I had a GREAT day together. We went to some bookstores, and she helped me pick out some Dutch books. And then the museum that we went to was a book lover’s dream. It was filled with rare books and early printing presses. Of course, we had great conversation as well. My son is in grad school over here, and the week has flown by. I have managed some reading, mostly on transportation or before bed. I have been delighted by Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke. I had read part of this years ago and set it aside for some forgotten reason. But not because I disliked it. So I am quite happy to be reading it again, this time planning to reach the finish line. It sure is a chunkster - I have seen page counts ranging from around 800 to over 1000, depending on the edition. The setting is early 19th century England, and magic has returned to England after hundreds of years. I am also reading Anne Frank’s diary in Danish (Anne Franks Dagbog). I have read this multiple times in English, so the Danish is easygoing. @Quill I too enjoy old self-help books, and Cornelius Hirschberg’s is one of my favorites. I reread his history chapter on occasion. He can be somewhat stuffy and sexist, but I found him likeable and he sure did accomplish a lot of self-education. Do you have any others in the genre to recommend?

VC, you continue to inspire me. When I went through my 2018 stats, my only real disappointment in myself was the percentage of books that were from the current century (about 60%). Considering that I had that same thought at the end of 2017, I gave myself a talking-to, but not a stern one because this is all for my own enjoyment. Well, if you read my comments below about Latin, you can see that someday I hope to have an abundance of really, really old books to read! @mumto2 I wanted to update you on my Latin class. I do hope I am not mis-remembering that you had asked me about the class back in early autumn. I love it! I'm not enamoured with the Cambridge books at all, but our instructor more than makes up for any deficits in the text. I signed up to take the Intro Level of the National Latin Exam in March. I am so so excited! My brain is like a sieve when it comes to mythology and history, so I am reading one of my son's books: The Original Dysfunctional Family for a mythology review. That title cracks me up. --- I finished my first book for 2019: The Sound and The Fury. It was a reread, but my first rereading was probably 20 years ago. I'm putting this one into my top favorite books ever. Anyone want to recommend my next Faulkner to me? I know I have read two or three more at some point in my life, but I don't even remember for sure which ones I've read.

OK, @Violet Crown, you just helped me pick my first Danish book of the year: Skæbne-Anekdoter by Karen Blixen (Anecdotes of Destiny by Isak Dinesen). Thanks! I read these stories in English a few years ago, and I really liked them. Ehrengard is not part of my book, alas. I will be eager to know what you think of it. Fun fact: I have never, ever seen her referred to as Isak Dinesen in Denmark.

I am currently rereading The Sound and The Fury with DS, and I remembered how much I love Faulkner. And Flannery O'Connor. And Eudora Welty. So much so that I needed to give them a category for next year. -- Below is my revision of my 10x10 plan. There will be plenty of overlap - I don't read 100 books in a year. 1) 1960s. I think I am the most excited about this category. 2) In Danish. I plan to make this the "Year of Reading Danishly." If I succeed in that but fail in all other reading goals, I will be content. 3) Non-Tropical Islands (Greenland, Faroes, Scottish Islands, Iceland, etc.) 4) Fantasy (broadly defined - includes myth, fable, fairy tales). I need to read some more Neil Gaiman before I hear him speak in May. 5) Good Catholic / Bad Catholic. I have spiritual angst. Not sure if this will help or hurt, lol. 6) Nordic 7) Poetry - full books, not dip-ins. #8) The American South. I thought about calling it Southern Gothic but I don't want to quibble (with myself) about whether or not a book is S. Gothic. I will add to my 50-states challenge through this category. 9) Around-the-world, a perpetual challenge. Planning to wander around Eastern Europe for a chunk of time. 10) Politics - Political theory, political philosophy, exiled poets. I am going to tackle On Politics: A History of Political Thought from Herodotus to the Present.

I am happy to be Goodreads friends from any WTM members. Here is my profile. If your GR name and/or avatar do not match your WTM name, please let me know who you are with a GR message. It can be hard to match people up with GR and WTM. My avatars match. @hornblower I sent you a GR friend request.

I will probably sort through my stats a bit more tomorrow, but these are the last wrap-up stats that I will post. I’ll post my 2019 plans in next week’s thread. TOTAL FOR 2018: 66 books My most-read authors were: Astrid Lindgren (6), Elena Ferrante (4), Catherynne Valente (4) , and Sigrid Undset (3). My highlights: The Neapolitan Novels (1-4) by Elena Ferrante A reread of the Kristin Lavransdatter Trilogy A reread of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah Deathless by Catherynne Valente Reading six books by Astrid Lindgren in Danish Rediscovering my love of Faulkner Discovering Miss Read Witnessing my DS18 fall in love with Kafka How it breaks out: Rereads (6) Poetry (3) Plays (2) 50 states challenge: +3 (Alaska, Massachusetts, and N Dakota) Around the world challenge: +11 (Japan, England, S Africa, Pakistan, Norway, Mexico, China, Italy, Finland, Czech Republic, and India) Spooky (2) Biography and Memoir (6) Other Nonfiction (5) In Danish (9)

@Melissa M I just sent you a friend request on GR.

I have been enjoying all of your wrap-ups, and Melissa M, thank you for sharing photos of your home library. If I ever get to properly move back into my house, I will remember these photos as inspiration. (Most of my books have been in boxes since 2011- long story). Anyway... I would happily be Goodreads friends with anyone here. I also update almost daily. If you send me a friend request but your name and/or avatar does not match the one on the WTM boards, please also give me a brief message of who you are on WTM. It can be really hard to keep the GR person and WTM person matched up in my mind. Here is a link to my Goodreads account. The name does not match, but the avatar does match. Off to sort through my stats, and will be back later today with a wrap-up...

I might be interested in some of the later selections, but I am not interested in The Benedict Option. Will you be mentioning the monthly selection here each month? Or would you prefer that people join now and just jump into the discussion later?

The year before I joined this thread (2016) I read 17 books. The two years I participated here (2017 & 2018), I read over 60. In my case, I do believe that the correlation does imply causation 🙂

I will add that EVERYONE here motivates me to read MORE, and I am grateful for the nudge. It is so fun to read all of the annual wrap-ups.

(For Bingo, maybe I need to clarify that I only did the 25 square Bingo. I ignored the 18 bonus mystery squares because I don't read mysteries.) I only care a little bit about the number of books I read each year. Caring too much would keep me from reading long books, and would certainly keep me from reading books in Danish. Goodreads tells me that I have these stats for 2018: 8 books in Danish (up from 3 in 2017, so super happy with this) 48 Adult /YA books 12 Children's/Middle grades books 3 Shorts. I call them shorts if they just seem to short for me to count as a book. These three were short books of poetry. I am content with my numbers.

Thinking of you and your family, and sending much love your way.

Here are my Bingo Books. The ones in blue were particularly memorable. The ones in green were duds and/or slogs. Written or Set in 14th century: The Wreath by Sigrid Undset Art: Head In Flames by Lance Olsen (Van Gogh and the murder of his descendent in Amsterdam ) Micro History: The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan (Biltmore mansion in NC) Mystery: The Changeling by Victor LaValle Cozy: Thrush Green by Miss Read Music: Buried Alive: The Biography of Janis Joplin by Myra Friedman Book To Movie: Wonder by R.J. Palacio Written or Set in 15th century: The Lady and The Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier Translated: My Beautiful Friend by Elena Ferrante Philosophical: Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates Biography or Memoir: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah Feminist Author: Bait and Other Stories by Mahasweta Devi Free Space: Iza's Ballad by Magda Szabo Nobel Prize Winner: The Cross by Sigrid Undset Written or Set in 16th century: Wolf Hall by HIlary Mantel Foodie Book: Food is the Solution: What to Eat to Save the World by Matthew Prescott Fantasy: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip SciFi: Space Opera by Catherynne Valente Written or Set in 17th century: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Comic or Graphic Novel: The 9/11 Report Crime: The Trial by Franz Kafka Written or Set in the 18th century: Letters Written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark by Mary Wollstonecraft Self Help: Mighty Ugly by Kim Piper Werker Indie Author: The Kurdish Bike by Alesa Lightbourne Cartography: To The Bright Edge of The World by Ivey Eowyn