Hi. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and will have a happy New Years too. These novels below were all sort of short and were my last completed of the year. They helped me get to my year-end goal of 65 books on Goodreads. Lately that seems to be about the right number for me to read each year. I don’t like to rush with books. What about you — do you follow yearly reading goals and does it help or hinder your enjoyment?
During the past couple of years while reviewing here, I’ve also been reviewing other fiction regularly for Publishers Weekly, which took considerable time (as well as getting ready for our move in January). I’m glad I did it, but in 2023 I plan to not be a regular contributor there so I can read more for the blog here and perhaps try doing some other freelance. We will see if it works out. And now without further ado, I’ll leave you with reviews of the last books I finished in 2022.
The Hero of This Book by Elizabeth McCracken / Ecco / 192 pages /2022
This is a poignant, loving tribute of the author to her parents, especially her mother whose death 10 months earlier is reflected upon along with her life as the author is on a trip to London. It’s a clever book in that it’s not only about her mother, her own upbringing, and her grief over her parents’ being gone, but it’s also a book about writing, fiction, and what she says is her dislike of memoir and autofiction, which is pretty much what the book seems to be, so perhaps she is being a bit facetious. “I hate autofiction,” she says, “What is it written by robots?”
There’s some irreverent humor in it and I liked her thoughts about teaching creative writing and the difference between fiction and memoir. And I felt much sympathy for her over the loss of her mother, who seemed to face hard health difficulties in her life yet was still to her daughter the “most exciting person she knew.”
It’s a touching book overall (I gave it 3.7 stars), so I think my only drawback to it was that I didn’t realize it was going to be about this beforehand — perhaps it’s my own hesitancy about reading autofiction type books. It’s sort of a personal story between the author and her parents, which jumps around a bit, but not really a novel about London.
Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso / Hogarth / 208 pages / 2022
This is a pretty unhappy novel to be finishing right around Christmas. I’m not sure I was aware it would be so bleak, even though the title sort of screams it, lol. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Rebecca Lowman, who does a great job as usual. Rebecca gives the young girl who narrates this coming-of-age story set in the 1980s a sympathetic humanity.
Ruthie grows up poor in Waitsfield, Massachusetts, and her parents don’t really treat her with much love or attention. As she gets to high school, her and her friends all suffer some terrible things including abuse, teen pregnancy, drugs, and self-harm. The dark undersides of class come through in a town that was once a place of the most well-to-do families such as the Cabots and Lowells.
There’s some effective writing in this debut novel of this stifling town where her parents seem consumed by one’s status, but for some reason the novel didn’t sweep me up along with their lives or propel me. Perhaps it’s because it jumps around a bit or doesn’t fully realize some of the lesser characters. All I knew is that I didn’t want to be in this town or in this girl’s shoes.
Foster by Claire Keegan / Grove Press / 128 pages / 2010
This is a poignant Irish novella — it seems more like a short story — which I listened to on audio. It cuts to the heart of this young girl whose father drops her off one summer at a relatives’ farm to stay. There, she blossoms under the couple’s care, experiencing happiness that she never felt before with her family. The man and wife too experience some healing during her stay after the earlier loss of their young son. The ending feels sad and you wish you could change things.
Irish author Keegan’s writing is transportive, exploring belonging, emotions, and loss in a concise way. It is often the things unsaid that get your attention. Though I liked this one, I still liked her other novel Small Things Like These a bit more. It felt more expanded, and this one perhaps seems too short of a wallop. It actually was written in 2010 but came out in North America this fall. I like Keegan’s writing and I hope she is working on something new and perhaps a bit longer.
A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter / 250 pages / 1909
This is a children’s or young adult classic written in 1909 that I recently became aware of thanks to Liz — and I found it quite the saga. It’s about a young girl and her widowed mother who live in a cabin among the swamp land of Indiana. The mother is in grief over the death of her husband, which she appears to take out on her daughter Elnora Comstock, the main character.
The mother is hard on Elnora, but despite that and poverty, Elnora finds ways to rise above and go to high school in the town, three miles away. She puts herself through school by collecting and selling various moths from the swamp lands and takes up playing violin (like her father) while succeeding at school. Much of the story details her love of nature and the colorful moths she collects.
In the novel’s second half, Elnora and her mother seem to reconcile, Elnora graduates high school, and a young man named Philip Ammon comes to stay and help Elnora collect specimens around their land. Much ensues thereafter with Phil’s girlfriend back home the socialite Edith Carr and whether he will marry her, or if his time with Elnora might change that.
It’s an endearing coming-of-age story with vivid characters and reminded me a bit of the writing of Laura Ingalls Wilder, L.M. Montgomery, and perhaps even Frances Hodgson Burnett — who were all writing then. The love of nature and of young girls persevering despite various hardships are themes that I liked in it and I found it an enjoyable read.
It is admirable too to learn that the author drew attention to saving the wetlands of Indiana during her lifetime, which this novel certainly does with its lovely portrait of the swamp lands and the creatures that live there. It was way before the “Crawdads Sing” novel!
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White / Harper / 192 pages / 1952
My last book of 2022! Yep it’s a re-visit from my childhood. I wanted to remember all the details of the farm where Fern lives and the barnyard animals that include Wilbur (the pig), Charlotte (the spider), and Templeton (the rat) — and this classic still holds up 70 years after it was written.
This time I listened to the novel read by the author himself, which is wonderful. He is the master of how each sentence was meant to be delivered and I liked his New England accent. What more can you say of this simple but brilliant and endearing story? Is it the best children’s book ever? Well it’s certainly hard to beat.
The novel’s themes of friendship, loyalty, and hope are touching, and the characters of Charlotte and Wilbur are indelibly sketched in my mind. Thanks to EB White who was no stranger to farm life (he had one in Maine) and the wonders of creatures large and small.
That’s all for now. What about you — have you read these and what did you think?
Well done, reading 65 books. I managed 56, but don’t set any reading goals as such. Enough targets and deadlines at work and all that 😉 . Good luck with your freelance, if you decide to go ahead. I can understand if you don’t want reviewing obligations. Personally, I find review posts are the most time consuming.
Foster sounds interesting, but since I didn’t love Small Things Like These, I’m not sure whether to pick it up.
Happy new year, let’s hope for lots of good books in 2023.
Thanks Stargazer. Yeah I can see where your work is already consuming & about deadlines so why put yourself through more with reading. 🙂 It should be for enjoyment and/or learning right?
Foster is so short it felt like it was over in a flash, so I thought it could’ve been more expanded for more of an impact. Happy 2023 to you!
Ah, “Charlotte’s Web”! What fond memories I have of reading that with my children, and there was a television movie made from it that we loved as well. I hope children are still reading and enjoying that wonderful book.
Hi Dorothy, I would gather kids are still enjoying the classic. I was pleasantly thrilled to know the book still holds up so many decades later. He writes it so simply and matter of fact and it carries one away. I have not seen the movie – but I just looked it up and there’s an animated one from 1973 and a non-animated one from 2006 that looks really cute. ha I might watch it. Happy 2023!
It sounds like you read a lot of books this year! I usually make loose reading goals I can easily meet. Something enough to maybe motivate or inspire, but nothing that would cause stress or make reading feel like a chore. Although, admittedly, with my Goodreads goal, I’ve aimed extra low these last few years knowing I’d surpass it two or three months into the year. I don’t really like to make the focus of my reading on a numeric goal, but I do love tracking my reading and seeing how much or little I read come the end of the year.
Charlotte’s Webb is a favorite in our house. A Girl of the Limberlost is one of my all time favorite childhood books. One of the handful of books I have re-read in my lifetime because I love it so much. I probably am due for another re-read since it’s been a very long time since the last time.
I hope you have a Happy New Year, Susan!
Hey thanks LF. Good to know you too have read the Limberlost novel. I don’t know why I hadn’t heard of it before but it is quite outstanding for its time. I was rooting for Eleanora all the way. Her mother is not nice to her for the longest time, which killed me. Glad your daughter has liked Charlotte’s Web too.
I agree with your sentiments about reading goals. I try to pick a low enough number not to overdo it. but it is interesting at the end of the year to see which you picked up etc. Wishing you a happy 2023!
Hi Susan,
I, too, read the novel Very Cold People. I also grew up in a suburb to the west of Boston that seemed like Waitsfield might have been modelled on it. But, that said, my take was that the “Very Cold People” were not the inhabitants of this town, but her own parents. So, in the end result, I was really perplexed, and very glad the book was as brief as it was.
Last December I read Small Things Like These and cherished it!
And Charlotte’s Web has always been a favorite of mine, and a book I didn’t read until I was 12 years old. I couldn’t believe how stupendously good it was. And to think there’s an audio version read by E.B. White! Great.
Yeah Judith – I think you’re right about Very Cold People — being more about her parents’ being consumed about status. It is sort of confusing. I found it bleak and was happy to move on from it.
And I was really taken with E.B. White’s audio narration of his classic tale. I’m still trying to find out what year he did the narration but can’t seem to find. But it’s wonderful even now, so if you get a chance check it out. Very New England-y!
I read Charlotte’s Web years ago. The ending still haunts me. I get it, but I don’t, you know? It’s just so hard.
Hi Mark, yeah it is very sad about Charlotte at the end. Luckily her babies spring forth and Wilbur befriends them. Now when I see a spider I always think of Charlotte and try not to harm it. She was very kind & clever. Thanks for stopping by.
I think you ended 2022 with a lovely bang. I read Girl of the Limberlost in ’21 for the first time, and I was quite taken with the knowledge of nature that the author includes in the story. I listened to Charlotte’s Web last year when I heard that Meryl Streep was reading it. I think I’d like to hear the author read Charlotte’s Web, too.
Now I’m interested in pursuing Foster and Small Things Like These.
Congratulations on reaching your goal. I always set my goal low, and I stop reading for the year on December 1 so that I can start the new year strong. I get a nice feeling of accomplishment when I set a goal and reach it.
Thanks Deb. I was pleased to reach my reading goal, which I was way behind on in Nov. I agree it is a feeling of accomplishment to reach it at the end of the year. You seem to have a good system to start the new year with.
I was also pleased to see on Goodreads that you read Girl of the Limberlost too. It is a lot about nature & the young girl, which was neat. I don’t know why I missed this tale in my childhood but I’m glad I got to it now.
I think you will like the Keegan novels although they are very short. I hope she will write long next time, lol. Happy 2023.
Ah, Charlotte’s Web really is a wonderful novel; what a lovely way to end the reading year.
I haven’t heard of the other books you read, but there is a nice variety.
I hope your upcoming move goes smoothly. Happy New Year!
Thanks Helen. January will be a big month for us. We have one funeral, one wedding, and one move all this month, so I hope to survive. Taking it one day at a time. 🙂
Charlotte’s Web was a good book to end the year on. Just hopeful enough to start 2023 right. & so good too! Happy New Year.
Great year of reading! Foster was my first book by Clair Keegan and I was so absorbed, loved the writing. I have added more of her books to my library request list.
Thanks Tina. Good to hear from you. Yeah Keegan’s writing is wonderful and I’m also looking forward to reading more of it in 2023. Wishing you a Happy New Year!
I am like you when it comes to reading goals – I don’t like to feel rushed or pressured to read. I fell a few books short of my Goodreads goal this year, which I had set lower than the year before. So once again, I will set it lower for 2023. I used to participate in lots of reading challenges, but I found the recording to be too much. I am keeping it simple for 2023. I will set a Goodreads challenge and then there are two other challenges I participate in that I find easy to keep track of.
A Girl of the Limberlost is one I have meant to read. I believe I read Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter to my kids when they were young. I think your assessment of similarity to L.M. Montgomery, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Frances Hodgson Burnett is a good one.
I think I need to try Claire Keegan. Sounds like something I would like.
Happy New Year!
Thanks Gretchen. Yeah it’s interesting that the Limberlost novel came after Freckles. I have not read that one — but I think you would find the Limberlost one quite interesting. Nature abounds in the story and the young girl’s coming of age.
And I think it’s good to keep the reading challenges simple. I think I’m going to keep with 65 for now. I have not made it to 70 yet! It is good not to feel rushed. Happy 2023 to you!
I read Foster in December, too, and really loved it. Small Things Like These was good, but I was left wanting more there. The other difference for me was that I read Foster in print and listened to Small Things… hmmm. I’ve decided to reread Small Things Like These in print this winter. Happy New Year, Susan!
Thanks JoAnn. Yeah you have me wondering if Keegan’s books are better in print than audio … to get the full feeling from her writing. I read Small Things in print and listened to Foster on audio. And the print one I liked better … but what if I had read Foster too? Maybe I’d have liked it better. Hmm.
Happy New Year to you as well!
When I saw A Girl of the Limberlost on your list, I was transported back to my childhood and everything that gave me all the good feels. Now I want to read the series again, along with all other books that bring on the nostalgia. Enjoy your week, and Happy New Year. Here are my WEEKLY UPDATES
Ha. Laurel. So you were big into A Girl of the Limberlost during your youth. That’s good to know. I somehow missed it — but Laura Ingalls Wilder was big. I found the Limberlost a bit like that. It was a good read. I won’t forget Elnora anytime soon. Enjoy your week.
I love revisiting past childhood favorites. Glad you had such a good year. I hope 2023 is even better. Happy New Year! 😀
Yeah Lark: I like revisiting childhood books so I can remember them & usually they are so good still. and thanks – I’m hoping for good reading in 2023! Maybe more time for it ?? Enjoy your week.
Happy New Year, Susan!
Congrats on meeting your Goodreads’ reading goal. I set mine a little too high, but managed to read 60 books. I might have done better, but I only read one book in September, which really lowered my year-end stats. Oh, well. I just drafted my Best of 2022 list and 20% of the book I read made that list (obviously not a Top 10 list, but rather 20!).
I keep seeing The Hero of This Book around the blogosphere and Instagram, so I’m going to add it to my TBR list. I haven’t read anything by Claire Keegan, but bought a copy of Foster after seeing so many rave reviews for the novella. I’ll get to Small Things Like These eventually. I’ll bet the audio edition of Charlotte’s Web is marvelous! It’s such a gem of a book.
Hope the month goes well. You have a lot going on with your upcoming move! Cheers!
Thanks Lesley, Happy 2023 to you too. And yeah this month will be a doozy … with the move & a few other things going on. But we’ll see how it goes. I will stop by your site to see your 2022 list. I enjoy seeing the Year-End favs … and I plan to make one too soon. I think for me McCracken book and the Foster novella were about 3.7 stars for me. lol. So I don’t think they were raves for me but still worth checking out.
Hope you are enjoying the Cove these wintry days!