Erica’s Favorite Reads – 2024

January 20, 2025 EricaLeave a comment

I read 68 books in 2024, which breaks my record from last year (hooray!) I’m still in a monthly bookclub where we read mostly fiction. I really got into psychological thrillers and fantasy this year – if you have any good thriller recommendations let me know!

Here is the breakdown of genres I read this year and my favorites from each:

Thriller – 8

Historical Fiction – 10

Fiction – 24

Religious/Spiritual – 8

Nonfiction – 13

Memoir – 5

Thriller

Listen for the Lie

I read this book in a single day, I could not put it down! I am not a big audio book fan, but my bookclub told me this was a great audio book to listen to because one of the characters is a podcast host, and they do a great job of making you feel like you’re actually listening to a podcast! The main character in this book, Lucy, thinks she might be a murderer, but she can’t remember. Her best friend was murdered years ago and the mystery was never solved – but now podcast host Ben Owens has decided to investigate the case.

The Housemaid (series)

Another thriller series I fell in love with this past year was The Housemaid. I just finished the third book yesterday (it was also one I read in a single day – we had a snow day so I took advantage of it by reading!) Each book in this series has had a unique twist that I never saw coming – the author is a genius! I haven’t read any of Freida McFadden’s other books, but she has quite a few, and I’m interested to see if they are as good as this series. I believe this book has also been chosen to be made into a movie – stay tuned!

Historical Fiction

All The Light We Cannot See

Despite this book being published in 2014, it became popular last year and it seemed like everyone was talking about it. This is a WWII story, following two characters: a girl from Paris, Marie-Laure, and a boy, Werner, from Germany. Marie-Laure is blind, which intrigued me due to the title referencing one’s inability to see (is it literal or metaphorical?)

The Secret Book of Flora Lea

The owner of our local bookshop, Seven and One Books, had this book listed as one of her favorites for 2024, so I picked it up. I loved that it had a bit of a fantasy element to it, despite it being historical fiction. It takes place during WWII, and is about two sisters, Hazel and Flora, that are evacuated from London. One day while playing near the river, Flora goes missing. It is assumed she is dead, but years later clues begin to turn up and pieces start coming together…

The Women

This was another very hyped-up book of 2024, but I really did like it! It follows the character of Frances McGrath who joins the Army Nurse Corps to serve in Vietnam. I liked reading a book that was not about WWII, it was just nice to read about a different historical event for once. I also appreciated the focus on women serving in the Vietnam war, and I had no idea that so many women were not properly honored or acknowledged for their service. This book really hit on the themes of feminism and women’s rights, which made it a win for me!

Fiction

A Court of Mist and Fury
_{Romantasy, Young Adult, Fae}

I feel down deep into the ACOTAR rabbit hole, and this book, which is the second book of the series, was my absolute favorite! The first book in the series was just “meh” for me, but I decided to continue on and I’m so glad I did! I’ll admit, I can be a sucker for a good fantasy-romance (I loved the Twilight books…) and I’m not saying this is the peak of great literature or anything, but it was definitely enjoyable! I have not read any of Sarah J. Maas’ other books, but they are on my TBR list!

Iron Flame
_{Romantasy, Young Adult, Dragons}

Speaking of second books in a Romantasy Young Adult series… if faeries are not your thing, maybe you’d prefer dragons! Overall, I enjoyed this series a bit more than ACOTAR – at least so far, the third book in the series comes out tomorrow!!!! (So excited!) This series feels a bit more like Hunger Games rather than Twilight, although I enjoyed both of those series for different reasons – to each their own!

The Midnight Library
_{Fantasy, Magical Realism}

I try to read at least one book a year that has “library” or “librarian” in the title – what can I say? I’m a little biased! This book is about coming to terms with regrets in your life, and seeing what life would be like if you could undo the choices you’ve made. It’s a great book about how getting everything you ever wanted doesn’t always make you happy. I found it to be very thought-provoking and helpful as I examined my own life.

Religious/Spiritual

Learning to Walk in the Dark

Last year I wrote a series on how my faith had been affected recently, and I was still leaning into books that dealt with questioning and uncertainty. Barbara Brown Taylor has written a lot of great stuff, so I wanted to give this book a read and try to lean into my “dark” time. I’m learning that it’s okay to be in this stage of faith, there’s no rush to “fix” it or move out of it. I also recently found a book that describes stages of faith, titled The Critical Journey, (it’s on my TBR list this year!) and one of the natural stages of faith is sort of a rediscovering of God and yourself.

Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God: The Scandalous Truth of the Very Good News

If you struggle with the idea of a God that just wants to punish people for every little mistake they make, this book is for you. If you struggle with how a loving God could send people to eternal suffering in hell, this book is for you. What does it actually mean in the Bible when it says, “God is love”? As I started reevaluating many of the things I had always heard growing up in church, this was another book I found helpful (there are many good books available on this topic).

If you’re a podcast listener, I’d also recommend The Bible for Normal People, as they take a lot of difficult Biblical topics and do a great job of talking about them honestly and thoughtfully.

My Word for 2024: UNABASHED

February 8, 2024 EricaLeave a comment

The Grammys happened a few days ago, and while I didn’t follow it super closely, I was curious to see who the winners were. Miley Cyrus won her first ever Grammy for her song, “Flowers.” (I am so unhip, I still have not actually listened to that song… but now I probably will.) This was a huge night for Miley, but you know what most people ended up focusing on? Making fun of her hairstyle. Now Miley is no stranger to unique fashion styles, and she frequently gets a lot of flack for it. But instead of changing herself to avoid criticism, she seems to lean even more into emphasizing her uniqueness. And you know what? I admire that.

As I began thinking about my word for 2024, and what kinds of things I wanted to accomplish this upcoming year, one word kept coming to my mind:

UNABASHED

def. “not embarrassed, disconcerted, or ashamed”
“boldly certain of one’s position”

synonyms: unapologetic, confident, proud

Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com

I chose this word for a few reasons. Over the last year I realized that there was a big part of me that was just trying to “fit in.” I didn’t want to be different, I wanted to blend in with the crowd, and be “like everybody else.”

Isn’t that embarrassing to admit? I thought I was beyond worrying about “being cool” since I’m in my late 30s, but obviously I wasn’t!

Last year I also began noticing people who were unapologetically themselves, and they seemed so happy. It began with my son’s ballet teacher. She does cosplay, and goes ALL OUT for her costumes! It seems like every week, her hair is dyed a different color. She has anime tattoos from her favorite anime show… oh, and she also doesn’t shave her armpits, and totally does not care! After taking my son to ballet week after week, I found myself thinking, “I want to be like her.”

The last 3 years were difficult ones for me – I had been going through grief and depression over infertility, which led to me dealing with a faith crisis and a lot of anger. Honestly, I didn’t feel like myself – or maybe I had forgotten who I really was. I finally just decided I was tired of feeling that way. I wanted to do things that made me happy, and some of those things are probably “weird,” but I didn’t want to feel ashamed about that.

This year, I want to not only accept that I may be unique and weird, I want to relish in that knowledge! I want others to see me, and to be inspired to love themselves as they are.

I want my son to know he does not need to “fit in” or try to be someone he’s not. And I know the most powerful way to get that across, is to be an example of that myself.

Will I risk being made fun of or getting criticized? Of course! That’s why it’s so hard to truly embrace yourself. Some people will love you for it, and some will hate you for it. Just ask Miley 🙂

I Can Do Hard Things: Running My First (Disneyland) Half Marathon!

January 15, 2024January 21, 2024 EricaLeave a comment

My husband and I just completed our very first half marathon at the Happiest Place on Earth: Disneyland!

The race started at 5am – we woke up at 3am to get ready and it was about a 30 minute walk to the starting gates. We we in the last corral (the “party” group – aka. “business in front, party in the back”), so we didn’t actually start running until about 5:45am.

There were SO many people crowded into a small space – we started off at a slow pace, about 13-minute miles, but that was okay (the pacer car picked up people who were slower than 16-minute miles). There were a few times we bottle-necked on the race – at mile 3 where there was a narrow curve and they had conveniently also put a water station in the same spot, and around mile 4 as we tried to run across the Sleeping Beauty Castle bridge and pretty much came to a complete stop.

We did not wait in any lines to take pictures with characters on the route, because we were afraid we would lose too much time and get swept by the pacer car! Maybe next time if we’re more confident…

Miles 2-5 we were in the Disney parks, staring in California Adventure and then going to Disneyland – and the last 8 miles of the route were along the roads and highways of Anaheim (not super exciting, but that’s okay!)

The route was a bit treacherous – we were warned by multiple people and also on the Run Disneyland Facebook group to watch out for slippery spots and potholes on the trail. I think since we had a slow pace, we were not in as much danger of falling as the faster runners – we passed a spot where someone had wiped out and there was (what appeared to be) blood – more than what a simple scraped knee would have merited(!)

Miles 10-13 were the hardest for me. My pace slowed down, and my legs felt so heavy. My knees were killing me too. The farthest distance I had ever run previously was 12 miles, so I knew I could do it, but I was so ready to be done!

We had some spectators cheering us on, and some of the signs were pretty funny. Here were a few of my favorites:

“I’m sure this seemed like a good idea 11 months ago”

“Worst Disney parade ever”

“Run like your copyright is expiring”

At the finish line, they had announcers, and Mickey and Minnie were there cheering us on! The announcer literally said, “You weren’t the fastest, but you finished!” (I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be slightly offended – we decided to laugh!)

“The proof you can do hard things is one of the most powerful gifts you can give yourself.”
_{Nat Eliason}

I am still a little bit in shock that I actually ran 13.1 miles. This is something I never thought I was going to be able to do – the task seemed so insurmountable. Especially because four years ago I had foot pain and swelling (a complication from running) which ended up with me needing foot surgery and with one of my doctors telling me that my feet were “not designed for running” and maybe I’d like to take up swimming instead?

It took me a year and a half of healing and recovery (cue the knee scooters, crutches, and physical therapy) before I could really start running again after that surgery.

So what possessed me to want to run a half marathon? What made me think I could even do it?

A year ago in January of 2023, I was going through a really dark time. I had a lot of anger and depression, and I guess grief too. I decided that running would be a good way to channel all those negative feelings into something positive. I fully expected to run out of steam, but I never did.

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Tag: 2024