2024 Blog Stats

Every year, Stephany does a round-up of her blog stats for the year, so I've completely ripped her idea off and here we are. I did it last year, too. 

The Stats (for the last twelve months)

331,000 pageviews
8820 comments
295 posts (as of 12/28 - I might sneak in another post before the year officially ends)
85 book reviews

Most people come to my blog via other blogs. Ernie, Elisabeth, Allison, and J are my top referral sources.

People from around the world view my blog, but especially people in the US, Canada, Hong Kong, and Singapore. 

This year I did two Cool Bloggers Book Club (CBBC) editions: My Brilliant Friend in the spring and I Capture the Castle in the fall. 

This year I also did a 20th Blogiversary Extravaganza that included TWENTY guest posts and lists of twenty things and it was so much. But let's all agree that I'm not going to do a big bloggy project in 2025, okay?

Other fun tidbits: one author commented on my blog this year and I had an email exchange with another author to get an ARC of his book. 

Top Five Blog Posts of 2024

(Blogs written in 2024, in order of number of pageviews.)

1. I Said I Was Chill, But I Was Wrong - Very recent post makes it to #1 for the year. If you want a follow-up, I just brought a salad. 

2. Tell NGS What To Do: Advice Needed for Basic Adulting - Updates on that post. 1) Kim turned me on to this product from Dove and I have been using the brown sugar and coconut butter and it's been life altering. 2) I still don't have a yoga bag. 3) The bloodwork was fine. 4) Kim's magic product fixes this issue. 5) We still don't use any garlic. 

3. 20th Anniversary Countdown: Guest Post #16 (written by Kae) - I don't know why some of these guest posts have more traction than others, but congrats to Kae!

4. Week 1: My Brilliant Friend CBBC - This one makes sense to me because a lot of people started with MBF, so week one was pretty popular. 

5. 20th Anniversary Countdown: Guest Post #7 (written by Lisa) - Congrats to Lisa, too!

My All-Time Top Five Blog Posts

(Total number of pageviews.)

As with Stephany, my top five all-time posts have remained the same. 

1. The Duke and I (with second epilogue) by Julia Quinn - I stand by this book review. Rape is not sexy.

2. A Holiday Survey - I answered questions about how I celebrate the holidays (totally copied from Lisa).

3. November Physical Activity Accountability Buddy - I post one of these every month. Why is this one so popular? (I bet it has to do with all the photos of Hannah.)

4. Thanksgiving Gratitude - From 2021. I do this every year, but this is the one with the most views. 

5. Is C.C. DeVille Gay? - I wrote this in 2006!! I have NO IDEA if he's gay or not, but the post only got two comments and people were outraged that I even suggested it. I'm sorry, Mr. DeVille, for speculating about your sexuality. But why did you and Bret get into a fight?

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Do you ever look at your blog stats? What's the most surprising to you?

2024 Five Star Reads

This year I have nineteen five star reads.  I'll do another post later this week that details how many books I read, average stars, and the like, but let's start with the books I loved this year. (NOTE: I'm currently reading an ebook and listening to an audiobook. Unless something dramatically changes with these books as I finish them, they will definitely not be five star reads for me.)

Three of my five star reads are The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett and four were books 4-7 in the Harry Potter series, so nine of my nineteen five star books were long audiobooks that I binged and loved. I'm going to do a top ten list of books for the year and leave these books out of it, but I want you to know that deep inside, these are in the top ten.

#10: A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett - Insane soap opera of a book. Obviously, I loved it. Hey, maybe I should watch soap operas? 

#9: Swordheart (The World of the White Rat) by T Kingfisher - Fantasy at its best. 

#8: Mammoths at the Gate (Singing Hills Cycle #4) by Nghi Vo - I like that fantasy is represented on this list. It's a wonderful time to be a fantasy reader right now. 

#7: The Memory Palace: True Stories of the Past by Nate DiMeo - Turning footnotes into the focal point of a story is DiMeo's bread and butter and I'd like to have tea with him every day. 

#6: A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich - Ulrich took a rich primary source and made it even richer. 

#5: The Color Purple by Alice Walker - It's as good as people say. Why didn't I read this one before 2024? 

#4: The Wager by David Grann - The first book in my 2024 spreadsheet! Batshit story of a shipwreck. So good!

#3: Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera - The audiobook made this for me. It sounded just like a podcast, complete with terrible intro music and everything. 

#2: Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacbosen - The most terrifying thing I've ever listened to. I still highly recommend it. The research is impeccable. 

#1: Love Letters by Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf - This book is officially my personality now. Do you want to talk about Vita and Virginia? Because I do! I actually asked for this as a Christmas present and is one of two new books I got as presents. I suspect a reread will be happening soon. I have my own book! I can write in the margins! I can underline!

If you're super curious as to the rest of my five stars, they were Alphabetical Diaries by Shiela Heti and My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. 

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Have you read any of these books? What was your #1 book of 2024?

Pop Sugar 2024 Reading Challenge Results

I have been plugging away at the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge all year. Here are the results. 

Results from previous years:

2018
2019
2020
2021
2022

2023

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1. A book with the word "leap" in the title

Lucky Leap Day by Ann Marie Walker - I regret finishing this book. 2/5 stars

2. A bildungsroman

My Brilliant Friend (Neapolitan Novel #1) by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein - Such a good book. 5/5 stars

3. A book about a 24-year-old

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh - She's really 26 in the book, but I'm giving myself credit for it. 2.5/5 stars

4. A book about a writer/author

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain    DNF January 

Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon - Ghostwriter who falls in love with her subject. I wanted this book to be a million times better than it was, but if you want a steamy open door romance, I can recommend it. 4/5 stars

5. A book about K-pop

Y/N by Ester Yi - DNF June

Idol, Burning by Rin Usami - This one left me feeling a bit meh. 3/5 stars

6. A book about pirates

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea (The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea #1) by Maggie Tokuda-Hall - I like a book set on a boat. 4/5 stars

7. A book about women's sports and/or by a woman athlete

The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running Team by Kara Goucher and Mary Pilon - Sigh. So much entitlement. 2/5 stars

    

8. A book by a blind or visually impaired author

Redsight by Meredith Mooring - I was disappointed in this. I think it's hard to write about religion and war without coming off as a bit preachy. 2.5/5 stars

    

9. A book by a deaf or hard-of-hearing author

True Biz by Sara Novic - I learned a lot reading this. 4/5 stars

10. A book by a self-published author

Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1) by Susan Ee - Fine. Fine. I think there's going to be interspecies romance in this series, though, so that's not my jam. 3.5/5 stars 

    

11. A book from a genre you typically avoid

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett - I still am not entirely sure I'm smart enough for Patchett. I thought this book was fine, but I didn't love it. 3.5/5 stars

12. A book from an animal's POV

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell - I reread this in September. It holds up pretty well and my constant rereading of this as a teen explains my tendency to anthropomorphize animals. 4/5 stars

13. A book originally published under a pen name

Swordheart (The World of the White Rat) by T. Kingfisher - Loved every page. 5/5 stars

14. A book recommended by a bookseller

Rainbow Black by Maggie Thrash - What's not to love here? The first half was probably a bit better than the second half, but I enjoyed it all. 4.5/5 stars

15. A book recommended by a librarian

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes - The librarian in our book club suggested this as our book club pick for February. It's a retelling of the Trojan War from the perspective of women. It felt mostly like homework. 3.5/5 stars

16. A book set 24 years before you were born (1955)

I read The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett - Surely there were scenes from 1955 somewhere in there. SURELY. 5/5 stars

17. A book set in a travel destination on your bucket list

Northern Spy by Flynn Berry - Set in Ireland. Just fine. 3/5 stars

18. A book set in space

Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1) by Beth Revis - I wanted to like this book, but The Expanse does the premise of solving mysteries in space so much better. 2/5 stars

19. A book set in the future

Internment by Samira Ahmed - DNF in Augst

The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles (Mossa & Pleiti #2) by Malka Older - Truly a delightful series. 4.5/5 stars

20. A book set in the snow

Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton - Beautiful meditation on life and the end of it. 4.5/5 stars

21. A book that came out in a year that ends in "24" 

The Work of Art by Adam Moss - Lovely book. Get the physical copy and don't read this as an ebook. Published in 2024.  4.5/5 stars

22. A book that centers on video games

Erebos (Erebos #1) by Ursula Poznazski - DNF in July

You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost): A Memoir by Felicia Day - Just not as insightful as I wanted it to be, but I'm glad I read it. 3/5 stars

23. A book that features dragons

How to Train Your Dragon (How to Train Your Dragon #1) by Cressida Cowell - The audiobook was narrated by David Tennant and that was distracting to me, but it is a mostly fun book. 3.5/5 stars

24. A book that takes place over the course of 24 hours

This Lie Will Kill You by Chelsea Pitcher - This book was soooo boring. 2/5 stars

25. A book that was published 24 years ago (2000)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter #4) by JK Rowling - Look, I love these books. I have no defense. 5/5 stars

26. A book that was turned into a musical

The Color Purple by Alice Walker - This book was fantastic. (Um, hard to read, though. Lots of physical, sexual, and emotional violence.) 5/5 stars

27. A book where someone dies in the first chapter

Payback in Death (In Death #57) by JD Robb - What a joy that this series is still pumping out books. 3.5/5 stars

28. A book with a main character who is 42 years old

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent - Very well-done thriller. 4.5/5 stars 

29. A book with a neurodivergent main character

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim - I didn't love Happiness Falls and I didn't love this one. I saw the ending coming from pretty far away. I don't think this is the author for me. 3/5 stars

30. A book with a one-word title you had to look up in a dictionary

Zazen by Vanessa Veselka - Dystopian novel I am pretty sure I am not smart enough to understand. Gorgeous cover. 3/5 stars

31. A book with a title that's a complete sentence

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez - No, just no. 2/5 stars

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell - Compelling thriller. 4.5/5 stars

32. A book with an enemies-to-lovers plot 

A Pho Love Story by Loan Le   DNF June

Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen - DNF October

Calamity (Uncharted Hearts #1) by Constance Fay - Fun sci-fi romp. 4/5 stars

33. A book with an unreliable narrator

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera - This is a fabulous audiobook. Truly loved it. 5/5 stars

34. A book with at least three POVs

Fall of Giants (The Century Trilogy #1) by Ken Follett - I am a sucker for Follett's writing. 5/5 stars

35. A book with magical realism

The Change by Kirsten Miller - Confusing. Not sure how I feel about this. Too much misandry or just enough? 3.5/5 stars 

36. A book written by an incarcerated or formerly incarcerated person

The Face of a Stranger (William Monk #1) by Anne Perry - This book was so boring. I kind of loved it because I would read two paragraphs and then fall asleep, but it was bad, friends.  2/5 stars

37. A book written during NaNoWriMo

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo - Not necessarily my jam, but I appreciate it being out there in the world. 3.5/5 stars

38. A cozy fantasy book

Paladin's Grace (The Saint of Steel #1) by T. Kingfisher - A bit disappointing, to be honest. Long and sort of boring, particularly in the middle. 3/5 stars

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher - Another Kingfisher disappointment. I should have loved it, but somehow I didn't. 3.5/5 stars

Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes #1) by Travis Baldree - Good, but not as good as the original. 3.5/5 stars

39. A fiction book by a trans or nonbinary author

The Deep by Rivers Solomon - Lovely, haunting audiobook. 4/5 stars

40. A horror book by a BIPOC author

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due - It was good, but I didn't love it as much as I wanted to. 4/5 stars

41. A memoir that explores queerness

Love Letters by Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West - BRILLIANT. I'm in love with Vita Sackville-West now and I don't even care that she's been dead for more than sixty years. (Is this memoir? Not really. Am I going to count it? Absolutely.) 5/5 stars

42. A nonfiction book about Indigenous people

Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot - I read this in August and did not care for it at all. It was a bit too stream of consciousness for me with flowery writing that seemed at odds with the challenging topics covered. 2.5/5 stars

43. A second-chance romance

Colton Gentry's Third Act by Jeff Zentner - I don't know if I'll read a lot more romance novels written by a dude from a male point of view, but I enjoyed this one. 4/5 stars

44. An autobiography by a woman in rock 'n' roll 

Dolly Parton Songwriter: My Life in Lyrics by Dolly Parton - I'm counting it as rock 'n' roll. Don't get mad. Listened to the audiobook and it made a meh book slightly less meh because it included some bits of songs here and there. 3/5 stars

45. An LGBTQ+ romance novel

Iris Kelly Doesn't Date (Bright Falls #3) by Ashley Herring Blake -  The two main characters here should definitely not have been together. Too bad. I know Blake can write a very good romance, but this didn't work for me. 2/5 stars

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Creekwood #1) by Becky Albertalli - Honestly, I know better than to read YA. Sigh. It was fine for what it was. 3/5 stars

Advanced prompts

1. A book in which a characters sleeps for more than 24 hours

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera - I wanted to love this book about a young girl who loves stories, but instead I just thought it was derivative and boring? Eh. Lots of people love it based on the number of awards it has garnered. 3/5 stars

2. A book with 24 letters in the title

Heartaches by the Number by Bill Friskics-Warren and David Cantwell - A disorganized mess of a book, but at least I got a fun playlist out of it. 3/5 stars

3. A collection of at least 24 poems

Serious Concerns by Wendy Cope - Lovely. A lot of these poems were funny. 4.5/5 stars

4. The 24th book of an author

French Braid by Anne Tyler  DNF March

Innocent in Death (In Death #24) by JD Robb - Just so much comfort reading for me. 4/5 stars

5. A book that starts with the letter "X"

X (Kinsey Millhone #24) by Sue Grafton - It's always so much fun to hang out with Kinsey. The ending wasn't that great, though. 3.5/5 stars

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Completed prompts: 50/50 (if I'm being generous - numbers 16 and 44 are stretches)

Average star rating: 3.58/5 stars

I don't know. It was a meh year. I did read The Century Trilogy and Love Letters, though, so not all was lost. I feel like this challenge pushes me to read outside of things I normally would and that's a good thing. Stay tuned for the 2025 challenge!

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Did you do a reading challenge this year? How did it go? If not, would you ever take on something like this?

Christmas 2024 in Photos

These photos are not in any real chronological order. But this is what it was. 

Weekend Roundup

Not to brag, but I don't have to go into the office again until January 2. I might check my email once or twice just to make sure I'm not heading back into absolute chaos, but I've checked out of work. Sorry, students, your "emergency" is going to have to wait (I do not deal in emergencies). 

Saturday was a cold, cold day in Wisconsin. It had snowed on Friday and then the temperatures dropped into the single-digits and I forced poor Hannah to wear all of her clothes - boots and coat. Boy was she ever embarrassed.

On Saturday morning, I met up briefly with Anne to collect our holiday ceramics. I'll let her share hers if she wants, but here's my before:

And after:

And, then, get this, I hung out with Zelda on the couch. It was in the schedule. 

Despite the single-digit temps, we walked over to our friends' house and hung out by a solstice bonfire. They do it every year and most years we go for about an hour and leave because we have work the next day, but this was SATURDAY NIGHT. Woot woot! We stayed for a few hours and had fun chatting with people. 

I built in more couch and kitty time on Sunday, but we also did laundry and Dr. BB wrapped presents and there were chores. But the weather was into the 30s, so Hannah no longer had to wear her coat, but the shoes are still a thing because of all the salt people have put out. 

If you ask Hannah, she's treated very poorly, you know? 

Wish me luck today as I am head to our regular grocery store and Costco. Dr. BB is going to meet up with some friends later in the day, so I'm going to wrap his presents, clean the vacuum, and make cookies while he's gone. Don't say I don't know how to live it up when I have the house to myself.

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Tomorrow's Christmas Eve! Can  you believe it?  

Presents: What I Got Everybody

This year I dramatically reduced who I bought presents for. Buying presents was so stressful and I just dipped out. Here's what I got for the loved ones in my life.

1) 15-year-old nephew (got him in the draw) - His parents told us to get him clothes and I also added a book:

A Hawkeye shirt, as requested by his parents

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

The books

2) 13-year-old nephew (got him in the draw) - His parents told us to get him books and said he likes facts. I added a cooperative dice game, hoping he'll play with his cousins and/or siblings:

The Complete Book of US Presidents, Fourth Edition - Includes Biden, so it's the most up-to-date as of right now. 

The Logic Puzzle Book for Teens

Scorpion Masqué Sky Team Cooperative Dice Game

Cooperative games!

3) 17-year-old niece (got her in the draw) - Her mom said to get her stuff for her dorm next year when she goes to college. I asked my freshman seminar students what they wish they had and they gave me the most practical answers. I bought some practical stuff and will write down everything else they said on a list for her. Also, I'll give her the gift receipts so she can return it all and buy makeup if that's what she wants:

Memory Foam Mattress Topper

Portable Clip-On Fan 

Fairy lights - Yes, I had to get LED. Damn it all. 

Such practical gifts

4) TJC: 

Stuff from her wish list

5) Dr. BB: 

Gift certificate for guitar lessons (he asked for this)

Three pairs of SmartWool socks

Two pairs of water bottles for his bike - We threw out a lot of our water bottles after the Great Mouse Incident of 2024. 

6) Yoga lady -  The woman who runs yoga at the student union is doing that on her own time. I think she deserves appreciation for doing something that benefits me tremendously: 

A pair of SmartWool socks

7) Peer mentor - There's an older student who was assigned to help me with my freshman seminar last semester. I bought her a gift for all her help:

A small gift set of hand lotion, lip balm, and soap locally sourced

A scarf

A small set of chocolate truffles 

8) FIL and his wife:

Went in with the family gift to get them a subscription for steaks or something - Dr. BB handled this. 

9) Secret SANta swap partner:

You can see my gift here

10) Us - Every year I try to get the two of us a couple of presents:

Our ornament for this year is going to be the one I made with Anne

Paint the Roses board game

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Are you done with your shopping? 

I Said I Was Chill, But I Was Wrong

 Look at a comment I typed out earlier today on Elisabeth's blog:

Seriously, me of ten hours ago. "It's been a pretty chill holiday season for me." GTFOH. 

I was doing well until I got a text message from my SIL with assignments to bring things to the holiday meal. 

T&D: Salad/veggies

VEGGIES? VEGGIES?

Look, I bring a salad and it's a giant pain in the ass. It always involves a trip to Costco and hours in the kitchen the night before and then I have to bring the big serving bowl and multiple coolers and IT'S A THING. And I do it because it's food I will eat and if I won't eat anything else there, at least I know there will be a delicious salad. 

But now I have to bring MORE STUFF. Veggies? Ain't nobody going to eat crudités at this shindig. Corn is already spoken for. Green bean casserole is disgusting. 

WHAT AM I GOING TO BRING? 

Cut to my surface level chill (sorry I lied on your blog, Elisabeth) being absolutely destroyed. 

Okay, blog friends. In this, my time of holiday-induced panicking, what do you think I should bring? NOTES: Whatever we make has to be transported 2.5 hours to Iowa. If it's cold, we can throw it into a cooler. I don't know if we'll have access to an oven there, but there are microwaves if necessary. Also, this is a midwestern gathering, so please remember that this family considered strawberry pretzel Jello salad as a "salad." There will be 23 people there, although let's say a good half of them won't touch a vegetable, so 12-13. It should be gluten-free, but that is probably not a consideration with most vegetable sides. 

Please help me so I can go back to my zen state.