Books I read in 2024

 Hi. Here is my book review from 2024. 

1. Vanished in Vermillion. Lou Raguse. 4 stars. Great local true crime book. 

2. 12 Months to Live. James Patterson and Mike Lupica. 3 stars. Average James Patterson book. 

3. South Dakota's Mathis Murders: Horror in the Heartland. Noel Hamiel. 3 stars. True crime. 

4. The House in the Pines. Ana Reyes. 2 stars. Average Read, nothing special. 

5. Lion & Lamb. James Patterson and Duane Swierczynski. 4 Stars. Good James Patterson read. 

6. Home Front. Kristen Hannah. 3 Stars. Good, easy read. 

7. Slow AF Run Club. Martinus Evans. 3 stars. Good motivational book. 

8. Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier. Arthur C Brooks, Oprah. 4 stars. 

9. Firefly Lane. Kristen Hannah. 5 stars. Great book!

10. If You Would Have Told Me. John Stamos. 4 stars. Good autobiography read. 

11. The Woman in Me. Britney Spears. 3 stars. Interesting Read. 

12. Missing Persons. James Patterson and Adam Hamdy. 4 stars. 

13. Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache. Granger Smith. 4 stars. Great read. 

14. First Lie Wins. Ashley Elston. 3 stars. 

15. The Women. Kristen Hannah. 5 stars. **Please read this book. So good!**

16. Crosshairs. James Patterson, James O Born. 4 stars. Great read. 

17. The Frozen River. Ariel Lawhon. 5 stars. *Another great book. Highly recommend!*

18. I'm So Effing Hungry: Why We Crave What We Crave-and What to Do About It. Amy Shah. 4 Stars. Really interesting and helpful. 

19. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Daniel James Brown. 5 stars. Great story, great read. 

20. The #1 Lawyer. James Patterson and Nancy Allen. 3 stars. Average James Patterson book. 

21. The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading. James Patterson and Matt Eversmann. 3 stars. 

22. The 24th Hour. James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. 3 stars. 

23. Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution. Rainn Wilson. 4 Stars. Weird book, but interesting. 

24. Grimoire Girl: Creating an Inheritance of Magic and Mischief. Hilarie Burton Morgan. 3 stars. 

25. One Perfect Couple. Ruth Ware. 3 stars. 

26. Lessons in Chemistry. Bonnie Garmus. 4 stars. Different book, but I liked it. 

27. On Mystic Lake. Kristen Hannah. 4 stars. Good read!

28. The Underground Library. Jennifer Ryan. 5 stars. *Another great read. Highly recommend!*

29. Adventuring Together: How to Create Connections and Make Lasting Memories with Your Kids. Greta Eskridge. 3 stars. 

30. The Paris Housekeeper. Renee Ryan. 5 stars. *Another banger. Historical fiction at its finest**

31. Wild. Kristen Hannah. 3 stars. 

32. Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End. Alua Arthur. 3 stars. 

33. Home is Where the Bodies Are. Jeneva Rose. 3 stars. 

34. Eruption. Michael Crichton and James Patterson. 2 stars. Didn't care for this one. 

35. The Teacher. Freida McFadden. 3 stars. 

36. Just Add Water: My Swimming Life. Katie Ledecky. 3 stars. Good book, kinda boring in spots. 

37. The Unwedding. Ally Condie. 3 stars. Average read. 

38. Do you Remember? Freida McFadden. 3 stars. 

39. Confessions of the Dead. James Patterson and J.D. Barker. 2 stars. 

40. Hard to Kill: A Jane Smith Thriller. James Patterson and Mike Lupica. 2 stars. Didn't love this one. 

41. If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood. Greg Olsen. 3 stars. I did this one as an audiobook. It's very dark and disturbing. A lot of abuse in graphic detail, read with caution. 

42. Slow Dance. Rainbow Rowell. 3 stars. 

43. Fly Away. Kristen Hannah. 3 stars. 

44. The Last Letter. Rebecca Yarros. 5 stars. This one wrecked me. I bawled like a baby, great book. 

45. The House Across the Lake. Riley Sager. 4 stars. 

It was another great year of reading. I liked most of the books, and look forward to reading more this next year. Hope this list helps you find a good read. 

Happy New Year 2025

 The calendar switched over last night, and we are now in 2025. It's wild to me that another year has come and gone. Time truly does fly. 

For New Year's Eve this year, the kids were out at Jim and Barb's house, so John and I went out to eat supper. We tried to go to TC Referee's, but they had a 30 minute wait, so we walked next door and went to Dynasty. We were seated right away, and we had a nice meal. The waitress is always a little crazy, but it was good. 

After supper, we went to BBs for a couple drinks, live music, and some nachos. We stayed until around 9:00pm, and we headed home for a drink and some TV. We made it until midnight, said Happy New Year, and then called it a night. The kids and Jim and Barb also made it to midnight, and they blew horns and celebrated and then went to bed as well. 

Today was a chill day at home. I enjoyed a nice breakfast while watching the Rose Parade this morning, then went to the gym, and cleaned the house. I got some some things done around the house that I had been meaning to do for a while, so that was nice. John went out and bought some shelving and got some shelves hung in the kids' bedrooms. They look really nice and it will be a fun surprise for them. We are hoping the shelves can help control the absolute mess that their rooms are. We also went on a long evening walk, and then ate some delicious tacos for supper. It was a great way to start off a new year. I also spent some time reading, and now blogging. I really couldn't ask for a better day. 

Goals for 2025:

1. Go on more walks. In the summer, John and I are really good at going for walks, but in the winter we don't go as often. I would like to go on more walks, year-round. It feels good, and John and I have some of our best talks while out for a walk.. 

2. Spontaneous Trips. We are pretty good at planning big travel trips, but I want to take more day trips. There are plenty of State Parks, cities, and outdoor activities within 90 minutes of Sioux Falls, that we have not explored yet. I want to be better at jumping in the car and spending the afternoon exploring something new. 

3. Continue blogging. I really enjoy blogging. It make me think, they are fun to read later on, and it's a good reflection. I go in spurts where I blog for a while and then I lose track and don't blog for a month or two. I hope to continue blogging and do it consistently. 

4. Read. I like to read. Last year I read 43 books. That's a pretty good number. I want to keep it up and keep expanding the authors and books that I read. I also read with Elliott, so really I should count those books. Right now, we are reading the Little House on the Prairie books, and we are really enjoying them. 

5. Continue to go to the gym. This habit has really solidified itself the last couple of years, and I plan to continue. I look forward to my gym visits, and it's a great stress reliever and I definitely feel more confident when I am making myself stronger and fitter. Three cheers for health!

6. Intentional Time with the kids. Emma is getting to the age where she hides in her room a lot and Elliott can get a little too into his Ipad and Nintendo Switch, so I want to be better at spending intentional time with the kids. We have some things. Emma and I volunteer at the Humane Society together, and that is great quality time. Elliott and I read together, and sometimes we play legos together. We also all 4 watch a show together most evenings to wind down and spend time together. But I want to keep being consistent with that and find more way to spend quality time together. 

7. Date night with the hubby. Along the same line, John and I need to be better about just planning dates and doing them. The kids are old enough to stay home alone, so we can pretty much plan a date night anytime we want. And we could be more creative in what we do. It doesn't always have to be a meal, we could bowl, throw axes, take a painting class, play bingo, or a million other things. We need to remember to be creative and intentional with our time as well. 

8. Try new recipes. We sometimes get in a rut of the same 15 meals over and over again. I want to be better about cooking new things in new ways, and making the kids at least try some of the food. They can be pretty picky at time. 

9. Family Devotions. I don't know why, but it's really hard for us to take 5 minutes in the evening to do a Family Devotion. I have a couple really nice devotional books, I really hope to set this into motion this year. Also, I have a daily bible plan on my phone and I hope to be more intentional with that was well. 

10. Camping and outdoor time this summer. Last summer we didn't do very much camping, so this summer I hope to do more. It's so good for the kids (and us). So, I want to fill our summer up with camping trips, fishing, hiking, and swimming. 

Happy New Year!