This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

The Sunday Post #352

Public Service Announcement

Sorry if you've seen this on Instagram already! It's my New Year's resolution to be a less bleak b*tch, so I need happy book recommendations. Talk to me about books that made you happy. I think I'm open to every genre except contemporary romance and religious books. My cold, dead heart can't handle real love. What recommendations do you have for me?

On The Blog Recently

• When Books "Talk" To Each Other
• Books To Read In Winter
• All I Want For Christmas Is Books
• Christmas Book Haul
• Best Books Of 2023

In My Reading Life

I hit my reading goal for 2023! I finished 78 books, and it took me until 10PM on December 31st. I was cutting it close. Here are the final two books I read last year.

I should have DNFed Dune by Frank Herbert. One of my lessons from 2023 is that classic sci-fi is really not my jam. This book took me months to slog through. I should have quit, but I didn't because I was so close to my reading goal! It was quicker to finish this book than to start a new one.

Dune is about a guy named Paul who lives in a universe run by a feudal empire. The empire gives Paul's parents a desert planet to run. The planet produces "spice," which causes humans to hallucinate and also fuels space travel. Since spice is so valuable, a war ensues, and Paul and his mother are forced to run for their lives. They end up joining a community of Fremen (the planet's native people). Paul becomes the Fremen's Messiah/chosen one/special snowflake. Then there's more war.

I actually love the world building in this book. The human characters are a product of their environment, which is realistic. The planet is home to terrifying sand worms that can swallow a person whole. Water is so scarce that humans wear suits that recycle their breath and sweat. The living people even have to drink the dead people! The lack of water plays into the culture, the economy, the politics, the class system, everything. It's one of the most realistic fictional worlds I've come across.

Unfortunately, I got bored with everything else. The writing is bland. Most of the characters are bland. The dialogue is melodramatic. Everybody talks too much! There are hundreds of pages of people sitting in rooms, talking. If a book is going to be 700 pages, I need a lot more action and character development to keep me going.

Next, I read Miracles On Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen. I'm slowly attempting to read every Newbery winner, and this was the winner from 1957. It feels like a children's book from 1957. The plot is slow and sweet, and you know that every problem will be solved within a few pages. Nothing too awful is going to happen.

The book is about a family that moves from Pittsburgh to a maple syrup farm in rural Pennsylvania. The plot takes place over the course of a year. It follows the family's youngest child, Marly, as she meets the neighbors, explores the wilderness, learns to tolerate her brother, and makes syrup. Every time the seasons change, Marly declares it a "miracle," and her tiny mind is blown. She's a nature girlie for sure.

I have a feeling I would have loved this book as a kid. I went through a very long phase where I was obsessed with syrup and begged my parents for maple trees so I could make my own. They said no. Those jerks. This book would have been an instant favorite because it's basically my childhood fantasy life. I wanted a forest of giant, delicious trees! Is that too much to ask? (It was too much, if we're being honest.)

Parts of this book are definitely sappy. Which—now that I think of it—might be perfect for a book about literal tree sap. However, I didn't hate it. It's a peaceful little book. Very 1950s pastoral.

In The Rest Of My Life

Five things that made me happy last week:

1. Thank you to everybody on Instagram who recommended happy books to me. I still need more recommendations!
2. I posted my favorite books of 2023. I'm still working on my stats post with all the graphs of books I read last year. It'll hopefully be up on Tuesday.
3. I hit my Goodreads goal last year. I really didn't think I would. I set my goal to 30 books this year because I want to read giant classics. Last year, I read Moby-Dick and Dune, and they both took an eternity to finish.
4. This one didn't make me happy, but it kept me occupied. Since my TV insists on recommending true crime to me, I watched both seasons of The Curious Case Of Natalia Grace. Has anybody watched that? It's wild. I don't even know how to describe it or what to think of it. There are no murders in the documentary, so if you want true crime without death, this is a good series.
5. I found my New Year's resolutions from last year and laughed. I pretty much failed at all of them. I even failed at not using the yellow pen.

If you can't read my handwriting, it says:
1. Be less of a weenie
2. Control my eating
3. #0by24 — read 78 books 
4. Use Instagram and Facebook
5. Don't use the yellow pen

Follow For More Failures

Pinterest || Bloglovin' || Goodreads || Instagram || Twitter || TikTok || Facebook || Donate || Book Wish List

Take care of yourselves and be kind to each other. See you around the blogosphere!