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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 #353

Public Service Announcement

Thank you to everybody in the comments and on social media who talked to me about books that made you happy. Here are the 12 that I want to read this year. No offense if I didn't pick your recommendation. My library kind of sucks. They didn't have most of the books that were recommended. Also, everything has a waitlist! It'll be months before I get to read most of these.

On The Blog Recently

• Books To Read In Winter
• All I Want For Christmas Is Books
• Christmas Book Haul
• Best Books Of 2023
• 2023 Reading Statistics

In My Reading Life

First books of 2024! How exciting.

I started the year with a nonfiction book called Connected: The Surprising Power Of Our Social Networks And How They Shape Our Lives by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler. I thought the book would have more info about online social networks, but nope, it was mostly about the in-person kind. Even though I don't have friends, it was still super interesting! Lots of scientific studies.

The book is about how our lives are heavily influenced by people who don't know we exist. That sounds scary, but you are also influencing the lives of people you don't know. That's just how social networks work. Emotions and information ripples through the network like waves. The waves are strongest at the person who starts them and disperse as they get farther from the starting point. The authors map real-life social networks and analyze how happiness, obesity, romance, suicide, voting behavior, and more move through the networks.

Mostly, this book made me super conscious of my own behavior. We think of ourselves as individuals, but we're really not. Our ideas and emotions come from somewhere, and they can be contagious. A computer screen is not protection from contagion! Online social networks function the same way as in-person ones. What you post online will influence your friends and followers. What ripples do you want to send through the network?

My biggest issue with the book is that it's frustratingly dated. It's very obvious that it was published in 2008. I want to know how modern technology has changed our networks.

This is a thought-provoking book, but we badly need a new version.

Then I read a science fiction time travel novel. It was Valley Of The Moon by Melanie Gideon. This is a fun book that you're probably not supposed to think about too deeply. If you think too much, you'll start finding holes.

Single mother, Lux, is living in 1970s San Fransisco. If you think of a stereotypical 1970s San Fransisco woman, then that's Lux. One day, she goes on a camping trip in the Valley Of The Moon and gets lost in fog. She finds herself in a farming commune in the year 1906. The commune is a utopia to Lux. She finds a love interest there and enjoys a break from the modern world. But, since she has a kid, she can't stay forever. She spends the rest of the book trying to live her life in two different time periods.

The romance is sweet. Lux's relationship with her children is sweet. I enjoyed the plot twists and watching Lux reconcile with her parents after she rebelled against them as a teenager. It's a story that will ultimately leave you feeling sad and happy at the same time because there's plenty of tragedy.

I struggled with the main characters and the early 1900s setting. To me, it feels like both settings are 1970s San Fransisco. The story is told from two POVs: Lux from 1970, and Joseph from 1906. The characters' voices sound so similar that I sometimes had to flip back to the chapter heading to see whose POV I was in. That shouldn't be the case. They feel like the same person.

The commune is a little too utopian for my tastes. I know it's a commune, so they're open to alternative lifestyles, but they all accept Lux immediately. They also don't seem too bothered about the deadly fog that surrounds their commune. There's very little diversity of thought or personality in the commune. I wanted disagreements! I wanted stress! How are 200+ people getting along so flawlessly while surrounded by death fog?

Lux is a hard character to like because her problems are mostly caused by her own stupid decisions. She disrespects the death fog and suffers the consequences. She doesn't use birth control and suffers the consequences. She brings her biracial child to 1909 rural America—which completely freaked me out—but there were no consequences because the commune is uniformly awesome.

If you want a sweet love story with lots of twists, then this book is an excellent choice. If you read a lot of nonfiction about history and communes, then this book might be frustrating.

In The Rest Of My Life

Five things that made me happy last week:

1. It was my sister's birthday. I think Baby Brooklyn was more excited about it than my sister. Chocolate cupcakes happened.
2. New season of The Traitors! That's my current favorite reality TV show. It's on Peacock. It's like the game Clue, but with real people.
3. The only time I watch BookTube is in January because I want to see people's favorite books from the previous year. I've noticed that there are tons of videos that start with someone saying, "This video is going to be chaotic." Then the person sits on the couch for 30 minutes and calmly discusses books. I'm waiting for a sinkhole to swallow the person's house or something because I was promised chaos! I don't understand BookTube's definition of chaos, and it amuses me.
4. I got my 2024 planner and planned my blog posts until the end of March. I feel so organized. Now I need to research and write the things.
5. I posted my 2023 Reading Stats. My ego needs you to look at that post because it takes freakin' forever to make.

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