Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

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My Top Ten of 2024

With only two days of 2024 left, I think my reading stats are pretty set in stone, unless I finish off one more book before the ball drops on New Year’s Eve so I can end on an even number. I had a good reading year but my total number of books is a bit lower than I had anticipated since my husband and I did a bit of traveling to celebrate our retirements. We also had company staying with us several times over the course of the year, and visiting with friends and family supersedes reading time! My only other excuse is that we got sucked in to several shows recommended to us, and before we knew it, we were binge watching instead of binge reading. Still 59 books represents many happy hours of reading!

My biggest change to my reading life since retirement is that I made a big push to increase my ratio of read to reviewed books on my NetGalley account, which led to an increased use of my Kindle for the ARC Ebooks I received. This year I read fewer print library books as well as library books from Libby, and as much as I’d like to add audiobooks to maximize my reading time while doing chores or while in the car, I just can’t get into them. If you have any suggestions for me on the audiobook front, please let me know!

So, without further ado, here are my top ten books (in chronological order, although I’ve marked my #1 in bold) of 2024, along with some of my reading stats. (Please note that I have somehow misplaced my review of Elinor Lipman’s lovely 2013 novel The View from Penthouse B. I shall remedy this situation soon!)

  • The View from Penthouse B by Elinor Lipman, 03/06/24, EBook via Kindle by Amazon purchase, 252 pgs, review coming soon 

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5 responses to “My Top Ten of 2024”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    (To complete my comment on Napolitano’s book as I got booted out) I am glad after I finished the book that I read the author’s note at the end, where she reflects back on her first novel and its reissuance. It ends up that the novel is based on her own Irish-American extended family on her mother’s side. Especially matriarch Catherine. The family lives in the northern New Jersey suburbs of NYC. And having grown up in the orbit of NYC myself, I can testify that the novel accurately captures extended-family dynamics that are common in that region (or were, a generation ago when the novel was written).

    All three books—by Lipman, Strout, and Napolitano—are about family dynamics. And while the stories are fictional, we know that fiction authors often succeed by writing what they know. I found all three books to be a comfort because they made me feel that some of the tough aspects of my own extended family dynamics, looking back, were not particularly out of the ordinary. Lots happens within extended families that outsiders never see.

    In fact, one of the last lines in the Napolitano book has the ONE character who you said (in your review) does NOT need to see a therapist asking in disbelief, “Is your family always like this?”

    Thanks for your helpful reviews,

    Sandy

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    1. michardillo Avatar
      michardillo

      I’m glad they were enjoyable for you. It’s the best part of reading: escaping to someone else’s life and to somewhere else. If you haven’t read Hello Beautiful, I highly it!

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  2. Avatar
    Anonymous

    I am commenting again, Too much later. I have so far in 2025 read books by three of your 2024 top 10 authors: Lipman, Strout, and Neapolitano (in that order). For Lipman and Strout, it was not the new book on your list because it was not available at the library (and was facing a long list of holds). Wanted to. Share my impressions, and my appreciation for your recommendations, as reading good, modern fiction has been a balm for me in these trying times.

    Lipman’s My Latest Grievance was very amusing to me because it was set at a women’s college starting in 1978, and I was in that environment only a couple of years later. As a gentle satire, I found it accurate. And a trip down memory lane.

    Strout’s My Name is Lucy Barton was quick and easy on the eyes because the edition I had (an advance copy I found at the local used book store) was published double spaced. I felt Strout did an excellent job at explaining why we as adults have stronger memories of the tough times in our family’s past than the good times.

    I just finished Napolitano’s Within Arm’s Reach, which you note in your linked review is a reissue of her first novel from 2004 that had gone out of print.

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  3. Avatar
    Anonymous

    More than one book per week is a real achievement, and given the traveling etc, many weeks it was two! You’ve got your finger on the pulse of recent fiction. Thanks for sharing your reviews. You have perfected the review art form, imo. I am curious whether you mark passages for possible inclusion in the review as you are reading along because a certain image or piece of dialog or plot development makes a big immediate impression. Or whether you only think of what to put in the review after you’ve finished the book.

    P.S. For me, audiobooks have only worked on long auto trips, and then only if the reader’s voice is very easy to understand and appeals. That is, no “rewinding” ever necessary.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. michardillo Avatar
      michardillo

      Thank you!!! I have really enjoyed writing the book reviews and I think mine are non-traditional in that they sometimes are more personal essay than book review as I connect what I read to other things I have read and experienced in my life. I appreciate your positive feedback!

      As for my approach, if I am reading on my Kindle, I highlight passages that strike me or remind me of something else from my life that I know I will want to include in the book review. If I am reading a library book or purchased print copy, I rely (albeit poorly) on my memory to connect the dots later. I never annotate books, although in theory it sounds like a very good exercise for active reading, and I never take notes on paper. It also helps if I really love a book, as it stays with me for quite some time after I read it, making the review writing very easy.

      This entire year of reading and writing has been very positive for me! I am looking forward to 2025 and all the great books I discover. I also hope to move along in my novel. One of my goals is to complete a first draft of it in 2025! Fingers crossed!

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