Thank You, Tristan

I owe a big thanks to Tristan, a booktuber who focuses on classic literature, for what turned out to be a stellar reading year. While not all of his suggestions that I have tired have turned out to be winners, he did motivate me to try some classics, and one author it particular that led to a my good reading year.

I've been trying to expand my reading horizons for the last couple of years, and finding his channel inspired me to search further. While he covers the classics, he does not stop at "The Classics" but talks about all sorts of books. For example he listed 50 books of suspense, two of which I had read, The Riddle of the Sands and The 39 Steps. From his list, I chose to give The Eye of the Needle a try, which, sadly, did not work out for me. I also tried Anna Karenina, which also did not appeal to me. I did, however, read Under the Greenwood Tree, Kim, and My Brilliant Career at his suggestion and enjoyed them.

I also gave Jane Austen a try, reading Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey, and trying, but abandoning, Emma, and Pride and Prejudice before deciding that Jane wasn't for me. However, there was an unexpected happy side effect in trying Jane Austen. When my daughter heard that I was reading Jane, she suggested that I give Beth Brower's The Unsellected Journals of Emma M Lion a read, and as readers of this blog know very well, I loved those books. They all earned an "A" grade from me. Indeed, I've read them twice this year. They are one of the two most delightful discoveries of my reading year. 

Which brings us to the second discovery of my reading year, also thanks to Tristan and his lists 50 books, this time it was historical novels. One of the authors he highlighted in historical fiction was Georgette Heyer. And since the library has several pages of ebooks by her, I was quickly able to pick up several of her books, Black Sheep, which earned a B+ rating from me, followed by The Toll-Gate. I enjoyed them enough that since those two, I've gone on to read 17 more Heyer books this year, five of which earned an "A" grade, and nine a "B" grade, with only four "C"s and one DNF.

Brower and Heyer are the standout authors this year, along with L M Montgomery. They stepped into the shoes of my favorite author of 2024; Ellis Peters. And, at least for the Brower and Heyer books, it was Tristan who directly or indirectly brought to my attention to them. Of course he has brought many more books to my attention over the past year, some of which I hope will lead me to more delightful discoveries in the coming months. 

So how as your reading year? What where your standout books or authors?

I will post my entire reading list for 2025 after the first of the new year. It turned out I read a lot of books in 2025, and DNFed, a lot as well.