We're a month into 2021, but here in Oregon we’re still living amid the societal confinements that arrived last year, including schools that remain closed by our governor’s order since last March, ongoing Antifa-led violence in downtown Portland, and my friends’ small businesses struggling or shuttered. It’s quite likely the situation is similar where you are, though I hope it’s better. Frankly, I think the past year has paved the way for a concerning new normal, and it's not necessarily the future that I would wish for the world. I'm thinking particularly of the continuing travel restrictions, possible vaccine mandates, the French ban on homeschooling (now slated for 2022), and continued political fracturing. Nonetheless, I’m so grateful for the greatest blessing my family received at the end of 2020 when our fifth child (our fourth boy!) was born. I haven't been able to read as much with a newborn in my arms, bien sûr, but I'm happy to reminisce and recommend my favorite books that I read in 2020. Les voilà:

Bonjour! Did you make crêpes for la Chandeleur over the weekend? Much of the French population did! The Christian holiday of la Chandeleur (Candlemas) always falls on Groundhog Day here in the U.S., so it's easy for me to remember to make crêpes for dinner each February 2nd, even though crêpes have nothing to do with marmottes. I like the thought of so many people eating crêpes for dinner on the same night each year. It's a more heartwarming picture than everyone watching the Super Bowl together, don't you think? But to each (country) their own habits!

That said, the Super Bowl was a good excuse for us to invite family and friends over. Once the game was done and the kitchen was tidied, though, I continued reading Circe by Madeline Miller. Her first book, Song of Achilles, was the first book I finished this year, and it was riveting. Miller's gifted writing and her intimate knowledge of the flawed characters of Greek mythology make her novels utterly fascinating. These are not stories of moral virtue; instead, they show why we can still respect the broken heroes of the classical world.

I'll happily finish Circe soon since I have a number of fascinating titles waiting on my bookshelves, both in French and English. Here are the books on my list for 2019:

Favorite Reads of 2020

My Reading List: Must-Read Books for 2019