The First Book of 2024 + One Word for 2024

 

So what is First Book?  First Book, hosted by Sheila of Book Journey, is the first book you plan on reading in the New Year.  It can be a long-coveted read you have not had time for, a guilty pleasure read like a re-read of a favorite…  really it can be anything – it is, after all, YOUR First Book. 

Make it AWESOME.

I'm reading a lot of books right now...

How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks (Happiness)

Live Your Best Life: 219 Science-Based Reasons to Rethink Your Routine (Happiness)

What if Jesus Was Serious? A Visual Guide to the Teachings of Jesus We Love to Ignore (Spirituality)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Ozathon)

If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino (Fiction)

A Winter in New York by Josie Silver (Fiction)

The Book of (More) Delights by Ross Gay (Happiness; Essays)

The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse: 110 Poets on the Divine (Spirituality)

The Complete Stories by Franz Kafka (Classic)

Baking Yesteryear: The Best Recipes from the 1900s to the 1980s by B. Dylan Hollis (Cookbook)

The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis (SciFi)

Above Ground by Clint Smith (Poetry)

It was hard to decide which book to choose...

My First Book of the Year...

...is Above Ground: Poems by Clint Smith.

Here's Clint Smith on Late Night, talking about poetry, reading from this new collection.

My #OneWord for 2024? For three New Year's Days, I stuck with the same word, Play. It reminded me to be in the moment, to be spontaneous, to enjoy my life, to draw upon the spirit of love and joy that abides within us at all times. Play. 

But in 2022, I chose a new One Word. Love. It encouraged me to engage Love as my default reaction to all situations. Love. Love got me through several difficult situations in 2022 and 2023, so I'm keeping Love for 2024. My One Word.