In a recent brief foray into Facebook, I happened to see this challenge: read twelve books in twelve months recommended by twelve friends.

Easy-peasy, right? Except I read very little fiction these days. I look at my current pile of books. I’m rereading Pascal’s Pensees. I’m starting over on Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland, a book I started years ago and never finished. Then I have unfinished books by John O’Donohue and Brian Doyle that I want to tackle. Again. I’m mostly stuck slowly reading thought-provoking books.

12 books in 12 months? I saw that and thought, Pshaw. Literally. That’s what I thought.

Except there’s this. In the post-election numbness, I stumbled across a years-old recommendation from a friend to read a young adult book. (Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow recommended by my friend Leah) I zippity-doo-dah-ed through that book and was glad I had.

The truth is I LOVE children’s books, early chapter books, and young adult books. 12 children’s books? Yes, that I could do.

So my question for you is, do you have a book you remember reading as a child that you loved? Or a book you recently read to your child or grandchild that you thought was amazing or even just worthwhile?

I’ll take the first twelve that I haven’t yet read and make a list for 2025.