Lauren Ducommun

Here are the books on my TBR list for this coming year!

I think I enjoy researching books almost as much as reading them! Having an annual list provides intentionality with what I read and helps me read broadly from across a variety of authors and centuries.

I always end up reading books not on my list, or not reading books on my list, but creating a “syllabus” is a lovely guide. It’s also fun to see my interests change over the years.

I’m also participating in The Literary Life Podcast 2024 Reading Challenge, and am following some of their categories as well.

Stay tuned to see blog posts of books from each category, along with lectures and supplemental reading I’ve chosen to add more historical and literary context.

Let me know if you’ll be reading any of these in 2024!

My 2024 Book List

Mythology:	The Children of Odin by Padraic Colum
The Ancients:	The Iliad by Homer (trans. by Emily Wilson)
Biblical Times:	Story of the Last Days of Jerusalem by Alfred Church
The Early Middle Ages:	Beowulf (trans. by Burton Raffel) “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics” by J.R.R. Tolkien
The 14th Century:	Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (trans. by Burton Raffel) The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (trans. by Burton Raffel) The Riverside Chaucer (original in Middle English) Chaucer by G. K. Chesterton
The 15th Century:	The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis Men of Iron by Howard Pyle
The 16th Century:	Dear Monkey by Alison Waley The Elizabethan World Picture by E. M. Tillyard
The 17th Century:	King Lear by Shakespeare The Poems of Anne Bradstreet Anne Bradstreet by Faith Cook Paradise Lost by John Milton A Preface to Paradise Lost by C. S. Lewis Tartuffe by Molière
The 18th Century:	The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Mariner: A Voyage with Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Malcolm Guite (opt) Common Sense by Thomas Paine
The 19th Century:	Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm The Owl, the Raven and the Dove by G. Ronald Murphy The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris
The 20th Century:	Napoleon of Notting Hill by G. K. Chesterton The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor J.R.R. Tolkien: Christian Maker of Middle-Earth by Jeremy W. Johnston
The 21st Century:	The Truth and Beauty by Andrew Klaven
Home Education	Norms and Nobility by David V. Hicks How the Heather Looks by Joan Bodger The Educated Imagination by Northrup Frye Six Voices, One Story by AmblesideOnline The Liberal Arts Tradition by Kevin Clark Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper
Art & Culture	Rembrandt is in the Wind by Russ Ramsey Walking on Water by Madeline L’Engle
Christianity	The Old Testament (trans. by Robert Alter) The New Testament (trans. by NT Wright) The Wonderful Works of God by Bavinck Letters to a Diminished Church by Dorothy Sayers The Reason for God by Tim Keller The Evangelical Imagination by Karen Swallow Prior Jesus Through Medieval Eyes by Grace Hamman
Leisure Reading	So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith The Two-Part Invention by Madeline L’Engle Watership Down: The Graphic Novel by James Sturm The Man Born to Be King by Dorothy Sayers
Children’s Books	An Island Story by H. E. Marsall Zao’s Tales by J. A. Sommer The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Vol. 1 by Diana Wynne Jones The Chestry Oak by Kate Seredy