Why Hello There 2017: Reflecting Back & Looking Forward

A screenshot of all 37 books I read in 2016.
January 2017

Hello 2017! I’m back from my hiatus. My husband and I have been busy with the new home we purchased last August. These last few months we’ve had new drain cleanouts installed, poured concrete to widen the driveway, and had artificial turf installed in the front yard.

In October, I started a fabulous new job that came with a pay raise and, most importantly (as in the reason I searched for a new job in the first place), a reduction in my commute: from 50-80 minutes each way down to just 10!

In November we opened up our new home to friends and family and hosted 27 people for Thanksgiving dinner!

Then in December, we acquired a Bobcat camping trailer! I’m really looking forward to some relaxing camping adventures with my husband this year.

And then of course there was reading by the fire during Christmastime:

A video posted by Kenia Sedler (@keniasedler) on

2016 was a great year for books:

I flew across galaxies and spent time with royal families on alien planets, I traversed the Mediterranean Sea with Odysseus, I spent time with a literary society on the island of Guernsey during Nazi occupation, I discovered the Fountain of Fair Fortune with 3 witches and a knight, I conversed with scientists about what the internet is doing to our brains, I spent time with a professional dog trainer understanding how dogs think, I found love and independence with Jane Eyre, I witnessed the horrors of Nazi concentration camps, I gained wisdom from ancient philosophers, I walked through the American history that was hidden from me in school, and so much more…

It truly was quite the adventure.

As for 2017:

The works I’ll be tackling from the Literary Project include the Rig Veda, Herodotus’ The Histories, Euripides’ Medea, and Hippocrates’ On Airs, Waters and Places. I’ll also be reading Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman as I’m doing a report on her for my Philosophy Meetup group in March (each member is presenting a female philosopher in honor of Women’s History month). I’m also craving some Shakespeare so I’m going to skip ahead in TWEM and read Richard III.

I will be conducting a Jane Austen Education sub-project this year as well, in which I’ll read Austen’s 6 novels and 6 non-fiction works concerning Austen’s life, world, and essays about her works. (I’ll create a dedicated sub-project page soon.)

As for Science Fiction & Fantasy, I’ll be reading Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World as well as Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein.

I plan to read Mortimer Adler’s How to Think About the Great Ideas: From the Great Books of Western Civilization along with Cleo over at Classical Carousel.

I’ll be finishing Bauer’s The History of the Ancient World and reading The History of the Medieval World.

…and many more.

Here’s to insane reading goals, and another wonderful year of literary adventure!