December 30, 2024

24 Books I Loved in 2024

December 30, 2024/ Emily Hessney Lynch

2024 has been a whirlwind! I welcomed my first child in June, and while a baby isn’t typically conducive to hitting your reading goals, I was still able to read 125 books this year, and my little guy has gotten to enjoy many audiobooks with me during feedings. Pivoting to audio is one big change I’ve noticed in my reading habits this year. I’ve also found myself less drawn to dark and twisty books since having a baby (though they’re still in the mix!). Lighter and more entertaining fare is more appealing these days. If you’re curious about my reading habits in the past, you can take a peek at my roundups from 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020).

In addition to giving birth to a small human, I taught a crisis communication course at Nazareth University this spring, celebrated 5 years of Serve Me the Sky Digital in May, lost a major client upon returning from maternity leave, onboarded several new clients throughout the fall, interviewed two content creators I admire (Dr. Fran and Ella Dawson), and had one of my most profitable months ever in December. It’s been a year full of changes, joy, and challenges. It’s been exciting and exhausting. Reading was a good way to stay grounded while life was such an emotional roller coaster.

Without further ado, let’s dive into my 24 favorite books of 2024! I took a new approach this year and organized by mood.

December 13, 2023

My 23 Favorite Books of 2023

December 13, 2023/ Emily Hessney Lynch

I always enjoy writing my annual ‘Year in Books’ blog post (check out my roundups for 2022, 2021, and 2020 if you missed them!). Reading is the hobby that’s been there for me consistently, year after year, regardless of whatever changes may be happening in my life.

2023 has been busy! In January, my husband Tim left his day job in engineering to pursue murals and design work full-time under his business Tenderchomps Art. I helped him run a community art event for elementary schoolers at a local library, ghost wrote blog posts for his website, started running his social media, and offered guidance based on my own experience as a business owner.

In May, I celebrated four years of running Serve Me the Sky Digital! And in August, I dove into a new endeavor: teaching a social media course for undergraduates at Nazareth University. It’s been a year full of learning, new experiences, changes, and great books! At the time of writing, I’ve read 163 books so far this year.

Let’s get into it! Here are my 23 favorite books of 2023, organized by genre.

October 27, 2023

5 Books About How Social Media Shapes Our Culture & World

October 27, 2023/ Emily Hessney Lynch

This fall, I’m teaching a college-level social media course at Nazareth University. The students and I are both learning lots, and it’s been a great experience so far! The midterm project I assigned was pretty unconventional for a social media class: the students had to read a book about social media from a list of five suggested titles and then review it in a traditional paper and an Instagram post or TikTok. My goal was to encourage them to think critically about the platforms we use every day in our professional and personal lives. It was fascinating to read my students’ observations, discuss the books as a class, and see the intersections between them! Today on the blog, I’m sharing a little about each book and what it tells us about the myriad ways that social media shapes our culture and our world.

February 01, 2023

What I'm Reading for Black History Month 2023

February 01, 2023/ Emily Hessney Lynch

I read 160 books in 2022, which was a new personal record! Part of this was because I read more graphic novels and manga than in past years. Either way, it’s more about quality and enjoyment than quantity! Whatever and whenever I’m reading, I always try to make sure I’m reading a diverse assortment of books rather than just books written by people who look like me. It’s important to read diverse books year-round and not just in whatever history month it happens to be! That being said, I haven’t written a Black History Month TBR blog post since 2020, so I thought it would be fun to share my list for 2023.

December 16, 2022

My 22 Favorite Books of 2022

December 16, 2022/ Emily Hessney Lynch

Like 2021 and 2020 before it, 2022 contained plenty of struggles and joys, all coexisting in this strange life. In May I celebrated three years of running my own business! I also received my New York State woman-owned business certification in November.

I also dove into the world of TikTok and blogged about it often, which included one of my most popular blog posts of 2022, where I shared what I learned by posting on TikTok 3 times per day for 3 months. Additionally, I wrote about non-marketing topics like how my ADHD affects me as a business owner and the joys of visiting all 31 libraries in Monroe County.

Libraries have been essential to my reading journey in 2022–they’ve often led me to pick up books I might not have encountered otherwise. Last year, I read over 120 books and shared 35 favorites on the blog. In 2020, I read 86 books and shared my top 25. This year, I’ve narrowed it down even more! I’ve read 155 books this year and I’m sharing 22 of my absolute favorites.

December 14, 2021

2021 in Books

December 14, 2021/ Emily Hessney Lynch

I’ll be honest, I’m relieved that 2021 is drawing to a close. For as much as we all talked about how horrible 2020 was, 2021 was a tough year too. Starting in January, I worked as a contact tracer for a few months while business was slow. My grandma died in late February and my mom in early April; afterwards I blogged about taking bereavement time as a freelancer.

When May rolled around, I celebrated two years running my own business and signed my biggest and most exciting client to date 🥳 Over the summer, I spent three months as Interim Executive Director of a nonprofit organization. In the fall, I reflected on my learnings from three years in therapy. I also walked away from a leadership position and dove into a new volunteer opportunity.

I recently recapped some of my most popular blog posts this year, so if you missed any along the way, you can find them here. In addition to writing this blog, I also dug in deep creatively and had nine of my short stories published in various literary magazines, which I’m so proud of! 2021 has been a whirlwind to say the least.

Through all of that chaos, emotion, and busyness, reading has been a source of comfort, distraction, and inspiration. I’m grateful for the books and authors who brought me joy and reflection in 2021.

Last year, I read 86 books and included 25 of them in my 2020 in Books blog post. This year, I’ve read 120 books to date; I’m sharing 35 of my favorites here. Interestingly, I read fewer novels this year--only 50. As a short story and memoir writer myself, I’ve been reaching for those more, and read nine short story collections, seven memoirs, and four graphic memoirs. As a trustee of the Monroe County Library System, I’ve been visiting all 32 libraries in the county, and along the way have grown interested in graphic novels and manga. I’ve read 11 manga and seven graphic novels this fall. I’ve also read 10 nonfiction books, eight poetry collections, and two children’s books.

Let’s get into it! Here’s my 2021 in books.

February 02, 2021

5 Things I Learned in My First Year Running a Book Club

February 02, 2021/ Emily Hessney Lynch

A few months before the pandemic struck, I thought to myself, “What if I launched my own book club?” I posted some polls on Twitter and Instagram to see if people would join a book club if I started one. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and I was thrilled! I started building a list of emails and before I knew it, I had 50+ names on my list.

Our first meetup was in February 2020 and we met in person at Writers & Books, an amazing literary arts nonprofit here in Rochester. Finding a place to meet was one of the hardest parts of organizing a book club at first! I reached out to many different spaces to see if they could accommodate a small group of 10-12 people, and lots of them wanted to charge a space rental fee. I proposed a partnership with Writers & Books where we encourage our book club members to shop at their new bookstore, Ampersand Books, in exchange for using their space, and they agreed! Due to the pandemic, we only met twice in person before switching to virtual meetups via Google Meet.

December 15, 2020

2020 in Books

December 15, 2020/ Emily Hessney Lynch

Last year, I wrote a glowing 2019 in review blog post sharing everything I was proud of accomplishing that year. We all know 2020 has been a hard year; it doesn’t feel quite right to write a 2020 in review post. It’s not that I didn’t achieve things this year--I did! I worked with some amazing clients on social media strategies, I got voted in as the new Chair of the Cameron Community Ministries Board, and I ended my passion project to make space for other creative endeavors in my life.

Instead of talking about any of that, I’m going to share some of the books that helped me get through this difficult year of social distancing and remote everything. I don’t know if I could’ve gotten through this pandemic without the solace of books. Going into 2020, I set a goal of trying to read less. In 2019, I read a whopping 118 books. This year, I wanted to read just half of that, 59 books. I even tried not reading for a week. Once the pandemic was underway, I gave myself some grace and allowed myself to read freely. To date, I’ve read over 80 books this year, but I do think I’ve felt a shift in my own reading habits. I’m now reading more intentionally, giving thought to what I pick up and why, what I’m hoping to gain from it. I’m paying attention to sentence structure and storytelling and symbols. I’m reading for inspiration rather than for an escape. And that’s an amazing thing.

Without further ado, here’s my 2020 in books.

February 17, 2020

I Tried Not Reading for One Week. Here's What Happened.

February 17, 2020/ Emily Hessney Lynch

If you’ve visited the Serve Me the Sky Digital blog before, then you may already know: I love reading. I love reading so much that I read 118 books last year. I’m well aware that I can’t perpetually read more books, so I decided to cut back in 2020. Still, I never would have guessed that in 2020 I would take a week-long break from reading.

Following the recommendation of my therapist, I skeptically picked up a copy of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. The book is a twelve-week course where you’re supposed to get in touch with your inner artist-child by journaling daily, doing a fun activity once/week (your “artist date”), and trying out recommended tasks that make you sit with your feelings. The whole way through, I’ve been doubtful that any of this will work. What would it even mean for it to “work”? I’m about five weeks in, but I’m plugging away.

One recommendation in a recent chapter stopped me in my tracks. “Engage in a week of reading deprivation.” I stared at the book aghast. I nearly threw it across the room. Excuse me? ME? Not read for a week?! It’s true that I’m an obsessive, habitual, voracious reader. But it’s also true that I’m extremely stubborn. So I decided to try it out.

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