What I Read ~ January ’19
After my somewhat lackluster reading end to 2018, I’m happy to announce that 2019 is off to a good start. I’ve read 12 books so far: 6 nonfiction, 4 light fiction, 2 Shakespeare. And I have a healthy pile of “currently reading” to go into February!
I like to start off the new year reading more motivational, self improvement type books, just to stay inspired in the dark, productivity sapping days of winter, so there’s a lot of that in my stack this month. Also, I’m working to reform my scrolling habit and keeping plenty of books on my phone so that when I have these awkward pockets of time where it’s not convenient to lug around a book, but my inclination is to scroll through Instagram, I can still be reading! eLibraries are the bees knees, y’all!
In no particular order, I bring you my bookstack.
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys ~ This was a great historical fiction read about an aspect of WWII history that I’ve rarely seen portrayed in fiction–the refugees fleeing East Germany just ahead of the Russian Advance. The story and the characters were very well done.
The Dark Days Deceit by Alison Goodman ~ This is the final book in the Dark Days Club trilogy by Goodman. I read the others last year sometime, and this was a happy case of my forgetfulness. I didn’t realize the third book was out until my hold came in from the library. I love when that happens! I loved this series! It was such a fun, light read. I definitely recommend starting with the first book in the series: The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman
The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge ~ I’ve read a lot about Goudge’s fiction recently and was pretty excited when I found this at the library. She does have a lovely writing style, but this book was not one of my favorites. It was long and windy (though pleasant enough to read that I kept on) but very unsatisfying in the end. I kept feeling like I ought to be getting more out of it, but I just didn’t. Sometimes that happens. I’ll look forward to trying something else by her though.
We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter by Celeste Headlee ~ This was a fun one, and I think I did learn some from it. I’ve always thought I was a fairly good listener, if sometimes not much of a conversationalist, but this book illuminated plenty of room for improvement in both cases.
King Lear by William Shakespeare ~ I read this play, unintentionally in conjunction with watching the new Amazon Prime mini-series. It ended up being a fantastic way to get through the play! I love Shakespeare’s writing, but it was a much richer experience against the backdrop of someone else’s imagination as well. I’m no Shakespeare scholar, but I thought the Amazon rendition was very well done. It was slightly odd in that it was a historical-modern hybrid in setting, but they used all the original language.
52 Things Kids Need from their Mother ~ This one had some good ideas. Parenting books are kind of hit and miss. There can be valuable tidbits, and there can also be a lot that is just extra noise in an already loud, opinionated world of parenting advice. There were some good ideas in this though.
The Female Brain by Louise Brizendine ~ This book was fascinating, as much for its illumination of the relatively crazy effects of hormones on the female mind, but for the reciprical insight into how differently my husband/sons may think about things. I had no idea there were so many differences, but many things make a lot more sense now! Highly recommend, if you’re curious about that sort of thing.
Be the Mom by Tracey Lanter Eyster ~ A few good tidbits in this one too.
The Book of Essie by Meghan Weir ~ I think this is technically a YA book, but it was riveting. Probably the first book of 2019 that I seriously had a hard time setting down. I honestly can’t quite tell you why. The story was pretty predictable, but somehow it sucked me in. Luckily for me, it was a pretty quick read 😉
Mom Connection: Building Vibrant Relationships in the Midst of Motherhood by Tracey Bianchi ~ Are y’all seeing a theme here? Ha! I really dipped into the ‘momming’ books this month.
The Forgotten Room by Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig ~ I’ve never read a collaboration book like this before, but it was interesting. I think having 3 authors and 3 separate story lines made the story more difficult to follow and less enjoyable than it might have otherwise been. It was a fairly quick read though, and obviously, I enjoyed it enough to finish.
Sonnets by William Shakespeare ~ This is one of those books that probably shouldn’t count towards my January reading so much, because I’ve been chipping away at it for ages, but I did finish it this month, so there’s that. I’ve read some of the sonnets through the years, but usually as part of a compilation in other poetry projects. Reading them all in order made them seem much more cohesive to me, and they seemed to me to tell more of a story. Very lovely.
And that’s it for now! Here’s hoping February brings me as many books as January did! How are your reading goals going?