What I Read in January

Entry from my journal last year - "Thursday 30 January 2020 Next year I'm just going to block out January and February with the label "Hibernation" and settle in with a stack of books and movies, stay in my jammies all day and not worry about trying to accomplish anything."

While I haven't actually stayed in my jammies, I have worn sweats a lot (to stay warm) and not gotten a whole lot done. Here's what I've read so far this year:

1. The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack -- A fantastic book that I couldn't put down!

2. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan -- I know I'm late to the party, but very informative.

3. A Cup of Comfort for Inspiration, Ed. Colleen Sell -- Many good stories.

4. How to Raise an Elephant by Alexander McCall Smith -- The latest installment of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, always a delight.

5. Miracles Among the Rubble by Carol R. Gray -- Memoir of a British woman who took humanitarian aid to the former Yugoslavia region experiencing civil war.

6. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson -- Decluttering encouragement

7. Longbourne by Jo Baker -- Pride and Prejudice from the servants point of view; while the period details were the best I've ever read, I didn't care about the characters until the second half of the book, and found it to be a very put downable book (unlike The Memory Painter which I stayed up half the night reading!).

We're in the second week of a deep freeze here in southern Minnesota. We keep asking each other "Why did we move here?" Thankfully TopDad has only two more years until retirement; then we can leave during the winter and escape the bitter cold.

What have you been reading lately?

Last year I read 136 books; 30 were new-to-me fiction, 21 non-fiction, and 85 old friends (books I've already read). This year I set a goal to read a non-fiction book for every fiction. I have stacks of non-fiction that interest me but I don't seem to get to them. So far this year I'm doing better. And I plan to share what I read each month to keep me honest.