What I Read in February

I continued in hibernation mode during February and was able to read twelve books.

1. A Cup of Comfort, Ed. Colleen Sell - I think this was the first of the series. I buy them at thrift stores and find them interesting and uplifting.

2. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot - A re-read as I was watching the new series on PBS.

3. All Thinks Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot - second in the series (By the way, while the PBS series is entertaining, it is not really faithful to the books which are much richer in character and animal stories.)

4. Attitude is Everything by Keith Harrell - A fantastic book that opened my eyes to some news ideas.

5. Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella - latest stand alone book from Sophie, one of my favorite authors.

6. Everyday Millionaires by Chris Hogan - Report of a survey of over 10,000 millionaires, totally interesting.

7. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - I'm reading the whole series this year; wonderful book and I'd forgotten so much!

8. behind the beautiful forevers (sic) by Katherine Boo - fascinating and heart wrenching documentation of life in a Mumbai slum.

9. My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinella - another really good book.

10. Insights from a Prophet's Life by Sheri Dew - Wonderful book about Pres. Russell M. Nelson

11. The Little Cottage on the Hill by Emma Davies - I picked this up at a thrift store for some light reading, and yep, it was very light.

12. Veterans Way by Robin Lee Hatcher - Another thrift store book, enjoyable story about reuniting of high school sweethearts after fifty years.

 

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.