January started off a slow reading month, because I have a lot going on with work and school (and will for the next three months). But with a trip to California and a snowed-in weekend, my reading definitely picked up. Here’s what I read in January:
- The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
- Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
- After Dad by Ralph Cohen
- Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
- The House of the Spirits by Isabelle Allende
- Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
- Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey
My favorite read of the month: Our Souls at Night, which was just a beautiful book. And thumbs up to JK Rowling for the latest in the Cormoran Strike series; this one was really disturbing but had so much more development of our two favorite characters. Also I was glued to Leviathan Wakes last week, a very cool book.
By the way, I really need to stop picking up new series! That’s two new series this month. I can’t follow the series I’ve already started.
Book I didn’t finish: I tried to read Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies, which most critics called a Best of 2015 book. I didn’t like the characters at all and I hated the writing style. I read some reviews that said the second half makes the first half worthwhile, but I decided I wasn’t going to read half a book I didn’t like just to get to the second half.
Books for challenges: Although written in 1982, I consider The House of the Spirits a classic, and a very worthwhile re-read, although I did find the middle of the book quite a bit slower than I remembered. But a very powerful book.
What I’m reading now: The Shore by Sara Taylor. No comment yet, since I just started. I also just got Saint Mazie from my library waitlist, has anyone read that?
February looks like a lot more work, and I really have to buckle down and work on my thesis. I expect to read and post a lot less in the next couple of months, but we’ll see.
Happy reading in February, and here’s hoping for less snow.
