Saturday, February 2, 2019

January Reading in Review


I had a pretty good January for books. I read (10) books and had one DNF, The Overstory by Richard Powers. The writing and story was thought provoking for sure, but for me, I think it was a matter of bad timing as this book is not to be rushed and required a lot of thought. Unfortunately my mind was elsewhere much of the month so easier reads worked better for me.

One thing I noticed was that most of my book choices for January took me outside of the US - loved this.  I traveled to the island of St. John's, Germany, London, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and  France and then I did spend some time in the US as well: Iowa, Florida and Minnesota.

Favorite Book of the Month


  1. Winter in Paradise; Elin Hilderbrand - 3.5/5 (library print-Jan.)
  2. The Women in the Castle; Jessica Shattuck - 4/5 (eGalley and audio combo - Jan.)
  3. One Day in December; Josie Silver - 4/5 (eGalley - Jan)
  4. The Travelling Cat Chronicles; Hiro Arikawa - 4.5/5 (print-Jan)
  5. An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good; Helene Thursten - 5/5 (library print-Jan)
  6. What To Eat When; M. Roizen, M.D. & M. Crupain - 3.5 /5 (NF- library-Jan)
  7. The Lady With the Purple Hat; Otilia Greco - 1/5 - pass (library print-Jan)
  8. The Whistler; John Grisham - 3.5/5 (audio-library-Jan)
  9. Waiting for Bojangles; Olivier Bourdeaut - 4.5/5 (eGalley-Jan)
  10. Tapestry of Fortunes; Elizabeth Berg - 3/5 (audio-library-Jan)
Breakdown

Fiction - 9
NF - 1

Audios   - 3
eBooks  - 3
print      - 5
audio/eBook Combos - 1

Borrowed from Library - 7
Off my Shelves - 1
Kindle - 2

February Previews

  • Morningstar; Ann Hood (completed/no review yet)
  • Good Riddance; Elinor Lipman (eGalley) (in progress)
  • Great Expectations; Charles Dickens (audio-library)  (just starting)
Happy Reading!

27 comments:

  1. I love to read about other cultures too. You had a great month!

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  2. That was a busy month but it sounds like a good reading one!

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  3. I have a couple of your January books on my list to try at some point. Nice month, Diane. Hope all is well at your house and you'll have a very nice February. :-)

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    1. Thanks Kay, all is well, winters in New England can be beautiful but cabin fever is not LOL

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  4. I'm anxious to read Helene Tursten's book! I've heard such good things about it.

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  5. I started the Travelling Cat Chronicles and hope to get back to it soon!

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  6. Great mix of books! I love it when I can travel through books. Here is my January report: http://keepthewisdom.blogspot.com/2019/02/books-read-in-january.html

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  7. You've been traveling far and wide. You had a good reading month overall: 5 so-so reads and 5 very good ones. Happy reading (and listening) in the month of February!

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  8. Great month for you. Where is the island of St. John's I wonder?! Will have to look that one up. Happy February!

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  9. Wow you had a good January! I look forward to hear what you think of Good Riddance -- I hope it's a fun one.

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  10. January was a great reading month for you, Diane! I hope February will be exceptional as well. I am especially interested in reading #5 on your list. Have a good weekend!

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  11. Looks like a good month. My January had tons of books since I had to read 14 graphic novels for CYBILS.

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    1. Do you know that I've never read a graphic novel? I hope you enjoyed your January books.

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  12. I love traveling but most of it has to be done via books. At least that is something right? What a great reading month you had! I really want to read the Helen Thursten book. So glad to hear you gave it 5 stars!

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  13. Uh, oh—I just picked up an audio copy of The Overstory from the library. Maybe listening to it will enable me to like it better than you did.

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  14. Looks like you had a great month of reading! I have The Lady With the Purple Hat from the library, and Waiting for Bojangles in my list to read.

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  15. Sounds like a great month! Dickens in audio is great. I listened to A Tale of Two Cities a few years ago. My recap is here: https://wordsandpeace.com/2019/02/01/2019-january-wrap-up/

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