January BOOKS

This year I want to try sharing the books I read monthly rather than posting one long overwhelming list at the end of the year. That way I can talk more about my recent reads, because I love talking about books and ideas and stories! My January books report is already a little late, but better late than never!

I read 19 books in January 2021. A dash (-) in front of the title means I listened to the audiobook. It doesn't officially matter whether it was an audiobook or printed book, but I always like to know which was which.

Nonfiction:

• So You want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• Such a heartfelt informative read. I especially liked the practical troubleshooting advice for real life conversations about race. I checked this book out from the library on my kindle, but eventually I want to own it in paper form because it is an excellent reference for my bumbling new antiracist efforts.
• I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown
• Possibly my favorite anti-racism book yet. The author used personal experiences to teach powerful lessons about race in the USA. 
• -The Joy of Movement by Kelly McGonigal
• This audiobook fed my inner exercise science nerd. It is all about the psychology of movement-- not just official aerobic exercise, but also simply finding satisfaction in moving our bodies, whether from gardening, walking, weightlifting, dancing, running, etc. I especially liked the science of the brain's reaction to movement.

Fiction First-time Reads:

• Unmasking Lady Caroline by Mindy Burbidge Strunk
• Clean, Regency romance but overall not too memorable. I read nearly a dozen of these clean Regency Christmas romances over the holidays and this was the last one. I was suffering from fluff lit fatigue so maybe it's better than I thought; I was just ready for more juice and meaning.
• Running Barefoot by Amy Harmon
• Amy Harmon has always taken me to the edge of comfort in her other books, but this one was amazing. It's about a small town girl who loves reading and piano playing, who falls in love with a half Navajo guy. The story weaves in a variety of thought provoking themes, from death and loss to the search for identity and the joy of good media.
• -Riviera Gold by Laurie R. King
• This was a fun Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery-- the newest book in the series. As always, Laurie R. King blended history, ambience, mystery, wit, and adventure into a compelling tale. 
• Round Up by Rebecca Connolly
• New release! This is the first book in a 3 author rodeo cowboy series. Rebecca Connolly is always my favorite author out of this trio, and this was a sweet fluffy clean romance about a single mom who goes to a therapy ranch to recover from the death of her son. 
• A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer
• The much-anticipated third and final book in the Cursebreakers series, newly released on January 26th this year. I was excited to read it, but it ended up being more gory and TV-14 than the first two books. It was good to see how the story ended, but sad that the author felt the need to add the less savory elements. It took me to the very edge of my book comfort zone, and I doubt I'd read it again.
• Fortune Favors the Sparrow by Rebecca Connolly
• Another new release! A spin-off of her spin-off London League Regency spy series, this time with female spies. Fun and cute, though oddly a bit slow at times. Rebecca Connolly has written around 30 books (I've read them all) and she really has established her reliable writing style in this genre, but she seemed to be experimenting with storytelling techniques in this one. It was a bit slower and "prosy-er" than her others. Not bad, just unexpected.

Fiction Re-reads: 

• Gladly Beyond by Nichole Van
• I love this 4.5 book series by Nichole Van. Such a fun Tuscan setting with just enough supernatural to make it interesting without being too weird. And very sweet funny love stories.
• Lightning Strike by Nichole Van
• Love's Shadow by Nichole Van
• A Madness Most Discreet by Nichole Van
• Wyndcross by Martha Keyes
• Isabel by Martha Keyes
• To Sketch A Sphinx by Rebecca Connolly
• A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
• I re-read the first two books in the Cursebreakers series in preparation for the third book's release. I like this one best because it's a version of Beauty and the Beast.
• A Heart So Fierce and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
• -Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception by Wendelin Van Draanen
• Rose and I listened to this one together on audiobook, and we loved it. I've read it several times before, but it was my first time listening to it. It's been fun sharing this series with Rose. We love listening to Sammy together!

Thoughts on Nonfiction: 

In my anti-racism reading, I have been searching for books with different perspectives. Ijeoma Oluo describes herself as a queer atheist Black woman who grew up poor in Seattle. Austin Channing Brown is a straight Christian Black woman who attended mostly white schools and whose parents gave her a white man's name in hopes of boosting her employment chances. The journeys of these two Black women are very different in many ways, yet also similar in other ways. I appreciate the personal insights they each share in their respective books. 

A surprising non-race-based lesson I gleaned from reading these two books back to back was how much peace and hope faith in Christ gives. While I possibly learned more about combating the everyday ins and outs of racism from Ijeoma's book, Austin's book felt better. Both women expressed hurt and anger at the racism they have experienced. But there is peace in Christ and it was present in Austin's book. I want to keep reading different perspectives, but it was an unexpected lesson to feel that difference in basic faith (and the lack thereof) between the two authors, even when their topic wasn't religion.

Thoughts on book selection:

Everyone has a comfortable edge when it comes to media. My yoga videos talk about "meeting your comfortable edge" with the goal of extending it with practice over time. That is a sound principle for growing physical fitness, but it does not apply to my media consumption! I do not want to expand my comfortable edge in literary content. Personally, I steer away from sex, gore, and foul language. Those elements don't bother some people, and I hope I never sound high-and-mighty for my personal choice not to read that type of story. I respect other people's choice to read what they want as much as I hope they respect my choice to read what I want. For clarity's sake, I should add that mild swear words used sparingly don't hurt me too badly to read.

A lot of my book choice goes back to my reasons for reading. I read for escapism, enlightenment, and education. Neither sex, gore, nor foul language have a place in my reasons for reading. In fact, those "three deadly's" intrude upon my reading reasons and damage my chance of fulfilling my purpose of reading. As cheesy as it may sound, whenever I come across a "deadly" while reading, it bruises my spirit and takes me a while to recover. So I do my diligent best to seek out good books. 

In January, I read straight into two deadly traps in two different books, and it was an awful ambush! One book I simply closed and never finished, and it never made my final reading list. The other book (A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer) had me teetering on my comfortable edge. My foot slipped off the side twice, but the bedroom door closed before I was completely plunging into darkness. I wouldn't be able to recommend that book.

I hate it when that happens! It makes me gun-shy for the next several books I read, similar to the anxious PTSD feeling I get every time I hear a dog bark or see a dog chasing me. I've been bitten before, and I dread it happening again! The trouble is, there aren't book ratings like movie ratings, and often books labeled "clean" are mind-numbingly fake and fluffy. Not all of them are, and the best clean books manage to go deep thematically without resorting to explicit content. But those rare "deep clean" gems are hard to find, and I can't bring myself only to read off of guaranteed clean bookshelves. I want some substance in my literary diet too! So I keep inching forward, researching new books, paying attention to the feeling I get while reading, and using all of that as a guide to keep me a safe distance from my comfortable edge.

Even though I'm no book blogger, I do want to share what good books I find because that's one more way to share goodness!