January Reading Recap

Well, better late than never, right?

I just wanted to real quick recap the books that I read in January!

Stats:

11 books read

4 Nonfiction

7 Fiction

Tears of the Giraffe

This is the second book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, and this whole series is such a cozy/comfort read for me. I love the whole story from beginning to end, even though it takes a slower pace than I usually reach for. Mma Romotswe continues to solve mysteries while also navigating her own personal life and reflecting on the great moral and spiritual dilemmas of life. One of my goals this year is to read through more of this series, so you will probably be seeing more of these on my monthly recap lists!

The Stranger in the Woods

Wow! This book was FASCINATING. It’s all about a man who one day just walked into the woods and then proceeded to live there on his own- with no human contact- for 27 years. He built his own little home and survived by stealing small items from the cabins around his home. One night, he was caught and arrested and forced to return to “civil society”. The author of the book is a journalist, and some reviews of the story say that he essentially hounded the poor man and was just looking for a personal story to boost his own career. I can totally see where that may have happened, but I did also find myself not able to put this book down! One thing that I didn’t like about the story was that it didn’t really have an ending? As far as I can tell, the last man in the woods is still living with his family in New Hampshire, and it seemed very strange that he himself had nothing to contribute to the story.

Johnny Tremain

Another book list that I am working through is the books that won the Newberry medal. I have been very slowly going through this list over the past 3 years or so, but every time I read one of them I am always so impressed and just want to keep reading more! Johnny Tremain was the Newberry award winner in 1944. This is the story of a young orphan living in Boston during the Revolutionary War, specifically during the time of the Boston Tea Party. I really enjoyed the writing and the story, although some of the historical events dragged on in parts for me. Overall, this is absolutely well worth the read!

The Stand-In

Ah, I finally picked up a chick lit book because my reading was feeling very slump-y. And I really enjoyed this one! Gracie is having a hard time keeping her life together, and so when a once in a lifetime opportunity drops in her lap to be the “double” for a very famous actress, she takes it. She finds herself working alongside another very famous actor, and as with all rom-com books…there is a predictable ending there. However, this book had much more than a predictable ending and it dealt with mental health/depression, knowing our worth, respecting family while also putting up clear boundaries, and many more deeper issues than just a romance. There was a plot twist at the end that I predicted a few chapters before, but it was still fun to read! I also appreciated this one because it was mostly closed door (maybe slightly cracked open door), so I would feel comfortable handing it to/recommending it to almost anyone!

Stuff You Should Know

A long time ago, when I started to really get into listening to podcasts, I listened to the Stuff You Should Know podcast. After a while, I decided to pare down my podcast list and this one got cut. It was sometimes interesting, sometimes boring…but mostly just FULL of information that I didn’t have time or mental space for. Ha! I know that some people LOVE that kind of thing, but for me in this stage of life, I’m good without filling my head with useless facts. This book is basically the podcast, but in written form. Some chapters I liked and enjoyed reading, some chapters were boring, and some chapters were interesting but again…just lots of “useless” information for my current life stage. It would make a fun coffee table book and could even be fun to read and discuss with others!

Recursion

Well, I hated this book. I absolutely could not follow along on all the meta timelines and how the people in the story could use this weird machine to go back and forth in time. I kept on reading because I thought maybe at some point it would all CLICK and I would be gasping with awe at the craft of the author to make a different type of story/timeline come alive…but alas, I closed the last page of this book and felt very confused, and very dumb that I felt confused since it seems like everyone else “gets it”? I dunno, but this book was not for me!

Somebody’s Daughter

This was a gripping and dark memoir of a young girl who is struggling through adolescence. Not only does she struggle with her mother and grandmother, she also is constantly being harassed or assaulted by males in her life. On top of all that, he father is in prison and she spends most of her life not knowing why. I know that sounds really bleak and terrible, but reading the personal of Ashley was very beautiful. She has a way with words that makes the moments come alive, and while there were so many hard things, she also writes about the good things that came to her life. How having a difficult mother wasn’t always terrible- sometimes it was wonderful. How the tribe of grandmothers and aunties raised her, and also how she found peace with her Dad, even though she couldn’t find acceptance with what he had done. This is a powerful story and if you enjoy any type of memoir, I would add this one to your list!

Our Last Day’s in Barcelona

So, when I picked this up from a summer reading list, I didn’t realize that it was technically a part of a “series”. The series focuses on different members of the family and even though all the books can be read as standalone, this one comes at the very end of the timeline so far. This is the story of a cuban- American who goes to Spain to find her potentially missing sister. While in Spain, she comes across pieces of her own family history that she knew nothing about. As she begins to put the pieces together, she realizes that her family is so much more than they appear to be. There is some mystery, some romance and quite a bit of historical fiction. Dual timelines also play a part, which is not my favorite way to read a story, but it did work in this one.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

WOW. If you haven’t yet read this one, I highly recommend picking it up and learning about this incredibly vital piece of history that was nearly lost to time. Henrietta Lacks was a young black woman who was diagnosed with cancer. Some of the cancer cells were harvested WITHOUT HER KNOWLEDGE and began to be used in testing labs and were found to be immortal- they would continue to divide and grow. And the cells would be used for scientific research for many, many years to come (including into the present day). This book has a second story woven throughout the historical/scientific part, and that is the story of Henrietta’s family, who never knew that their mothers cells were being used for advance research. Poverty, disfunction, poor health and many other maladies have struck most members of the family and once they discovered their mother’s part in all this scientific advancement, they had many mixed feelings about how they wanted to be involved. This is a fascinating story and a must read!

The Nature of Fragile Things

I guess I was on a historical fiction kick this month! This book was another historical fiction read about the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. In this story, three women find their lives intersecting because of the (poor) decisions of one man. This man happens to be lost during the earthquake, and the women have to come together to decide what to do about him. I enjoyed it and especially loved learning more about a historical event that I knew very little about!

The Midnight Children

This was a children’s book that I read on audio with the kids. It’s all about a raggabond group of children who move to a town and befriend a young boy who up until that time had no friends. They get into many adventures, and the whole moral of the story is a beautiful found family story. Tera loved this one, even Kiah enjoyed it. I thought it was fairly good, although it did have dark parts to it that I felt were a little mature for my kids. For example- they need a boat to enter a competition, and they find a (unused) coffin to use as their boat. I would recommend for ages 8+, but perhaps preview it to see if it’s too dark for your personal family taste.

And that is what I read in January! My favorite was probably The Stand-In, but The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks will also stick with me for a long time! What have you been reading lately?