Happy Valentine’s Day.  I love and adore my Valentines, the Hubby and the Buddy Man. They both know I love books and loved them before either of them came along. LOL

So, with that in mind, here’s a recap of the nine books that I read in January.  I am well-ahead of my goal to read 40 this year. These picks also contributed my sanity last month.

Read

• Still Life by Louise Penny. Over in ModernMrsDarcy land, people LOVE the Inspector Gamache series. I have never read any of them – and there are currently 23. For the MMD Reading Challenge this year, one of the categories is three books by a single author so I thought that now would be as good as time as any. These seem to start off a bit slow but I have been told numerous times that these take a while to get going and that the series really picks up in book 4.  Don’t know if I will make it that far but I am enjoying Penny’s writing style so, we will see.
• Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over by Nell Irvin Painter. I can’t remember who recommended this book to me but my interest in it might have had something to do with my turning 40 and wondering if there is life to be had over the hill. LOL.  It might also have started an interest in reading about creatives in memoirs and fiction.
• A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny. This is the second book about Inspector Armand Gamache series. I am chugging along.
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. This was January’s Rocket City Mom Virtual Book Club pick for January.  I had avoided reading it until now but I am glad that I did. My full review is here.
• The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman. Nell Painter sent me down a rabbit hole of writer/artists: artists who write or writers who draw and paint perhaps because I might want to do that one day.  Who knows.  Anyway, Maira Kalman, an artist who has illustrated for the New Yorker was in the rabbit hole so I picked a copy of this from the library to see more. It was a brief read. I liked it.*
• Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna. This is the first book about PI Alice Vega. I read this because I’m interested in Luna’s second book about Vega, The Janes, released January 21, which Anne Bogel previewed in her Winter Preview. She said that she was hooked from the first line.  Plus, this is my fourth crime mystery (not a genre I usually read) this month and I might be a bit over it. I have placed The Janes on hold at my local library.  We will see what kind of headspace I am in when it comes in.
• Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams. This is the second book in the Bromance Book Series and it was AWESOME!!!! My first 5-star read of the year. It releases on March 10th so thanks to @WhatKariReads for sending the ARC my way.  Romance is a great genre for when things are dreary and bleak. The story always ends well.  This one did and I loved it.
• The Painter by Peter Heller. Last year, the Modern Mrs. Darcy book club read Celine also by Heller which I thoroughly enjoyed. I adore Heller’s writing style. And since I have this new inclination to read about artists and creatives and the book is about a painter, it was a no-brainer to pick this up from the library. I’m glad that I did.
• The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory. The second book in The Wedding Date series and my second romance of the month. Yep, January was that kind of month.

Currently Reading

• Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow. This is the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club pick for the month of February. The writing is so beautiful, I bought this one to take notes.

 Abandoned Reading

My theme/word of 2020 is Savor so I really do want to relish everything that I read. I am not going to say that this has happened with everything that I have read this year but it definitely means that I am not going to be upset if I don’t finish books that I start this year. To that end, here’s what I have abandoned so far.

• Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow. A very good, informative, and worthwhile read but too depressing for my current state of mind. May pick this up again when the weather brightens. And did they pull the script for Apple’s TV+ The Morning Show from this book?
• The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith. It seems that I can only stand two murder mystery/crime scene thriller series at a time. Galbraith must take a back seat to Penny and Luna.

So, whatcha’ readin’?

Per usual, I am linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Quick Lit post.  As you can see, she is an excellent resource when you can’t figure out what to read.  And if you are here, because of her, I can’t thank her, and you, enough.

enjoy life…

*I also discovered that Maira Kalman had illustrated an edition of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style – the quintessential book on writing with clarity.  Yeah! I bought it.