Well, it's unlikely that I'll actually finish another book before the end of the month so I thought I'd get my 'Books read in January' post done a little early.
January tends to be one of my main hibernating months. Comfortably ensconced in a comfy chair, the fire lit, while the rain beats down and the wind whistles down the chimney is my idea of heaven. To the point that I often sigh a bit when the weather gets warmer as Spring approaches. Although the weather getting warmer as Spring approaches is not always a given of course - snow in March or April is not exactly unknown in the UK. There's an old weather proverb isn't there, 'As the days get longer, the cold gets stronger'.
Anyway, the books I've been reading in my comfy chair this month numbered six and these are they:
1. Kickback - Damien Boyd
2. Travelling Light - Alastair Sawday
3. Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry - Harry Kemelman
4. The Cure of Souls - Phil Rickman
5. The First Cadfael Omnibus - Ellis Peters
6. Without Expiration - William R. Hincy (to be reviewed)
Hmm, I've definitely majored on murder mysteries this month - four this month, six if you count the fact that the Cadfael omnibus had three books within its covers. Not that I'm addicted to dead bodies or anything...
Thus, my favourite book this month was this:
Huge fun rereading these first three books from this excellent historical crime series.
I'm currently reading five books but concentrating on these three:
And these are some of the books I want to choose from to read in February:
Under the Tuscan Sun will be for the European Reading challenge and Fair and Tender Ladies will be for 'Virginia' for my personal 50 States American challenge. I've neglected that a bit but want to resurrect it and crack on. I'll be doing an update on my progress very soon.
11 comments:
All of them look good. The January list was completely new to me so I am interested in knowing more.
I see you've read "Without Expiration," now and I'm looking forward to hearing what you think about it. I thought it was an unusual collection of stories, and most of them worked for me.
Oh...anything by Lee Smith is worth reading. I haven't read the particular one you have on your list for February, but I've read and enjoyed several of Smith's books in the past.
Cath, So much to comment on in this post. And thanks for posting all the book covers. They're beautiful and enticing.
I'm taken with some of your reads for February--The Librarian for one, definitely. My library system has several of the author's books but not this one. Darn! But not an insurmountable problem.
I'll be really interested to see what you think of the rest of the list, because they all look interesting.
I have the Rabbi Small Saturday novel on my Kindle. That's something to look forward to. And I have a copy of Howard's End is on the Landing, but I haven't read it yet!
And last but not least by any means, I know exactly what you mean about "winter withdrawal" symptoms that occur when spring is trying but failing to get off the ground. There's so much to like about winter, from my view, and that coziness factor is prime among them.
Happy reading!
I'm very much in favor of hibernation and your comfy chair/fireplace combo sounds like just the ticket! Enjoy.
If it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one obsessed with dead bodies. Reading about them, anyway! I've read mostly murder mysteries so far this year as well. I can't help it - they're just so darn compelling!
Mystica: Yes, all in all it wasn't a bad reading month, I enjoyed most of the books I read.
Sam: Yes, I've read Without Expiration and found the stories very different and thought provoking. That's an over-used description but these really did have that effect on me. A good collection. Hoping to get a post done over the weekend.
Judith: I've come to love posting pics of the covers of books like this. I also find it useful as it gives me a pictorial point of reference as I read through the month. I go back to the post often to see how far - or not - I've got with my plans. Sometimes I throw caution to the wind and *none* of them get read. LOL
The Librarian was a happy charity shop find... I'd been keeping an eye out for it for a while. If you would like it after I've read it drop me an email with your address at nanquidno2001 at yahoo dot com. Very happy to pass it on.
I'm such a winter fan... the only downside being the illnesses that tend to abound, those are *not* great. I hope you're fully recovered from your nasty bug? Other than that I love winter and it might well be my favourite season.
Susan: I'm glad you're in favour of my hibernating habits. I fantasise about cabins in snowy woods, a roaring fire and lots of books and jigsaw puzzles. I think that would be a wonderful way to spend the winter.
Murder mysteries are very compelling, I wonder if us that love them so much are just people that love solving puzzles, who love a mystery. Perhaps we have different brains to other people? LOL!
I am delighted that we each read the same amount of books this month!
Like Judith said, so much to comment on here.
First of all I like the new format. It is new, isn't it?
Sometimes I wish we had more variations in our weather here, it is seldom so cold or very rainy. We don't even get much overcast skies this time of year. But I have never lived in a place with much changes in climate, so I would probably not like it.
I am much inspired by your reread of the Cadfael books, I am going to try the first one soon. I do think I would like reading about Medieval times. We will see.
I also need to read more for my 50 States challenge. First I have to figure out where I am. Tracking things like that is one of the things I did not have time for when I was working. Although I still wonder where all the time goes.
Nan: yes, we're back on track and I'm thrilled. LOL
Tracy: Yes, I've had the same format since I started my blog back in 2007. Been thinking about changing it but me and 'change' are not fond bedfellows. Then all of a sudden yesterday I just did it. And I'm happy to say that I like the result.
Yes, huge variations of temperature and weather in this country which is probably why the it's a major topic of conversation over here. And I would add that we are *never* happy.
If you do get around to Cadfael I'll be interested to see what you think. You may not like them... we can't all like the same things.
I started a notebook for my 50 States challenge and it's been invaluable. I haven't paid much attention to the challenge lately and then Robin at A Fondness for Reading posted that she was planning to try it so now I'm up for another go. Robin's post is here if you want to have a look:
https://afondnessforreading.com/2020/01/27/wanderlust-reading-the-50-states/
Cath, I did check out the post at A Fondness for Reading. I love the image she is using for the US states. And keeping a notebook for the challenge is a very good idea.
And I forgot to say that I am the same way about changing things. I have been dithering about change my "About" description, which is no longer accurate. And other small changes I could make on the blog.
Tracy: I'm thinking we could have a lot of fun encouraging each other, especially with titles to read. Glad it's not just me who's resistant to change. LOL
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