Reading Lately: January 2019

Which books are worth the read and which should you skip? Find out what books I’ve been reading lately and whether I recommend them.

In 2019, I challenged myself to read at least one book a week. To make it fun, we created a fun 2019 Reading Challenge with 52 different categories to diversify my reading. Secretly, I just wanted a way to force myself to get around to the books that have been languishing on my to-read list too long.If you are joining us in the challenge, I hope you are having as much fun as I am. My right-brained self craves order and organization, so I’m proceeding through in order. However, I do not expect you to do the same.

I thought it would be fun to update you on my progress thus far. To keep things on track, I split the full reading challenge into smaller monthly challenges. One month in, and I’m having a blast. I’ve chosen 4 of my books because they’ve been sitting on my to-read list for years, and I’m glad to finally give them some attention.

Here’s what I read for the January Reading Challenge. I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading!

Reading Challenge Update

For our 2019 Reading Challenge, we are reading one book a week from a list of 52 categories. Here are the five books I chose for January:

The Forgotten Garden

Kate Morton

A Book with More than 500 Pages: I can’t tell you how glad I am that we chose The Forgotten Garden for our January book club pick. We are going to talk all about it in our January book club discussion, but I will just say I love how Kate Morton peeled away layers of revelations to finally get the overarching mystery – how did a little girl end up on a boat to Australia. ★★★★★ Read more →

The Casual Vacancy

J. K. Rowling

Book You Haven’t Read by An Author You Love: I’ve read all of J. K. Rowling’s other books, so I thought I would give The Casual Vacancy a chance. Honestly, I almost didn’t finish it. Without the magic of Harry Potter and the mystery of the Comoran Strike detective series, this novel just fell flat. I will admit, it did not end in the way I expected, but I still don’t feel like it overcame its dull premise. My suggestion: Skip this one. ★★★ Read more →

Circe

Madeline Miller

Goodreads Winner: I’d heard such mixed review about Circe that I knew I had to read it myself. I can see why other people love it, but I had such a hard time getting into it. Miller does a good job giving a nuanced view of the characters from Greek mythology, and she makes the myths a bit more accessible to the modern reader. For myself, I think part of my problem is that I just prefer reading the original source material instead. ★★★ Read more →

Old Yeller

Fred Gipson

Book You Can Read in a Day: I’m not sure why I read this book in January because a book that will make you cry is one of the February Reading Challenge topics. This short classic was easy to fit into one day – though I was left emotionally wrecked for the rest of the day. The real question is, do I dare to watch the movie now? ★★★★ Read more →

Still Alice

Lisa Genova

Book About a Difficult Topic: I was combing through my to-read list on Goodreads for a good choice for my last pick for the January Reading Challenge when I spotted Still Alice. Frankly, I’d been meaning to read it for 4 years. Many of my readers love Lisa Genova, and I can see why. I adored her take on Alzheimer’s, which anyone who has ever seen a loved one experience dementia will agree is a difficult topic. ★★★★★ Read more →

Upcoming Releases

One of the best perks of being a book blogger is receiving advance review copies (ARCs) of upcoming book releases from publishers.

At the beginning of each month, I cover all the new book releases coming out, and the February 2020 book releases are right around the corner. Here’s a peek at the February releases I’ve already read.

book cover On the Come Up by Angie Thomas