In the Storm

what I've been reading | january 2021.

A new chapter, a new reading life in January 2021. I've been faithfully reading from my bookshelves or library holds and I racked up quite the stack of finished books in this first month of the new year; off to grand beginnings tallied towards my 2021 Reading Goals. I'm pleased as punch with this month's titles having read quite a few 5-Star books and at least one, if not two or three, will be vying for, at the very least, a top ten spot - for sure.

I am going with a clean and simple design to document what I've been reading this year. I am using a 4 x 8, Citrus Twist album, so this will hold ALL the pages of various sizes (4 x 8, 3 x 8, 4 x 6, and 4 x 4, plus fold outs and inserts) below. I am using one embellishment for each individual page, otherwise clean lines and color. I'm pleased with the simplicity and it is super easy to keep up with throughout the month, as I finish a book or two I create their companion page. I will bundle print through Persnickety Prints (hoping to place an order sometime this month).

All of the page reviews above will be printed in their various sizes and inserted into my READ 2021 4 x 8 Citrus Twist album. They are a mix of sizes above (4 x 8, 3 x 8, 4 x 6, 4 x 4, fold outs, and inserts). Below are the pages I created that give a quick look of what I read in January.

The book shelf page (fold out) on the right is a page I will insert in to each month adding more and more books of what I have been reading. Hopefully the book shelves will be filled with colored spines of completed books.

16 total books read this month. That's crazy!

14 Fiction

2 Non-fiction

11 were 5 Stars

 

what I've been reading | March 2022

Although I am ahead of schedule on my GOODREADS reading challenge of Read 100 books in 2022, I feel I'm reading much slower and way less books than this time last year. I'm in the middle of #the100dayproject for 2022 and quite honestly this has been my primary focus for the past 50+ days as I am fully entrenched in documenting my stories. Every. Single. Day. For 100 days. It's mind consuming even if it's not time consuming, after the next story to document. I feel as if my reading life has suffered. I mean here it is the 9th and I'm just not getting what I've been reading in March on the blog. But, having said all that, I did, in fact, read some really good books this month.

Without any further delay, here's what I've been reading.

 

Quick Lit Recap, or what I've been reading in January 2022

Once again I am documenting what I've been reading each month in a 4 x 8 mini album from Citrus Twist Kits - love this size, especially for a start and finish album. It holds 12 months of reading pages beautifully. And, I can create pages inside the page protectors - or like today's pages - outside the page protector.

I read 13 books this month! I remember January of 2021 when I read 20 books but I knew I wouldn't be able to replicate that success, especially since I battled COVID for a couple of weeks. Jeff had COVID, too, but his episode wasn't respiratory in nature like mine, so he was able to read several books while he was home - sick. Probably, the most he's ever read in such a short span of time. I was super excited for him because he likes to read but just doesn't find the time - or he's simply to tired.

For my first pages of the year I created a hybrid page adding a vellum overlay. Then, I decided to highlight my book club books this year. I'll be using library card / card holders for my book club book each month and include a few thoughts about the book we read. We met on January 31 to discuss Apples Never Fall. There were 8 of us last night! It was a lively discussion - and lots to discuss. Apples Never Fall is a great book club read for discussing! Highly recommend. 

I included a one line, short thought on each book. I am hoping to include these one-liners on every book on every page I create this year. While I have all of my mini thoughtful reviews (not really reviews on the books but if / why I liked the books) here on the blog and I can easily find them, I'd like to have at least a quick look why I liked a book in my album.

This month I spent much of my reading time re-reading books in Louise Penny's series, Armanda Gamache, of the Quebec Surette police. They are murder mysteries without the suspense. I adore Gamache and the cast of characters within the series. It had been awhile since I had visited Three Pines from the beginning and in fact this is my first re-read all the way through the series thus far. I still have quite a few to go and will visit many of those in February.

Falling and Hostage, both are suspense thrillers - outside my comfort zone, normally, but involved airplane terrorism and both came up on my library holds so I succumbed to the suspense and now I've had enough of airplane passengers being taken hostage and the associated blackmailing and kidnapping to last me for quite some time. 

Without further ado - my good reads for January 2022:

 

 

Favorite books 2021.

2021 was a delightful reading year. I'm excited to share all my favorites of the year. For my December Daily® album this year I put a page together documenting what I read in 2021. It was so fun to see all those titles on one fold-out page. (Note: December Daily® is a scrapbooking, memory keeping, documenting project that I create every year. The photo above is the front cover of the 2-page layout I created to document what I read in 2021). 

(inside pages)

Of the 130 books I read, below are my favorite books of 2021 in categories. Some categories were easier to choose than others (because I read a lot of books).

Top 10 Fiction books.

Some of these titles easily slid into the top 10 list and a couple I hemmed and hawed over the remaining titles.

Anxious People, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, The Incredible Winston Browne, The Rose Code, The Blue Castle, Lovely War, Project Hail Mary, The Book Women of Troublesome Creek, Surviving Savannah, and Daisy Jones & The Six

Favorite Epistolary novel

Address Unknown. Though not for everyone, I am a fan of epistolary novels, those works in which the story is told through letters, mostly, and usually between 2 or more characters. Address Unknown is actually a novella and written by two characters. I'd only this year heard about Address Unknown, and as a fan of WWII historical fiction - and epistolary writing I had to read it. Blown away!

Favorite Science Fiction

Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir. I probably could add this to a favorite humor book, too. Not normally a fan of science fiction because for me they are hard to follow, Project Hail Mary was the perfect Sci-Fi book, easy to follow, clever, and humorous!

Favorite Book Club read

The Rose Code, Kate Quinn. We read some really great books this year, and a couple not so great. I love that we keep coming back together to discuss books! Our book club books this year where: I Was Anastasia, Transcendent Kingdom, Anxious People, Bel Canto, Malibu Rising, The Book Women of Troublesome Creek, The Midnight Library, and The Invisible Life of Addie Larue - another wonderful year of book club reads. 

Favorite Re-read

The Blue Castle, LM Montgomery

Favorite Classic

Well, The Blue Castle (although, I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for my book club and it was soo good!)

Favorite Non-Fiction

The Lazy Genius Way, Kendra Adachi (although Walking One Step at a Time, Erling Kagge is a close second). I truly enjoyed Adachi's style and the book was laid out perfectly. She did such a good job.

Favorite Spiritual Formation

Jeff and I read, aloud, only 5 spiritual formation books this year. Mostly because The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard took us many months to read through aloud. We also read Run With the Horses by Eugene Peterson, Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table by Lou Giglio (my least favorite, and A.W. Tozer's, The Attributes of God, Volume 1 and Volume 2. My favorite of the year was definitely, without a doubt, A.W. Tozer's The Attributes of God, Volume 1. 

Favorite Police Procedure

Forgotten in Death, J.D. Robb. I enjoyed Louise Penny's, Madness of Crowds, however, Robb took Forgotten in Death, book 53 of the In Death series, to new heights with a case within a case, and I was completed delighted. It was a difficult read in some aspects, fraught with triggers (for me), but it was one of her best in the series. 

Favorite Book Cover

The Madness of Crowds, Louise Penny (the book was really good, too!)

Favorite author of the Year

Favorite author of the year goes to Taylor Jenkins Reid! I read three of her books this year and two of them made my Top 10 of the year, Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Malibu Rising was a book club read and we had really amazing discussion. Everyone felt the first half was phenomenal, and the second half lost its footing. If the second half of Malibu Rising had held on and read like the first part it would have been, easily, in my top 10 list.

Favorite Suspense / Thriller

I only read a couple this year because I am not a fan of suspense. Three that stood out, and that I enjoyed immensely, are The Survivors, Jane Harper; The Guest List, Lucy Foley; and, The Last Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave. But, I am such a huge fan of Jane Harper and love everyone of her books even though they are border line too suspenseful for me, yet, somehow I keep coming back - for her writing and the stories. So, favorite suspense / thriller goes to The Survivors.

Favorite Read aloud

The Holy Bible. Jeff and I have been reading aloud together every work day morning and we finished reading through the entire Bible over the summer. We are following that up with reading through the New Testament before we tackle the entire Bible again, but that won't be until probably Spring of this year.

and last, but not least

Favorite Fiction Book of the Year

The Rose Code, Kate Quinn. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman one of my top 10 fiction books of the year and another book club book, held the number one spot solidly until I read The Rose Code, another book we read over the summer for book club. We had such a lively discussion of both books, however, The Rose Code was amazing! Both memorable books and highly recommend both.

 

what I've been reading | December 2021

December is most often a slow reading month for me. It just is. I don't know why, especially since I have reading goals and as of today some of those reading goals were not met for 2021. However, for some reason, I am okay with that. I had planned on reading books that feel like winter or Christmas or December but instead I pulled out Still Life off my bookshelf, the first book in the Louise Penny, Armande Gamache police procedural murder mystery and began reading the series, again, from the beginning. Then, I grabbed the next book from Daniel Silva's, Gabriel Allon, art restorer and Israeli spy, and when I finished it I moved to another Penny, then another Silva...there was a read from the library that showed up on my holds, and my book club read for December. And so finishes my reading life in 2021. I'm taking it slow - er next year. I'll set some reading goals, maybe fulfill a challenge, read for my book club, but I'm going for low maintenance, no stress. 

I'm putting together my favorite books of 2021, but I read 130 books so it's taking me a while to decide. And, that's for another post. 

what I've been reading | November 2021

Today I am sharing what I've been reading in November 2021. This month was a barren month of reading as I only read 4 books which is crazy for me. I know exactly why I read so little, too. Bronchitis has plagued my body and I am still struggling. Trying to concentrate and enjoy reading was pretty much - not happening because I was hurting and I couldn't breathe. I'm better but not healed. I am hoping my December reading will thrive and I will finish the year strong. That said, I have already surpassed my big reading goal for the year, Read 100 books in 2021. The coming month will also mean re-visiting what I've read for the year and which books still sit with me months later, my favorites for the year.

But, for this month these are the books that found there way into my hands and through every breathe I was able to read:

What I've been reading | October 2021

Today I am finally sharing what I read in October. One of my favorites for this month is a John Grisham backlist, The Pelican Brief. I flew through the novel and enjoyed it immensely, especially since I remember the movie from many years ago, now, and they were so similar. Address Unknown is a compact, epistolary short read, but packed a huge punch and a must read for pre-WWII historical fiction fans. 

Above you'll note my 2-page, 4 x 8 layout recording what I read the how many stars I gave each book. This will go in my READ 2021 album. Super excited - just two more months to a completed album. And, below are my mini-thoughts on each book I read. Enjoy!

What I've been reading | September 2021

These are some of my favorite posts: what I've been reading. And, for September 2021 I read some surprisingly fabulous books! All the books I read this month were no less than 4 stars and mostly 5 Star reads, in their own right. I snuck in one last book on the 30th to round out, 10 books read in September and to bring my total for the year to surpassing 100 + books (my goal was read 100 books for 2021). The Rose Code by Kate Quinn, my book club read for the month was probably my favorite book of the month and A.W. Tozer's, The Attributes of God pulled ahead as my favorite read-a-loud book with Jeff. James Patterson and Bill Clinton's, The President is Missing was this month's surprise good read and J.D. Robb's, Forgotten in Death had huge triggers but it is now one of my favorites of the 53 book and counting In Death series.

While life has been throwing me some huge curveballs, one constant is my reading life and I can't thank God enough for books! Here's what I've been reading in September 2021:

 

What I've been reading | August 2021

Welcome to the post that is all about what I have been reading lately. Included in this post is how I am documenting what I have been reading - in a 4 x 8 Citrus Twist kits album (you can see the remainder of the inserts for this month's reading documenting at the bottom of this post). In addition I have included 'thoughts' on each of the books I have read, below.

A couple 'dud' reads for me, Suh a Fun Age, and This Time Next Year; and a surprising 5-Star read, The Incredible Winston Browne - and can I say if you don't read Sean Dietrich's, daily column / blog - you must! Plus, a couple other really good 4-5 Star books: The Last Thing He Told Me, Dragonfly, The Guncle, and The Paris Library. Honestly, my favorite book of the month is a toss up between The Incredible Winston Browne and Louise Penny's, The Madness of Crowds. I am extremely comfortable with Penny's books now that I can read them, usually, in a day. Although, I didn't finish The Madness until past my bedtime. I am almost finished re-reading through the In Death series by J.D. Robb, reading book 50, Golden in Death and I give almost all of the books in the series 5 Stars as they're my favorite genre.

I will be hosting my book club again in September. I am really looking forward to gathering together to talk books. We'll be reading The Rose Code in September and selecting our October - December books. I'm compiling the books now for us to choose from.

Enjoy!

 

what I've been reading | July 2021

It was a book-filled month thanks to the plethora of library holds that surprisingly appeared in my email cache: "You have 2 new holds..." "You have 3 new holds..." "You have 5 new holds..." It was dizzily exciting. I had moments of decision-making anxiety but then I simply tucked, not one, but two books into my bag as I headed out the door to work. I knew if one book didn't work out, the other surely would. I am ever grateful I have a job that affords me the opportunity to read. Although, this past month's weather has busy in my neck of the 'woods'. With numerous thunderstorms, rain showers, rapidly changing visibilities and ceilings, all of which means this weather girl is busy, busy. I was reading between weather observations.

My month of reading began with the quite memorable, stunning, and heartwarming, Dear Edward - definitely going on my top ___ list book of the year. I also read the acclaimed Project Hail Mary, another science fiction phenomenal by Andy Weir, the author of The Martian. And I could easily see Project Hail Mary being made into a movie! The Lost Book of Names was another favorite of this month's reads. I was beyond thrilled when Jeff and I read the last chapter's of Revelation this month, as we finished an 18-month long journey through The Holy Bible. And we finished another spiritual formation book, Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table. Content was good. But the writing was - excruciatingly tepid and occasionally cringe-worthy. As I was reading it a-loud, I could save us occasionally from some very bad writing.

I am filling up the bookshelf with all the books I have been reading this year. My goal is 100 books in 2021 and at 87 I am well on my way to fulfilling this goal. There are 118 'books' on the shelf, though. Maybe that will be new goal!

Favorite books.

At the six month mark I am taking stock of what I've been reading. 71 books thus far this year and with a goal to read 100 books in 2021 I am well on my way to surpassing, blowing away, that goal, and I am thrilled. As I was perusing all the new books and re-reads I have been enjoying, writing mini-reviews with each one, and rating each book using a 1-5 Star rating system, what is the norm in the good read world, books that I loved - and were memorable began catching my eye. Discarding re-reads, and only selecting those books that I haven't read before, that were new to me, I began compiling a list of my favorite books in a half a year of 71 books read. 

I selected my 12 favorites - so far this year. I have noticed I have been a bit more strict in my rating of books. If there were too many things that annoyed me about a book, even though I overall may have loved the book, I would not give it 5 Stars. But, I might give it 5 Stars if what annoyed me was redeemed by, say, the ending. I also realized that I am being more true to myself rather than, maybe, following the crowds views on rating a book. Thus, if everyone likes a book but me, I'm okay with that.

Favorite book from January - June 2021, easily goes to Fredrick Backman's Anxious People. My book club read this for our February read and I loved it! It was laugh out loud funny as well as amazing conversation and discussion. Such a fan of Backman's writing!

I read Amor Towles', Rules of Civility, his backlist and first book, after I'd already read A Gentleman in Moscow last year for book club. Of the two, I would still pick A Gentleman in Moscow as my favorite of his, thus far, but Rules of Civility was dang good! I am anxiously anticipating his third book, out in October.

I finally read Taylor Jenkins Reid's critically-acclaimed, Daisy Jones and The Six and followed that up with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I adored both books, easily 5 Star reads, but with Evelyn Hugo inching by Daisy Jones in the running for a TJR favorite. I have Malibu Rising on my TBR and my bookshelf.

Surprisingly, a book I read for book club but also the Classic's Club, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, easily made my favorites list, and a 5 Star read!

Have you read any of these? Would they be on your favorites list?