What I Read: January

January was a great start to a new year of reading books! 

Books

• Awakened by P.C. and Kristin Cast- This was book 8 in the House of Night series which is set in Tulsa. I've gotten to expect the main action of these books to be drawn out to the end of the book so this one ended up being so much better than I expected!

• The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket- When I went through my school stuff in the spring I pulled out the Series of Unfortunate Events books I had for Carter to possibly read. I figured I'd read them first to see if they'd be good for him. It's tricky finding books that are challenging for him but are also appropriate for his age. Then I saw my friend, Sara, read the whole series and really enjoyed them (thanks Goodreads). So I decided to go ahead and start them. I think Carter would probably like them and there's nothing too scary or upsetting. Although he always gets upset by books where the parents die!
  

• Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate- This book was so good but also super depressing at times. Reading about what children went through and knowing it was based on factual stories, was hard! I like it when stories go back and forth between present day and the past. That really helped with this one to keep the sad bits from being overwhelmingly sad.

• Elevation by Stephen King- One of my friends is a huge Stephen King fan and gave me this book to borrow. It was good and one that was hard to put down. There was a chapter where he ran a race and some parts of it made me cringe a bit because it didn't seem realistic. That aside I enjoyed it.

• World Wild Vet: Encounters in the Animal Kingdom by Evan Antin- I got this one in quickly at the library. It is our book for March's book club but I read it early. At first I hated it because he drove me nuts going around picking snakes up just for the fun of it and saying he was doing it to teach people to love animals. I softened toward him later in the book when he wrote about elephants. He had lots of really amazing stories but he wasn't a very good writer so the book was just okay.

  

  I think this cover is the reason why so many people in book club voted to read this book, haha!

eBooks:

• Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling- I was so excited to see this sequel existed! I couldn't wait to read it and was thrilled I was able to get it from the library right away. I found it hard to put down and enjoyable to read just like the first one. It wasn't as lighthearted as the first one and had some really sad parts, but it was just as good!
  

• Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker- This was our book club pick for January. There were lots of holds on it so I ended up not getting it until the week of our meeting and powered through it. It was about a family with 12 children, 6 of whom were diagnosed with schizophrenia. It was a bit depressing at some points but also very interesting.

• Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad- This book was recommended in other books I've read. I didn't realize it was something to journal along with and work through, but I did like that aspect of it. It made me really think things through and engage with the text. She brought up some issues with feminism I had never thought about. It was eye opening.

• Beverley Green's First Territorial Christmas by Andrea C. Neil- When I did my end of book review for 2020, I looked back at past years. Two years ago the least popular book I read was Beverley Green Sasquatch Hunter. I liked that book and decided to see if there was a sequel because I remembered thinking there was one. I was thrilled to see there are now 5 books in the series! I was a bit bummed I hadn't looked earlier since this was set at Christmastime but it wasn't super Christmasy so I didn't mind. It was so good. I love these books and am excited to read the next one!
  

• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab- This was our book club book for February and the fastest way I got it in was ebook. There were so many holds on it, I decided to solely read it and not read a regular book at the same time so I could get through it faster and turn it in for the next person waiting. I got really sucked into this book. It was such an interesting premise. I found myself sad at the end of the book because I didn't want to be finished with it!

• Beverley Green Finds True North by Andrea C. Neil- This was the 3rd book in the series. I didn't like it as much as the Christmas one which was the 2nd book, but it was still good.

Audiobooks:

• Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby- I decided to randomly scroll through Libby to search for an available audiobook because I couldn't decide what I wanted to listen to. I picked this one because I thought the title was funny and there was a picture of a chubby bunny on the cover. I had never heard of Irby before but figured she must be a comedian based on the title and cover. Oh. My. Goodness. It was hilarious! I would just crack up laughing as I was running. I'm super excited to read and/or listen to more of her books. The audiobook was read by Irby and that made it even better.
  

• Lincoln's Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency by Dan Abrams and David Fisher- This was so good. It seemed like they basically took the trial notes and turned them into ta book filling in some and then leaving out some of the repetition. Due to the title, I expected it to go into more detail at the end about how the trail helped propel him to the presidency. I really liked that at the end they described how each person in the book's life panned out.

• The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket- This was the 2nd book in the Series of Unfortunate Events. I didn't have this one and was planning to read it as an ebook but I got our book club book in so I listened to it as an audiobook instead. It was really good but Mr. Poe constantly coughing sure did become a little much in an audiobook, haha!

• What You Wish For by Katherine Center- I loved Things You Save in a Fire and decided to listen to another one of Center's books. Both books were read by the same narrator. At first that was a bit distracting because it made me think of the main character of the other book, but I got over that pretty quickly.
  

• Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg- I read this book when I was in middle school and remembered loving it. Flagg is coming out with a new book called, The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop. When I saw that I thought I'd re-read this one to prepare for reading her new one. I liked this book okay but I didn't love it like I remembered. The only thing I can figure is being a tomboy growing up, I wanted to be like Idgie Threadgood. Her character was pretty awesome! It's always a bit disappointing to re-read a book you loved when you were younger and not like it as much, that's why I've never re-read this one! I'm still going to read The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop when I get it in at the library!

• Jane of Austin: A Novel of Sweet Tea and Sensibility by Hillary Manton Lodge- I wanted something fun for my next audiobook and decided a retelling of a Jane Austen classic was just what I needed. I absolutely loved this book! It was wonderful. It made me want to re-read Sense and Sensibility so I think I will do that soon. It didn't hurt that Oklahoma was mentioned a couple times in the book.