January Book Report

One of my goals this year is to read for 15 minutes a day and so far, I've been reading every day. Of course, now that I'm reading every day, I'm tearing through books. I read 4.5 books in January which thrills me to no end. 

I started the month with Wildflower by Drew Barrymore and I loved this book. Barrymore's breathy voice was apparent on each page and her love for her children is so robust. I also gleamed some words of wisdom from her. Barrymore put into words something that I've been struggling with. As women and as Mothers, we are told that we can have it all when in reality, no one can have it all. You have to decide where to focus your efforts and go from there. And in doing that, you can be awesome. 

I next read The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny which was wonderful as usual. I love Penny's writing and enjoy the way she both carefully wraps her reader in comfort while keeping them on the edge of their seats in suspense. I could read Louise Penny novels about Three Pines for ages. The mysteries that Chief Inspector Gamache works to solve always include the most tender of human emotions and a protagonist that is quite tender at heart.  

My third book of the month was The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and I was enthralled. I've had this book for ages and can't believe I didn't read it until now. I stayed up way too late reading this book for a few nights. I cheered for The Girl, gasped at the suspense and kept turning the pages until the end. I was sad to learn that this was Hawkins first book because it meant there weren't others to read. I will be anxiously awaiting her next novel. 

My next book was Women Are Scary by Melanie Dale. I ended up abandoning this book halfway through but I'm mentioning it here because I did read half of it. I kept hoping that I would connect because I love the author's website but I could not get past the, "Ohhh meeting people is hard" schtick. This might be an awesome book for someone who isn't great at meeting new people but I'm really good at meeting people. #humblebrag

My final book for the month was The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion and I think I may have finished this one at 11:59 p.m. on January 31st. I loved The Rosie Project when I read it last year and was so excited about this follow-up novel. It honestly wasn't as good as the first one. I still found it to be an entertaining read and quite enjoyed hearing about Don and Rosie's new adventure.