It's been a quiet week around here. For one, I'm dealing with that nasty fatigue again. I'm not sure if it's because there's something going on medically (regular metabolic blood tests came back fine, so I'm not anemic and it's not my thyroid, but we're wondering if I have some chronic swelling that contributes to my fatigue), or if it's because I can't get comfortable at night and end up waking up constantly and switching positions over and over throughout the night. Maybe both? Who knows. I'm just dragging right now. And then there was this:
The Polar Vortex swung through here and I basically threw on 234782347293 layers of clothing and huddled under a blanket with a book the whole time. Our cars wouldn't start, not that we wanted to go anywhere anyway, but I just wasn't up to doing much whatsoever. It was a really, really quiet week around here. So instead, I'm posting January's reading log!
I have had such an amazing reading month!
For all that I felt reading slumpy back in October/November, I'm exactly the opposite right now. I credit this entirely to the What Should I Read Next podcast. I've been listening to this as I fall asleep, work in the kitchen, and complete other tasks that don't require listening to anything else. It's gotten me so excited about reading new things, branching out of my regular genres and including more fiction in my life. Every trip to the library seriously feels like Christmas morning these days.
I'm trying something new with this post. Years ago, I used to run a book blog that received some moderate attention (decent number of followers, multiple authors quoted my reviews on their websites; the Raleigh News & Observer's book page quoted me; I was occasionally offered books to review by authors and publishing companies). I absolutely loved book blogging, but it got too difficult to keep up when my son went to school full-time and I took some college classes. I miss it, and so I've decided to start another book blog, dedicated fully to my reading life. I'll list the books I've read here, but I'll link to my book blog, and if the book interests you, click on through and read the review!
Here's what I read in January of 2019.
1. Homeward Bound: Why Women Are Embracing the New Domesticity- Emily Matchar
2. The Newcomers: Finding Refuge, Friendship, and Hope in an American Classroom- Helen Thorpe
3. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea- Barbara Demick
4. This Dark World: A Memoir of Salvation Found and Lost- Carolyn S. Briggs
5. The Cult Files: True Stories from the Extreme Edges of Religious Belief- Chris Mikul
6. The Magdalen Girls- V.S. Alexander
7. Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper- Hilary Liftin
8. Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids- Kim John Payne and Lisa M. Ross
9. Switch and Bait- Ricki Schultz
10. A Crazy Kind of Love- Mary Ann Marlowe
11. The Adventures of a South Pole Pig: A Novel of Snow and Courage- Chris Kurtz
12. How Does It Feel to Be Unwanted?: Stories of Resistance and Resilience from Mexicans Living in the United States- Eileen Truax
13. I'll Be There For You: The One about Friends- Kelsey Miller
Thirteen books isn't bad for a month! I think in 2016, I managed to read something like 21 books in January (I was really stressed and reading was how I handled it), but I'm pretty happy with thirteen. :)
Hopefully this week will be a little more energetic (crossing all the things!). My son has his rescheduled choir concert on Wednesday- it was supposed to be Friday, but with the rehearsal on Wednesday being cancelled due to the brutal cold, they moved it to this week. I have to drive him and his friend on Friday after school to a place that's only about 5 miles away but ends up taking about an hour due to traffic (one of the few drawbacks to where we live), and I really need to do a deep cleaning of the house, since everyone was home so many days last week- I've just been too worn out to do it. We'll see how things go. I don't want to push myself and make things worse.
What have you been reading lately?
I read 1 book and am happy about that. 13 is crazy good.
ReplyDeleteOne is good too! Anytime anyone is reading, that's a good thing. :)
DeleteHi, just came across your blog and read you have fatigue.
ReplyDeleteIs your vitamin D low? If so, Vitamin D3 is the best to raise it. Hope you figure things out, Janie
My vitamin D was surprisingly okay at my last blood draw, but it does tend to droop a little lower towards the spring (hard to get outside when it's so cold out!). It's something I do need to keep an eye on! :)
DeleteWOW, that's a lot of books for a single month. My January consisted of In Sunlight and In Shadow (which I started last year), Under the Skin, My Abandonment, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. And that was pushing it for me, lol!
ReplyDeleteHey, any number is a good number! I loved A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, that was such an amazing book. I've seen a lot of people talk about it being a favorite book from their childhood, but I didn't read it until I was an adult. I'm not sure I would've enjoyed it quite as much had I read it when I was younger.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny you say that because I've been working with my daughter to get her into classics and that is next on her list to read. She's 11 and just finished To Kill a Mockingbird (and loved it) so I'll let you know what she thinks when she finishes!
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