What We Read in January

January was a strong reading month as I finished 9 books! Similar to previous months, here are my hits and misses! I draw a fairly arbitrary line in terms of what gets included in hits. For example, I sometimes give a book 4 stars but don't include it in my hits. So I guess hits are books that really really resonated with me!

Hits:
- The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall - This was a debut novel but I never would have guessed it! The writing was really beautiful, but it wasn't beautiful for the sake of being beautiful. She beautifully explained challenging things we face in life, from challenges in a relationship to unanswered prayers. She also delves into the question of whether 2 people can have completely different opinions about a core belief - in this case, the belief in God.

- Beyond the Point by Claire Gibson - This is a novel about 3 West Point grads. They were sophomores when 9/11 happened so their futures were greatly impacted by that tragic day as it meant they were surely going to serve during a time of war. The novel was written by the daughter of a West Point professor so she had experienced the culture first hand. She covers topics like the treatment of women in the military, female friendships, and the sacrifices that the men and women in the military make each day.

- The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett - I was surprised how much I enjoyed Patchett's debut novel. She was clearly a talented writer right from the start! This novel was about a home for unwed mothers in the south. The main character comes to the home to deliver her baby - except she isn't unwed. The novel unfolds from there.


Misses:
- The Convenience Store Woman - I decided to read this to fulfill the "Books in Translation" category of the reading challenge I'm working on. This was recommended by Anne Bogel of Modern Mrs. Darcy. Her recommendations are usually spot on for me, but this was a miss. It was just too out there for me!

Paul's Reads:

Oh boy, Paul's love of reading is alive and well. This is the stack of books he brought me one Saturday morning. We haven't put Christmas and Halloween books away as there are a couple that he really really loves. For a while he was getting really frustrated that he couldn't carry a stack of like 5 books over to me so we had to teach him to bring me one at a time and make a pile by mama. Ha.

He really loves the "10 Little Lady Bugs" book that he's reading with daddy below and a "Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear" book (at the bottom of the photo below). It has buttons for different animal sounds. He likes to use that book to play the sounds of animals we encounter in other books. It's pretty cute.

My parents got him a book with animal sounds, too, but he is TERRIFIED of the cow mooing. And I mean terrified. He screams and practically shakes with fear! So we put that book away for awhile. Meanwhile, he enjoys a different book with dinosaur sounds which I find pretty scary. Toddlers are strange!

What have you been reading lately?