What We Read in January

 My reading got off to a strong start in January. I gave 2 books 5 stars and my first read of February is going to be a 5-star book, too! I am typically kind of stingy with 5-star ratings but I am working on changing that because it's the best way to communicate "you should read this book." I read 9 books - 5 non-fiction and 4 fiction. That is an atypical fiction/non-fiction split. But my reading is dictated by what eBooks become available at the library! I don't know what my split was for 2021 because I didn't track my reading outside of Goodreads.com. But in 2022, I'm tracking it in a spreadsheet provided by a book podcaster so I have more insight into what I read. And I'll still track on goodreads since I like the social aspect of that site, meaning I like seeing what others read and how they rated it. 

Fiction reads:

All of these were great, but I gave 5 stars to Pony (YA novel that has Western vibes - I'm glad I was motivated to pick this up by Meredith of the Currently Reading podcast. R.J. Palacio is an auto-read author for me now!) and When the Stars Go Dark (excellent literary mystery - trigger warnings for sexual assault, kidnapping, childhood trauma. McLain was in the foster care system and a survival of sexual assault so she handled the topic with such authority and care). 

Non-fiction:

These were all solid reads, except Welcome to the GD Ice Cube, which is my February book club book. The author writes about time spent in Norway and Alaska during her 20s. I think I am too old for this book as I had a hard time with some of the decisions she made/situations she put herself in. I wish I had read The Sum of Us more slowly - like over the course of 3 weeks instead of in 5 days. The book talks about the false idea that equality is a zero sum game, or put more simply, a pie - meaning improving equality for some takes things away from others. The Comfort Book is a fast read with quotes and passages about taking care of yourself and your mental health. I highlighted several quotes and might write a post about them in the next month or so as there were some really good nuggets of wisdom.

The boys' reading:

I failed to take any photos of the boys' reads last month! We checked out some great books from the library, though. Paul's favorites were the Pete the Cat books I checked out on a whim. He has asked for more. He enjoys the show on Amazon Prime, too, which is very cute! 

Will enjoys books at naptime/bedtime, but otherwise it's pretty hit or miss and I have the most luck getting him to sit still if there is something to touch or flaps. Dear Zoo is still his favorite! Phil changes the ending of that book to the zoo sending them a kitty instead of a dog when he reads it! Ha. We are solidly team cat in this house!

What did you read in January? Anything you'd recommend? Are you stingy with 5 star reviews?