Read:
Starling – Kirsten Cram (Highway Six Press, 2021)
Bibliolepsy – Gina Apostol (Soho Press, 2022)
Defenestrate – Renee Branum (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022)
Seeking Fortunate Elsewhere – Sindya Bhanoo (Catapult, 2022)
The Chosen and the Beautiful – Nghi Vo (Tom Doherty Associates, 2021)
None But the Righteous – Chantal James (Counterpoint, 2022)
New From Here – Kelly Yang (Simon & Schuster, 2022)
Once Upon a River – Diane Setterfield (Bond Street Books, 2018)
Chorus – Rebecca Kauffman (Counterpoint, 2022)
Among Silent Echoes – Phyllis Dyson (Caitlin Press, 2021)
The Mothers – Brit Bennett (Riverhead Books, 2016)
Hope in Times of Fear – Timothy Keller (Viking Books, 2021)
Reading with Pearl & Rose:
The Secret World of Og – Pierre Berton
A Canadian classic and a re-read for all of us. It was fun to see which sibling our girls identified with. No real surprises – Pearl loved oldest sister Penny while Rose was more drawn to practical Pam and wild Patsy.
Currently Reading:
The Odyssey – Lara Williams
Jack – Marilynne Robinson
2022 Goals:
Books Read: 12/80
Books Reviewed: 7/10
Translated Works: 0/10
A Virtuous Reading Challenge: 5/12 (All from last year, nothing new to add here yet.)
Books Owned: 2/20 (These are books I purchased myself, either new or used. I’m not including ARCs for this count.) I purchased The Mothers second-hand at Russell Books last summer. I bought Hope in Times of Fear new at Talewind Books last fall.)
Books from the TBR pre-2020: 2/20 (Once Upon a River and The Mothers both count for this.)
Current TBR: 231 books
Thoughts:
January was an excellent reading month for me. I read a total of 11 books; I believe my record for books read in one month is 12 but I’m certainly proud of my 11. Without entirely meaning to I ended up with a heavy focus on ARCs and newer books. I do try to read ARCs before their publication dates so I’m glad to feel caught up there but next month I hope to prioritize my own TBR a little more. It was also overall a month of reading really good books. There was a point in the month where it felt like I was reading a lot of books that were light on plot and heavy on introspection; nothing wrong with that in a single book but as a reading pattern it began to wear on me. Fortunately, I was able to break that spell with a short story collection and a book with some magic realism and a mystery at the heart of it.
What’s Next:
In an attempt to read at least 20 books that have been languishing on my TBR for years, I am working my way through the titles that are available at my local library. That means that the next book I borrow from the library should be Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby. I do have some titles on hold but I’m not expecting any of them to arrive any time soon. Next up for my Virtuous Reading Challenge is Silence by Shusaku Endo. This will be a re-read for me and, honestly, I’ve been kind of stalling over it. Not because I didn’t enjoy the book when I read it but simply because it’s unusual for me to re-read a book just a few years after I read it the first time. After finishing the book by Keller, I think my next religious/philosophical read will be a Kierkegaard collection that I’ve had for years.
What are you reading right now?
Karissa Reads Books 
11 books in a month is very impressive! I was also amused to see the various mugs that went with each book 🙂
Maybe next month I’ll try to match the mugs to the books better! I do most of my reading in the morning while my kids are still asleep so I’m usually reading and drinking coffee!
Precious reading time 🙂
If I could reach 11 a month I might actually meet my targets! Will Nicholas Nickleby be a re-read or a new one for you? It’s one of my favourite Dickens’ – just tucked in behind Bleak House. I love all the theatrical stuff in it.
It will be new for me! That makes me excited to read it, that you like it so much. I think I’ve seen a movie version but I can’t even recall the plot.
Enjoy! It’s also got my favourite Dickens’ heroine in it – the closest he ever gets to kickass… 😉
Ooh, that’s great!
Eleven books in a month! This is very impressive – I only managed three (and one was a very short audiobook)! How did you find Hope in Times of Fear? I love Keller’s work but haven’t read that one yet.
It’s excellent! Very timely but also with a broad view, not just focused on current issues. I really appreciate his voice and perspective.
I was surprised to see that you have a goal of reviewing 10 books in a year. You review a lot more than that, yes? Unless you’re focusing more on reading and less on reviewing in 2022, which is great, too 🙂
I hope you get to Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby. While I haven’t read that particular book, Dickens is always a favorite of mine.
Haha, whoops, that’s definitely a mistake. I didn’t set a goal of how many books I’ll review this year but instead want to keep track compared to how many books I read. But I forgot to update those numbers!
I like Dickens a lot too! I will definitely be reading this one, just not sure when!