January Reading Wrap-up and A List of February Possibilities

Hello, friends. Here we are well into February and so far this month seems to be flying! It feels like a big change from last month when January just dragged on forever. 

In January... we began our drive to FL on New Years Day, making stops along the way to visit my cousin and some old friends. Once we got here, there were repairs to attend to, friends to catch up with, a barrage of disturbing national news, and record-breaking cold. As a result my reading got off to a slow start, but picked up again toward the end of the month.

.

BOOKS READ IN JANUARY

A Good Life by Virginie Grimaldi

fiction, in translation, 4 stars, my thoughts 

Oranges by John McPhee

nonfiction, classic, 3 stars, my thoughts

I've Tried Being Nice: Essays by Ann Leary

nonfiction, essays, 4 stars, my thoughts 

How the Light Gets In by Joyce Maynard

fiction, 4.5 stars, my thoughts

FEBRUARY READING POSSIBILITIES

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain (in progress)

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkinson (MMD February selection)

Three Apples Fell from the Sky by Narine Abgaryan

You Are Here by David Nicholls

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

Our daughter and son-in-law have been here visiting since the beginning of the month and are planning to stay for another week or so. They're fortunate to be able to work from home and I love having them around! Obviously, I haven't had quite as much time to read, so I expect February will be a slow reading month. If I'm lucky I'll finish two or three of the titles listed above.

How was your January reading? What was your favorite book last month?

 

The Sunday Salon: February 2, 2025

Hello, friends. We've had a pretty good week in southwest Florida. The weather has been perfect, we took several sunset beach walks, went out to dinner with friends, and had contractors show up according to schedule! We're waiting on closet shelves and a shower door adjustment... and then our Hurricane Ian (9/22) repairs will be complete!! Fingers crossed both will be done by the end of the week.

Emotionally, it's been a tough week. I cannot even look at the news without getting knots in my stomach. Reading continues to be a balm.

Recent reading//

How the Light Gets In by Joyce Maynard

This book is a sequel to Count the Ways, which was both my favorite novel of 2021 and my introduction to Joyce Maynard. Some twenty years have passed since the ending of that tale... Eleanor and Cam are over 60, the kids have become adults with their own complicated lives, some characters have passed on, and new ones are introduced. I loved catching up with these people and seeing how their lives have evolved. While not quite as good as Count the Ways, this was exactly the reading experience I'd been craving.

My only complaint is that Maynard include too many 'hot' issues. Some reviewers found the book to be too heavy-handed politically, and I'll admit that it may have been. BUT in light of events of the past few weeks, I'm more than willing to forgive Maynard for coming down a little hard on the red-hatted crowd.

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Current reading//

Testament of Youth: An Autobiographical Study of the Years 1900 - 1925

 by Vera Brittain

I'm reading this nonfiction classic with Tina and it's a long one - nearly 700 pages. It's off to a strong start, but I didn't make as much progress as planned. This should be a better week as far as reading time goes.

I'll also be choosing a new fiction title to start this week.

On the blog//

Favorite Author Discoveries, 2024 Edition

The week ahead//

Our oldest daughter and son-in-law are flying in later today. They work remotely, so will probably stay for a couple of weeks. We'll celebrate her birthday midweek and have a few other activities planned. I'm looking forward to having them around!

How was your week? What have you been reading?

The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

 

Favorite Author Discoveries, 2024 Edition

It's been a while since my last Top Ten Tuesday post, but I take time every January to reflect on the new authors I read the previous year.  In 2024 I read twenty-three new-to-me authors and had a surprisingly difficult time narrowing that list down to just ten favorites. Here they are, listed in the order I read them.

FAVORITE NEW-TO-ME AUTHORS, 2024

The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai 

James by Percival Everett 

Absolution by Alice McDermott 

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González

How to Read a Book by Monica Wood

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro

 Frances Riddle, translator

Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann

A Good Life by Virginie Grimaldi

Hildegarde Serle, translator

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

What new authors did you discover in 2024?

The Sunday Salon: Manatees!

Hello, friends. After a chilly, grey week in southwest Florida, the sun is finally shining... and a little sunshine makes a BIG difference! We saw photos of snowy panhandle beaches, but thankfully none of the white stuff fell here in southwest Florida. Yesterday morning was our coldest at 44 degrees, but the windchill made it feel like 29. Brr!! My orchids have been inside most of the month.

There is one advantage to the cold weather though. It's a great time to visit Manatee Park in Fort Myers. Thanks to a warm water discharge into the park canal from the Florida Power and Light plant across the street, manatees congregate in the park when water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico dip below 68 degrees. We visited on Friday and saw hundreds of them! It was a beautiful sight, but very difficult to photograph. (Each one of the blobs in the photo above is a manatee.) It's especially fun to see their snouts or tails break the surface. Plus they make the cutest little snorting sounds! 

Recent reading//

I've Tried Being Nice: Essays

by Ann Leary, narrated by the author

I want to read more essay collections this year and, having enjoyed two of Leary's novels, this seemed like a great place to start. In this collection, Leary writes about various aspects of her life including marriage to actor Dennis Leary, raising kids, her writing career, being a "people pleaser," assorted hobbies, adventures of living in an old house, and her struggles with alcoholism. All were compelling, but I especially loved an essay about the dogs who have shared her life over the years. I appreciated Leary's openness and honesty throughout the collection. This was a read/listen combination for me. Essays or memoirs read by the author are always a treat, but I can recommend this book in either format.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Current reading//

How the Light Gets In by Joyce Maynard

I'm almost done with this sequel to Count the Ways and enjoying it very much. I should finish later today... unless I get too caught up in the football games.

Up next//

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

This nonfiction classic about the First World War has been on my TBR list for years and will be a February buddy read with Tina. At nearly 700 pages, this chunkster could take a while...

In the kitchen//

I don't know about you but the chicken in my homemade stir-fry never tastes quite like the chicken in a good Chinese restaurant. Their chicken stays moist and the sauce seems to cling to each piece, but my chicken is often a little dry and the sauce runs right off of it. Last week I learned about a process call velveting... a Chinese cooking technique that involves marinating and pre-cooking chicken before adding it to another dish like the stir-fry.

I read about it in a NYTimes recipe, Butter-Soy Chicken and Asparagus Stir-Fry. For the velveting, chicken slices are coated with a combination of corn starch, baking soda, sugar, salt & pepper, and soy sauce, then tossed with vegetable oil and egg white. Marinade for 30 minutes to 2 hours, then boil for 90 seconds and drain in a colander. At that point, you continue with your stir-fry recipe. 

This particular recipe is behind a pay wall and nothing special - too much butter and too bland  - but I will continue to experiment with the technique. The chicken itself was really good. Have you heard of velveting?  I can't wait to try it again with a more flavorful stir-fry!

The week ahead//

Weatherwise, it looks like we're in for a good one - much more like the Florida winter weather I love! I have a couple of appointments, but am looking forward to a midweek book club author talk, walks on the beach, and our daughter and son-in-law 's upcoming visit.

How was your week? What have you been reading?

The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

 

The Sunday Salon: Slowly, But Surely

Hello, friends. We've had a mostly cloudy, chilly week here in southwest Florida. But this morning, the sun is shining so I figured it was a good time to take this year's post-hurricane vegetation status photo. 

Last spring, we decided we liked the large turnaround Ian (9/22) provided, so we made a center island and laid permeable pavers across the front to the garage doors on either side of the stairs. We replanted the area directly in front of the stairs and house, plus added several native bushes along the sides of the driveway.  

Things look a bit better since January 2024, and I'm sure it will continue to fill in. Slowly, but surely the subtropical vegetation is returning... but we will likely add more trees and bushes again this winter. I'll include all the earlier photos at the end of the post for comparison.

Recent Reading//

A Good Life by Virginie Rinaldi

I started 2025 with a couple of DNFs, so my first book of the year was actually a reread. A few months ago I rated this novel about sisterhood, home, and family four stars but raised it to 4.5 stars this time around. It will be my selection for the small World Lit  book club I joined this year.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Oranges by John McPhee

This slim nonfiction classic, first published in 1967, was on my 2025 list of priority reads. I was hoping to learn more about the Florida citrus industry and its history... and I did pick up some interesting information. I enjoyed McPhee's writing style, reading about the development of the groves, the orange barons, microclimates, and historic freezes, but there were also parts I found pretty boring. I imagine some of the information presented must be outdated at this point. I would like to read more about the current state of Florida's citrus industry.

⭐⭐⭐

Current Reading//

I've Tried Being Nice: Essays by Ann Leary

I'm halfway through this essay collection by the author of The Good House and The Children. It's very good so far.

How the Light Gets In by Joyce Maynard

This is a sequel to Maynard's 2021 novel Count the Ways... which I loved. I've read about a third of this one and it's just as good so far!

The week ahead//

It's supposed to be another cool and rainy week. I'm hoping for plenty of time to read while waiting for the refrigerator repair guy, AC service, and the carpenter who will measure for plantation shutters. I also had a crown fall out, so there will be a trip to the dentist, too. So much excitement... sigh.

Vegetation Photo Comparison//

Pre-Ian, January 2022

Post-Ian, January 2023

January 2024

Today

How was your week? What have you been reading?

The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

 

My Year in Books: 2024 Reading Reflections and 2025 Intentions

Hello, friends. I'm finally back in Florida, unpacked, and ready to resume reading and blogging! But before we get much deeper into the New Year, I'd like share my reflections on 2024 reading and lay out some intentions for 2025. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way my reading year unfolded. I made a couple of small changes that made a big difference in my overall enjoyment.

But first, the numbers...

46 books read - fewer than previous years (more below)

84% fiction, 16% nonfiction 

56% new-to-me authors, 44% authors I'd read before

7% books in translation

16% classics

9% rereads

format:

print/ebook only  24%

audio only  7%

read/listen combination 68% 

average rating: 4.2  (That's high, but I don't finish books that aren't to my taste.)

                        

                                 

Shortest book / Longest book

Recitatif by Toni Morrison,  96 pages

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin,  945 pages

Most shelved / Least shelved (goodreads)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 

Where the Forest Meets the River by Shannon Bowring 

My favorite books of 2024 are listed in this post.

The biggest change I made in 2024 was to abandon the goodreads challenge. This turned out to be a big success!

Reading one book per week is a comfortable pace and I typically set a goal of 50/52 books each year. For the past couple years I've struggled to meet that goal. What ended up happening, especially in the last quarter, was that I found myself searching out and reading shorter books rather than the longer books I really  wanted to read. Without the challenge, my 2024 reading turned out to be more satisfying. I read several books from my goodreads 500+ page tbr shelf...  including two over 900 pages that I've wanted to read for years! 

I also became more active in the Modern Mrs. Darcy book club in 2024. I read (or DNFd) all the selections, attended online author talks each month, participated in online forums, and took part in other group events. I'll continue this in 2025.

 

INTENTIONS for 2025

After a one-year experiment, I will no longer use The Storygraph. I found that it didn't add much to my reading life beyond an attractive monthly graphic. Plus, my reading community is all on goodreads.

Buddy reads (with blogging friends and MMD members) were a lot of fun in 2024. I'd like to do a few more in 2025.

Be more intentional in my reading selections, especially when it comes to nonfiction titles.

Read all MMD book club selections... and it's okay to dnf if they're not working for me. I will also participate in a small bimonthly world lit book club.

Continue making a monthly list of  tbr possibilities. This helps guide my reading in a planned direction while still allowing for spontaneity. 

How was your 2024 reading year? Will you be making any changes in 2025?