January 2015 Books

The beginning of the year is a great time to evaluate the prior year. In 2014, I started noting what I read each month on this space and posting a piece on books the last day of the month. The aspirations were lofty; I used to read erudite books with some degree of regularity. The reasoning was also humble as I felt like I might not be reading "enough", and I wanted to have an honest record of what I read. What I found was, as always, a bit of self-revelation.

I don't read very many business books any more. I read blogs in my industry, several thought-leaders daily. I read business magazines within my industry and the larger business world, weekly. I don't read as much non-fiction as I did 4 years ago. Not even my favorite periods of history or books on ecology*.

What the last year has made very apparent, is that I've been reading much more fiction - and new genres of fiction for me.  Listing out what I read each month made me think about why I read that, as opposed to something from a book list. (Hello, Zuckerberg)

1. The easy answer is time. I work a good bit and commute about 8-10 hours a week. (I sometimes listen to audio books, but to me that's not "reading".) We had a lot of commitments as this was an election year. I volunteer with several organizations. Blah.Blah.Blah.
2. Another answer is convenience. All my books hadn't moved to Bunny Haven Manor East. (They are still in process - I'm sorting, donating and moving them as we create space - we are up to 4 bookcases worth. We won't think about how many bookcases are left to go.) 



Photo from DeathToStockPhotos

3. Yet another factor is distraction. The human male watches a LOT of football. I tend to read on my Kindle in the same space so we can converse. The random interruptions make more in-depth reading less enjoyable. So I read steampunk, mysteries, urban fantasy  - genres that are enjoyable even if my attention wanders a bit.

Late in the year, I added a new area of the blog, "On the Shelf" to highlight my favorite book or comment about reading each month.

Things evolve, they change as life changes. This monthly book area may, too. It's January, after all, the perfect time to begin a little renewal and planning for the garden of life. For now, on to what was read this January!

• Timeless by Gail Carriger. What a lovely ending to The Parasol Protectorate series! (I adore any series where tea is the answer to any challenge.)
• I even visited the short story prequel via Kindle: The Curious Case of the Werewolf That Wasn't, the Mummy That Was, and the Cat in the Jar (The Parasol Protectorate Book 6)
• Nicole Peeler's world of Jane True (Books 1-3 of the series in digital) Enough to decide while it's a nice place to visit, that's not a world I'd want to live in.

I bought a few new books, too. We'll see when I read them.

• The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
• Also, Frank McLynn's Marcus Aurelius: A Life
• Gail Carriger's second series, Finishing School 
• And I pre-ordered the first of the next Carriger series, The Custard Protocol
• Everything Burns by Vincent Zandri (digital)
• Miramont's Ghost by Elizabeth Hall (digital)

Take-away - What are you reading this month? Did it make you think? Did it make you feel?

*I got the War of the Whales weeks ago and still haven't read it.