I have a tendency to pick up books- at marinas, hotels, and little free libraries whenever I see them. Basically anywhere that books are free for the taking, I take one or three. I also then leave my books that I’ve finished. I was looking back on 2019, after seeing so many people sharing their reading lists, and I had NO IDEA what books I had read. I knew I had probably read so many great ones, but they weren’t all neatly listed in my kindle app. It kind of bummed me out that I had already forgotten so many stories.
In 2020 I decided to look back month by month, so that I don’t lose track. While I try to read “real” paper books as much as possible—so my children see me reading—I also make great use of the kindle app on my iphone and I listen to a lot of books on audible as well. So, clearly, I read a lot. Even as a single mom to 3 little boys, building and running my own small business, I somehow fit a lot of reading into the cracks in my day.
This isn’t something I try to do, it’s a long-standing habit that began as a kid who was constantly being handed excruciatingly long lists of chores to complete outdoors in the Florida heat. Like any good little procrastinator, I would sneak inside, lock myself in the bathroom with a book, and yell peevishly down the stairs that I was “going to the bathroom can I get a little privacy in here thank you very much!!?” any time my mom questioned why I wasn’t outside shoveling manure or cleaning out compost barrels. Any ten minutes I could squeak out locked in the air-conditioned bathroom was bliss. So you could say I’ve loved reading my whole life. It isn’t a physical escape anymore, but it’s the best portal I know into someone else’s valuable perspective and experience.
So, without further ado, and realizing that this list is 99% for myself, here is what I read in January:
1. Haroun and the Sea of Stories, by Salman Rushdie
2. The Greatest Salesman in the World, by Og Mandino
3. City of Girls, by Elizabeth Gilbert
4. Ask and It Is Given, by Esther/Abraham Hicks
5. A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
6. Becoming, by Michelle Obama- (Ok, I read most of this last year, but I never finished it. I ended up listening to it on audible, which was awesome, because Michelle Obama reads it herself. My boys also got into her childhood stories when we would listen in the car, and there are worse people to have them listen to ;) )
7. We Are The Luckiest, by Laura McKowen
8. The Universe Has Your Back, by Gabrielle Bernstein
9. Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert
10. 6 Magic Tree House books, 1 Dog Man comic, and the first Hardy Boys book ;)
