Reading Wrap-Up: January 2012

Yesterday was the last day of January–the sun was shining, a mild breeze was blowing, and the temperature outside was a balmy 56 degrees. What a gorgeous day.

Oh, did I mention that I live in Pennsylvania???

As much as the innocent side of me is loving this weather and the lack of snow this winter, the more informed side of me is very uncomfortable with the fact that we don’t have inches of snow on the ground right now… in January… in the northeast. I’m not wishing for snow–believe me, I hate that white stuff with a passion–but this winter’s weather has been very unsettling.

Anyway, January was an excellent month for me, reading-wise. I read and reviewed so many good books, and I’m currently reading (or getting ready to read) another great pile. It’s amazing how starting this website turned me into a book polygamist–in all my years of reading leading up to the start of Between the Covers I was a strict book monogamist. Reading more than one book at a time made me feel like I was cheating on the characters and the authors of both. Now that I’m reviewing books, joining book clubs, and participating in read-alongs and such, I’ve started reading more than one book at a time… and surprisingly, I’m okay with that. I rather enjoy it now.

Here’s a look at what I accomplished this month:

Number of books read:  14

Number of books in progress:  3

• The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
• The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes
• The Bee-Loud Glade, by Steve Himmer

Number of pages read:  5,095

Books reviewed:

• Carry the One, by Carol Anshaw (read in December, not included in January’s numbers)
• All Her Father’s Guns, by James Warner
• Behind the Beautiful Forevers, by Katherine Boo
• The Tiger’s Wife, by Téa Obreht
• Running the Rift, by Naomi Benaron
• The Western Lit Survival Kit, by Sandra Newman
• Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
• The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson

Reviews in progress:

• The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton
• When She Woke, by Hillary Jordan
• One Day It’ll All Make Sense, by Common
• The Falls, by Joyce Carol Oates
• The Science of Kissing, by Sheril Kirshenbaum

I also read The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne) and Longitude (Dava Sobel), but I’ve chosen not to review them for various reasons.

**I’m using the Daytum website to keep track of my reading stats this year, so you can follow my progress at any time by visiting my Daytum profile.

Reading Challenges progress:

• Back to the Classics Challenge:  2 of 9 books read
• November’s Autumn Classics Challenge:  January post on Ralph Ellison
• Mount TBR Reading Challenge:  7 of 40 books read
• Chunkster Reading Challenge:  3 of 14 books read
• End of the World Reading Challenge:  4,578 pages read

**You can follow my progress and learn more about each challenge under the Challenges tab in my menu bar.

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If you missed the news in December, Ashley (my 11-year-old daughter) has decided to participate in two of the challenges with me: the Back to the Classics Challenge and the Mount TBR Challenge. She doesn’t have a place to review the books she’s read, so she’s just doing the reading and keeping track of her progress in a notebook.

Here’s a look at what Ashley accomplished in January:

Number of books read:  8

• True (…Sort Of), by Katherine Hannigan
• The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank
• The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
• Love, Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli
• Dork Diaries: Tales From a Not-So-Popular Party Girl, by Rachel Renee Russell
• Usborne Guide: Calligraphy from Beginner to Expert, by Caroline Young
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick

Number of pages read:  2,031

Reading Challenges progress:

• Back to the Classics Challenge:  3 of 9 books read
• Mount TBR Reading Challenge:  4 of 50 books read

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Ashley and I are both enjoying the reading challenges we’re participating in. I teased her, of course, because I read more than she did this month and it’s usually the other way around. She has assured me that she will catch up…soon. Hahaha!

Happy reading!