January Reads
I’ve had a Goodreads account for at least five years now, but I’ve never really committed to doing the reading challenge. This year I have committed myself to reading fifty books. To hold myself accountable, I have decided to share them here on the blog. Hopefully, I can manage to do it on the first day of the next month. Today I have my January reads to share.Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
Eleanor can be both delusional and profound only moments apart. I think we’re all a bit delusional in the same ways, but we’ve just been socialized to snap out of it a lot sooner. It’s an honest look at how we view people, how we think they view us, and how we are actually viewed. There are a lot of moments where you realize you might have something you should have been self-conscious about and never considered before. This book definitely expanded my vocabulary in a way that felt natural for her if not for anyone else.
Recommendation: Girl Goals Approved
Cast in Deception
I’ve been reading this series for a while now, so I definitely like it. This book was one of my favorites so far. If you like high fantasy with a lot of world-building, I recommend it. I should note that it is very slow going. This is the thirteenth book and I’m not sure an entire year has passed in the story. The main character, Kaylin, is the kind of character I’m drawn to. She’s definitely a girl with power (even if she doesn’t know what to do with it) who has a strong sense of justice and manages to defy the odds.
Recommendation: Girl Goals Approved
Stoned
This book was much more than what I expected. It kind of takes you on a wild ride through history while at the same time really explaining the psychology of why we as humans want what we want. I’m the type of person who really likes knowing things, so I appreciated all of the factoids she gave. What I loved was her writing style. It was like I would explain something to my best friend if I had just read tons of research about it. Concise with a bit of pop culture thrown in.
Recommendation: Girl Goals Approved
Notorious RBG
I actually listened to this as an audiobook on a work road trip. I liked how straightforward it was and how it really gave the high points of how she got where she is today. It definitely gave me future husband goals. That being said, it was a bit surface level, so if you have ever read anything about her or the cases she’s known for, you won’t get much out of it.
Recommendation: Girl Goals Switzerland
Hillbilly Elegy
I’m going to start off with that I expected more. It did make me think some, but having already read the excerpt as well as some of the analysis of the 2016 election the actual book did not do much for me. Overall for me, it seemed too personal to deep sociologically and to academic to go deep personally.
Recommendation: Girl Goals Veto
This is How it Always is
I think that everyone should read this book. I’m not sure I can fully verbalize how this story made me feel. If I said the RBG gave husband goals, this book gave me husband dreams. Their partnership is what millennial women are searching for. Their love for their children, especially Claude is something that I wish every child could experience. Although Claude is transgender, for me the twists and turns had more to do with family dynamics overall. This book has a really special tie-in on what it means to tell your story.
Recommendation: Girl Goals Gold Star
Caraval
I really loved the book The Night Circus and hoped that this book would give me those same feels. Unfortunately, that pretty much set it up for failure. On its own merit, I liked the story and it did manage to surprise me in some places. I think that overall it could have used more world- and character-building.
Recommendation: Girl Goals Switzerland
Primates of Park Avenue
I love New York. If you aren’t careful, reading this book could make you not love New York. After reading it I had to take a step back and remember there are other New York neighborhoods and even living on the Upper East Side you don’t have to buy into the crazy. This book puts a whole other spin on if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. There were a lot of interesting tidbits on everything from buying an apartment to getting your kid into kindergarten. Once I got past how stressed I was on behalf of these women, I did like it.
Recommendation: Girl Goals Approved
I generally find books to add to my list from a number of sources. They mostly come from magazine lists, recommendations from friends, researching a topic I’m interested in, and ongoing series I’m already committed to. I will subscribe to author newsletters so I know when the next book is coming out and I can put it on my calendar. This means that a lot of what I read, I’m pretty sure I will like or at least find interesting, so those are the ones that end up on my Goodreads and as a hard copy on my bookshelf.
Girl Goals Veto = I don’t recommend
Girl Goals Switzerland = I’m neutral
Girl Goals Approved = I recommend
Girl Goals Gold Star = I highly recommend
