january reads

well! my 2019 reading challenge has kicked off with a bang. i've set a goal to read 75 books this year, and somehow i've managed to read almost twice as many books this month as i have in the past few months. this is partially because i finally finished two tomes that i started in November, and also because i've been trying to read an actual book when i have a free moment, rather than fritter away so much time on social media. and i've been inspired by so many great books listed under the #cathLIT2019 challenge! without further ado:

1) Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee. i absolutely loved this book. it follows a Korean family who has emigrated to Japan prior to the second world war. the story is well-written and gripping on its own, but i found the culture and history especially fascinating.

2) Almost Everything: Notes on Hope, by Anne Lamott. Lamott has such a unique voice, both spiritual and prosaic, idealistic and honest. i found the subtitle of this book very apt; it's not a novel to blaze through in one sitting, but rather a collection of thoughts and insights that are best read in small chunks.

3) The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky {#cathLIT2019: A Book By An Orthodox Christian} this has long been on my list of books-to-read, and i was able to use one of my remaining Audible credits to download the audio book. clocking in at 37 hours and 4 minutes, the book was certainly an investment of time and mental space ... but it was worth it. the narrator gave unique voices to each character, which made it easy to follow, and i found a certain satisfaction in listening to a soliloquy on the nature of God while doing the dishes. it's a classic for a reason.

4) Winter Solstice, by Rosamunde Pilcher. oh my goodness! what a perfect winter read. the characters are lovable. the plot is so fun and unexpected that it flirts with being unbelievable at times, but in the best sort of way. and one of the main characters is an organist, which may be the first time i've ever encountered such a person in a work of fiction.

5) The Balkan Trilogy, by Olivia Manning. another excellent mammoth of a book, which follows two British newlyweds to Romania and then to Greece on the cusp of the second world war. Manning paints such vivid pictures of her characters, often summing them up in one deftly hilarious line a la P. G. Wodehouse. 

6) Setting the World on Fire: The Brief, Astonishing Life of St. Catherine of Siena, by Shelley Emling {#cathLIT2019: A Hagiography}. this was a great introduction to the life of St. Catherine of Siena. as a convert, i'm still learning about the details of the saints' lives, although living in Rome makes it much easier! we're planning a weekend trip to Siena next month, so i wanted to be sure to understand more about St. Catherine before we visit some of the notable sites there (including the Basilica Cateriniana di San Domenico, where her mummified head is displayed). as one of four women Doctors of the Church, St. Catherine has incredible wisdom to share, and her story is quite timely as the fourteenth century church was wracked with politics and corruption. sound familiar?! St. Catherine, pray for us! 

7) The Grace of Enough: Pursuing Less and Living More in a Throwaway Culture, by Haley Stewart {#cathLIT2019: A Recently Published Catholic Book}. i've been a long-time reader of Haley's blog Carrots for Michaelmas, so i already knew her family's story of moving to a small farm in Texas for a year (and i certainly could relate to the craziness of uprooting your family and ditching most of your belongings!). i was impressed by the depth of thought and research in her book; she goes well beyond just telling their story, to discussing how we are each called to value people more than things, and how to orient our lives around that truth even though it may look different for each family.

8) Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates. this book should be required reading for everyone. it's written as a father's letter to his son, his experience of the joys and the tragedies of growing up black in America. it made me laugh and it made me cry and ultimately, when i finished it, i just had to sit in silence for a while. Coates writes in a matter-of-fact tone that is all the more sobering for its lack of self-pity or vitriol. you should read it. and i plan to read it again in the future.

9) The Chaperone, by Laura Moriarty. an easy read, especially following Coates' book! this is the fascinating story of the woman who chaperoned Louise Brooks in New York City in the 1920s. i had never heard of Louise Brooks prior to this: she was a silent-film star, who actually did travel to New York to study dance as a teenager. a fascinating look at the city in the flapper era!

10) The Fran Lebowitz Reader, by Fran Lebowitz. i gave this book 4/5 stars on Goodreads. Lebowitz is bitingly funny, but this is definitely a book to be read in short snippets. it's a collection of very politically incorrect essays about life in New York City. if you need a little more snark in your life, Lebowitz is your woman!

on my bookshelf for next month:

Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration, by Pope Benedict XVI
The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt
In This House of Brede, by Rumer Godden (the Kindle version is on sale for $1.20!)
History of Wolves, by Emily Fridlund
Love and Ruin, by Paula McLain
Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church, by Lauren Drain