It feels like 2022 has only just begun, and yet here we are one month down already. At the end of 2021, when I posted my monthly reads, I wasn’t sure if I would keep posting each month, but I’ve decided to keep listing them. I have been experimenting with an app called Storygraph which also allows me to track my reads, but for now I quite like listing them a little old-school.
In 2021 I read 153 books, and I am hoping to match that this year. Keeping a monthly tally should also help me to keep to that – it motivates me on the days when I find myself a little distracted from reading.
Anyway, in spite of that aim, I find that I am reaching the end of January with a pretty low tally of only seven books for the month, even though there are some wonderful reads.. Here’s what I read:
Books for Children
(all three of these books came as review copies from Walker Books Australia)
1. Michael Rosen’s Sticky McStickstick, by Michael Rosen & Tony Ross (Walker Book, 2022). I love all of Michael Rosen’s books, but this was extra special, as it does something very difficult – dealing with the impact of Covid-19 – with aplomb. This is Rosen’s personal account of how he learnt to walk again after being critically ill with Covid 19. It is gentle, honest and very child-friendly.
2. A Good Place, by Lucy Cousins (Walker Books, 2022). Look at this cover! Why wouldn’t I fall in love with this picture book? It’s happy and bright and has a gentle environmental message too. Can’t wait to share this one with my grandchildren, the Murphlings.
3. 
Pearly and Pig and the Great Hairy Beast, by Sue Whiting (Walker Books 2022). Wow! I have to confess that Sue is a good friend of mine, and so I am always excited to read her books, but putting that aside, this books is excellent. Adventure, a little humour, and a character whose best friend is a pig. What’s not to love? And I am pleased to see that Pearly and Pig will be back for more adventures.
Fiction for Adults
- Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens. I am glad I finally read htis, having seen it mentioned in so many places since it was released. I finally downloaded it on audio and listened to it fairly quickly. I know an audio book has me hooked when I start listening to it in the house instead of just saving it for the car. Beautiful, sad and mysterious in equal measure.
2. 
Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell (Headline, 2020). Another one I am super glad I read. The story of Hamnet, William Shakespeare’s son, but also of Shakespeare and his relationship with his wife (Agnes) and family. I really felt drawn to Agnes – very well wrought.
3. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle. Continuing my read of Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection, read by Stephen Fry on audio, I got through another book this month. Nothing nicer than driving along listening to Stephen Fry, who is a wonderful narrator, and really enjoying the writing too.
Nonfiction
Atlas of the Heart, by Brene Brown (Penguin Random House,2021). I was really excited to read this, having read all of Brown’s earlier books, and adored them. She explores emotions in ways that are accessible and ‘real’, and this new offering is, although a little different than her others, extraordinary. I read it cover to cover but plan to reread and dip in to further digest. And I am going to try to find time this year to reread her backlist.
So, only seven books this month, but I loved them all. And, only 146 to go to match last year’s tally. I’m up for that!
What have you been reading?
There’s the review pile, which is two shelves in my office,currently home to perhaps books (and, I suspect, likely to grow int he next few days as is wont to happen at the start of a new month). There’s my Borrowbox App on my phone, which has just three unread audio books on it, only because I have a limit of five and I returned two this morning. (if you don’t know about Borrowbox, ask your local librarian. Or ask me.) there’s the pile next to my lounge chair which has perhaps ten books I’ve bought and promised myself don’t need shelving until i have read them. And, in the back bedroom (which I once envisioned becoming my office – ohh how naive is a mother of young adults and a revolving front door), there is a special bookshelf of unread books which I simply must read, and which used to be a pile until it threatened to reach the ceiling and so was designated a bookcase. And that is just my to-be-read pile of books I’ve actually acquired, because I also have lists (several) of books which I MUST borrow/buy and read as soon as possible.
, by Joanna Penn