January Reads 2022

 

January is over

Here is what I read.

What I Loved

What I Didn’t Love.

 

The Hidden Island Series by Ragnar Jonasson were a huge hit for me to start off 2022. I read book 1 and 2 and am waiting on book 3. Book one, The Darkness, takes place in Iceland, Hulda, a sixty-something investigator struggles with her past, her pushy boss and a looming retirement not to mention a dead Russian girl makes for a great first book in a series read. Book two, The Island, reintroduces Hulda now younger (we go backwards in the series) trying to figure out one murder far away in the northwest of Iceland that may be tied to a murder that occurred long ago. The police department is a bit (a bit?) misogynistic making life hard for her to work cases but she goes to great scary lengths to solve the crimes.

  

*What I loved: Iceland, the culture, the people, the vastness and isolation. Hulda’s character, her memories are just as vivid as her present in the books. Super Highly recommend.

What I didn’t love: Zip. Awesome books.

 

The next two books were memoirs about a woman, Kate Bowler, who is a well-known professor of theological history at Yale. She’s young, she’s married, she has a new baby working a job she loves suddenly with diagnosed with colon cancer at the prime of her life. 

Kate Bowler books I read:

Everything Happens For A Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved

No Cure For Being Human: And Other Truths I Need to Hear.

 

*What I loved: her humor, her tenacity, her thoughts on facing death and most of all, her relationship with her entire life, family, work and the health care system.

What I didn’t like? I liked almost everything but one must gird their loins before reading any memoir about a disease that has a poor prognosis. (Don’t worry, she is still alive as of this writing).

 

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami.

Will review this incredibly brilliant book later.

 

Untamed by Glennon Doyle.

A very hard book to review at this point. I liked it immensely but neurotic humans make me ten times more neurotic. We will discuss this soon. I may need a glass of wine first.

 

The Night Swim by Megan Golden

Will review this soon too, I LOVED THIS BOOK! RECOMMEND.

 

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams.

A must review this month, this is my favorite book of the year so far.

 

More later, stay warm and healthy.

Cheryl