January Book Recap

First month into the year and I got a couple good books read and acquired a few more.  Here's how January shook out.

So for what I read, I got three of the four books from January reading list read.

1. Uprooted by Naomi Novik (note: one of my friends is borrowing it so I subbed a similar sized book for the picture above).  This was a good book.  I really liked the first half, the whole setting laid out, and the mystery of The Dragon and everything about the village, but to me, it just felt like the second half just wasn't as amazing.  It was still good, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first half.  It felt like it was just holding on by it's finger tips.  More characters were introduced, and I didn't feel like all the relationships or reasoning for why certain people acted the way they did was logical but I would definitely read other books by her, and be up for a sequel to Uprooted.
2. A Little Princess by France Hodgson Burnett.  Okay, I'll admit it.  This book made me cry.  I wasn't  sure how it ended when I started reading it.  I know I've seen the movie and such, but just wasn't sure.  It's an obviously Victorian type story where good is pure good and bad is always bad.  There's not a whole lot of depth to the characters, but it's a children's story and a pretty good one.  Note, at the start of the book, Sara really annoyed me with her solemn, brave, perfectness, but the kid grew on me.
3. Reluctant Saint by Donald Spoto.  Do you ever realize that there's large chunks of history that you know very little about?  That's how I felt reading this biography of St. Francis of Assisi.  The 1200s are not usually my jam, but this biography made me realize how interesting some of the people were from this time.  I'm not Catholic, but just reading about Francis and all he went through, and how he went from being like the wild child of Assisi to living in a cave and  fasting and praying was just really interesting.  It made me want to find books on St. Clare and Jacoba- two of the women who followed Francis' order, and just learn more about the saints in general.

Books I Acquired

1. The Mindfulness Habit by Kate Sciandra.  This was on my want list so when it came up on Bookmooch, I had to get it.  I'm always trying to be more in the moment.
2. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriaty.  This was a gift from my Book and Cuppa partner, Diana.  I haven't read any of Moriaty's books, but I'm really looking forward to giving this one a whirl!
3. The Door by Margaret Atwood.  I know I've mentioned it like one hundred times before, but I really love Margaret Atwood, so when I found this collection of poems at the library used book sale, I snapped it up. Can't go wrong when it's only 50 cents!
4. The Snowman by Jo Nesbo.  I'm hoping Jo Nesbo will be able to fill the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo hole in my heart, and again, this was from the library book sale, so not much to lose.
5. Phantom also by Jo Nesbo.  I'm wondering I have to start this series with book one.  I suppose that'd be the logical spot to start.  This is book nine.
6. When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro.  I haven't read any Ishiguro's books befoere neither, but since this was at the book sale and so cheap, I snapped it up too.

2016 Totals:
Read 3
Acquired 6