In many ways January was rough. Aside from celebrating my 45th birthday and my son’s 14th, the rest of the month was a long slog through upsetting/frustrating/rage-inducing events and media headlines. And yet we persevere.
I tried to take breaks from doomscrolling and read several books, including some rereads which is always comforting because you know how it turns out. I also prioritized daily workouts and walking outside.
This year I’m working on being more intentional about what I buy (and where I shop) so I’ve enjoyed some fun trips through my local thrift shops. I have a couple of small decor projects underway as a result of those thrifting trips so I’m excited to share those.
After watching Bishop Mariann Budde stick it to Trump in her sermon on mercy during the national prayer service, I enjoyed hearing some of her thoughts leading up to the sermon in this Glamour article. This is why my family attends an Episcopal church.
I always love what Sharon McMahon has to say, but I was especially moved by this Instagram post.
What I’m Reading:
After spending December with a handful of charming and lighthearted Christmas books, I started January without a clear book choice so I grabbed an old standby: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I loved this series so much when I first read it and it was fun to jump back in. Of course, I had to keep going with A Court of Mist and Fury, my favorite book of the series.
At that point I was ready for something new and I happened to find House of Earth & Blood at the library, which is the first in SJM’s Crescent City series. This series is wildly different from the ACOTAR or Throne of Glass books so I struggled to get invested. But a friend had warned me that it might take a while so I kept going and ended up liking it (just not as much as ACOTAR.)
If you’re a fantasy reader, you know that January also marked the release of Onyx Storm, the third installment of Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series. While I enjoyed it, I’ve found that neither Iron Flame or Onyx Storm compare to Fourth Wing (the first in the series). Without ruining the ending, I will say it ends on a pretty major cliffhanger and I’ve heard that Yarros hasn’t even started writing the next book and intends to take a break for health reasons. My guess is we won’t see the fourth book until 2027, which is a lonnng time to wait.
I also listened to one pretty lengthy audiobook: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, which was on my TBR list for quite a while. I think it would have been better to read in print because not only does it switch points of view frequently, but there’s a lot of allusion to previous details that I sometimes didn’t remember. It’s helpful to flip back and forth in this case but that’s almost impossible on audio. Most disappointing of all, my Libby loan expired before I could finish so I still don’t know how the book ends.
What I’m Watching:
In January I watched Black Doves which stars Keira Knightley as a spy trying to avenge the murder of her lover. Ben Whishaw is her partner in crime and since I’d only seen him playing the grownup Michael Banks in The Return of Mary Poppins, this character was a major change. It’s a little bloody but not terribly graphic and I was sucked in right away. It was intended to be a limited series but has already been renewed for a second season.
I’m excited for the third season of The White Lotus to start on February 16 even if we have to live without Jennifer Coolidge. I’m also interested in Zero Day, a movie airing on Netflix on February 20.
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