January Was…

January was a pretty good month for reading, given the fact I was sick for the first two weeks! I was able to get through all the books on my ‘January Is’ list…as well as some extras. Here’s the total tally:

• Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter Mosley – finished!
• Beyond the Black Stump by Nevil Shute – finished!
• The Dollmaker by Harriett Arnow – finished (thanks to NYC)!
• The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin by Gordon Wood – Finished!
• Everyday Zen: Love and Work by Charlotte Joko Beck – Finished!
• Alburquerque by Rudolfo Anaya – Finished!

and the extras:

• The Funnies by J. Robert Lennon (was actually a reread)
• Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (started on a whim and couldn’t put it down)
• Book Lover’s Cookbook by Janet Jensen (as a Christmas present)
• A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr (something I had laying around…but didn’t finish. Not yet, at least!)

Out of all the reads I think Thousand Acres and Alburquerque were my favorites. Both had a lot of locational culture, if that makes sense. I learned a lot about farming from Acres and more than a lot about food, traditions, history and the people of Alburquerque.