Reading Journal - January

I'm am going back to my Reading Journal format since the What's On Your Nightstand link-up is now defunct. January was a good reading month. I have a lot of non-fiction since I "fasted" reading fiction for 3 weeks. While I survived it amazes me that fiction makes me go to sleep so much faster than non-fiction! Here's January's list:

• Something Fresh - P.G. Wodehouse - The first book in the Blandings Series. There are a couple of classic Wodehouse moments in this story.
• The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro - I read this along with the Close Reads podcast. This is a slow moving story which was an okay read. 
• Henry V - William Shakespeare - This is my first time through any Henry play. I definitely need to go back and read the Henry IV plays. I also find my first time through a Shakespeare play leaves me a little befuddled. 
• Adorned: Living Out the Beauty of the Gospel Together - Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth - The focus on this book is older women mentoring younger women. The author goes through the scripture in Titus and breaks it down piece by piece. Excellent read.
• Becoming a Welcoming Church - Thom Rainer - I found out that we have some things we need to work on for our church. This is a short and sweet little book that is very helpful.
• Chasing the Horizon: Our Adventures Through the British Isles and France - Patrick Kinkade - This was such a charming book with little vignettes painted by Thomas Kinkade. Patrick (Thomas' brother) tells of their trip to Britain and France with their dad. Some of the trip was retracing their father's journey when he fought at D-Day. There are a few funny stories, but overall I felt it was lacking when compared to other books about travel.
• Cozy Minimalist Home: More Style, Less Stuff - Myquillyn Smith - I read The Nesting Place a few years ago and really enjoyed the style and tone and the affirmation that it was okay to go with what you liked.  In Cozy Minimalist Home it felt like the author was giving too many dos  and don'ts which will never be applied in my home. I really had to part ways when she constantly kept saying to add throw pillows. I'm sure there are way that I could improve my home, but I'm pretty happy with how it looks--especially without throw pillows!
• Darkest Hour: How Churchill Brought Back from the Brink - Anthony McCarten - This book passed through my hands at work so I brought it home to give it a read. I haven't seen the movie yet. This was an enjoyable read even though it was written as a movie tie-in. At the end of the book the author shares his opinion that Churchill was on the brink of settling for peace with Hitler. I'm not too sure what to think of this opinion and will probably have to do a lot more reading before I know where the truth lies.
• Decluttering at the Speed of Life - Dana White - I read this book on my Kindle which means I've been reading it for a very long time. One reason I bought this book is that I enjoyed her first book, How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind, and thought she did such a great job of simplifying the cleaning process. In the Decluttering book she does the same thing. her advice is probably just as good as Maria Kondo's and you don't have to thank your clothes, etc. while you are decluttering.
• Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky - This book is about making more time (as the title suggests). I liked how they set it up with their suggestions, but a lot of it is repetition such most suggestion refer to controlling your social media usage.

I listened to:

• The Inimitable Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse - When a lot of people talk about Wodehouse they seem to love the Blandings series or PSmith, but honestly, I don't think it gets any better that a Bertie and Jeeves book. This book is in the beginning of the series and are more stories than a continuous novel, but this doesn't feel like short stories. There are enough of the same characters to make the stories flow.