It’s already two weeks into a new year. I hope yours is off to a good start. I set a reading goal of 60 books and achieved that number just as the calendar prepared to flip. As always, my list contains a mixture of genres, including fiction, non-fiction, and self-help. There is one book that stands out as a favorite, a book that captivated me from page one: The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson. I highly recommend it!
“A book is a gift you can open again and again.” Garrison Keillor
| TITLE | AUTHOR |
| The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck | Mark Manson |
| The Great Alone | Kristin Hannah |
| AWE: The Automatic Writing Experience | Michael Sandler |
| The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss | Mary-Frances O’Connor, PhD |
| Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting | Clare Pooley |
| The Authenticity Project | Clare Pooley |
| The Joy Luck Club | Amy Tan |
| We Should Not Be Friends: The Story of Friendship | Will Schwalbe |
| Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow | Gabrielle Zevin |
| On Hitler’s Mountain | Irmgard A. Hunt |
| The Good Life: Lessons From The World’s Longest Scientific Study Of Happiness | Robert Waldinger, MD & Marc Schultz, PhD |
| Hello Beautiful | Ann Napolitano |
| At Heaven’s Door: What Shared Journeys To The Afterlife Teach About Dying Well and Living Better | William J. Peters with Michael Kinsella, PhD |
| The Villa | Rachel Hawkins |
| Reckless Girls | Rachel Hawkins |
| Snap Out Of It | Maddie Dawson |
| Matchmaking for Beginners | Maddie Dawson |
| The Body Papers | Grace Talusan |
| The Opposite of Maybe | Maddie Dawson |
| The Survivor’s Guide to Family Happiness | Maddie Dawson |
| The Collected Regrets of Clover | Mikki Brammer |
| The Book of Lost Names | Kristin Harmel |
| Before We Were Yours | Lisa Wingate |
| Wake Up With Purpose: What I’ve Learned in My First Hundred Years | Sister Jean with Seth Davis |
| The Four Winds | Kristin Hannah |
| The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration | Isabel Wilkerson |
| The Trail | Meika Hashimoto |
| Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived The Tennessee Children’s Home Society | Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate |
| Finding Dorothy | Elizabeth Letts |
| Community Board | Tara Conklin |
| The Guncle | Steven Rowley |
| Wade In The Water | Nyani Nkrumah |
| Find The Good: Unexpected Life Lessons From A Small-Town Obituary Writer | Heather Lende |
| You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism | Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar |
| The Third Wife | Lisa Jewell |
| The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell | Robert Dugoni |
| The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life’s Final Moments | Hadley Vlahos, RN. |
| Finding The Words: Working Through Profound Loss with Hope and Purpose | Colin Campbell |
| Keeper and Kid | Edward Hardy |
| Welcome To Beach Town | Susan Wiggs |
| The Family Remains | Lisa Jewell |
| Return To Willow Lake | Susan Wiggs |
| Watching You | Lisa Jewell |
| And Then There’s Margaret | Carolyn Clarke |
| The Book Woman’s Daughter | Kim Michele Richardson |
| The Secret | Rhonda Byrne |
| Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer | Barbara Ehrenreich |
| The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry | Gabrielle Zevin |
| The Whispers | Ashley Audrain |
| The Covenant of Water | Abraham Verghese |
| A Heart That Works | Rob Delaney |
| The Jolliest Bunch: Unhinged Holiday Stories | Danny Pellegrino |
| First Gen: A Memoir | Alejandra Campoverdi |
| Legitimate Kid: A Memoir | Aida Rodriguez |
| Homer: The Ninth Life of a Blind Wonder Cat | Gwen Cooper |
| Amazing Grace Adams | Fran Littlewood |
| Being Henry: The Fonz…and Beyond | Henry Winkler |
| Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope | Patty Wetterling with Joy Baker |
| The Little Liar | Mitch Albom |
| Homer’s Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, Or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat | Gwen Cooper |
Joan's Jottings 
Thank You! Always glean a few diamond from your yearly lists ! Hope you are well. Haven’t seen you in too-long.
Thanks for commenting. I’m sure the reading lists of the Furia’s (Sarah and Bob) also contain some must-reads. I hope all is well in your world. Hopefully, our paths will cross sometime soon. Stay well. And warm!
Thanks Joan!
Great to see your name! I hope you are well.
Hi Joan and Happy New Year. Great list. Four Winds was one of my favorites. I’ve read a number of Kristin Hannah books…The Great Alone is very good as well.
Cutting the Stone is the prelude to The Covenant of Water. I’m curious how you liked The Covenant of Water as stand alone? Both are quite lengthy.
Hope you’re doing well!
Pamela
Hey Pam. Thanks for reading this post and for the comment. I hope you are well. I have read The Great Alone and enjoyed it. I don’t read a lot of fiction generally, but since reading more books in retirement, I’ve read a lot more. I did not read Cutting the Stone. A friend recommended The Covenant of Water and I’d also seen it on bestseller lists. I enjoyed it, despite the 700+ pages. I wouldn’t say it was one of my favorites of the year, but I did enjoy the story and writing.
I’m so grateful to be a reader. I try to devote time every afternoon to curl up with a book. My cat, Mitzi, also enjoys reading time as she stays close by and naps. I hope life is good. If you are ever up this way, let me know. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. Take good care. Joan