January is a beautiful and chilly winter month here. I layered up in sweaters, scarves, and mittens to enjoy the park.
January just seemed to fly by. I chatted with a fellow bookworm about my commitment to reading more advanced readers' editions and short stories that are translated into English. We discussed many things, including how we love coming home to stacks of book-shaped parcels, and discussed which digital platforms we like to use.
January Reads
This month, I have read three novels that deal with family secrets, miracles, and tragedy. The advanced reader's editions are made available to me through publishers, agents, and authors.
In an alternate reality, I imagine myself living in a cabin in the woods. I'd have family, dogs, books, and cups of coffee to keep me company. And mornings would be spent watching the sun glistening through the trees.
One-Match Fire is the story of love given and withheld among a grandfather, a father, and a grandson, and the Ozark cabin where they could usually find peace amid their struggles with each other. It is a saga of three generations.
Daddy's Girl is a story of one family facing the most daunting of circumstances: celebration and devastation. Michael Schnabel, Stephanie’s father, tells the story of survival and how three generations of a family respond to the crisis.
In Liquid Shades of Blue as Jack begins to uncover the truth about his mother’s death, including the secret she had revealed to only two people—the same secret Bobby had taken with him to his grave—he finds himself in imminent danger. Can Jack reveal the true story before it’s too late? He has to act quickly, or he fears he may be the victim of the next Girard family tragedy.
In addition to the three novels above, I have been studying a collection of short stories by prolific french author Guy de Maupassant. Maupassant is known for symbolism and ironic endings. and many of his stories are rooted in the 1870s and 1880s France and depict a counterbalance in the frailty of human nature.
I believe it is important to support individuals in identifying and pursuing life goals and am currently reading a children's illustrated book in which the character has Down Syndrome. The author tells me she was inspired to write this story by her daughter who has Down Syndrome so her daughter would see other children with Down Syndrome in literature.
In my book club, we have been discussing movies and series of the season. I am still trying to catch up on what I have missed about Virgin River based on books written by Robyn Carr. This series is about the small, fictional community of Virgin River geographically isolated in the woods of Northern California.
The series is actually shot in Vancouver and its surrounding mountainous areas and follows a nurse practitioner, recently widowed, who moves to Virgin River to accept a position as a midwife. I was drawn to this series because it includes many shots of the mountains.
Lori's Book Loft Blog viewership this month has been from the United States, Singapore, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Russia, Australia, Israel, Montenegro, Switzerland, Brazil, Ireland, India, Canada, Indonesia, South Korea, and Laos.