January in Review

My Reading

# of books read: 19
Best(s): Night of Cake and Puppets, Steel Seraglio, Revolver, Akata Witch

Easy Challenges: all 17 worked for Beat the Backlist; and 13 for Library Love
Challenging Challenges:

• Popsugar--6/52--Alliteration in title: Wonderwoman: Warbringer; LGBQT+ protagonist: Dress Codes for Small Towns; Mental Health: We Are Okay; Two authors: The Steel Seraglio (which actually has three authors); Translated work: First Man; POC author: Akata Witch
• Discussion Challenge: Two posted: Wannabe Librarian & Mirrors, but Also Aspirations

Bookish Events and Happenings

Well, let's see. Here I am at a reading retreat. During summer of 2016 I came down to the coast for four days for a writing retreat, and it was so amazing and wonderful and fun. The same organizers have added a "book club" retreat this year. I thought how wonderful it sounded, but dismissed the possibility. Then I found out The Winemaker is leaving town for close to two weeks in March, and I thought--hey, maybe I should find out about this four day retreat! And it turned out it was coming up in two weeks, and it turned out they had some extra room, and it turned out they offered me a scholarship, and BOOM, I had just enough time to burn through two of the three books (the third one being one I'd already read) and make some plans, and now here I am:

We read Glass Castle, This is Where I Leave You, and Steel Seraglio. The first two have movie adaptations, so we're discussing in the afternoon and watching the movie in the evening, then we'll discuss the third one Sunday morning before breaking up. Our discussion guide is a professor at a small local college, and she is really getting us to think and reflect as we discuss. Plus, they cook amazing food for us, and as a side bonus, most of the other participants are also adoptive parents, so we have that to bond over and discuss as well. 

If it sounds interesting, definitely look into it. Both retreats have had people flying in from around the country, as well as plenty of Oregonians. 

Oh, and if you haven't seen the Trevor Noah interview with Jason Reynolds, check that out too.

On the Blog

This is my 17th post this month, which is a big jump from my norm. It's partly because I took an unplanned hiatus in December, and am feeling motivated and energized again. It's also because I got a bee in my bonnet on MLK Day and spent the rest of that week posting lists of books that I believe honor his spirit and message. The last one is here, and it links to all the others. I posted two actual reviews (go me!), for Akata Witch and Night of Cake and Puppets. 

IRL

Did I mention that I'm at a reading retreat?  😀 😀 😀

It's rained a bunch, but we've not had the crazy winter other parts of the country have, or that we had last year. I tried Stitch Fix for the first time, and sent everything back. One of my kids switched schools, and it's going okay? Sort of? There's not really much to report this month.

We usually start seeing some early flowers in February here, which is something to look forward to for sure!

My monthly summaries are always linked to the Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up on Feed Your Fiction Addiction, along with many other terrific blogs' monthly reflections.  Nicole usually puts together a fun scavenger hunt giveaway too, so go check it out!