Sunday Salon: January wrap up and February Reading plans

I was good during the month of January and concentrated on reading dusty books and made a small dent in my book stack but the stack had babies in February so back to where I started.  Actually clearing the stacks by reading authors and titles in alphabetical order after starting the year with a historical mystery, then a Canadian mystery for the Continental Challenge for 52 Books. 

At the end of last year I downloaded the first book in a new to me romantic action series - the Black Knights Inc by Julie Ann Walker.  And since I'm a sucker for series, had to download the other two since the first one was so good.  A small cheat on my buying ban which has now gone by the wayside with the result of a Super Bowl buying binge.  It may look like a long list but 3 or 4 books were very short and ebooks just seem to go faster.   

Started out the year thinking I would try and review every single book - not sure if that's going to work out.  We'll see. I'll have to mix it up with a few mini reviews. The links are to my reviews. 

1. The Rossetti Letter - Christi Phillips (Venice, Italy - 438)
2. Neuromancer - William Gibson (Cyberspace - 288 eb)
3.Around the World with Auntie Mame - Patrick Dennis (multi - 317)
4. No #1 Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith (Africa - 235 eb)
5. Sick - Brett Battles (California - 296 eb)  
6. Across the Universe - Beth Revis  (Space -398)
7. Genesis - Bernard Becket  (Fictitious Academy - 150)
8. Widow's Web (Elemental Assassin # 7) - Jennifer Estep (Appalachian Mountains - 400 eb) 
9. Hell on Wheels (Black Knights Inc. #1) - Julie Ann Walker (Chicago - 384 eb)
10. The Trial of Fallen Angels - James Kimmel (Shemaya fictional purgatory - 365) 
11. In Rides Trouble (Black Knights Inc. #2) - Julie Ann Walker (Chicago - 320 eb)
12. Rev It Up (Black Knights Inc. #3) - Julie Ann Walker (Chicago - 352 eb) 
13. The Bridge - Karen Kingsbury (Tennessee - 120 eb)
14. Pirate Latitudes - Michael Crichton (Jamaica -320)
15. Birthmarked - Caragh O'Brien (dystopian world - 384 eb) 
16. Black Order - James Rollins (Nepal, Germany, Africa - 622)
17. Killing Time (One Eyed Jacks #) - Cindy Gerard (Peru/Idaho - 400 eb)


For February, I am trying to read more non fiction books (writing craft wise and for 52 books inspiration challenge), plus Lent is coming up so...

I just completed my first non fiction read for inspiration challenge: Echoing Silence: Thomas Merton and the Vocation of Writing edited by Robert Inchausti.  It was comprised of essays from many of his books and interesting to see his thoughts over the years about writing and all the authors he corresponded with. Moving on to Pope Benedict's Jesus Of Nazareth: Holy Week from the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection
and Thomas Merton's New Seeds of Contemplation

Besides the two books which are still in progress - Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey and Neubauer's Write Brain Exercise Workbook  I'll be reading James Scott Bell's The Art of War for Writers. I know it sounds like a lot, but spread out over a week's period of time, my morning study time moves rather quickly. Although James has been bugging me to get back into writing Green Cross.  I think I may have to have a couple unplugged days during the week during Lent. 

Fiction wise, I'm currently listening to the audio book of Charles Dicken's Oliver Twist in the car and reading the hardback of  Deborah Crombie's No Mark Upon Her.  As you can see, I've moved on the D's and waiting in the wings is Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop and Robert Jordan's The Dragon Reborn. 

And last but not least, delving into  Yes, Your Teen is Crazy: Loving your Kid without Losing Your Mind by Michael Bradley, which was recommended to us and is a guide to how to deal with those tumultuous teenage years.   Speaking of teenagers, we are coming up on the deadline for spending the educational monies Visions gave us for the year. James seems to be like his father and prefers non fiction over fiction. Unless it's a comic book. I was coming up with a list of things to order and asked him what he'd like to read. He asked for - biography of Obama, Hitler, Queen Elizabeth, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Plus Commodore Perry in the land of the Shogun. My son has an interesting mind.  I'll let you know which one we end up reading first.   :)  

So - What are you reading?