Books of the Month: Jan 2024
Remember January? I saw several posts about how January this year felt about six months long, and it did feel long for me too, but this was partly because I took a train to New Orleans halfway through the month, so it was divided into 3 distinct parts for me. Also, turns out two 20+ hour Amtrak trips are a good way to catch up on some reading. Here's the books I read in January that I think are neat:
A Tine to Live, A Tine to Die (Edith Maxwell): Starting strong here with yet another punnily-titled cozy mystery series of the "youngish woman moves back somewhere that was important during her childhood, starts business, solves murders" variety. There's only 5 books in this particular series (and I read them all in January). I enjoyed the organic farm setting, and the characters. Some things that set this apart from similar series for me: recurring characters aren't just side characters throughout but end up featured in future books (as murderers or victims!), and our heroine actually goes from one love interest to another without the first one being removed neatly by the plot, e.g. by murdering someone (though I think it's fairly clear which one's going to be the final guy, which is ok with me - that's what I expect from a cozy series!)
The Shepherd's Life: A Tale of the Lake District (James Rebanks): I actually (re)read this book slowly over the end of last year, but finished the reread in January. A nonfiction book about exactly what it says (the day to day of being a shepherd in the Lake District) and also about the author's experience balancing taking over the family farm with getting a degree at Oxford. As someone getting a PhD who also spends time working outside with my hands (not that my job is nearly as demanding as Rebanks') I enjoy reading his thoughts. I also think it's good for all of us to read about lives that are not our own.
Legends and Lattes (Travis Baldree): If you are in the same circles on tumblr as me and haven't read this, I assume you don't want to, because I have seen so many others post about it; but just in case you were waiting for one more nudge, I did find it very sweet (pun intended). My sister gave it to me for Christmas and I started it on the train home. It does have some plot, but it's low-stakes and fun. Sometimes you just want to read about the logistics of opening a fantasy coffee shop, and also the cute found family that emerges from the effort to do so.
