the books on my nightstand, January edition

After a hit and miss year of reading in 2015, and thanks to being addicted to shows on Netflix (Gilmore Girls, Call the Midwife, Parenthood), I made a vow to read more this year.  I kept a running note of books I read during the Christmas season (starting right before Thanksgiving and ending right before the new year), and the number of books I read was over ten.  I can't find the note on my phone, but it was at least that many.

I got the new year started off with a bang and went over my goal for the month.  Here are the books that I couldn't put down and that kept me up way too late at night.  (I have mentioned this before, but the fiction books I read are the ones written by Christian authors.  I have to keep it clean, or I don't want to read the book, no matter how great the review.  It's just a personal conviction of mine.)

One.

Blossom Street Brides, by Debbie Macomber.

Debbie Macomber isn't in the Christian fiction genre, but her books are clean and really good.  I've read almost all of the books she has written, and I started them when I was first married.  She now has a show on the Hallmark channel called Cedar Cove.  This book had some of the beloved characters from that series of books.

Two.

The Inn at Rose Harbor, by Debbie Macomber.

Three.

Rose Harbor in Bloom, by Debbie Macomber.

This is a new series she wrote in the last couple years or so, and they were both so good!  I couldn't put either one down.

Four.

Promise Me Always, by Christine Lynxweiler.

I found this one while I was at the library the last time, and I picked it out because she wrote a Christmas book that I loved.  This one was not that great, and I rushed through it to get to my next read that I had lined up.

Five.

At Home in Mitford, by Jan Karon.

I realize that I am late to this bandwagon, but wow!  It was worth the wait.  It took me a whole week and a half to make my way through this book, but it was almost five hundred pages long.  I finished it last night right after midnight, and I almost picked up the next one to read right away but figured I'd better go to sleep.  This is a sweet book, and the setting takes place in a town I'd love to live in, if it really existed.  I loved getting to know Father Tim and Barnabas, Dooley, Emma, Miss Sadie and Puny.  I can't wait to start the next one!

And because the thirty-first is still five days away, I started the sixth book for the month, which is A Light in the Window, by Jan Karon.

I'll probably include this one in next month's reading list, though, because I doubt I'll finish it in time.

I started a nonfiction book by Kelly Minter that I mentioned in my goals for January post at the beginning of the month, but I have not picked it back up.  I will most likely finish that either by the end of this week, or by the first week of February.  It bugs me having a book lying around that I haven't finished, but the ones I've been reading have been so good that I just kept right on with those.  I love to read a series of books, and already knowing what will come next.  I borrowed all these books from the library, which is my happy place, but they can all be found at my favorite shopping spot, also known as Amazon.

I hope this inspires you to read a great book!  Happy reading and love to all.