So many good books I read in January—a total of 24. Keep in mind that nineteen of these were adult books and five were children or youth books.
I think my favorite one was Reason for Hope by Jane Goodall. It was her account of becoming involved with chimps and of establishing Gombe, and led me through her journey to helping others see that everything is connected. On her website, www.janegoodall.org the statistic is pointed out that in 1900 it is estimated that one million chimpanzees lived in the wild, and that today there are as few as 340,000.
One of the children’s books which was gentle and beautifully illustrated was A Different Pond by Bao Phi—about a Vietnamese father and his son as they go fishing each morning.
A disturbing book was Caste—The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson. This was about the caste system in the U.S. and was an eye-opener to me. One of my book groups discussed it and it was good to have a group.
Two books filled my need for historical fiction, The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard; and The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict.
Lenten Lands by Douglas H. Gresham was satisfying. Last year I read C. S. Lewis’ book, A Grief Observed. Douglas Gresham was Joy’s son from her first marriage and it was somehow settling to fit his perspective into this part of their joint lives through his eye-witness account of Lewis and his mother, Joy Davidman.
And the last book I’d mention for January is This Is My Story, This Is My Song by Jerome Hines. I am not a fan of opera but I read about Hines in a book by Madeleine L’Engle and it led me to his autobiography (short, very readable book). He told of his daily relationship with God and his asking for and receiving guidance directly.
What a varied bunch of books for one month.
