BOOKS I FINISHED - JANUARY 2026

 

Barbara Isn't Dying, written by Alina Bronsky and translated from German by Tim Mohr

This book, which I learned about from What Should I Read Next?, episode 408 - Reading around the world, is about an elderly man who wakes up and wonders if his wife died because he can't smell the coffee she always has brewing in the morning. She's still alive, but he immediately finds himself thrust into responsibilities he's never had in at least fifty years of marriage as he becomes both homemaker and caregiver. It's a story of marriage, gender roles, family dynamics, and community relationships, filled with love, tension, secrets, regrets, grief, and people doing the best they can in the circumstances they're in. It's sad, funny, and very human. I loved it.

Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany, written and illustrated by Jane Mount

I love everything about this book. Books about books always intrigue me, but this one's easy to read in little bits of time, all the bookish trivia is interesting, and the painted illustrations are awesome. Each two page spread covers a bookish topic (formative faves, novels of the 1800s, iconic covers, southern lit, dystopia, bookmobiles, read around the world, etc.) and some topics are repeated throughout the book (beloved bookstores, writing rooms, striking libraries, etc.). Mount also has three other book-related books - two for adults (I'm skimmed one and haven't seen the other yet), one for kids (loved it) - that she's illustrated.

Finding Lost, written by Holly Goldberg Sloan and narrated by Khaya Fraites 

I did a search for good middle grade audiobooks and this was on one list. A girl, her younger brother, and their mom are still grieving the death of their dad and husband a few years earlier. Small town life, a stray dog the family takes in, intergenerational relationships, and learning to accept change when security is all you want. I've previously enjoyed two other books by this author and this one was also a win. Bonus points that it was unexpectedly set on the Oregon coast, in a town where I spent a lot of time when I was eighteen.

The Friendship Bench: How Fourteen Grandmothers Inspired a Mental Health Revolution, written by Dixon Chibanda, MD

I enjoyed this book about how personal connections, taking the time to listen to someone's story, developing ties within your community, recognizing the long-term impact of political and cultural events, and demonstrating genuine compassion make a radical difference in helping those struggling with their mental health. Based on the work of a psychiatrist in Zimbawbe and his collaboration with several elderly women in his community, a project that eventually went worldwide, it's a reminder that medical science and shared humanity both have their place in healing, but that the latter is far more accessible to everyone than the former. I particularly loved the author's humility in admitting his own struggles and his willingness to keep learning, always adding to what he already knows for a more well-rounded way of thinking that benefits even more people. I also respect the intentional choice to team up with older women who have a perspective that comes from many decades of life experience and who are already respected in their communities. This book isn't on my TBR and I've checked all the places I get book recommendations without any luck, so I have no idea how I heard about it. 

p. 92, She simply nodded and affirmed, "There is no culture that is superior to another culture."

p. 111, "The first thing you say is, 'I'm here for your. Would you like to share your story with me?'"

The Frozen River, written by Ariel Lawhon and narrated by Jane Oppenheimer with author's note narrated by Lawhon

Included in a friend's list of top books in 2025, which is how I learned about it, this novel is set in Maine during the late 1700s. It's a story of murder, midwifery, and marriage (hooray for unintentional alliteration!) at a time in our country when women had no voice. Told from the perspective of a middle-aged woman - a wife in a strong, healthy marriage, a mother with both pride in and concern for her mostly adult children, a midwife who's privy to personal information about many people in the community, a literate woman (most women weren't) who could testify in court on her own (other women had to have a husband or father with them in order to speak) - it's inspired by a real person and I enjoyed it. Heads up that there are descriptions of rape and that the legal proceedings concerning it are a major plot point.

11:41:37, Though you never think it possible, you can celebrate and grieve in the same breath. It is a holy abomination.

Here Be Dragons: Treading the Deep Waters of Motherhood, Mean Girls, and Generational Trauma, written by Melanie Shankle

This book, which I learned about in The Latest Lazy Letter from The Lazy Genius in April 2025, is about the author's dysfunctional relationship with her very toxic mom, as well as the way that relationship impacted the author's own approach to motherhood. Spanning childhood through well into adulthood, the reader learns about the damage that came from that unhealthy relationship and the cycle of personal growth and boundary setting that allowed her to move forward in a healthy way. That experience later allowed her to guide her own daughter through the cruel relationships she'd face in high school. For those it matters to, the author writes from a Christian viewpoint and her faith, while not preachy, is definitely apparent.

p. 120, However, the key to letting God completely heal you is to fully grieve as you surrender the hope you had that things could be different and trust that He will redeem what you've been through in ways you can't see at the time. He will truly give us beauty for the ashes of things in our lives that have burned down.

p. 137, There is something incredibly healing about getting to be the thing in someone else's life that you wished you'd had in your own. 

p. 147, Whatever we value or pay the most attention to in our children's lives are the things we're telling them are the most important. So if they see us focus on social standing, athletic achievements, academic prowess, and material things more than on kindness, contentment, humility, and respect, we're failing them as humans. 

Here One Moment, written by Liane Moriarty and narrated by Caroline Lee and Geraldine Hakewill

Moriarty, an Australian author, has written several novels, but I'd never read any until this one came up as a "skip the line" option on Libby when I needed an audiobook. It starts with an older woman on a plane telling the other passengers at what age and in what manner she predicts they'll die. Their reactions vary from amusement to anger, but everyone pays more attention when the first prediction comes true. Alternating between the woman's life story and the experiences of several passengers who were impacted by the predictions she made about them, this is a story about family, friendship, and romantic pursuits, as well as of the power of fear, what it means to live, and the reasons we make the choices we do. I learned about this book on Modern Mrs. Darcy - My favorite audiobooks of 2025. 

4:48:24, "Don't buy into this idea that you've only truly lived if you've traveled. As if taking the same photos at the same tourist spots as everyone else is the only thing that counts as living."

8:29:05, Marriage is a mysterious institution, even from the inside. Sometimes it can feel like a softly furnished minimum security prison. 

I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death, written by Maggie O'Farrell

Usually a novelist, O'Farrell shifted to memoir for this book. Each chapter is about a time her life came close to ending. Chance encounters, childhood disease, medical catastrophe, plans gone awry - and, in the final chapter, her own daughter's daily battle to stay alive. In writing about all the times she could have died, her book also becomes about the gift of living. I found the writing style beautiful, her use of words artistic. Anne Bogel is a fan of O'Farrell, so I probably heard about this book on an episode of What Should I Read Next? and failed to make note of it, but I'm not sure.

p. 119 (quoting Seven Gothic Tales, written by Karen Blixen), I  know a cure for everything: salt water ... in one way or the other. Sweat, or tears, or the salt sea.

The Night in Question, written by Susan Fletcher

Part mystery - an apparent suicide attempt may have actually been an attempted murder. Part history - a woman in her late eighties thinks back over the people she's loved and experiences she's had throughout her life. Most books lean toward either plot or character, but I felt like this one, which I enjoyed, was balanced between the two. Set in an assisted living facility, this novel, which I learned about from a friend, has characters of all personalities, a timeline that alternates between the past and the present, grand adventures, profound grief, and deep friendship. For those who like reading authors from outside of America, Fletcher (different than the Susan Fletcher who wrote Shadow Spinner) is from England. 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, written by Betty Smith and narrated by Kate Burton with afterword written and narrated by Jacquelyn Mitchard

I'd never read this classic book and checked it out when it showed up on Libby's "skip the line" list. This character driven story is set in the early 1900s and chronicles the life of a girl from age 11 to 17, including several immediate and extended family members. It deals with a variety of experiences - poverty, education, hard work, alcoholism, social class, gender norms, family life, career aspirations, political situations - in ways that are tender, funny, sad, maddening, and very human. I enjoyed the book and plan to watch the movie.

2:52:34, She started a new life where her old one left off. She exchanged her tenderness for capability. She gave up her dreams and took over hard realities in their place.

4:49:22, Oh, magic hour, when a child first knows it can read printed words. 

5:20:19, "You had tickets, but you thought you could be smart and get something you weren't entitled to. When people gamble, they think only of winning. They never think of losing. Remember this: Someone has to lose and it's just as apt to be you as the other fellow."

5:57:14, Francie had heard swearing since she had heard words. Obscenity and profanity had no meaning as such among those people. They were emotional expressions of inarticulate people with small vocabularies. They made a kind of dialect. The phrases could mean many things according to the expression and tone used in saying them. So now, when Francie heard themselves called "lousy bastards", she smiled tremulously at the kind man. She knew that he was really saying, "Goodbye. God bless you."

13:19, "I will not speak falsely and say to you, 'Do not grieve for me when I go.' I have loved my children and tried to be a good mother and it is right that my children grieve for me. But let your grief be gentle and brief, and let resignation creep into it."

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 2, written by Beth Brower and narrated by Genevieve Gaunt

In need of light fiction, and having been told after reading the print version of the first book in this series last month that audio is a better option, I was happy to see volume two available immediately on Libby. This book is a continuation of witty journal entries from a young woman navigating societal expectations, financial struggles, problematic relatives, and more in the 1880s. 

PUZZLES I FINISHED - JANUARY 2026

Beguiled by the Wild - Artist: Charley Harper - Pomegranate ArtPiece Puzzle - 1,000 pieces

A customer at the Friends of the Library shop that I volunteer in donated a bunch of puzzles and, knowing that I love them myself, told me to look through the stash and take any I wanted. I thought this was a fun scene and I've liked two other puzzles I've done from this Portland company, so I got home. It's my first puzzle of the year, done from start to finish in one day after not having touched a puzzle since 12/30.

Hawaiian Food Truck Festival - Artist: Unidentified, but I would bet it's Eric Dowdle - Buffalo: Pun Fuzzles - 1,000 pieces

A friend shared this puzzle with me when she finished it. There are picture puns to decipher, tacos to count, and lots of fun things going on in the scene. 

Love Stories - Re-Marks - 1,000 pieces

I love bookish puzzles, regardless of how many of the books featured I've personally read (which I think is three in this case). This puzzle was a thrift store find that had never been opened.

Peppercricket Farms -Artist: Charles Wysocki - Hasbro - 1,000 pieces

Sometimes I wonder just how many Wysocki puzzles exist in the world. Lots! I love the signs on the building in this one.

Seaport Village - Artist: Heronim (Harry Wysocki) - Sure-Lox - 1,000 pieces

I loved the water and tree colors in this one. I described the scene as "Wysocki-ish", referring to Charles Wysocki, before discovering the artist is his brother. 

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful that I stayed off Facebook yesterday. What's one thing that you're thankful for?

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for lotion. What's one thing that you're thankful for?

1/18/26 - WORTH REPEATING

*****

People are complicated. And the longer you live, the more you realize the most inexcusable behavior often stems from the saddest traumas.

~ Brandon Stanton // Humans of New York, 10/12/25 post


*****

(I)f I waited for the other person, the person who hurt me, if I wait for them to own what they did and say they're sorry, I may attach my wellbeing to the person who's hurt me the most for the rest of my life. And the severing can only happen is if I detach my ability to heal and move forward and recognize forgiveness is not so much giving a gift to this person. Forgiveness is God's prescription for the human heart to heal. It's much more about me and God.

~ Lysa TerKeurst // How To Forgive When the Hurt Was So Unfair // Therapy & Theology

*****

Being thoughtful does not require anyone to say anything to you about what you did. Being impressive absolutely requires someone else saying something to you about what you did.

~ Kendra Adachi // 10 Ways to Simplify a Holiday Gathering // The Lazy Genius

*****

I love to think of nature as unlimited broadcasting stations, through which God speaks to us every day, every hour and every moment of our lives, if we will only tune in and remain so.

~ George Washington Carver // 1440 Daily Digest,  1/5/26 edition

*****

Don't measure every day against your best day. Don't do it.

~ Kendra Adachi // 12 Ways to Be a Better Problem Solver, Part 1 // The Lazy Genius

*****

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful to live in a place with four distinct seasons. What's one thing that you're thankful for?

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for my electric kettle. What's one thing that you're thankful for?