January was a great reading month

My goal for this year is exactly the same as it was last year - 70 books.

The difference is that this year I'm aiming to finish two weeks into December, so instead of having 52 weeks, I'm going to read these books in 50 weeks.

The reason for this shortened timeline is that for Dec 2015, I was left with 10 books. I honestly didn't think I'd make it. I thought I'd come close (like 67 of the 70 books) but really didn't think it was possible.

Instead, I was hardly on the social media (did you notice?) and I read, read, read. It was delightful.

I could use the excuse of having to reach my reading goal to legitimately sit and "do nothing" for hours on end, which is what an ESTJ needs to do to relax. The relaxing needs to be on the to-do list.

Still, I didn't have the luxury of stopping books because I'd already invested x number of hours in that book.

So this year, I want to finish by mid-December and do purely reading for pleasure afterwards.

Yes, all reading is pleasure except when I'm reading for the blog, but you know what I mean.


Reading is also one of the ways I'm supporting my goals this year.


Back to January.

I got one audio book done while driving to work once back from leave, one physical, non-fiction book from my shelf, one from the library and the rest were Kindle books.

Let's quickly whizz through a few of my 4-star ratings but you can check them out properly on my Goodreads profile.

Tara Road

This was my second Maeve Binchy novel. Think The Holiday but 20 - 30 years earlier. Interesting in that the other protagonist was introduced very late in the book but I loved it anyway. I'm noticing that there is a real difference with authors published "back in the day" and these newfangled authors. It sounds very poncy of me to say this but the editing is better, character development is good, the writing seems better.... and now I'm showing my age :)

Each and every one

Another novel set in Dublin. I was glued to this one til it finished. WHOOSH. Read it for family dynamics, parent-adult child and adult sibling relationships. Loved it.

I'm going to get her other books too.


The First-born Advantage

That link is to all the Kevin Leman books on Kindle. I had this paperback for years and years, and only after my colleague read my copy and kept talking to me about it, did I get it together and read it.

Now I'm telling everybody to read it, if you're a firstborn, married to a firstborn or are interested in Birth Order.

I recommend the Birth Order book too, and Making Children mind without losing yours.

This month I'm listening to Parenting your Powerful Child on audible :)

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I've been on a book-buying binge... but only cheaper ones.

By the way, this bookbub thing is not working for me. I haven't yet seen any books I like....... they seem to be all random stuff I'd stop three chapters in....

Is there any book you recommend from your January reading? Do share!
Do you set reading goals?

PS the links to the books are affiliate. If you buy through them, I get a few cents. To give you an idea, I earned a grand total of $1,13 in January. At this rate, it will take me about 7 years to get my $100 minimum payment sent to me.
PPS I made a #marciareads hashtag on Instagram if you want to have a look