Reading Wrap-Up: January 2025
An overview of the 8'ish books I read this month, featuring a healthy dose of nonfiction. Also, does anyone else seem to be entering their bird era?
How is your 2025 reading starting off?
When there’s a lot going on in the world, or in your corner of it, you may find focusing on a book challenging.
You may also veer in the opposite direction and read a ton, finding solace or comfort in the act of reading, if not in the book itself.
Personally, I tend to experience a bit of both. I still typically read pretty regularly, but I also notice I need to reread more - ie, a paragraph or a page - due to thoughts floating elsewhere.
Whether your January reading is off to an exceptional start, is still waiting to begin, or lands somewhere in between, I hope you are taking good care of yourself, and I am thankful we always have books to connect us.
I am also thankful you are here! Whether you are new to Reading And Purpose or have been a subscriber for a while now, I am so glad you’re here. Thank you.
January brought a mix of focus and distraction for me but overall resulted in a pretty solid reading month. I finished six nonfiction books, one fiction, and one play - and I already anticipate a couple of these landing on my top ten list for the year. (A bold statement to make in January, I know!)
Here’s what I read and what I thought!
The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan
This book is an absolute delight that makes me a) want to learn so much more about the birds around me, and b) practice sketching and painting them! Tan’s diary-style entries highlight the various birds she observed in her backyard, as well as her personal drawings of them, over a six-year period. Her appreciation for birds sings through the pages, and it’s fun to see a famous novelist take such a different direction with her writing (and artwork!). I dipped in and out of this one over the course of a month or two, which its individual/self-contained entries easily allowed for, and I enjoyed myself each and every time I picked up the book. I plan to purchase my own copy to revisit periodically.
Time Wise by Amantha Imber
I’ve read so many time management and productivity-related books at this point that I sometimes wonder if there’s still more to learn (spoiler alert: there always is!). I was thus surprised just how much I highlighted, bookmarked, and put into practice while reading Time Wise! This is a unique and clearly organized book with each chapter focusing on a specific tip, topic, or strategy, making it a fantastic resource to pick up and put down and, ideally, implement along the way. The author, an organizational psychologist, shares her insight and experience throughout the book, along with ideas from her various podcast guests such as Adam Grant, Oliver Burkeman, and more. We’ll be reading this one in book club later this year if you’d like to discuss it with us!
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum, translated by Shanna Tan
If you are looking for a quiet, heartwarming novel primarily focused inside a bookstore / coffee shop, consider giving this one a try. Most of this story takes place in a neighborhood bookstore in Korea and follows the owner, the barista she hires to work alongside her, and the various people who find comfort, answers, connection, and/or peace of mind in this welcoming shop. I had such a clear visual image of this bookshop in my mind the entire time I was reading! There’s not a ton of action here, but I still found it to be page-turning in its own way. This was a lovely read to cozy up with during a few cold winter nights.
How to Winter by Kari Leibowitz
An excellent, evidence-based look at how to shift our mindsets (among other things) to help us thrive in the winter, or other seasons where darkness, cold, and/or difficulty may seem to linger. The author traveled to the northernmost university in the world - where they experience two months of darkness every year - to study how they handle winter-related sadness, only to discover it does not actually tend to pose significant challenges there. She then explored all the ways they embrace winter, sharing wonderful ideas for growth and thriving at various levels (individual, community, city infrastructure, and more). I picked this book up from the library and tabbed so much that I ended up purchasing a copy for myself partway through reading!
Better Living Through Birding by Christian Cooper
Continuing in my apparent bird era, I picked up Better Living Through Birding, which turned out to be a combination of memoir, birdwatching insights, and travel journal. An avid birdwatcher for decades, Cooper’s appreciation for and knowledge of birds shines throughout the stories he shares from his childhood to the present day. I appreciated hearing his perspective as ‘a Black man in the natural world’ (also the subtitle of the book), his education at Harvard, his interesting career path (including science writer and comic writer, among other roles), his various life and travel experiences, and, throughout it all, his ongoing love and appreciation for birds. The audiobook separates each chapter with birdsong, which was particularly lovely!
(On a side note, I have three more bird-related books on my shelves waiting for me, so let’s see if I space them out over time or decide to read them all in February. As a mood reader, I actually have no idea which is more likely to happen!)
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
A fellow entrepreneur was in the middle of this book when we were together recently, and she spoke so highly of it that I immediately had to check it out. This calming book offers a thoughtful overview about the value of being present and dedicating time to what truly matters most, rather than living on autopilot, floating on the whims of circumstance, or hurrying through life. The author is a pastor and connects many of his points to various Biblical perspectives; he also shares a number of examples of his own efforts to put the principles into practice in his work and life. I always appreciate encouragement and ideas for being intentional with time and, specifically with this book, reminders of why hurrying often does not get us where we want to go any faster.
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
One of my bookish goals this year involves reading more plays, poetry, and classics, so I’ve kicked it off with this play that I believe first published in 1895. I knew absolutely nothing about the premise before jumping in and found myself pleasantly surprised! It is certainly a product of its time, but I found the setup entertaining, the banter quite witty, and the overall story more engaging than I had anticipated. I mostly listened to this in audio form and, much like I described with Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop above, I had such a vivid image of the stage and scenery while I listened. I did check out a collection of Wilde plays from the library but have only read this one, hence the “8’ish books” comment in my intro - Earnest can also be found as a stand-alone book, but my edition is in a collection, so I’m just not sure how to quantify it! :-)
The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Wow, what a powerful and incredibly thought-provoking book. I knew I appreciated Coates’ writing from previous works of his that I’ve read, but The Message pulled me in on the sentence - even the word - level. Coates covers so much ground in this fairly brief (232 pages) book, addressing important and difficult topics, with a theme around the impact of words and stories woven throughout: how stories of the past shape and influence the present, the power of writing and education, the importance of hearing from voices that are often silenced, the value in sharing our own stories, and so much more. The Message offers so many points for further reflection and discussion; I again tabbed abundantly and definitely will revisit this one.
After reading, I watched a few interviews with Coates and, from a writer’s viewpoint, I was quite moved by his words during one such interview:1
“So often I get the question, ‘Why should I write? …What is writing going to do? What is writing actually going to change?’ And what I wanted people to understand is that writing actually shapes the world around you...”
And a bit later:
“It is a blessing to feel like what I write actually matters in the world. It gives me meaning and purpose.”
Cue my goosebumps. To all writers, keep writing. It matters.
*******
I didn’t realize until writing this wrap-up how nonfiction-heavy my reading has been in January! I’m certainly not mad about it, as I found value and/or new insights in each of these books. My reading totals usually turn out to be about half nonfiction and half fiction by the end of the year, so we’ll see if that holds true for 2025 as well.
What was your favorite book - fiction or nonfiction - from January? Have you read any of the books I’ve mentioned here? Share your thoughts and recommendations in the comments - I’d love to hear!
Questions? Comments? Books or topics you’d like me to discuss here? Feel free to email me at readingandpurpose (at) gmail (dot) com or comment on this post directly in the app/website. I love hearing from you and I appreciate your support!
Interview with Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, September 30, 2024
I loved your overview! I'm definitely going to pick up How to Winter. If you would like to learn more about birds, please consider volunteering at Iowa Bird Rehabilitation. They especially need assistance in the summer where we are hand feeding thousands of baby birds who have been separated from parents or injured. It is an amazing place! I have volunteered there the last 3 summer's and it just keeps getting busier and you learn so much. https://www.iowabirdrehab.org/
Learning how different cultures and communities make the most of winter was fascinating. I have always loved learning about 'X subject around the world'! I agree completely about the take-away messages - one of my favorites being the idea of winter as a season of rest and retreat and how the same tools can be used for any season of life where those things are needed. What follows from that realization for me is embracing freedom to stop hustling and achieving when needed instead of putting my head down and plowing through. One of my favorite quotes: "What we attend to becomes what we see, and what we see becomes what we engage with, and what we engage with becomes our life."