Being a cold month and more than a little wet in North Carolina, January turned out to be a great 31 days of reading opportunities for me. Today I’m blogging about three of the 10 books I read last month. I’ll blog about the other books February 11 and 19.

As I often have in the past, I begin this post about the books I’ve read by stating that I am not a book reviewer. True book reviewers have some rules they go by. I have no such rules; I just write my reactions to the books I read. Sometimes my political leanings come through. I majored in political science in college. I can’t help myself!

I enjoy a variety of genres. Much of my reading is more or less dictated by when my name reaches the top of the waitlist at the public library. If not for the public library, my reading selections would be severely limited. Never miss a chance to support your local public library!

That said, here are my thoughts about three of the books I read in January.

So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men, by Claire Keegan

This book is made up of three short stories, each taking a look at the relationships between women and men – each from a different perspective. The publisher calls this book a “triptych of stories about love, lust, betrayal, and the ever-intriguing interchanges between women and men.”

The first story shares the title of the book. In it, Ms. Keegan, an Irish author, explores what Irishmen think of women in general. What she portrays is a man who never in any way thinks of a woman as his equal. It is demonstrated through a love story that goes sour when the bride-to-be sees the groom-to-be for what he is. Underlying the story is the premise that this man is the way he is because that’s what his father was like.

“The Long and Painful Death” is the second story in this book. It’s about a writer who goes to live in the basement of a house on an island to be the writer-in-residence for two months. She has a strange encounter with a scary German man.

“Antartica” is the third story. It’s a dark tale about a married woman who goes to London under the guise of doing Christmas shopping for her husband and children, but in reality she goes to find out what it would be like to sleep with a different man. This tale begins nicely and (spoiler alert!) ends badly.

Vitiligo Made Me Beautiful, by Laleh Chini

This is the latest book published by my dear blogger friend, Laleh Chini. Although the book is meant for children ages 7-12 years of age, it can serve as a reminder to adults, too, that we need to always be kind to one another.

The main character in the book is a little girl who wakes up one day with white patches on her skin. A few days later she is diagnosed with Vitiligo. It is a condition in which patches of a person’s skin lose their color. This, of course, is especially difficult for a person with dark skin.

In the book, the little girl’s classmates rally around her as they focus on what they like about her and her qualities and talents. Don’t we adults need to do that more often, too?

If you want to read a compelling book by Laleh Chini, I recommend Climbing Over Grit. It is the story of her mother’s growing up years in Iran and the child bride culture there. Fortunately, Laleh’s family escaped life under that regime when she was 16 years old, and they made their way to the United States. Here’s the link to Climbing Over Grit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/9176375536/. It won the Canada Book Award

If you’d like to read what I said about Climbing Over Grit on my blog right after I read it, please follow this link to my November 5, 2018 post: Many Good Books Read in October!

Standing My Ground: A Capitol Police Officer’s Fight for Accountability and Good Trouble After January 6^th, by Harry Dunn

Harry Dunn was on duty at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 – that infamous day of the insurrection and attempted coup. I’ll never be able to erase the images of that day as I watched TV in horror.

In his book, Mr. Dunn talks about the honor it is to serve as a US Capitol police officer. He talks about our country’s history and how proud he has always been to serve in that complex government building, to protect the US Constitution and the people inside that building. He talks about how he enjoys interacting with people who visit that building.

And he talks about the unexpected vicious attack on our democracy on January 6, 2021 and how it has changed him forever. He talks about the violence and the racial slurs, the bear spray, the WD-40 spray, the pepper spray, the beatings, and the hatred the mob showed toward police officers and our country that day.

He talks about the fact that some in the mob were already convicted felons with a history of violence. He talks about some in the mob being swept up in the moment after being hoodwinked by Trump’s big lie.

He talks about the fragility of democracy.

This is a gutsy, no-holds-barred, raw book. I highly recommend it, especially if you have any doubts about what happened on January 6, 2021.

Since my last blog post

I learn from comments from readers of my blog. One of the comments I got in response to last week’s post prompted me to add a postscript to that blog post. I’m afraid my reference to the side effects of my second Shingrix injection might deter others from getting the Shingles vaccination. That was not my intent. I had Shingles in my right eye a few years ago. It felt like a knife in my eye for weeks; therefore, I was eager to get the Shingrix vaccine as soon as it was available free of charge for Medicare patients. The discomfort of the side effects of the shot pale in comparison to the pain of having Shingles, so please talk to your doctor about the Shingrix two-injection vaccine, and take it if you are a good candidate for it.

My research about the route of The Great Wagon Road/The Carolina Road in Virginia continues as I work on my historical novel tentatively titled The Heirloom.

Until my next blog post

You have no idea how much I appreciate the moral support my blog readers give me – even when I fail to read all their blog posts!

I hope you have at least one good book to read.

I hope you will pay attention to reputable news sources and keep up with the events in the world. If you are a citizen of the USA, I pray you will do so to be an informed voter this year more than ever before.

Remember the people of Ukraine as they are the only ones standing between Vladimir Putin and his invasion of NATO countries. When a dictator or a dictator-wannabe announces his plans, believe him.

Janet