#51: Checking in on the First Quarter of 2021
How did the first 3 months of 2021 go?
It’s a time of year to check in on reading goals.
First Quarter 2021
Quick Stats:
Books Read: 14
6 fiction, 8 non-fiction
2 female authors, 12 male authors (not very balanced here)
Pages Read: 3,959
Favorites so far: The Queen’s Gambit, Leviathan Wakes, The Righteous Mind, Just Mercy, Know My Name.
I’ve stalled a bit on Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat and am only 17% through. The chapter on salt, however, has made a difference in my cooking. Worth it already!
I'm enjoying War and Peace with the online book club The Big Read. I’m on track! I spend anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes a day reading it and am over 30% done. It’s a classic for a reason.
I'm also on track with my study of The Doctrine and Covenants. My Sunday School lessons with the 16 and 17-year-olds over Zoom have gone well.
Other books on my reading plan:
I finished Leviathan Wakes and wrote about it here. I’m 30% through book 2, Caliban’s War, which means I’m succeeding in taking these slow.
I haven’t started Michelle Obama's Becoming (the plan is to start in May) or Barack's A Promised Land (will start in July)
I haven’t started the politics books: Hamilton, Theodore Rex, The Notorious RBG, The River of Doubt (second half of year reads).
Haven’t started (and probably won’t attempt) any Russian History books this year. Turns out Massie’s trilogy is HUGE. I checked out Peter the Great from the library and was instantly discouraged at its size. It was fun to heft around though.
For Fun:
A Head Full of Ghosts: I didn’t like this one as much as I thought I would. It was a bit too creepy. It’s about a possessed girl, but is she really…? Horror isn’t my cup of tea and this was an ode to the genre. That said, I’d be willing to read another Tremblay because the writing was top-notch. And check out that cover!
Gilead, Lolita, The Night Gardener, All the Light We Cannot See: Plan to read later this year.
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates. Enjoyed it!
