January Reads

An update on my Great American Reading plan

My reading for January has taken me from the Deep South in the Civil War to Mars. This has been a fun month for reading as I have broadened my typical reading into books I may not have picked up without my Great American Reading plan. It is unusual for me to read this much fiction in a single month and I have to admit, fiction broadens your understanding of the world. A good novel is a way to “feel” like you are in a time period, place, situation.

I wanted to share an update on my reading plan as I am making my way through the Great American Read list. I have actually been working on reading through this list for several years now but I wanted the majority of my reading this year to come from the list.

I finished three books from the list for January and here are my thoughts on these three books:

Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

I started this book just before Christmas and finished it about a week into the new year. I had never read this book or watched the movie before so I was unfamiliar with the story.

The book takes place across a twelve year period spanning just before the Civil War to Reconstruction. The story takes place in the heart of the South and is written from the perspective of the Confederacy. Scarlett O’Hara is the primary character but contains a multitude of characters. Scarlett is the belle of the ball and loves being the center of attention.

The story spans through the early anticipation of the Civil War lasting only a few short weeks, through the horrors or war, and through Reconstruction as the South struggles with the changing times and world. The old world of the Antebellum South is no longer and everyone adjusts in their own ways.

I realized while reading this and compared to much of my other reading around the Civil War, that history tends to focus on the North and the heroes we admire to this day. We tend to see the Confederacy as evil and their leaders as villains. Certainly, slavery was wrong and is a stain on our history however, this book makes this era more human. Isn’t that what great literature tends to do?

This is a must read for everyone who loves American literature despite the controversy surrounding the book to our modern lives. We sit on a throne of judgement but the past is often more complex than we make it. Human lives are impacted in many ways.

This quickly became one of my favorite books and may be a candidate for book of the year for me.

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

This book was published in 2012 and was a major hit and was made into a movie starring Ben Affleck. I watched the movie years ago and did not love it but wanted to give the book a try.

The book is written from the perspective of the diary entries of Amy Dunne and the account of Nick Dunne, a husband and wife. Amy goes missing on the couple’s fifth anniversary without a trace. The book is full of twists and turns and I respect Flynn’s ability to hide clues from us by writing from the perspective of the characters involved in the story.

I listened to the audiobook and ended up quitting the book at about 34% of the way through. I could see the appeal of the book and I imagine this book became the inspiration for many modern physiologic thrillers that are published today. I just could not invest my time in the minds of two characters who were so self absorbed, one a narcissist and the other being a sociopath. I am okay with those characters and stories as long as there is redemption or hope but this book lacked it for me.

This book made me realize that even when doing a reading plan, sometimes I need to know when to set aside a book or just chalk it up to something that is not for me. This one is not my kind of book.

The Martian - Andy Weir

I recently watched a speech by the author on the process for this book. He worked for NASA and loved writing so he decided to start a website and serialize the novel. It was eventually picked up by a publisher and turned into a movie starring Matt Damon.

The main character, Mark Watney, gets stranded on Mars when his mission fails and his crew mates are forced to leave thinking he is dead. He is forced to survive on Mars and the book follows his adventure making food, becoming a truck driver, and watching crappy 1970s sitcoms.

The book is a survival story and I am a sucker for those kinds of books. Can he survive life on Mars, alone? Does anyone know he is alive? Will he starve to death?

I have seen the movie a couple of times and thought it was really well done. I also read Project Hail Mary (his most recent book. It is coming out as a movie this year that stars Ryan Gosling) and loved that book. After watching the speech on YouTube, I realized he writes exactly as he talks. Full of facts with random dry humor thrown in. And the movie was pretty true to the book.

I loved this book and would read it again. Even at just over 400 pages, it is a quick read. I would recommend this book to anyone. The book has a lot of science but the story is engaging so that Weir doesn’t get too bogged down in the science.

Bonus content:

Here are some other things from January that I thought I would share:

1. I started the habit of journaling again in January and wanted to be consistent for most of the month. I just wrote whatever came to mind but tried to do it every day. I didn’t follow any plans or use journal prompts. I find it helpful to get some of my thoughts and feelings on paper and out of my head. I have done it off and on for many years but had kind of gotten out of the habit the past year. I can say after one month of journaling consistently, that I find it helpful to write my feelings and thoughts out on paper. It felt strange recounting my day at times, but I feel like my life has been written down for at least a month.

2. We watched Finding Neverland with the family. I had never watched it before and the 2004 film, starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, was so delightful. It is the story of the author J.M. Barrie came up with the story of Peter Pan. The movie is full of childlike wonder even as life gets hard. I was inspired to see the wonder in life through the story. The story made me want to write down more of my observations on everyday life and see what stories or themes come out of seemingly plain events.

3. My most recent obsession has been carrying leather journals with me and researching and trying out different leather journals. So far I have settled on a small field note leather journal for everyday carry and a larger A5 size for writing notes on books, quotes, etc. The pocket one is nice because I can carry it and make observations and notes as I go throughout life. I feel like J.M. Barrie with my leather notebook as I make observations about life. I may write an entire newsletter dedicated to my process and what I have learned so stay tuned for that.