Roam If You Want To. Without Wings, Without Wheels.

Since we're almost done with February, I figured I'd do my traveling through reading post from January.

I read six books in January. That's a lot less than I read in January 2018, but I was sick for most of that month back then, so I'm considering reading fewer books a good thing.

1.) The first book I read in January took me to Brazil, which is always nice while I'm stuck in Iowa in January. "Ways to Disappear", by Idra Novey was about an author with gambling debts disappears and her American translator flies to South America to help find her.

2.) The second book I read was part of my plan to read every Jane Austen book in 2019. "Emma" was just okay compared to "Pride and Prejudice" (which I loved). It got better as I read on, but it's always entertaining to travel to 19th century England, as long as I can just watch from afar and I don't have to live in their snobby social scene.

3.) The third book I read in January was "The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All", by Alan Gurganus. There were parts I really liked, but with my self-diagnosed ADHD, I just couldn't deal with how looooong it was. Still, it was nice to go South for the Winter with this.

4.) "Forest Dark", by Nicole Krauss was my fourth book. It took me to Israel, where it was nice and warm. I got really into it at the beginning but it seemed to lose its momentum as it ambled along.

5.) The last two books I read in January were my favorites.  Everyone seems shocked that I hadn't read "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving. I love Irving. I've heard him read twice and "The World According to Garp" was my favorite book in high school. I think it was just a timing thing. It came out when I was in college and a literature major and had no time to read anything I wasn't already assigned. It was definitely worth the wait. It was a great read and since I've never been to the East coast before, it's always nice to visit by book.

6.) "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula Le Guin was the last and best book I read for the month. I really loved it. I got so wrapped up in the characters and descriptions. It felt odd to be so into a book that took place on a planet called Winter, when it was 50 below zero with the wind chill where I was, but I loved that voyage.'

So far I'm having fun traveling by books through February. Hopefully, I'll get around to talking about it sooner next month than I did this time.