My year started with a holiday in Scotland where my boyfriend and I ran a book shop for a week and it was the perfect way to welcome this new year: A year full of adventures and goals I have set to myself. One of these goals is to read 52 books – one per week. So far, this is going very well because I read already 7 books in January and that makes me happy. Not because I think it is great to read so much, but because it shows me that I took the time to do something I love so much: reading. It shows me that I have spent less time behind my laptop watching the 354946th documentary on murderers. (I watched many of these nevertheless, but not every day and for hours).

Learning what others are reading makes me happy for two reasons: First, there is someone who reads – which I find amazing just for itself. Seconds, I love lists. I love making lists, I love crossing things off a list, I love getting inspired by other peoples list. And for that reason, I want to share the books I have read in the last month with you.

Books I read in January

1. Little Hands Clapping by Dan Rhodes

The novel is set in an unnamed town in Germany where a lonely, old and grumpy man is the guard in a very special museum: A suicide museum. The story takes many curious turns and despite the very serious topic, it has many comical and funny moments. It was a great first book for this year and I can really recommend reading it.
You can find a great animation film for the book here.

2. Summertime by J.M. Coetzee

Every since I had a university course on Barbarism, I am a fan of Coetzee’s writing. I didn’t know that Summertime is the last part of three fiction-memoirs about his earlier life. I wrote a short review of the book here. 

3. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

I must admit that I am very often a little sceptical when a book is labelled a bestseller and tend to avoid these books. Why? I don’t know really, to be honest. And reading Eleanor Oliphant made me realise that these books are probably bestsellers for a reason. I loved the book, it made me go through all the feelings and I hope there will be many more books by Gail Honeyman to come in the future. You can find my review about the book here.

4. Start with Why by Simon Sinek

My friend Zu and I read this book for our book club. It was the second book I read by Sinek, the other being Leaders Eat Last. I do like that he tells so many stories of companies and leaders who made a change for their employees, however, I find that the two books give very little actual help on how to either find your why or be a better leader. My friend and I had a good discussion about the book and it is always great to talk about books and getting to know your friends and their life better, but for Sinek, I believe he is much better at talking than at writing.

5. Why we Sleep by Matthew Walker

This book is so interesting and I told so many people at my work about it. (Three want to read it!) Matthew Walker gives a very detailed insight into why sleep is so important and what our brain does while we are asleep. I will write a detailed review about it in the next weeks and also include ways to get better sleep. But for now, all I can say is: EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK. Oh, and stop drinking coffee 🙂

6. The Year of Living Biblically by A.J.Jacobs

I am part of three book clubs and I read the book by A.J.Jacobs also for one of them. Years ago, I read the book already in German (I think) and remembered it to be funny and entertaining. Jacobs tries to live by all biblical rules and takes the reader along on his journey. I had no idea how may rules, and also how many absurd rules, the bible states and definitely found it interesting to learn about them. It is also interesting for me to see how much room for interpretation there is. The book is an easy-read and if you are interested in learning more about the bible without reading the bible – this book is perfect for you.

7. Truth in Advertising – John Kenney

This book was a surprise – mostly because I bought it thinking it is actually a non-fiction book about, well, advertising. Maybe reading the header “Winner of the Thurber Prize for Humour” would have been a hint? Surely, but I didn’t read that. Neither did I read the blurb so when I started reading, I laughed out loud. The book was also a surprise because it is funny, heartbreaking, uplifting, hopeless but realistic. It tells the story of Finbar Dolan, an almost 40-year-old man living in New York and working in an advertising agency. His current job is to create a creative, groundbreaking commercial for diapers. We follow him facing ghosts from the past and also the future and see him develop, not too much but yet still SO much. I can only recommend that book and it is my favourite book in January 2019.

Curious what else is on the list for this year? These are the 9 novels I want to read in 2019.