Hello. This was January, when I promptly got sick right after my ordeal of a house move and remained ill for the entire duration of the month. At the time of this writing, my body is just now starting to get rid of all the crud. Fun times. Not the most auspicious of beginnings to a new year, needless to say, but it’s not the hand you’re dealt it’s how you play your cards or however the saying goes I don’t care I am just so over being sick.

Maladies notwithstanding, I still managed to get some decent reading in, because that is what I do.

“Proposal for a book to be adapted into a movie starring Dwayne The Rock Johnson” by Robin Sloan. Mentioned this in my previous wrap-up, so of course I had to read it again. An engaging and entertaining piece of short fiction—albeit a little naive in retrospect, given all we’ve learned (mostly against our will) about The Rock lately. I fully believe Johnson could still become president one day, and I am finding that notion less and less amusing.

The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings by Philip Zaleski, Carol Zaleski. Started this one way back in August. Despite my many highlights and annotations (inevitable, given the rhetorical finesse of its subjects), I don’t think I have any substantial takeaways from this book. The Zaleskis are religious scholars, and they approach the material from a Christian perspective, which makes for some interesting interpretations—as well as some questionable conjectures. Given their evangelical predisposition, it also means that their focus fell primarily on Lewis and Tolkien, with the other Inklings—Owen Barfield and Charles Williams—getting the proverbial short shrift. (Although to be fair, this is a tome of a book, so even their “cursory” treatment still turned out to be reasonably comprehensive—the Zaleski’s are academics above all else, and their exhaustive research is evident). In the end, though, this was more of a theological biography of a couple of members of a literary circle than it was a thorough scholarly exploration of said circle, which I would have found far more preferable.

“On the Pleasures of Taking Up One’s Pen” by Hilaire Belloc. Specifically, Malcolm Guite’s wonderful reading of the short essay, which really brought it to life for me. First time coming across this passionate ode to a writing instrument, and I found it quite lovely. 

One of the things I wanted to do in the new year was pick my physical journal back up, and of course that translates to me looking up pieces that romanticize—pretty much fetishize—the act of writing itself. Happy to say that I’ve kept up with the journaling habit thus far, and it’s doing wonders for my mental health. Much needed during this, the dumbest of dystopias. 

The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien by John Hendrix. An undoubtedly beautiful book. Hendrix’s illustrations are simply stunning: from his highly imaginative compositions to his spectacular use of color. As a piece of biography, though, it’s unfortunately a little lacking. It is too brief where elaboration is needed and overly detailed where succinctness would suffice. Also, a lot of the prose just falls flat, lacking any sort of flair. I understand that this volume is ostensibly meant for children, but when your subjects are two titans of the English language one can’t be faulted for expecting a bit more panache. Still, Hendrix’s love for the two legendary scribes shines through, and that, along with the spectacular artwork, makes this a worthwhile read.

Curiously, like The Fellowship, this also takes a Christian approach to its subject matter. As a certified heathen, this wasn’t at all planned, but I thought it was an interesting coincidence. 

Process: The Writing Life of Great Authors by Sarah Stodola. Loved reading this. Very similar to Mason Currey’s Daily Rituals, which I read and enjoyed a couple years back, but this felt far more focused and engaging. A spectacularly researched collection of highly engrossing and enlightening essays. Stodola’s writing is wonderful, and so vivid that even the entries featuring long-dead authors feel like actual interviews she was conducting. It’s great. Lots of standout pieces, but the one focusing on Joan Didion is probably my favorite.

---

I’ve also been reading Nick Hornby’s Stuff I’ve Been Reading columns for The Believer. I like that he always makes note of the book he’s bought during that particular reading season. I want to adopt this practice. For accountability, mostly: I use a Kindle, for which I buy entirely too many ebooks. For obvious reasons, I am increasingly loath to give Amazon more of my money, so I definitely want to work on curtailing that particular habit. There are practical reasons, too, of course: I have literally thousands of unread books on my Paperwhite, and I don’t really need to keep adding to that digital pile. 

That’s the ideal, anyway. We’ll see how things actually pan out.

Still bought a ridiculous amount of books in January:

• The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
• Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
• This Appearing House by Ally Malinenko
• Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas 
• Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl by Daniel Pinkwater 
• The Yggysey by Daniel Pinkwater
• The Neddiad by Daniel Pinkwater
• Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie
• Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie
• Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie
• The Labors of Hercules by Agatha Christie
• What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
• Dungeon Academy: No Humans Allowed! by Madeleine Roux
• The Fiction Writer by Jillian Cantor
• The Book That No One Wanted to Read by Richard Ayoade
• Glamorous Notions by Megan Chance
• The Race to the Future by Kassia St. Clair
• The Unstrung Harp by Edward Gorey
• Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life by Dani Shapiro 
• Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

Like I said: an ideal.