Ready or not, it's 2018

The beginnings and endings of all human undertakings are untidy. 
                                                                                >>John Galsworthy


Maybe it was the Christmas music or the jingle bells or the bustle of fellow bookstore shoppers that caused me to fall for the marketing ploy of readers' socks. Because I know there is no such thing. But these were not ordinary socks. They were red thick cable knit cotton with a fluffy white lining. Comfortable and warm. Immediately I pictured myself curled up with a good book sporting cozy socks.

To his credit, my husband didn't (outwardly) laugh or roll his eyes when he found me standing over the basket, socks in hand while loudly exclaiming, "they're for readers!"

A pair of the socks left the store with me.

Along with the Times Square ball, temperatures have fallen all over the United States. Here in the upper Midwest, we've set records of low temperatures. I've given myself pep talks about how bracing or invigorating it is grocery shopping when it's 7 degrees. Or, how great it is to even have a high of 7 degrees because some days haven't reached zero.

In my drafty old house, cold air is an unwelcome guest. Frigid air blows in around the doors and windows. The rooms don't feel warm until the thermostat is set at a mind boggling 72 degrees. Even then as soon as the furnace shuts off, cold air quickly rushes back in and we return to shivering even while wrapped in fleece. One happy surprise has been discovering the red socks really are warm and, dare I say, practical.

It's no surprise that January celebrates hot tea, soup, and a reading blitz. My hands will regularly be wrapped around a hot cup of tea while thinking of what I'll read next. And I'm a believer now in the power of readers' socks and their comfortable coziness and cheer on a dreary day. Maybe next year, January will also be known as Readers' Socks Month.


Start your book blitz today with a new book.

                                     Fiction

The Immortalists - Chloe Benjamin
Brass - Xhenet Aliu
Still Me - JoJo Moyes
Our Lady of the Prairie - Thisbe Nissen
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden - Denis Johnson (a collection of his short stories)
A State of Freedom - Neel Mukherjee
Neon in Daylight - Hermione Hoby
The Monk of Mokho - Dave Eggers
Promise Not to Tell - Jayne Anne Krentz
Robicheaux - James Lee Burke
Fools and Mortals - Bernard Cornwell
Shroud of Eternity - Terry Goodkind (fantasy)
Sisters Like Us - Susan Mallery
Fall from Grace - Danielle Steel
Dark in Death - J.D. Robb
Into the Black Nowhere - Meg Gardiner
City of Endless Night - Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child


                                    Nonfiction

This Will Be My Undoing - Morgan Jenkins (essays)
Brave - Rose McGowan (memoir)
Swearing is Good For You - Emma Bryne (science)
Anatomy of a Scandal - Sarah Vaughn
When They Call You a Terrorist - Patrisse Khan-Cullors
When to Jump - Mike Lewis
Tell Me More - Kelly Corrigan
Jackie, Janet and Lee - Randy Taraborelli (bio)
Winter - Karl Ove Knausgaard (autobiography)  


January is Book Blitz Month, Hot Tea Month, National Soup Month, International Creativity Month, and Get Organized Month.

                      January Celebrations


4     -Trivia Day

9     -National Poetry at Work Day (or, read Mary Oliver)

14   -International Kite Day (Maybe in Miami??)

15   -Martin Luther King Jr Day

18   -Winnie The Pooh Day (Celebrate A.A. Milne)

23   -National Handwriting Day (Pick up Jenny Pearson's The Art of Cursive Handwriting)

24   -National Compliment Day

25   -A Room of One's Own Day (read the full essay by Virginia Woolf)

28   -Grammy Awards

29   -Thomas Paine Day (It's the perfect time to read Common Sense) 

                                        * * * * *

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