January felt like a really long month! Even with it feeling long, I didn’t have quite as much reading time at night with attending quite a few basketball games. I was a bit underwhelmed by the books I read this past month, but there was a historical fiction one about the Brooklyn Bridge that was interesting and a non-fiction book about Padre Pio that was fascinating! Here’s what I read last month:
The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
You cannot control what other people do and think and feel. So, The Let Them Theory helps you deal with letting others do what they will and then focusing on what you can do instead. The book includes research and specific scenarios on how this approach to life could work. I think it could be very helpful for most people, but especially those who find themselves caring a lot about what other people think.
The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
The Plague of Doves is a generational story about a town called Pluto in North Dakota. The town is next to a reservation and almost everyone in the town is somehow affected by a murder that happened long ago. An entire family except the baby was killed. The killer was never found, but the Indians who found the family were hunted down and hung. The story is interesting, but the description of an abusive relationship and the anti-Catholic bias in the story had me not really liking the book after I had finished it.
Once a Queen by Sarah Arthur
Eva finally gets to visit England and meet her grandmother in Once a Queen. As her father stays behind in America for research, Eva and her mother start to unravel all the secrets the family has tried to keep hidden for so many years. Eva sees her grandmother walking about the gardens at night and discovers there is another world her grandmother may have been visiting. In that other world, her grandmother was a queen. The book was interesting and has a nod to a Narnia-like world. I’ve got the second book on hold to read soon.
Padre Pio by C. Bernard Ruffin
I heard about this book about Padre Pio on a podcast and it was quickly available at the library. I learned a lot about Padre Pio’s life and sufferings. His popularity helped many people in their spiritual journeys but also caused others to made him somewhat of an idol. The religious authorities had to figure out what to do with a man who everyone wanted to see and some made helpful decisions while others almost imprisoned him. For someone who didn’t know much about the saint, I am glad to have read Padre Pio and learn more about his life.
The Engineer’s Wife by Tracey Emerson Wood
I bought The Engineer’s Wife on a trip to New York City after walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s a historical fiction story about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Washington Roebling is the chief engineer, but after suffering the effects of caisson disease, his wife, Emily, starts taking his place at the worksite and becomes the de facto on site engineer. She faces enemies and trials at almost every turn. The book does a good job telling her story and now I want to read more about the fact that a woman possibly was the main engineer of this bridge in the late 1800s.
If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler was highly recommended somewhere that I saw recently (I can’t remember where), and I wish I knew where it was because I disagree. The book is about two readers reading several different books as they keep finding only a chapter of a book and then there’s no more. It got a big confusing and some of the books they are reading weren’t that great (you read the chapter they’re reading, too). I didn’t enjoy it as much as I was hoping to and wouldn’t highly recommend it at all.
What have you started reading in 2025? Share in the comments!
