Sunday Salon, January!

I'm amazed at the reading month that I've had in January! 19 books finished. What's better is that I'd have a hard time choosing a favourite of the month. I like it when it when I read a load of really good books all at once.

1. The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2. Nation by Terry Pratchett
3. Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman
4. Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx
5. Dear Me: Letters to My 16 Year-Old Self
6. Sexing the Cherry by Jeannette Winterson
7. A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro
8. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
9. I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts About Being A Woman by Nora Ephron
10. Persepolis by Marjane Sartapi
11. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
12. Maus by Art Spiegleman
13. Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
14. Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson
15. Invisible by Paul Auster
16. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
17. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
18. Wake by Lisa McMann
19. Under the Duvet by Marian Keyes

Some goals for this year were to read more of my own books (success! I read 7 of my own books this month!) and to read more non-fiction (again, YES! I read 7 non-fiction). Progress was made on the Woman Unbound reading challenge, with 5 titles, three of which were non-fiction. I read four books towards the 1% well-read challenge, and two books towards the Terry Pratchett reading challenge. I read my first two graphic novels this month and were pleasantly surprised by both. What's more, even though I've since fallen behind a bit in my reviews, I do have three and a half reviews lined up for the following week, so I don't feel swamped or under pressure just yet. So all in all, a lot of progress for this month.

I remember the focus at the beginning of the month was short stories, which is why I finished The Thing Around Your Neck, Once Upon a Time in the North and Close Range. Then I had a minor panic attack at not finishing the 1% well-read challenge and quickly read three titles off of the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die list (Sexing the Cherry, A Pale View of Hills and The Sun Also Rises, followed by Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day later on in the month). Then things shifted more towards the Women Unbound reading challenge. After that, I had my brilliant plan to read all my library books so I could return them, and the idea was anyway, to not pick up any more books and once again focus on reading some of my own books. The path between books isn't always this clear but I felt like I was reading with more of a purpose this month.

As for reading today, I managed to sneak in Under the Duvet by Marian Keyes under this month's totals by reading the last 100 or so pages late this afternoon. I've also got The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen on the go and Saturday by Ian McEwan, which I'm reading for the 1% well-read challenge. I also hope to finish reading Unless by Carol Shields which I started a few weeks ago but which I abandoned due to more exciting books.

How was January for you in terms of reading? What are you reading at the moment? What do you hope to read in February?