2013 has been a bit tough on the health front for the family, but reading wise, it has been terrific.

I read 11 books, with a total of 2694 pages, that is, 86.9 pages/day. And I listened to 1 audiobook, a long one of 25:58 hours, which gives a 50 mn/day.

This is not counting the books I have translated from the English to the French: one of 71 pages and the current one has 100 pages.

1 non-fiction:

French Illusions, by Linda Kovic-Skow (ebook)

6 historical fiction:

Shadows Walking, by Douglas R. Skopp
The Dervish, by Frances Kazan (ebook) – review to be posted around Feb 11
The Midwife’s Tale, by Sam Thomas – for Virtual Book Tour
The Distant Hours, by Kate Morton – brought by Santa!!
Dissolution, by C. J. Sansom
Désirée, by Annemarie Selinko (audiobook)

4 picture books:

Henri’s Walk to Paris, by Leonore Klein
Darth Vader And Son, by Jeffrey Brown
Press Here, by Hervé Tullet
Chu’s Day, by Neil Gaiman and Adam Rex

1 mystery:

Murder Below Montparnasse, by Cara Black (ebook) – review to be posted at the end of February

Lots of good reads, so it was really hard to pick  2 favorites:

My favorites this month:

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Reading Challenges recap

Around the World in 12 books:  1/12
Audiobook: 1/12
Books on France: 4/12
Cozy Mysteries: 0/10
Ebook challenge: 3/10
European reading challenge: 5/5
Historical fiction: 4/15
New authors challenge: 8/25
TBR challenge: 1/12
What’s in a Name: 2/6
Where Are You Reading?: 0/50
Japanese literature: 0/? (starts in June)

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Blog recap

1. WordPress tells me I have now 800 followers (thanks, faithful readers!), combining WordPress, Twitter and email followers, I would think. This is always confusing for me. If anyone knows what that stat really means, please drop a comment. Thanks!
2. Thanks to my blog, I received 13 books for free (8 ebooks, 1 audiobook, and 4 on paper) in January
3. I reviewed 1 book for Virtual Book Tours; and hosted a giveaway for it.
4. I finally managed to post something on all the books I read in 2012, thanks to a few posts combining a few short reviews on the same genre. I plan to use this format occasionally; I actually have one in the works for all the picture books I read this month.
5. 22 readers signed up for my Books on France Challenge, and 8 reviews have already been posted. It is not too late to join.
6. Technically, I am finally getting more attentive at using Headers in my posts formatting.
7. A bit on the side, a conference I gave a few years ago on Saint John Climacus at the Orthodox Theological Society Annual Meeting in Chicago was published this month on internet.
8. And I heard that the article I wrote on Cistercian Liturgical Art is finally going to be soon published. It will be in a rather impressive volume on Cistercian art. Can’t wait to see it!
9. 2 books I reviewed have been in the news recently: Bring Up The Bodies received ANOTHER award, the Costa Prize; and The Aleppo Codex the Sophie Brody Medal for achievement in Jewish Literature.

Most popular recent book review

The Great Cholesterol Myth

Plans for February

1. 2 reviews for Virtual Book Tours, with giveaways!
2. And hopefully many more reviews, and really fascinating books lined up.

How was YOUR month of January?
And what are your reading plans for February?