Chelsey's January 2026 Reads | 17 Books
5 books on prayer, some mediocre nonfiction, and 2 contenders for books of the year
Welcome to the first edition of what I read this month! I can’t put into words how much I love putting these posts together. Not only do I get to reflect on my reading as a whole, but I get to revisit what I loved about the books that were really good. I also get to express my frustration at books that were bad.
As we begin 2026, I still intend to share every book I read each month, along with a few other things: books I bought, books I DNF’d, and books that are continuing with me into the next month. I’ll also be checking in on the goals I made and see how I’m doing with those.
One of the goals I shared in my post on my reading intentions for 2026 that I wanted to read 200 books this year. That means I have to read, on average, 16-17 books a month. I successfully did that this month, but some of the books were very short and I feel like I barely scraped by. There is no award for hitting 200 books, and I think our current pace of life is going to make this pace untenable as the year goes on, so I’m keeping that as a loose goal.
Books of the Month
There were two books this month that I am almost certain will be reappearing at the end of the year when I give out book awards.
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
All the book people had been raving about this one, which usually makes me a bit nervous. I’ve been disappointed too many times by over-hyped books. Thankfully, this one was worth all the acclaim and more. I loved it. I wish I could read it again for the first time. The word I have found myself returning to when describing it is brilliant. The book is epistolary, meaning it is entirely written in the form of letters and emails. Over the course of the book, you learn about the life and personality of Sybil Van Antwerp, and I can promise you that you will wish she was a real person when you’re done with the book. (Also, this book has so many references to books, and each one made me smile.)
Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer by Eugene Peterson
As I shared in my post about prayer resources, I have been studying prayer in preparation for our church’s upcoming women’s retreat. This one was mentioned several times in one of the other books, and I have always loved Peterson’s writing, so I bought a used copy. This is not just one of the best books on prayer that I have read, but it is one of the best books on the Christian life that I have ever read. This one will be going on my special shelf for the books I want to keep until I die.
Nonfiction
A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst
This was a very strange month for me because I only read three nonfiction books, which is many fewer than normal for me. I saw this one recommended by Barack Obama, and regardless of your politics, I have found his book recommendations to be solid over the years.1 This is the true story of a husband and wife who decided to set out on the ocean and go halfway around the world in the 1970s. As you can probably tell from the cover, it didn’t go as expected. This was the best nonfiction book I read this month, and while I don’t know that it will end up on my “best of 2026” list, it was still an enjoyable read.
Personal Effects: What Recovering the Dead Teaches Me About Caring for the Living by Robert A. Jensen
Looking at the cover of this book and reading the subtitle, I expected this book to be mostly about how the author’s job of recovering bodies at mass casualty events, including finding their personal effects, gave him insight into human nature, death, and grief.
Instead, I got something that kind of tried to do that but also said a lot of other things. It read as more of an advertisement for the agency he ran, which doesn’t make much sense because he doesn’t work there anymore. I learned about his sexuality, both of his marriages, his politics, his weirdly inconsistent patriotism, and the details of every job he ever had. It read more like a memoir, and maybe that’s what it was supposed to be. At the end he devolved into giving advice for preparing for catastrophe and while the tips were solid, I don’t understand why they were in this book.
He tells a lot of interesting stories about different events he was involved in, but one thing that really got on my nerves was how every person he names was “the best [insert their job here] I’ve ever met.” He reserves absolutely no criticism for anyone, except for bureaucratic systems and governments who are the worst at handling these catastrophes, especially compared to his company. But don’t worry—he was always calm and level-headed and able to diffuse every escalating situation.
(If you want a book about a mass casualty event written by someone who lived through it, may I recommend Wave: A Memoir by Sonali Deraniyagala.)
Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America by Beth Macy
Memoirs are probably one of my favorite book genres, but they can be hit or miss. This one was a miss for me. The author is a journalist who has written several other books, and having heard of her, I was excited to read this. It was not poorly written, but the structure of the book was very jumpy and I also felt like it served as more of a therapeutic exercise for her to express her frustration at all the people who disagree with her on politics and sexuality. It just fell flat for me.
Spiritual
Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney
I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Whitney teach the content of this book at a local church last fall, and I plan to use many of my notes for our upcoming retreat. This is a very short and simple book that just might change your life. If you find prayer to be a challenge, this is a very good place to start.
Embracing God in Your Suffering by Dave Furman
Dave Furman is an American who pastors a church in the Middle East and has for a long time. He suffers from a nerve disorder that has left him mostly unable to use his arms for anything functional. This book is about suffering in general, but he writes as someone who suffers every single day. I found it so encouraging to me as I struggle with my own lesser physical pain while also trying to walk with other sufferers.
The Autobiography of George Mueller by George Mueller
In all the other books on prayer I have read so far, in addition to some books I’ve already read but was skimming through as I prepare for our retreat, I think every single one has referenced George Mueller. It has now become a sort of game for me to try to find a George Mueller reference in every book on prayer. This is for good reason, because Mueller was a faithful and godly man who left a great example of a praying life for the Church. This is his actual life story and journal, published in the 19th century. You may go into it a bit cynical, but you will find it hard to stay in that mindset.
Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Tim Keller
I love Tim Keller, but this book was a challenge for me to get through. Not surprisingly given the author, it is extremely comprehensive and covers just about anything you’d want to know about prayer. I think this would be a really great book for a small group to work through over a long period of time. It was not meant to be read quickly.
The Hidden Life of Prayer: The Life-Blood of the Christian by David McIntyre
This book was first published in the 1890s, which means I read two books from the 19th century this month. This is a short book that packs a punch. Focusing on private prayer as opposed to corporate or public prayer, this is a winsom challenge to persevere in prayer, even when you don’t feel like it.
Fiction
The Last Battle (The Chronicles of Narnia #7) by C.S. Lewis
The final book in the series is one of the most controversial due to some plot choices that bring up some questionable theological views as well as some accusations of racism. I saw the former and fully missed the reasons for the latter, which is not to say they aren’t legitimate, just that I didn’t think it was as obvious as some people do. I enjoyed this book and thought it was a fitting end to a beautiful series.
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
This is a very short book, technically a novella (the audiobook was only about 2 hours long). It is definitely a book to read in winter. It is about a man with a wife and daughters who has a surprise encounter that causes him to question some of the things he’s believed so far.
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker
All the Colors of the Dark was my first book by this author, and I didn’t even know he had written other books. I came across this one accidentally and ended up enjoying it even more than ATCOTD. It is about a community of people whose lives are intertwined and spans several decades of relationships and choices and consequences. Two of the main characters are a sister and brother, and I told my daughter that the way the big sister cared for her brother reminded me so much of how she treats her little brother (although, hopefully she will never find herself in the same circumstances as the siblings in this book).
Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson
I went into this book blind, only having heard that it was good, and I enjoyed it more than I expected to. There are many flashbacks that were reminiscent to me of the way the book Homegoing unfolds. It is about a woman who experienced a tragic loss as a child and how she attempts to cope with it into adulthood. This is one of those books that shows characters who act like real people in the real world, and that will also get a recommendation from me.
I think I’ve read at least 75% of Grisham’s writing. I started reading him in middle school (probably a bit young TBH) and have been a lifelong fan. No, it is not highbrow literature. But it is well written and propulsive. This one is a standalone novel about a lawyer who is hired to write a will for an unassuming older woman.
Dance Hall of the Dead (Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelita #2) by Tony Hillerman
The last two books of the month are both from the same series that I began in December. They keep getting better and better. The main character, Joe Leaphorn, is smart and cynical but also compassionate. Are some of the ways he gets himself out of trouble slightly unbelievable? Maybe, but I still enjoyed it.
Listening Woman (Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelita #3) by Tony Hillerman
The show Dark Winds used both this book and the previous one as the basis for several of the seasons of the show. This one was the most recognizable and yet managed to be even more disturbing than the already very intense television show. I don’t think that these books are going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you like mystery novels and want to step out of your comfort zone a little bit, I’d give these a try.
2026 Reading Goals Check-In
I set a list of goals for each month, and this month I did pretty well. While I didn’t finish a classic, I did start a classic (Les Miserables), although it will probably take me several months to finish.
🎯 3 spiritual books (I read 6!)
❌ a classic
🎯 a book published before 1986 (I read 5!)
❌ a physical TBR book
🎯 a Kindle TBR book (The Last Battle)
🎯 book by a BIPOC author (Good Dirt)
🎯 17 books total
Books Abandoned
These are all the books I DNF’d this month. I have no problem abandoning a book, because there will always be more books I want to read, and I don’t want to waste time on a book I’m not enjoying.
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
One trope of literature that I have almost no patience for are long bouts of dialogue that aren’t obviously connected to the rest of the book. This book began with a ton of dialogue that I found uninteresting. Perhaps it’s one of those books that gets off to a slow start. I guess I’ll never know.Nagasaki: The Last Witnesses by M.G. Sheftall
This is the sequel to Hiroshima, which I read in December 2025. I checked this one out but never even opened it because I needed a break from atomic bomb-related books. I hope to return to this one eventually.Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I have only somewhat enjoyed the other TJR books I have read, but everyone was raving about this one, so I decided to try it. I only knew it was about an astronaut. I did not know it was about two astronauts’ lesbian romance until I started the book and began to sense that was what was coming, and I googled it. While a small amount of homosexual/queer content in a book is not a dealbreaker for me, I was not interested in reading a book where that was the main theme.Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami
I have had this book on my TBR for a long time because I think cults are fascinating and I knew very little about this incident, in which a cult in Japan released poison gas on the subway and several people died. The writing style of this book just wasn’t working for me. I might try it again another time.The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
First of all, this book had a bit too much sex in it for me from the get-go. Second, while I am sometimes in the mood for extremely long family dramas, I quickly found myself unexcited to start the audiobook up again.
Books Purchased
You can tell I had some Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket. (However, in my defense, all of the Kindle books were on sale or free.)
Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Tim Keller | print
Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer by Eugene Peterson | print
With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray | print
On Writing Well: The Essential Guide to Mastering Nonfiction Writing and Effective Communication by William Zinsser | print
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott | print
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo | Kindle
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Kindle
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (The Wingfeather Saga #1) by Andrew Peterson | print
Books Continuing
This is too many books. While some are being read in different contexts, I start to get overwhelmed when I have more than 5 going at the same time. I want to finish at least two of these soon so that my list can be reduced.
52 Weeks in the Word: A Companion for Reading Through the Bible in a Year by Trillia Newbell (using to stay accountable to Scripture reading)
Deserted by God by Sinclair Ferguson (reading with a friend)
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (long-term classic)
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren (personal development)
Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite (before bed fiction book)
The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud (audiobook)
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (The Wingfeather Saga #1) by Andrew Peterson (reading out loud to my kids)
As always, I’d love to know what books you read this month—what did you love, what did you hate, what are you hoping to read next month?
That said, Paper Girl was also one of his favorite books of 2025, so I guess our tastes don’t entirely overlap.