January was a cold and miserable month in DC, which made for a pretty great month of reading. I spent many evenings curled up under blankets with a whole bunch of really good books. 

I leaned heavily into my love of mystery this month, but also read a really powerful nonfiction book about Jewish women resistance fighters during the Holocaust that I highly recommend and a couple other non-mystery novels. 

Five Stars

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There is just something about Ann Patchett's writing that sucks you in from the first word on the page. This is the story of a man who pulls his family out of poverty with a misguided and surprise real estate investment in an old house that his wife hates. That one purchase sets into motion a series of events that tears the family apart, and his children are left to pick up the pieces after their stepmother casts them out of the house and out of any inheritance after their father's death. I found the sibling relationship fascinating and just loved all the family drama in this book.

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My love of Riley Siger's books continues. This book was dark and a little bit creepy (though not keep you up at night scary), and the entire time you're reading, you know something is just not right. A lavish apartment building puts out an ad for a short term renter to occupy a unit until a new owner can be found. The agreement comes with a great paycheck, but there are some weird rules -- like no visitors and tenants must sleep in the apartment every night. When the newest tenant makes friends with the temporary renter in the unit below her, they realize there is something is off. And then one of them goes missing. The whole time I was waiting for the twist, but I did not expect the twist to be what it was. What a great read.

Four Stars

Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry by Mary Higgins Clark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This felt like a delightful and nostalgic throwback to my middle school/high school reading days when I regularly tore through Mary Higgins Clark books. This book was exactly like what I remembered, a captivating and fast read where I just wanted to figure out whodunit. An investigative journalist gets a cryptic email from CRyan about something terrible she experienced while working at a premier news network. But then CRyan turns up dead in Aruba, and our journalist is set on figuring out what's going on. This book is a timely take on how those in power will go to all costs to protect themselves from whistleblowers.

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fun mystery that jumps back and forth from present day when Adam and Amelia are on a weekend getaway to try to save their marriage to the early beginnings of their relationship. That part of the book is told through anniversary letters Amelia has written Adam but never shared with him. I like the twist at the end, that I probably should have seen coming, but didn't.

The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos by Judy Batalion
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book told the story of a group of young Jewish girls and women who were resistance fighters against the Nazis in Poland. It was a piece of World War II history that I had not previously been familiar with, and to read these women's stories -- about how they risked their lives smuggling weapons and trying to pass as non-Jewish to thwart Nazi plans -- was quite awe inspiring. I actually found the last part of the book that covered how these women are remembered (or in many cases not remembered) to be some of the most interesting. The book raised the question about why women's stories, and in this case specifically Jewish women's stories are often forgotten, downplayed or discredited.

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was spookier than other books I've read by Riley Sager, but I still tore through it, and only once had to stop reading it at night before bed. When Maggie Holt was a child, her family moved into a mysterious house that was cloaked in tragedy. Many of the previous owners had killed their children in the house. Maggie doesn't remember much about the two weeks her family lived there before fleeing in the night, but her father wrote a book about the whole experience claiming the house was haunted and ghosts terrorized Maggie. Maggie's always been convinced the book was a lie, but after his death, she goes back to the house determined to remember what happened. Spooky things started happening again, and I couldn't put this book down while trying to figure out what was going on. This book reminded me a bit of White Smoke in the creepy haunted house element.

An Irish Hostage by Charles Todd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I discovered this book on a random trip to the library when I went to pick up covid tests. The title and the cover image caught my eye, and I was curious about a mystery set in historical Ireland. This was a good read that finds English nurse Bess Crawford fresh off her service in World War I. She's invited to Ireland for a close friend's wedding who she served with in the war. But tensions are high in Ireland after the 1916 Easter Rising and the groom, an Irishmen who served for England in the war, goes missing days before the wedding. Bess is determined to find him and get herself safely out of Ireland. I really enjoyed this historical mystery, and found out Bess Crawford is a continuous character from this author, and I'm now kind of intrigued to read some of the other books she stars in. While this book worked fine as a standalone, there were some mentions to things that must have happened in other books that I didn't have context for, so these may best be read in order.

Three Stars

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was really slow at the start and I kept wondering where the mystery was going to come in. This book got a lot of praise, and the plot line did eventually pick up and become a decently enjoyable mystery, though I found the ending to be super predictable.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really enjoy Taylor Jenkins Reid’s book, but this one took me a little while to get into. Once it got going though, I enjoyed the story of the Riva siblings and watching their relationships grow and morph over the years, while they dealt with their father’s fame.

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The way our first floor is set up in our house, the living room and dining area are all sort of one big space. We've divide them up with the layout of our furniture, but for a while now, I've felt like the wall in the dining area just needed something. 

It was super plain and looked exactly like all the walls in the rest of the room. So it never really felt like it was its own distinct space. 

I'd been banging my head against the wall trying to figure out what to do with it. I debated painting it. I spent hours looking at wallpaper options. But nothing really felt right for the space. 

So I asked Megan for ideas. She has a really good eye based on the way she's designed her own house, and I very recently learned that she also took a bunch of interior design courses back in the day. 

So I sent her some pictures and a video of me walking around the space, hoping she'd have some ideas. 

A couple of weeks later she narrowed down some options and shared some pictures of a board and batten wallpapered wall. I was instantly in love and knew the board and batten look would add the perfect amount of texture to the space, and the wallpaper would add just a little bit of color. 

The timing was pretty perfect because one of the Christmas presents my husband and I got for each other was a saw. 

When I was back in PA for Christmas, I shared the project with my dad because I wanted his thoughts on how to make this work with our crappy baseboards. I also was curious to get his ideas on how to handle the outside corners on the wall. I didn't want to have ugly ends in either the hallway leading to the front entry or the walkway into the kitchen.

We kicked around a lot of ideas, and he sketched me out some plans.

Back in DC, we started putting the plan into action. We taped off the wall to get a sense of the dimensions, so we'd know exactly what lengths of wood we'd need to buy. We measured multiple times to make sure we had everything right and to ensure the space between the vertical wood pieces was all even.

After a trip to the hardware store for wood, we got to work. 

Step 1: Gently pry off the original baseboards and quarter round moulding. We needed to replace the baseboard because our current one beveled back into the wall, which meant there wasn't a flat surface for the vertical wood pieces we were going to install to rest on. We planned to re-use the quarter round moulding, so we were extra careful taking that part off. 

Once we had the baseboards off, we of course got a laugh at the hole we found in the wall. Every time we do a project, we discover something ridiculous. 

Step 2: Install the wood framing the wall. We started with the top horizontal piece. We used a 1x6 board with a 1x2 installed along the top edge to create a small ledge for us to rest pictures on. It was really important to find the studs in the wall to get this installed and make sure it was secure. 

Excuse all the shadows in the pictures. In such a small space there's not a lot of room to move things around to get them out of the way for better pictures.

Once we had the top board installed, we measured again for the two vertical boards on the edges. We used 1x4s for all the vertical boards. These two boards on the edge we planned to run to the floor. Because things settle and houses are not square, these two pieces were not the same length. I highly recommend measuring each side separately and not assuming both boards will need to be the same length because that's likely not going to be the case. 

To deal with the corners of the wall, we ended up buying 1 inch quarter rounds that we cut to the right length and installed on the edge of the wood and the wall. This ensured that there'd be a nice smooth finish from the hallways that approach this wall. 

The last part of the frame we installed was the new baseboard. We designed this so the baseboard would run in between the two vertical end pieces. This was just another 1x4 that we cut to the correct dimensions. 

Step 3: Install the remaining vertical boards. Again we measured everything multiple times. Even though these two boards were sitting pretty close together, they still weren't the same length. It took extra time to stop and measure over and over again, but it was worth it to make sure we got everything exactly right. 

Once we had the boards cut, we had to double check the spacing between them again to ensure all the openings would still be even. We ended up needing to shift things slightly but eventually got it all set and nailed the final boards into the walls. 

Step 4: All the tedious stuff necessary to prep for painting. 

I used wood filler to fill in all the nail holes and smooth out one or two of the places the wood got a bit dinged up.

Then I caulked all the seams between the wall and the wood and between the different pieces of wood.

Step 5: Priming and painting. I had bought primed wood, but because the quarter rounds weren't primed, I gave everything a coat of primer to protect it and ensure an even finish. I was hoping to only need a single coat of paint, but no such luck. I could still see some of the places where I had filled nail holes, so a second coat was necessary. 

The wall stayed in its almost finished state for a few days while I waited for the wallpaper to arrive. 

Even just with the board and batten, I was already loving the extra character this wall had. 

Adding the wallpaper a few days later just made me love it that much more. 

All in all, this project took about 11 hours from planning through final execution, and the supplies cost about $150. 

Supply list:

• 1 1x6x8 for the horizontal top beam
• 1 1x2x8 for the picture ledge
• 5 1x4x8s for the baseboard and vertical pieces
• 2 1 inch quarter rounds
• Stud finder
• Finishing nails, counter sink and hammer (or a nail gun to save time)
• Wood filler
• Paintable caulk
• Primer
• Paint
• Wallpaper

Either 2021 was a ho-hum year of reading or I was really stingy with my book rankings on Goodreads this year. Typically I like to round up all the books I gave five stars in a year, and when I looked back at last year's post, I had a ton of five star books. 

This year, I only have a handful. 

Out of the 88 books I read, I only gave 11 of them five stars!

Here were my favorites from the year.

The Push by Ashley Audrain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book definitely lived up to the hype. It was a page-turning thriller where the whole time you have to figure out what is going on with the relationship between a mother and her first-born child. Is the child really as nefarious as the mother perceives her to be? Or is it all in the mom's head like her husband seems to think? This is the central question of the book as mysterious things keep happening and as the reader, you don't know if the narrator is reliable. Super fast and good read.

Survive the Night by Riley Sager
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This audio book kept me great company on my long runs. It takes place mainly in one setting -- on a car ride from a college in New Jersey to a girl's hometown in Ohio. Charlie gets a ride with Josh who she meets through the ride share board at her school. She's leaving town because her roommate was killed. We aren't sure why Josh is leaving town, but he's a questionable character, and Charlie is stuck with him for hours. I definitely didn't see the twist coming right away, and I didn't want my runs to end so I could figure out how things would end.

Half Life by Jillian Cantor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. It was really interesting and different, and it made you think about how the choices you make in life impact where you end up. This book tells the story of Marie Curie two different ways. In one version of her life, Marie is the woman we all know today, whose discovery of radium and polonium led to many of the advancements we have. That version of her life is a little bit fictionalized, but largely follows her true story. In the other version of her life, Marie never goes to France to study. Instead she marries and stays in Poland. This version is obviously completely fictional, but I love how the author pulls on threads from her real life to sprinkle through the fictionalized life. It's interesting to see how the two lives share similarities and where they were different. A good, thought-provoking book. Highly recommend.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I liked this book not only for the story, but for how much it makes you think about what constitutes a "good life." As the main character waffles in a suspended state between life and death, she visits a library, where each book represents a different version of her life depending on the choices she made at the time. She can revisit old regrets and see if her life would have turned out differently if she'd made different choices. This book will definitely leave you thinking.

Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved getting to know Maverick in The Hate U Give, so I was really excited when Angie Thomas decided to write a prequel focused on Maverick's late teen years. You see Maverick trying to balance fatherhood, school and his social life. Thomas captures his struggles and makes you want to cheer for him even when you know he's about to make a questionable decision. If you read The Hate You Give, you know how Maverick's story ends, so in this book it's fun to try to pick up the threads of the later story and see how he got to where he did.

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I couldn't put this book down, and every time I thought I had a hunch of who was guilty, the book took another twist and I was left questioning things again. Elin and her boyfriend set off for Le Sommet, a luxury resort set up in the mountains in a place that used to be a Sanatorium. She's there for her brother's engagement party. But after the first night his fiancee goes missing, and dead bodies start showing up. Police can't reach the hotel because of the snow, so Elin must use her police skills to figure out who is behind the murders and stop anyone else from dying. Highly recommend!

A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love Colin Jost on SNL, and I was really excited to listen to his audio-book. It was laugh-out-loud funny. As in, I was on a walk around the neighborhood and would have to hold back laughter so my neighbors didn't think the pandemic was making me become unhinged. This was one of the best comedian memoirs I've read in a long time.

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I could not put this book down and tore through it in two days mainly because I had to stop reading for work and sleep. This book tells the story of Rose and Fern and their unique relationship as twins. We get Rose's point of view through her journal entries and Fern's story is told in real-time. Rose has always looked out for Fern. Fern feels she needs Rose because Rose knows just how to help when noises get too loud, lights get too bright or clothes feel scratchy or constricting. But when Wally enters the scene and expresses interest in Fern, the sisters' dynamic changes and you realize that there's something a bit darker going on behind the scenes. While I saw the twist coming, I still couldn't wait to see how things resolved themselves at the end. Highly recommend for a fun and suspenseful read.

What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just couldn't put this book down. It was beautifully written, flipping between first person and third person narration for the two main characters -- letting you dive deep inside their minds. After the death of two teenage boys rocks a small town, the young girl who mysteriously appears could further tear things apart. This book examines how people try to move on after a tragedy and rebuild a semblance of a new life.

That Summer by Jennifer Weiner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book really struck me, and while I found it started a bit slow, it wasn't long before I was sucked in and couldn't put it down. This book tells the story of two Dianas -- one is trying to cope with the trauma of being assaulted when she was 15, the other more broadly questioning how happy she is in her life as a stay-at-home mom with a small cooking business. For a while I struggled with how spineless the latter Diana was. So many times I wanted to shake her and be like don't put up with that nonsense. But over the course of the book, as the two women's lives intersect, they each have a profound effect on the other and you see them both grow.

Broke Millennial Takes on Investing: A Beginner's Guide to Leveling Up Your Money by Erin Lowry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Five stars because I love a good personal finance book that is written in a conversational and easy-to-understand way. Investing is definitely the area of personal finance where I have the most to learn, and I appreciated that this book looked beyond 401K investing and covered topics like mirco-investing, cryptocurrency and other less traditional ways to be active in the market.

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