January! A time for shutting out the world. A time for remaining in one's pajamas and enjoying the comfort of one's own four walls. May I suggest.... (1) Any work by Tessa Hadley. Ms. Hadley has a new novel coming out this coming Tuesday. She did not start publishing, in earnest, until she was 46--and now she is among our major writers--and so of course she has a place in my own late-blooming heart. (I mixed metaphors there!) Ms. Hadley is especially interested in how a narrative approaches the question of time, and elapsed time; she cites Ms. Munro, with her strange time experiments, as a major inspiration. Mark your calendar. Tuesday! Tuesday! Tuesday! (2) Scented candles. January is a month for scented candles. (3) Strange true crime stories. Asha Degree, a tiny child, left her home in the wet and in the dark, around 4 AM, one day, and she was never seen again. What happened? And Robert Wone, allegedly heterosexual, arrived at the home of a gay thrupple, only to be d...