As I try to recover from burnout, I’ve actually had quite a lot of time in January to read! I’m currently at 16 books as of writing this, and I might finish another before the day is out.
I do still want to read more ebooks (I’ve only finished 1 this month!) but I find it a lot easier to focus on audio at the moment! Plus I have a giant pile of library books to get through…
What happened in January
Some Quick Stats
This month I’ve read: 16 books, over 5000 pages!
Including 1 ebook, 6 audiobooks, 9 paper books
DNF: 1 (ebook) – more on this later!
From my 2022 objectives:
– Owned books read: 4 (+1 DNF)
– Owned books bought: 10*
*So I’d originally only bought 2 books this month, which means I’d reduced my owned TBR by 2… that was already bad but since I’ve been reading so many library and audiobooks it made sense. But THEN I went to Chapters, an indie but absolutely huge bookstore in Dublin that is closing today. So they had bargains on their bargains, and I bought 8 more books x.x One is a 995 page long SF omnibus and I’ve no clue how i’m going to tackle that!
Anyways this all means I’ve added 5 books to my owned-TBR instead of reducing it!
I also read one of my New-To-Me authors by reading Redshirts by John Scalzi; I’ve read the first in my October Daye reread, and I’ve read 1 Terry Pratchett in my Discworld list, so I’m not doing too bad on the sidequests.
As for nonfiction, the one book I read doesn’t really fit well in my nonfiction challenge, but that’s still a nonfiction book read! And I’m in the middle of another very interesting one, it just takes me more time than fiction.
The Worst Book
Without question the one I DNF’d, The Lady and her Secret Lover. I usually leave it well enough alone when I don’t like something, but this one made me absolutely mad. I’m a sucker for sapphic historical romance but I have to draw the line at pages upon pages of gratuitous, graphic rape. A shame because it started pretty well. I can only say, please, please include proper trigger warnings if you’re going to write something like that!
The Highlights
Swordheart, by T. Kingfisher
I’ve read 3 Kingfisher books this month, but I’m gonna stop at one for the purposes of this. Just an absolutely lovely, low-stakes fantasy story and romance. Some absolutely hilarious parts that had me wheezing with laughter. And loved to see some of the minors characters from the Saint of Steel series get more page time. I absolutely recommend this audiobook. And any and all T. Kingfisher books, if I’m being honest, as she’s my current comfort read.
A Master of Djinn, by P. Djéli Clark
I already wrote a full review about it here but it was very much up to my expectations, and Clark is definitely high up on my list of favourite writers. I hope we get a lot more in this universe soon!
My Life as a Cat, by Carlie Sorosiak
I don’t usually read middle grade but this book made me very, very emotional. It’s about an alien who gets to spend a month as an Earth creature and accidentally ends up as a cat, instead of a human. And something about family and finding your people. If you loved Lilo & Stitch, this book is for you!
The Comfortable Courtesan, by L.A. Hall
Complete change of genre and age range, I know. But this had been recommended to me ages ago, and I really enjoyed it. A tiny bit confusing because characters are referred mostly by their initials. They’re the chronicles of, you guessed it, a courtesan, navigating regency society, work and friendship with other women, and all that jazz. Some of Liaisons Dangereuses without the machinations. Oh, and there’s a wombat!
Pondathon II
As I’ve announced earlier this month, I’m taking part in the Pondathon II challenge, organized by The Quiet Pond. And all this reading means I’ve got a dang cute garden now!
I’m wondering if there will be some hanging flowers or something like that in future months, because I feel like I could use more width and less height. Each little flower is beautifully drawn and I want to be able to showcase them better! I also got a little badge for 3+ diverse books, and I’m excited for the challenge to read more Black authors during Black History Month. Which brings us to…
February TBR
So for a change of pace, and mainly because this month I got awfully distracted by the library books I had – I’ve asked my twitter followers to pick from my shelves for me. The result is a lot of bones and a lot of seasons. We’ll see how it goes!
What are you thinking to read this month? Any cool challenges I should know about?
