What did you read in January? Recs?

[mrspez07]

What did you read in January?
What are your reading goals for the year?

[mrspez07]

I had a few that I started but didn’t get very far and one DNF.

Finished:
Read:
Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown 4*
Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola

Listen:
The River we Remember by William Kent Kruger 5*

DNF:
Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko

[travella]

5*

The Sleeping Dictionary by Sujata Massey

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt

4* Good

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

3* Ok

Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger

Artiface by Sharon Cameron

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, 3.5*

Island of Sea Women by Lisa See, 3.5*

2* Didn't Like

The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean

DNF

The Girl Behind the Wall by Mandy Robotham

I set my reading goal on Goodreads to 45 again this year, the bear minimum I would like to read. I am also trying the 52 book challenge this year. I gave up challenges years ago because I was reading too many books I had zero interest in reading and lost interest in reading all together.  This challenge seems flexible enough to not bog me down with a bunch of books I have no interest in reading. 

[Vespasia]

Little Thieves and Painted Devils by Margaret Owen were fantastic. 5* for both

All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, and Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells. Individually I rated them 4* each, mostly because they are so short, but collectively they're 5*.


Morgan is My Name by Sophie Keetch - 4*
Daughters of Block Island by Christa Carmen - 2*
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw - 3*
Here in Avalon by Tara Isabella Burton - 4*



I set my goal at 52 books again. I've exceeded that by quite a bit the last 2 years but don't feel the need to raise it.

[charlatti]

Ninth House & Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo, both 4 stars — I like the magic in this series
Mislaid in Parts Unknown by Seanan McGuire, 4 stars - good series but I have trouble remembering much about them in between
A Blizzard of Polar Bears by Alice Henderson, 4 stars — climate research + mystery

These were all 3 stars, interesting enough but not fantastic:
Shiner by Amy Jo Burns
The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
Wrong Way by Joanne McNeil
The Helsinki Affair by Anna Pitoniak
Above the Fire by Michael O’Donnell

[sju]

So far I have been happy with what I have read.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto - I really enjoyed this book.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles - slower but very enjoyable 

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy - audiobook - very heavy 

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman- novella - sad but beautiful 

I set my Goodreads goal to 25 but my main goal is to read a variety of genres. I am trying the a to z challenge again. 

[wawa]

Loved: 
Raybearer by Jordan Ifuenko
Children of Ruin (second book, read Children of Time in Dec) by Adrian Tchaikovsky 
Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torsz (12 books #1/12)
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by SHannon Chakraborty - fave of the month

Liked it Lots, Would Still Recommend but Wouldn't Gush:
Black Sun and Fevered Star by Rebeccca Roan Horse, good.
Clockwork Angel (first book) Clockwork Prince (second book) by Cassandra Clare 
When Women were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill (12 books #2/12)

DNF/didn't LIke:
none in Jan!  woo!


My number of books goal (100 I think is where I set it) is sorta irrelevant because I don't actually care  so my other goal is to read all the books recommended when I posted that 12 friends/12 books thing on FB (2/12 so far) since most of them are NOT my usual thing (the two I knocked out this month were the only fantasy on the list) so it'll force me to occasionally visit the real world in my reading.

[dearprudence]

5*
Amongst Our Weapons
Tales From The Folly

4*
Grave Expectations
Miss Aldridge Regrets

3*
Winter's Gifts
The City that Barks and Roars
Play the Fool
The Eyre Affair

This year my reading goal has been to read more books that have been on my TBR list for a while. I started the list in 2021 and this month 2 of these books were put on the list that year.

[estrellita]

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I almost closed the book as soon as I started reading it because the main character starts out talking about TikTok and going viral and I knew I wasn't the target demographic 😂 I knew it was YA but I don't usually feel that way! Anyway, it was cute but just ok.

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I love how she sucks you into a story, then flips it completely upside down. It was really interesting and overall I liked it.

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J Maas ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I love this series! I waited on it because of book 3 coming out, which I'm reading now.

My reading goal for the year is 40 books. Last year my goal was 36 (3 per month) and I got to 40 so I'm hoping I'll exceed it again this year!