January was quite the month. It felt really long for some reason. Maybe it is just my age showing, and the days are just running into each other. It was a good reading month though. I finished 16 books and most of them were 4+ stars and even a five star read. I am doing really well on my challenges too. Here is my Story graph collage of my reads from the month.
I am doing five challenges this year and so far I am keeping up with them. The 52 Book Club Challenge is especially going well with 10/52 prompts completed. I’ve included which prompts these books were for with their titles below. My monthly challenges are also going well with one book for each of them. As for the Speccy Challenge, I read four books that fit one of the prompts. I haven’t yet added all of them to the link page yet, but I will. It’s not too late to join any of these challenges. I highly recommend the Speccy Challenge if you read a lot of speculative fiction. The prompts are great, and I am finding new ones to add to my TBR whenever I visit the links page.
Favorite ARCs
*Strange Animals was wonderful and I had a fun time learning about cryptids and other creatures that might lurk unseen in the wilderness. (52 BC #32, Speecy Challenge)
*Her Last Breath was a fast paced thriller where I was never sure who was telling the truth. Loved this one and highly recommend it. (52 BC #5)
*A Ghastly Catastrophe was just as much fun as the other nine books in the series. This one involved vampire lore and witches. (52 BC #28)
Reading Challenge Books
*A Gift Before Dying (title include before or after) was a very intense and rather depressing read. I did really enjoy it though. The arctic setting was brilliant and really added to the story. (52 BC #29)
*The Hearth Witch’s Guide to Magic and Murder,was a really good story with really great characters. I just really struggled with the extremely slow pace. Still I think I will read the next one. (52 BC #41)
*A World Without Summer was a very interesting look at how one catastrophe, such as a volcano exploding, can effect the world. (52 BC #15)
Favorite Reads
*After the Fall was a very interesting and well done science fiction story about aliens keeping humans as pets. I really enjoyed it, but wanted a touch more from the story. (Speecy Challenge)
*Alchemy of Secrets was my favorite read of the month. I loved the story, the setting and the characters. I am really looking forward to the sequel. (52 BC #24)
Climate of Chaos was really good. I loved that it was set in Seattle and dystopian setting was perfect. The characters were great and the plot was quite good as well. Also looking forward to a sequel at some point. I hope to right a review for this one soon. (Speccy Challenge)
Favorite Audiobooks
*First Lie Wins was a fabulous thriller were all of the characters were hiding secrets from each other. I really enjoyed this one and the reader did a fabulous job. (52 BC #35)
Another Time, Another Place was fabulous. I really enjoyed the intrigue in this one and the narrator was fabulous. I really wish my library had more of them on audio.
*I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons was a lot of fun, even when it got a bit dark in the middle. I loved the faux medieval setting and the dragonettes were adorable. (Speccy Challenge)
Well that is January all wrapped up. So far February is off to a good start with lots of good books. I hope your day is going well and that you find some time to spend reading. Until next time…
Confessions of a Serial Reader 