Hello, hello! And welcome to my first ever monthly wrap-up. Over the past few years, I have written posts focused on my top reads from the previous month, but this year I decided to do it a little differently and do a true wrap-up for the previous month. I’ll be sorting my books by how many stars I rated them, and because I love sharing quotes, I will have a ‘favourite quotes’ section at the end where I will share some quotes I loved from books I’ve read that month. January was slightly mixed for me when it comes to reading, I managed to get through 9 books, but also DNF’d two that I had high hopes for. I also read a large chunk of Day of Fallen Night, but I’ve definitely read more of it in Feb so it will have to sit in that wrap-up. It’s such a chunk with so much information, definitely the longest it’s taken me to read a book in a while.
None reading wise I had a relatively quiet month, even though January seemed to go on endlessly. I visited friends for a post Christmas catch-up and managed to book a few trips to get over those January blues, Paris in October for the Rugby World Cup & Berlin next month for my dad’s 60th Birthday. We’re also having a new system put in at work which is taking up so much of my time, so my reading has slowed down a little from last year.
Reading Update!
I’m currently on 12 books for the year so far, and 4 ahead of schedule which is handy because I have a few trips/ weekends away coming up which means my reading is bound to slow down a little.
Monthly Reads!
I didn’t specifically rate anything 1 star last month, but I did have two DNF’s that I’ll stick here. The first was City of Nightmares which started off strongish, but I just didn’t really get where the story was going. The MC was in danger, but it seemed almost accidental so there just lacked any kind of stakes or depth to the story. The second was The Thorns Remain, I actually DNF’d this really early on because I just didn’t gel with the writing style. I was over 10% through and still in only in chapter one which is a no/no for me, and I just could tell that the story wasn’t going to be for me.
not needed
Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amelie Wen Zhao
Love Will Tear Us Apart by C.K. McDonnell –
A Witch’s Guide to Take Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley –
The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
Stardust in Their Veins by Laura Sebastian
Favourite Quotes
“There is probably something more awkward than the morning after you’ve found a jar of teeth and your mother has admitted she thinks she’s being haunted by your dead grandmother, but I couldn’t think of it.” – A House With Good Bones.
“Sophie knew when we hatched our plan that she was going to sacrifice herself to save you. It wasn’t a spur of the moment choice, and if there is one thing I’ve learned about Sophie and her sisters it’s this: when they hatch a plan, the stars themselves aren’t enough to stand in their way.” – Stardust in Their Veins.
“This is why fairy tales are dangerous: their words sneak into your veins and travel into the chambers of your heart, where they whisper of your exceptionalism. They say: Ah, but remember the boy who walked into the woods and came out a King? Oh, but what of the girl who was kicked and slept in ashes? Remember the man who was only kind and so life bent around the shape of his smile? But we are not exceptional… I thought of all the wives who preceded the famous Scheherazade, the many women who wed a bloodthirsty sultan known to kill his brides. Here is how fairy tales leave you disfigured. You think death will not touch you as it did the others. You lie down in that blood-soaked bed and forget the noose will caress your neck by dawn.” – The Last Tale of the Flower Bride.
“My love was entirely possessive. When you love a person, you are expected to give them their freedom, but when you love a monster, you keep it caged.” – Untethered Sky.
Post’s I’ve Enjoyed!
Jodie @ Witty and Sarcastic Book Club wrote a magical review for The Magicians Daughter by H.G. Parry that had me dying to get my hands on a copy.
I’m a huge fan of T. Kingfisher and Sheri @ read betwixt words reviewed What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher which quickly became an instant add to my TBR.
I’ve had Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer on my TBR for a while now, but Jordyn @ Birdie’s Book Nook’s review definitely made me bump it up the list.
I’m not a big MG reader, but Madeline @ The Bookish Mutant’s review of The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera made it sounds too good to pass on.
Dini @ Dini Panda Reads did a TTT talking about her new-to-me authors from 2022 and definitely added a few more books to my TBR.
If you like my post feel free to share on:
Categories:Uncategorized
Becky's Book Blog 
great wrap-up, sounds like you had a good january!! thanks for the shoutout!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Magician’s Daughter has made it onto my TBR too 😃 Shame about your DNFs but the rest of your books sound brilliant.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oooh well I hope you love it 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ohh ilove that you added quotes!! Particularly interrested by the first one 😂
Happy reading xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks! I always like to try and lure people to reading the books with quotes, so glad to know it’s working lol 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes!! Ahah im generally too lazy to write them down.. and I forget them 😂 (though now you can take a picture and it’ll copy it 👀)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha that new trick is ridiculously handy! I do read a lot on my kindle, which is a lot easier to mark quotes on!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great wrap-up, Becky! It sounds like it was a busy month, but you managed to read quite a bit. Busy work days have definitely kept me from reading as much as I’ve wanted to, which is such a bummer ngl, but I hope you’re enjoying more reading time this month! I can’t wait to read Tale of the Flower Bride and Untethered Sky and I’m excited to see them rated highly on your list (although not at all surprised, lol). 😍 Hope you’re having an awesome February so far!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Dini! Work is the worst right? I wish I was rich enough to just spend my days reading lol. Excited to see what you think of Last Tale of the Flower Bride and Untethered Sky & I hope you have an awesome Feb too 😀
LikeLike
Seems like January was a pretty good month for you, even if it was sort of a mixed bag on ratings. Still, for the most part it seemed like a month of some pretty good reads. Hopefully your February is going good as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was, thank you! I was disappointed with the books I DNF’d, but the others certainly made up for it. I hope you’re having a great Feb so far 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s always a bummer to DNF books, but better to move on to books that we’ll actually enjoy more than to try to push on through something that just isn’t working for us for some reason or another.
February has been a little slow on the reading front so far, but I’m hoping to have a good reading weekend so I can keep ahead on my reading challenge.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Totally agree on DNF, and it’s something I’ve become better at the more I read.
I hope your Feb picks up for you 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m still working on feeling okay with myself when it comes to DNFing. It doesn’t happen very often–maybe 4 actual DNFs in the last 6 years. A lot of the books I pause in reading are actually because I realize I’m not currently in the right reading mood for it, and so I put it down to be picked up again later. But I have to keep reminding myself that it’s okay to quit reading a book.
Thanks. I’ve been fighting a reading slump for over a year now and getting out of that has been rough. I’m just happy to be reading at least a few books each month, even though I really miss always having 15-30 reads completed each month. With any luck I can get back to that level of reading eventually (I hope).
LikeLike
I definitely get that some time. But recently, I’ve just become better at putting down books I know aren’t for me, instead of pushing myself to read them because they’re an arc etc.
I hope you get out of your slump soon. I think there’s a lot of pressure on bloggers to read loads of books and it’s so easy to get stuck in slumps. Keeping my fingers crossed you get back to your old reading habits soon 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
After being a reader for over 30 years, I’m generally pretty good at selecting books that I should like. I think it helps keep me away from too many DNFs, but they still happen every once in a while…and that’s fine. I read for my own enjoyment first and foremost, and blogging is just an added bonus so I can talk about books I’m reading anyway.
Thanks. I agree that there is definitely a lot of pressure on bloggers to read loads of books and generate lots of content. It’s sometimes overwhelming. I think most of my slump is because I’m a mood reader and because of the pandemic and a couple fallouts with folks I thought were friends but apparently weren’t, my emotions have been an absolute mess, and my mood being not great means that my reading mood has been very depleted. I’m working my way through it though, so I have hopes for my extreme reading mood to return soon enough. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person