Starting Out Strong: January Wrap-Up

Can you actually believe that we are already one month into 2019? Life sure does come at you fast, am I right?

If you’re pretty familiar with my little blog you’ll know that I never do these posts. Literally never. I’ve tried but overall I’m actually terrible at writing them. That’s about to change. This year, in order to attempt to organise my life and stay on track with my 2019 TBR and reading goals [which I also never post] I am making the effort to post monthly wrap ups.

So, here it goes.

 

My Month In A Nutshell

January was a month of change. And what a month it was. I’m actually hoping that February will let up a little. I hadn’t really anticipated the amount of change that was thrown my way and god knows I wasn’t prepared. Life came at me, work came at me and yet I managed to stay calm, on top of things, ahead of my reading challenge [whoo hoo!] and semi-what regular with posting on the blog. Someone hand me a dang meddle! 😉

Some of the highlights for January were celebrating my 22nd birthday [I went laser tagging – spoiler alert: I lost], going away to spend time with family and friends along the Victorian coast and planning my mum’s wedding. Struggles came in the form of losing three staff members at work which meant that I had to step up and meet the challenges of taking on more work and managing my time. It did mean more money for books though and boy did January bring a haul!

In hindsight, I’m actually pretty proud of how I handled and adapted to the change. Anxiety and stress who? What did I tell you – 2019 is my year baby!

Books Read

The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon | ★★★★★ | Started the year out strong with a philosophical and thought provoking re-read. The perfect New Years read.

Amy & Rodger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson | ★★★★★ | Started strong with my 2019 TBR and my Morgan Matson re-read. Hands down all time favorite YA contemporary. I love the unique formatting with the playlists, photos, receipts and sketches.

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson |  ★★★★½ | Continued with re-read, didn’t enjoy this quite as much the third time around. I love the summary lake setting and the focus on family but it’s just so long. 

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett | ★★★★☆ | Made a start on my Terry Pratchett read-a-long and started out strong. I loved the introduction to Twoflower and Rincewind and their hilarious escapades. Required reading for any fantasy fan.

Everless by Sara Holland | ★★★★★ | While waiting for Evermore to hit shelves I re-read Everless and remembered just how much I loved this world. Deliciously dark, morbid and bleak – a breath of fresh air in the trope-y genre.

Evermore by Sara Holland | ★★★½☆ | Yikes. What happened? Evermore was my first disappointment of 2019. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it either. The world building and lore was abandoned in favor of a more black and white trope-y fantasy.

The Mermaid by Christina Henry | ★★★☆☆ | Enjoyable but it was no Alice. Lacking the dark, morbid atmosphere of Henry’s previous retellings. The writing kept pushing me forwards – I could taste the salt on the air and feel the cut of the wind.

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes | ★★★★☆ | After a lull in reading, Falling Kingdoms ended January with a good amount of blood letting and a whole lot of feels. I think the death toll made it upwards of 10. Ruthless, cunning and very addictive, I can’t wait to continue the series in February.

Blog Posts

Setting Goals: 2019 Literary Resolutions

Reflection on 2018: The Best and Worst in Books

A Definitive List Of Books I-Actually-Need-To-Freaking-Read-Already: 2019 TBR

Review: The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Review: Everless by Sara Holland

Review: Evermore by Sara Holland

My [Updated] Unpopular Bookish Opinions Tag 

Books Hauled

Final Thoughts and February Plans

So to wrap up my 2019 January Wrap Up, I’m pretty happy with everything I managed to accomplish. Like I said, I was able to keep on top of my goodreads reading challenge, staying 2 books ahead, well on my way to my endgame. I read a good chunk of books straight from my 2019 TBR [which we all know I never do], already taking that titanic pile down a few pegs. Go me! Now, just to keep this momentum going…

Moving forward in to February, I’m planing to continue with my Discworld read-a-long with The Light Fantastic because I actually need to find out what happens to Rincewind after that ending. I’ve kind of been on a real fantasy bender but I’m wanting to read the next two Morgan Matson books, or at least Since You’ve Been Gone. Fantasy wise, I’m going to continue the Falling Kingdoms series with Rebel Springs because I’m officially hooked and maybe dabble in some more pirate-y or high stakes sea adventure books [*cough cough* Passenger *cough*].

How did your reading month go? Let me know in the comment section below and happy reading for February.

 

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