- The Quiet American by Graham Greene ★★★★☆ | review
- Cherry by Nico Walker ★★★★☆ | review
- Heavy by Kiese Laymon ★★★★☆ | review
- The End of Loneliness by Benedict Wells ★★★★☆ | review
- The Stranger Inside by Laura Benedict ★★☆☆☆ | review
- My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite ★★★★☆ | mini review
- Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh ★★☆☆☆ | review
- The Trick is to Keep Breathing by Janice Galloway ★★★★☆ | review
- Paradise by Edna O’Brien ★★★★☆ | review
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas ★★★☆☆ | review
- This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Philipps ★★★☆☆ | review
- Daughters of Passion by Julia O’Faolain ★★★☆☆ | review
- The Hiding Place by CJ Tudor ★★☆☆☆ | review
- Mother Winter by Sophia Shalmiyev ★★★★☆ | review
- Census by Jesse Ball ★★☆☆☆ | mini review
Favorite: The End of Loneliness by Benedict Wells
Honorable Mentions: Mother Winter by Sophia Shalmiyev, Paradise by Edna O’Brien
Least favorite: The Stranger Inside by Laura Benedict
JANUARY TOTAL: 15
YEARLY TOTAL: 15
I’m pretty sure 15 is a personal record for most books read in a single month (and, technically I read 16 since I also read a friend’s MS). I mean, obviously there were a couple of short stories thrown in there, and also January is like eighteen billion years long, so it’s probably not as impressive of a number as it seems, but still. Also, I do still have to finish Census but I’m pretty sure I’ll manage that by the end of the day, so it’s going on the list.
Currently reading: The Power by Naomi Alderman, Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff (which I started yesterday at Hannah’s encouragement after making this post).
Also, I never do monthly TBRs but I’m going to make an exception right now because there is a lot going on this month and I need to keep track of it all somewhere.
ARCs:
1. The Cassandra by Sharma Shields (2/12)
2. The Heavens by Sandra Newman (2/22)
3. The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See (3/5)
4. When All Is Said by Anne Griffith (3/5)
5. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (3/5)
Buddy reads:
6. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb (with Chelsea)
2019 reading goals:
7. The Color Purple by Alice Walker (from my backlist TBR)
8. Glass, Irony, and God by Anne Carson (from my goal to read 2 books of poetry/short stories/plays/nonfiction each month)
Library holds:
9. The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
10. Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
11. Becoming by Michelle Obama, audiobook: I actually don’t think I’m going to listen to this after all. I just can’t do a 19 hour audiobook. My usual limit is around 8 hours and I thought I could make an exception for Michelle Obama, but now that the audiobook is in my possession it is stressing me out too much, so I think I shall just have to read the physical copy, which luckily I have access to. I may try to read this in February but I guess it isn’t a necessity.
I may not get to all of these – namely, I could save 2 of those ARCs for the first week of March – and I may add a couple of others, but you get the general idea. Wish me luck.
What was the best book you read in January? Comment and let me know!
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Great list! I really need to read My Sister, The Serial Killer. I guess Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke is the best book I read in January.
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My Sister, The Serial Killer was such a delight! Ooh I REALLY need to pick up Jonathan Strange one of these days, that’s been on my TBR for years.
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What a great start to your reading year! I’m already excited to hear how you get on with The Power.
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I’m only like 4 chapters into that so who even knows 😂 I can’t say I have the highest of expectations but maybe that means it will easily surpass them?
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A wise tactic 👌🏼😋
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What a great month’s reading! I really want to read Cherry and The End of Loneliness. I met Charlotte Collins, who translated it, before Christmas and she was just lovely.
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Oh how lovely! Her translation was just stunning. I mean, my German isn’t good enough to judge it against the original text, but I thought the prose was just gorgeous. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on both that and Cherry!
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Looks like you had a really great reading month! I haven’t heard of Mother Winter, but that’s an intriguing cover – I’ll have to check it out! My favorite book of the month’s a tie between The Pillars of the Earth and I Capture the Castle, they were both so wonderful in quite different ways. I hope February’s another lovely reading month for you!
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The cover of Mother Winter is Shalmiyev’s mother’s passport photo, which is one of the only photos she has of her, and I find it so haunting! I absolutely LOVE The Pillars of the Earth and I Capture the Castle, what excellent choices. I hope February is wonderful to you as well!
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15 whole books, nice!!!! And I love the color scheme of the book graphic.
I’m excited to see what you think of the power, given that it’s such a polarizing book!
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omg thank you I spend a stupid amount of time arranging the graphic each month so the color scheme isn’t a hot mess.
I’m excited to see what I think of it too, I’ll try to buckle down this weekend and make some progress!
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This looks like a great start to the year! Cherry has been on and off of my TBR for months, for some reason I can’t decide whether or not to pick it up or not. I’ll be interested to see your thoughts on The Power, and those ARCs… and I hope you find a 5-star (or two or three) in February! January was a very 4-star month for me as well.
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I’d definitely recommend picking up Cherry at some point!! Among other things it is a VERY quick read, so it’s not a huge commitment. But I mean, it’s understandably a very polarizing book, and I think the bottom line is that if you don’t like books about terrible people and addiction you aren’t going to like this, but if you’re into ‘train wreck you can’t look away from’ books it’s oddly compelling.
I was so disappointed that I didn’t have a single 5 star out of 15 books! Yes, hopefully that changes for both of us in February!!
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