January 2018 Wrap Up

And the first month of the year is done and February is just along the way. I loved reading this month. Although I did have to catch up on a ton of books, I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot. I was able to read all the ARCs I received from NetGalley to put me back on a good track with them. I was able to try a new regime with a lot of failures. It’s been a pretty trying month and on top of that, I turned 33!

But let’s go into the details.

I read 9 books

This is a new record. I don’t think I’ve read this many books in a month in my life except for maybe college. I wasn’t sure how much I read in college, but it was enough to burn me out at the end of it.

I’m finally going to start reading some books that interest me and approaching books that come my way thoughtfully. I think I’ll have to write a blog post about it because it’s been a process and a lot of telling people “no,” which I don’t do very well.

Without ado, here’s my list of reads from January 2018:

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer –  will be continuing this series soon, but I just wanted one fun read for myself this month!

The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking – This was a super quick read, but super informative. I’m so obsessed with the hygge lifestyle that I wrote about it in a post for Book Riot.

The Philosopher’s Flight by Tom Miller – This was an ARC I received from Simon Books and it was a pretty interesting fantasy novel! I can’t wait to read the next book in the series and see how Robert will continue to fight against the Trenchers.

Haikantwithyou by Nicole Best – This was a pretty quick little poetry book about the beginning, middle, and end of a relationship. So many of the haikus in this book were so poignant and made me reflect on some relationships I had as a kid.

Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko – This (as well as the next book) was one of the big reads for January. I loved this book and its dive in Native American culture, the experience of being Native American, and how this world needs to accept and nuture instead of turn people away.

The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender – This one came in my Capsule Books box and was quite honestly the strangest book I ever read. While I wasn’t a true fan, I’m currently reading the second book from this box and I’m definitely seeing a theme here. I’ll chat about that more next month.

Indecent by Corinne Sullivan – This was another egalley that I was reading for review. While this wasn’t my favorite book of the bunch (and my first serious 1-star review in a really long time), perhaps there is something redeemable in the story that I missed. I was bored. I didn’t want to finish it, but maybe you will!

Catalina by Liska Jacobs – This was my final egalley to read for January and I loved it. I think I might have missed some bigger points here about drug abuse and depression, but honestly this read like some rom com or a dramedy that I’ll see adapted into a movie later this year.

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao – This was the last book I read this month and it’s the one still clinging to the spaces in my brain. I couldn’t put this book down and the way they describe the strength of the female friendship will make you wonder if your friendships are as strong as theirs.

I started life as a full-time blogger

January has been such a transition from being a full-time office worker to a full-time blogger. While I’m not making any money off of this (yet), I’m enjoying spending my time reading books and writing reviews and sharing my thoughts with you all. I do hope to get more done in the coming months.

I feel like January was the test month. Don’t commit to creating anything until you’ve got this whole staying at home and creating something for nothing down. I’ve been adjusting and re-adjusting to life living and working from home and being my own boss. It’s been tough. There’s a certain obligation to always be working, but some days lack inspiration and I feel like doing nothing. Some days I would rather watch TV or play video games than talk about the book I just read.

But after a month, I feel like I’ve put together a plan that will allow me to work and not have that sense of obligation to do work. I believe that I am able to generate enough work for myself to be busy all day long.

It’s easy to fall behind or become prey to procrastination. I’ll probably struggle with this my whole life, but I also carry within me the ability to stay strong and keep moving and strive forward.

I will be better. I think that’s the best I can do right now.

I hope you enjoyed this! What did you end up reading this month? Anything worth sharing?