Showing posts with label january 2024. Show all posts
Showing posts with label january 2024. Show all posts

Monday, February 5, 2024

Month in Review: January 2024

We've officially made it through the first month of 2024! It's been a pretty busy month for me, but I'm feeling good so far about my productivity and the progress I've been making on work/hobbies/various tasks. I've always been a bit anxious about new years and whatnot, but I think I'm doing much better this year than I used to, even though there's actually a lot my husband and I are planning on tackling in 2024. But all that aside, let's talk about books!

One thing I wanted to try to work on this month was to improve my focus while reading, and I think I've been doing pretty well with that since I somehow ended up reading 14 books! It was a solid month for books, as I liked most of these and even loved a couple. Some of my favorites from the month were Sparrow, The Butcher of the Forest, Alone on the Ice, and The Book of Sand. Let's cross our fingers I can keep this momentum up for the rest of the year (or at least one more month, haha)!

How was your January? Were you ready for the year to end?? Let me know how your month was below and what you've been reading!

   

# books read: 14

Sparrow by James Hynes ★★★★★
Source: Giveaway | Format: Hardcover
Thoughts: I had a feeling I'd like this historical fiction, and I did! This was a really heartbreaking story that I really loved, despite the fact that it's honestly a pretty tough read most of the time. Highly recommended for fans of The Wolf Den!

The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed ★★★★★
Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Thoughts: I adored this dark fantasy novella immensely and I'll have a review up for it closer to its publication later in February!

Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration by David Roberts ★★★★★
Source: Owned | Format: Paperback
Thoughts: I finally got to this survival story about Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition and the title isn't wrong, it really was an incredible survival story.

Winter in the Blood by James Welch
Source: Owned | Format: Paperback
Thoughts: I read James Welch's Fools Crow a couple years back and had been meaning to get to Winter in the Blood, so I'm glad I finally did. 


The Book of Sand by Theo Clare ★★★★
Source: Owned | Format: Hardcover
Thoughts: I belive the author of this one passed shortly before the book was released. 

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler ★★★
Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Thoughts: This didn't end up grabbing me quite as much as I'd expected it to, but it was still a really fascinating premise and is a novella that I would absolutely recommend. 

Here in Avalon by Tara Isabella Burton ★★★★
Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Thoughts: This was really beautiful and more emotional than I expected! It actually was quite different from what I expected in general, but I still really enjoyed it. 

The Great Air Race: Glory, Tragedy, and the Dawn of American Aviation by John Lancaster ★★★★
Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: I ended up reading this on a bit of a whim and I had a really fun time with it! I only know some basics about America's aviation history, so this was a really informative story that capture some important events, figures, and even shared a bit about aviation progress outside of America. Highly recommended for both how entertaining and informative it was.


Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell ★★★★
Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: I finally got around to reading this one and it was good, but not quite as impactful as I expected it to be. I did really like the ending and of course it's still beautifully written.

River East, River West by Rey Aube Lescure ★★★★
Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: This was a small but powerful novel split between two timelines set in past and present Shanghai and it felt like a really important read. I liked diving into life in Shanghai for different time periods and experiencing what it's like for people to struggle with identities. 

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides ★★
Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: To be completely honest, this was a huge disappointment. I was excited to check this one, but held my expectations in check because these can be hit or miss, and it was a miss. This just felt scattered and didn't work for me. 

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland ★★★★★
Source: Owned | Format: Hardcover
Thoughts: This was somehow almost exactly what I expected it to be, and I had a good time with it! Reminded me a lot of Foz Meadows' A Strange and Stubborn Endurance (or the other way around, I don't recall which came out first), so if you like one I really think you'll like the other. 


The Club by Ellery Lloyd ★★.5
Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: This was fun and had a pretty good start, but fizzled out a bit and got a little complicated by the end. Still, a fun thriller overall. Sidetracked by S.T. Abby 
Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: I initially had no plans to continue this series, but Libby recommended it to me and it was only three hours so I did, and now I'm actually mildly more interested to see where it goes, so maybe I'll continue, we'll see.

DNF/To-Be-Finished:
From what I can recall, I don't think I DNF'd anything this month.


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Monday, January 1, 2024

Anticipated January 2024 Releases!

  

Happy New Year!

A new months means new releases, and 2024 is kicking it all off with some amazing releases! I meant to have this post up last week, but that week after Christmas always earns it's reputation as a lost week and I just didn't end up getting around to it, haha, so hopefully it can still come in handy for January's releases! I've read a few ARCs from this list (and have a few on my TBR still, fingers crossed I can keep up!), but my favorite so far has easily been Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands! Let's have a look at some of January's many releases, and feel free to let me know if I forgot any you're looking forward to. :) What's your most anticipated January 2024 release?

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett || January 16th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire || January 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden || January 30th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers || January 30th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler || January 16th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Divine Might by Natalie Haynes || January 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Midnight by Amy McCulloch || January 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan || January 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Here in Avalon by Tara Isabella Burton || January 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Slain Divine by David Dalglish || January 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas || January 30th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins || January 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Fury by Alex Michaelides || January 16th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James || January 23rd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Your Utopia by Bora Chung, trans. Anton Hur || January 30th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

My Friends by Hisham Matar || January 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Machine Vendetta by Alastair Reynolds || January 16th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall || January 23rd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid || January 30th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Gothikana by RuNyx || January 23rd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Sugar, Baby by Celine Saintclare || January 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Lost Van Gogh by Jonathan Santlofer || January 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Rental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto || January 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org


What are your anticipated January releases?

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