December went by so quickly, and 2019 flew by. Which is a good thing for me, since 2019 was a year in which I was on the struggle bus in so many ways. However, 2019 also allowed me to rediscover the joys of reading, and brought about a lot of unexpected benefits that come with it, like finding a huge community of bookish people who love to discuss books, make suggestions to add to my mountain of books TBR, and are just amazing, supportive, and fun people in general.

Since I didn’t start my blog until the very end of August, and hadn’t started reading seriously until around April or May, I wasn’t tracking my reading stats. I’ve come a long way since then, and I’m planning to track my stats a lot more closely in 2020.

For December, I didn’t get to read as many books as I normally do, but I’m sure you all understand the amount of distractions that occur around the holidays. Here’s what I read in December:

• Books: 18
• Total Pages Read: 5,527
• Books DNF’d: 0
• YA Books: 8
• Adult Books: 9
• MG Books: 1
• Fantasy: 11
• Romance: 4
• Dystopian: 1
• Coming of Age: 1
• Adult Fiction: 1

• Books Read in December:
• #1. Caraval (Caraval #1) by Stephanie Garber —3/5 stars
• #2. Christmas at the Chateau (A French Escape #2) by Lorraine Wilson — 3.5/5 stars
• #3. Bluebell’s Christmas Magic by Marie Laval — did not review
• #4. Hanukkah at the Great Greenwich Ice Creamery by Sharon Ibbotson — 1/5 stars
• #5. Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo — 5/5 stars
• #6. When the Guns Were Turned on Us (North American Empire #1) by Christopher McGarry — 2/5 stars
• #7. Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas — 4/5 stars
• #8. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern — 3/5 stars
• #9. Crush the King (Crown of Shards #3) by Jennifer Estep — not yet reviewed
• #10. Light of Hope (Light of Hope #1) by S.T. Collins — 1/5 stars
• #11. Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard — 5/5 stars
• #12. Daisy, Bold and Beautiful by Ellie Collins — 4/5 stars
• #13. Siege and Storm (Shadow and Bone #2) by Leigh Bardugo — 5/5 stars
• #14. Laundered Shirts Look Better on Hangers by Jane Collins-Philippe —1/5 stars
• #15. Ruin and Rising (Shadow and Bone #3) by Leigh Bardugo —5/5 stars
• #16. Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo — 5/5 stars
• #17. The Demon in the Wood (Shadow and Bone #0.1) by Leigh Bardugo — 5/5 stars
• #18. Dust of the Darkness by Deck Matthews — not yet reviewed
• According to Goodreads, in 2019 I read a total of 164 books, and a whopping 53,117 pages. It really does add up quickly. Imagine what I can do with a whole year!
• I’m trying a few new things in January. I’ve started using a spreadsheet to keep track of the books I’m reading, rather than scrawling notes on a sheet of paper. The other two are book bingo challenges, one is just for January and is run by Bookish First, and the other is a year-long challenge hosted by Ariel and Kriti at Armed with a Book.

While we’re talking about going outside comfort zones, I also let Kim, a close friend of mine, pick out some books to add to my January TBR. It’s always interesting to see the books that a close friend really loves, and I feel like it gives me some insight into a person that I may not get just from talking about them. My January TBR list is long, but I think if I stay focused, I can probably manage a good chunk of the books on it! This is always subject to change, and usually does.

Kim’s Recommendations:
#1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
#2. A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher
#3. Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
#4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
#5. The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld
#6. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
#7. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

ARCs to Read and Review:
#8. Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin
#9. Nameless Queen by Rebecca McLaughlin
#10. Belle Révolte by Linsey Miller

Other Books I’m Planning To Read In January:
#11. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
#12. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
#13. Legendary by Stephanie Garber
#14. Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
#15. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
#16. Uprooted by Naomi Novik
#17. We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
#18. The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo
#19. Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard
#20. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
#21. King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
#22. Night by Elie Wiesel
#23. The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh
#24. Pan by Gina L. Maxwell
#25. The Prince’s Special Bride by Devika Fernando

What’s on your January TBR list?