I always love the fresh start of a new year, with all the different lines of possibility open to me and everything in store. My reading habits are back on the upswing, so hopefully that weird little funk is behind me, and I can continue on with the important work of reading and reviewing amazing books. However, I have a feeling that this is all going to change since we just adopted two puppies from a rescue, and I can already tell that they’re going to be a handful. I just keep telling myself that all the work will pay off. 

Focusing so heavily on goals for the last few years has kind of sucked the fun out of reading for me lately, so this year I wanted to focus less on goals and more on rediscovering the joys in reading. In this section, I’ll highlight some of my achievements:

• My blog continues to grow, and I love meeting new followers, so don’t be scared to interact.
• I currently have 4 past due NG ARCs, and 3 past due publisher ARCs. I’m trying to get on top of them, and have the impression that this will be an ongoing challenge throughout the year.
• I read 3 nonfiction books in January: 1 history, 1 memoir, and 1 cookbook.
• I DNF’d 1 book that I was really struggling with, and I do not regret it for a minute.

Here’s my breakdown of monthly totals for January:

January Totals:

• Books read: 26
• Books DNF’d: 1
• Pages read: 5,176
• Hours listened: 138.82 hours
• Average pages: 166.97
• Average hours listened: 4.49 hours

Genres Read in January:

• Fantasy: 8
• Folklore/Fairy Tales: 1
• Historical Fiction: 2
• History: 1
• Horror: 2
• Literary Fiction: 4
• Memoir: 1
• Mystery/Suspense: 5
• Romance/Erotica: 1
• Travel/Food: 1

Backlist vs. New Releases:

• Backlist books: 15
• 2024 releases: 11

Fiction Vs. Nonfiction:

• Fiction: 23
• Nonfiction: 3

Format Read:

• Print: 1
• Digital: 5
• Audio: 20

Age Range:

• Adult: 24
• YA: 2

My favorite book of the month was Labyrinth’s Heart by M.A. Carrick.

Here’s what I read in January:

• Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman | Goodreads | Amazon
• Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• Labyrinth’s Heart by M.A. Carrick (Rook & Rose #3) (Publisher ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon 
• Family Family by Laurie Frankel (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• Children of Ash and Elm by Neil Price | Goodreads | Amazon
• What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher (Sworn Soldier #2) (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

• A Bean to Die For by Tara Lush (A Coffee Lover’s Mystery #4) (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• One of Our Own by Lucinda Berry (ALC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Executioner of Yrecep Forest by Laura DiNovis Berry (Author ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• Mind Over Matter: Hard-Won Battles on the Road to Hope by Jordin Tootoo and Stephen Brunt (ALC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

• Mister Hockey by Lia Riley (Hellions Angels #1) (ALC) | Goodreads | Amazon

• City of Laughter by Temim Fruchter (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• Come and Get It by Kiley Reid (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
• Quick and Easy 400-Calorie Recipes by Dick Logue (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

• Three Sisters by O.J. Mullen (ALC) | Goodreads | Amazon

• The Clinic by Cate Quinn (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

• The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan (Empire of the Wolf #1) — reread
• Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett (Emily Wilde #1) — reread
• The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan (Empire of the Wolf #2) — reread
• A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson (A Dowry of Blood #1) — reread
• The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna (The Gilded Ones #1) — reread
• The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna (The Gilded Ones #2) — reread
• What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher (Sworn Soldier #1) — reread
• There, There by Tommy Orange — reread

How did your January go?