January Wrap Up: This Month in Books

Hello February 

January on some levels felt really long, and, at the same time it breezed by me. The month was a slow reading month. I read four books.  And they were not the four that I set out to read. Here is my January wrap up of the books.  I will offer some mini reviews of those I completed and share the books that will roll over into February.

Books I Completed From My January Reading List 

At the beginning of January I set to read four books, three of which I was confident that I could complete. At the start of the month, I selected:

Today, at the start of February, I only read one book in its entirety from my January list, and that was The Thunder Beneath Us by Nicole Blades. After I completed The Thunder Beneath Us, I got sidetracked.  I started reading other books, so I completely fell off from following my own reading list.

Here is the complete truth, I knew that I would not complete The Brothers Karamazov, in January, however, I am little surprised that I did not get to the other books on my list. I started Here Comes The Sun and I love the writing. I am currently on page 74 (of 352) so I didn’t make a huge dent in that book. I am still reading it, I hope to finish by early February.

I did not open The Bluest Eye at all last month.

But I did read, I completed four books in January and I am currently reading three books.

#24 in 48 Readathon 

Two weeks ago, I participated in the 24 in 48 readathon and I will share a quick recap of my readathon experience. During that weekend I read two books.

The 24 in 48 concept is pretty simple.  For the weekend, participants strive to read for 24 hours out of the 48 hours of the weekend. There was a simple signup form on the website that asked interested readers to give their names, email addresses and where on social media they would offer reading updates throughout the readathon. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were the main social media used to connect. The organiser and owner also hosted book and bookish themed giveaways and prizes throughout the weekend.

This is my second readathon experience. My first was the 2016 Writerly Yours Christmas readathon and was simply a delight. I decided to give 24 in 48 a try because I was really far behind in my January reading.

I didn’t go into the readathon with any specific books to read. I hoped that I would be able to read three books and that I could manage to read for 12 hours. This did not happen. I read for eight hours in total over the Saturday and the Sunday. And I completed two books, one of which was a novella. I started a third book, which I am still reading.

Mini Reviews from 24in48 

That weekend I read, Black Beauty by Constance Burris and The Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson.

Black Beauty is a novella and is book #0.5 in the Everleaf Series. Yes it a book that comes before the actions of the main series. Black Beauty is told through a series of vignette like chapters from the perspectives of eight young African American youths living in an apartment complex in Oklahoma, USA.  The book is classified as urban fantasy, and while the magic and word building was interesting. This little book also delved into some heavier issues. Topics covered and issues affecting the teams included colourism, poverty, low self-esteem, skin bleaching, racial ambiguities, interacial dating, blended families, and the debate and dramas of the relaxed vs naturals vs loc’d hair.

I enjoyed this short book, and in February hope to read Coal: Book One of the Everleaf Series.

The other book I read was The Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson. I loved this book. It was amazing. And I am really impressed by the complexities of the story and the descriptions in this debut novel.

This novel is set primarily in Barbados, and it features two sisters, Phaedra and Dionne, ages 10 and 16 who are “exiled” from Brooklyn to the little village of Bird Hill, with their grandmother Hyacinth, a midwife and  obeah woman.

This novel evoked so many emotions in me, and I will be doing a full review soon. But I must recommend this. I am Jamaican and the behaviours and narratives and experiences expressed in The Star Side of Bird Hill felt so much like my growing up in Zion Hill, St. Mary, Jamaica.

I read Black Beauty and The Star Side  on Saturday.  And then, Sunday morning as soon I woke up I jumped into Akata Witch by Nnedi Okofator. This is a YA Nigerian fantasy novel that I adore, I am hooked, I am still reading this one. Here is the big thing, this book really more of children’s book, for the sake of comparison think Harry Potter. So it is for children but as an adult I am just so caught up in the adventures of Sunny, Chichi, Sasha and Orlu that I wish this book would be turned into a movie.

Akata Witch is part of a series, book one, was published in 2011 and book two, Akata Warrior is slated for publication this year, 2017 and I am super excited even though I am still reading book one.

January Wrap Up (What I Actually Read) 

So I said that I read four books but so far for my January wrap up, I have only shared three. The other book I read in January was the ARC of  The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda. This book is being promoted as book two in the All The Missing Girls series. I enjoyed All The Missing Girls and I was hooked while reading The Perfect Stranger but I don’t see the connection between the two books. I may need to reread them both before the new book is released in March.

February TBR 

In February, I will finish reading Here Comes The Sun and Akata Witch before I start any new books. However, being book obsessed, I already have my eyes on a few new books that I want to get to in February. Plus I need to get into my classic and I have a new Writerly Yours Book Bloggers Club book for February. Therefore, this month my reading list will also include:

Do you guys make reading goals? How many books did you complete  in January? Read any really good ones last month?

What do you think of this January wrap-up? Should I stick to just reading whatever grabs and holds my attention and give up on the monthly reading list?

Also if you are on Goodreads, let’s be friends, check out my profile.

Happy Reading!