Friday, February 23, 2018

Books Read in January 2018

The year is off to a great start, reading-wise! I enjoyed some excellent books in January:
  • Only Child by Rhiannon Navin (NY) - adult fiction (reviewed for Shelf Awareness)
  • The Adrenal Reset Diet by Alan Christianson - nonfiction
  • Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (UK, CA) - adult fiction 



So, 8 books total for me in January, which is a lot! I read mostly fiction, with one nonfiction book (that I read for my medical condition, on the advice of a friend). I focused mostly on adult fiction last month, though I did fit in one YA and one middle-grade book. I only finished one audio book, but it was a longish one. And one of my books was a graphic novel, so a nice variety last month overall! I enjoyed all of the fiction very much. I'm having trouble picking a favorite - maybe a tie between Exit West and Only Child (I will post my review for that one as soon as it is published), both of which were very unique, moving, and thought-provoking.

Progress in 2018 Reading Challenges:
This is my favorite part of my monthly summary - updating my Reading Challenges! I started the year off right, with 4 books from my own shelves for my Mount TBR Reading Challenge. For the Monthly Motif Reading Challenge, January was Diversify Your Reading, so Exit West fit well (the two main characters are Muslim). I already read one classic for the Back to the Classics Challenge and counted The Martian Chronicles under Re-Read an Old Favorite category. For my new 2018 Badass Books Challenge, I added A Book Published in 2018 (Only Child), a Re-Read (The Martian Chronicles and Book By An Author You've Never Read (Circling the Sun by Paula McLain).   It was a great month for international reading - I added UK, Germany, Kenya, and Mars (it counts!) for my Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge. For my 2018 Literary Escapes Challenge, I added three states - NY, CA (always a lot of those two), and TN.
 
Finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break - not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month. I filled in 19 squares in January - decent start to the year!




Spaces filled in:
Only Child - free child
The Adrenal Reset Diet - diet/fitness/exercise, multi-word title
Exit West - shelf love (TBR), repercussions
Perfect Little World - audio book
The Pirates of Cologne - YA, treason
Circling the Sun - library book, person on the cover, competition, betrayal
Cici's Journal - in a series, library or librarian
The Martian Chronicles - re-read, made into a TV show/movie, cold weather
Free Space
What was your favorite book read in January?  

6 comments:

  1. You're already doing well on your challenges! i love that you're counting Mars for international "travel."

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    1. Well, it IS the Travel the WORLD Challenge, and Mars is in the world! lol

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  2. Our library is doing a book bingo for the month and I decided to participate in a 52 week book challenge this year too. I love that both are getting me to read books in genres I might not normally think to try and so far I have found some really great books to read.

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    1. It's a lot of fun! Glad you found some reading challenges you are enjoying. It's great when your reading horizons are expanded - my book groups do that for me, too!

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  3. My fave read for January was Snowbound with an Heiress by Jennifer Faye-it was a perfect read for all the snow and cold we had here-LOL.
    http://justmeandmyblogreviews.blogspot.com/2018/02/stacking-shelves.html

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    1. Glad you found the perfect read for the season! I like to read to the season, too.

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