Will 2022 be the year I finally make a real dent in my TBR? Fingers crossed!
Traditionally, January and February are my best reading months. I think it’s because it’s the time of year I have the best handle over my routines and am still striving to carry that New Year energy into my priorities. I set my Goodreads reading goal to 52 books again and so far, so good. Last year, I finished 48 books and just missed my goal. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of reading, but definitely an indicator of where my mind and priorities were last year.
In 2022, I don’t have a ton of reading goals. It will never matter to me how many books I read in a year, as long as I love what I’m reading. I would like to continue to explore new authors, dive back into the genres I love, but barely touched last year (fantasy and harder hitting contemporary) and keep my love affair with reading going strong.
I finished 6 books in January, three were physical copies and the other three were Kindle reads. I absolutely love reading on my Kindle and hope to do a better job of balancing my physical to Kindle and audiobook ratio this year.
The Books I Read in January
Dava Shastri’s Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
This was such a great book to start off the year with! I pretty much read the entire thing on New Years Day. It gave me Evelyn Hugo vibes, but is definitely much different in tone and content. I thought Dava was a really interesting and complex main character. It was so interesting to watch her process her decisions and the consequences of her actions in the last moments of her life. I wish the other characters in the book were a bit more three dimensional, because they are all so connected to Dava.
So Many Beginnings by Bethany C. Morrow
Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐️
I did not expect to love this book as much as I did! I haven’t read Little Women since I was a little woman myself, but have always enjoyed the stories and film. This remix was so incredible, I loved the approach to a Black cast of characters living during the Civil War and end of slavery. I thought the way that the characters were evolved was so well done and I couldn’t have been happier about the redemption for Amy’s character! I talked about this with JND on her YouTube channel last month.
Bounced by Brill Harper
Rating: None
I… still don’t know what exactly I read here. This was near the top of my Kindle Unlimited recs and a quicker read, so I decided to give it a try. Here’s what I can say — if you’re will to suspend a lot of disbelief for a quick, super steamy read, give this one a go. I read it in under an hour and was definitely entertained from start to finish, even if at the end of every chapter I just kept saying “wait, what?!”
Ruthless Creatures by JT Geissinger
Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐️
TikTok told me this was the mafia romance I didn’t know I needed, and they weren’t wrong. The book follows a young teacher still healing from the mysterious disappearance of her fiancé. If you’re a fan of books like the Hades or Madison Kate series, you’ll enjoy this one. I thought the pacing was really well done, it definitely delivered on the steam and, somehow, had you rooting for a bad guy. I’ll definitely keep reading this series.
To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn
Rating: 3/5 ⭐️
I’m still making my way through the Bridgerton series, this is book #5. I’ve heard a lot of people say this is their least favorite of the series and while I didn’t hate it, I could say the same at this point. I don’t think it lived up to the glimpses of a witty, cunning and bright Eloise that we get in the other books. I hated the way Phillip’s deceased wife’s mental illness is spoken about without much compassion or sympathy. Julia Quinn always adds an element of toxicity in these books that just sours them all a bit. I’d offer trigger warnings for mentions of child abuse, depression, suicide and loss of a parent.
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️
I was so excited to pick this up and dive back into reading fantasy! This one seems pretty polarizing — people either love it or DNF it. And I get why. It’s set at a magical school, but the world is super grim and dark. Definitely not the magical school setting we are used to. I loved the writing style and the personality of the main character, but found that the other characters fell flat. I wish this world would have had more magic and fantastic moments to balance out the darkness and grayness of the world. The ending was definitely a bit of a cliffhanger and I will be reading the second book!
Let me know what you read in January! Did you have any standout favorites?