All hail the return of the Monthly Wrap-Up! Yes, I know, your lives were not the same without it. 😉
I had to check but August saw the last time last year that I posted a monthly wrap-up. I have no idea what happened to my reading last year but it just wasn’t happening. I read one and a half book in September. The last three months of the year were a struggle too. I lowered my initial Goodreads challenge and it was sheer stubbornness that made me achieve a measly 180 books by December 31st. I say measly because I used to read more than 200 quite easily.
What’s to blame? Obviously there were weeks where the other half was home a lot more than normal, due to that pesky never-ending pandemic. There was Lego. A lot of Lego. There were quite a few books that just didn’t grab me. My fault? Or the books? We’ll never know. But suddenly, there always seemed to be something a lot more fun to do than reading*. And don’t even get me started on writing reviews because that particular skill seems to have deserted me completely.
Anyway, it’s a new year. Not that anyone noticed. Just more of the same so far, isn’t it? But I have a new Goodreads goal to achieve, which I’ve set even lower than the 180 I reached last year so let’s see how much of a dent I made in January.
*Including all seasons of Glee, all the Harry Potter films and I even somehow managed to get sucked into Bridgerton.
| BOOKS I READ IN JANUARY |
14 books read, 1 audiobook listened to. A grand total of 15. It’s not as impressive as what I used to read every month but I guess this is the new … erm, new 🤷🏼♀️. And I’m totally counting the J.D. Barker book as two since it has a whopping 760 (totally awesome) pages. All in all, bar one or two, an excellent month of reading!
| BOOKS I BOUGHT IN JANUARY |
Well … that still seems to be working. 😳 As you can see though, I’ve already read 7 of them so they don’t count anymore, right?
| ON THE BLOG IN JANUARY |
Review | Bound by Vanda Symon
Review | The Survivors by Jane Harper
Review | The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean
Review | Ask No Questions by Claire Allan
Extract | Winterkill by Ragnar Jónasson
Extract | One Chance by Terroll Lewis
Other | Record number of debuts on longlist for Dylan Thomas Prize 2021
I’m so productive. Nobody is as productive as me! Bigly productive! 😬
| BOOKPOST WHAT LANDED ON MY DOORSTEP |
Hey, look! It’s my hand 🤣.
Anywho, courtesy of Simon & Schuster comes You Love Me by Caroline Kepnes. Joe Goldberg is back!
| ON THE BLOG IN FEBRUARY |
February 8th : Blog tour | Review | The Dressmaker of Paris by Georgia Kaufmann
February 12th : Blog tour | Extract | Deity by Matt Wesolowski
February 16th : Blog tour | Review | The Killing Choice by Will Schindler
February 24th : Blog tour | Extract | Smoke Screen by Thomas Enger & Jórn Lier Horst
As always, I will try to add a few more reviews but to be honest, writing the two for the blog tours that really need doing already looks like an unsurmountable task to achieve. Seriously, if anyone finds my reviewing mojo, please for to direct it home.😄
And that’s a wrap for January. Good grief! I forgot how much work these wrap-ups are 🤣.
Until next time, happy reading! xx
Novel Deelights 
Lovely to see your wraps back and well done for reading all those! 😘😘
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Thank you, lovely! Let’s see if I can keep it up. 😄
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15 books in one month is amazing! And you’ve got loads more great books to look forward to.
I’m really excited for The Coffin Maker’s Garden 🙂
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I really do. Now if only I’d actually read them, instead of just buying more new ones. 🤦🏼♀️
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It makes me feel so much better hearing other people are having the same problem with book buying 🙂
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Very sensible to set your Goodreads challenge low so as to give yourself a break from any pressure. It’s what I’ve done for the past couple of years and it feels just as good when you achieve it – or even over-achieve it. After all, you can always increase it if you find you’re simply flying through the books 😁
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That’s very true. And that’s a much better feeling than lowering the goal. Currently very little flying over here, though. 😄
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I know exactly how you feel. I managed to read 15 books last month too but lord knows how, and writing reviews is like pulling teeth. With a tractor and some old Rope … At the end of the day, it’s all got to be fun, right? Hope you enjoy reading some of your new books.
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The reading is often fun. The reviewing not so much. I’m sorry to hear you’re struggling as well. Things can only get better, right? Right? Ugh.
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You read so many good ones! And such a fantastic haul as well… Here’s to February treating you well. xx
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It was a good month indeed! February, so far, erm, well, I mean, I do have some new arrivals but the reading part isn’t going so well. 🤔
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Oh shoot! The reading part is ok with me, but I’ve been terrible at blogging. xD
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Not sure why you are struggling with reviews, this post is so good. Had me smiling right from the start. You are witty.
All the best with your reading and reviewing goals. Have a wonderful month.
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Aw, thank you Diana, that makes me glad. I wish I knew why writing reviews is such a struggle so I could fix it. As it is, I just muddle on and hope things will get easier again at some point.
Hope February treats you and yours well! xx
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Fifteen is pretty amazing! I think your reviewing mojo has run off with mine and they’re both holidaying somewhere out in space where there’s no lockdowns, masks, or politics. I say we track them down and join them!
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Space does sound incredibly enticing right about now. There’s wine and chocolate, right?
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