January Book Round-Up!

January is typically my hibernation month.  And this year's January was no different!  Every other night I was in bed by 8, with either my book in hand or listening to an audio book.
I think this helped me to really up my book quotient for the month. Because never have I ever read 13 books in a month!!  Crazy!!

13 is a lot to recap so for some you'll get more of a review than others!! That'll probably give you a good indication about how I liked the book too!

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkannn
This book became available to the public on January 9th, but I was lucky enough to receive an advanced readers copy from my library's advanced readers club, where I'm given the book to read and review.  I read this book over the course of two snow days.  I just couldn't put it down.  It was crazy, twisty good!  Not what I expected! Highly recommend!

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult was recommended to me by my bestie Mel, as her favorite read of 2017.  The audio book became available before the print version did at my library so I listen to it.  One of the narrators was stage and television actress Audra MacDonald, so I kind of loved that!  I loved this book, too!  It was a difficult subject matter to tackle, but I really enjoyed the story and the intertwining of characters.  One of my favorites of the month!

The Art of Racing in the Rain
This was another audio book.  And I'm glad I read it this way because the narrator is a dog.  Even though I didn't like the turn the story took in the middle, this book was still wonderful.  So many great insights about life and it's twists and turns.  At the end of the book I bawled...and bawled and bawled!!  I was sad at the turn of events but I was also sad to have it end.

Lilac Girls
Another book with different points of views and narrators was Lilac Girls.  Set in War time and spanning countries and generations, it tells the story of woman brought together by the war.  It took me a little bit to get into, but once I did, I really enjoyed this book.  Another one that brought me to tears!  Clearly, I read a lot of heavy books this month.

The Forever Summer by Jamie Brenner was one I had on hold at the library for quite sometime.  When it became available to me I was excited and read it rather fast.  I can see why it was considered a good beach read.  It was a fun story about a young lawyer, who after losing everything, gets the shock of her life, when she finds out she has a half sister.  From there, lots more family secrets are uncovered!  I liked it a lot!

So after so much heavy, I needed light and fluffy!  Three books fit the bill!

Writer and star of The Office (one of my most favorite shows ever!), Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and Why Not Me? fit the bill!  Her books of essays were thoughtful and funny and I really enjoyed both!  I have had Why Not Me? forever but after realizing it was her second book, I put it back on the shelf.  I'm glad I read the first book and then started her second again.  Both were quick reads (like a matter of hours...ha!) that entertained me!

My library recommended Furiously Happy to me.  It's a memoir by author Jenny Lawson, who was new to me.  She suffers from severe depression, as well as many other symptoms.  The book took a look at her illness in detail and how she deals with humor, because quite simply she needs to and she won't let her illness take over.  Honestly, her story was quite eye-opening to me and I felt myself rooting for her throughout!  Good...

I read two middle school novels this month by author Lynda Mullaly Hunt.  Loved them both.  Every teacher and student should read Fish in a Tree.  It's main character, Ally, is dyslexic and the story shows her navigating it in school.  With an inspiring teacher by her side she is able to make strides and get the help she needs. I loved the story and it's characters so much.  A true portrait of middle school...something I'm now navigating daily!! Gift this one to all your teacher friends!!!

Hunt's other novel, One for the Murphy's was both tough and inspiring!!  It's another one that had me in tears by the end!  I can't say I loved  the end but the story was wonderful.  Main character Carly is a heroine to root for!  Highly recommend.  Oh and I feel like the teacher in me should let you know I think it's best for grades 6 and up!  Some of it is tough to read...heartbreaking but uplifting at the same time...if that makes any sense!  Give it a read.

Not really worth mentioning were a trilogy of books I read called The Deanna Madden Mysteries.  Basically they were fluff.   Easy reads to to listen to while cleaning the house or fall asleep listening to at night... Just OK!  Lots of people on GoodReads seemed to enjoy them more than I did.  HA!!

Find all my January Reads on Good Reads here!!

Whew!  Lots of reading in January!  I don't anticipate reading as much in February.  I'm already behind.  The last book I started in January, I'm still reading, just about a hundred pages in.  But I'd love some recommendations.  Let me know what you're reading this month in the comments below!! 

At the beginning of the year I found this book bucket list for 2018 on author Debbie Macomber's Facebook page.  I saved it to my photos and while looking for pictures for this post, I came across it again.  Turns out, this month alone, I pretty much ticked off more than half this list! LOL  The only thing I need to finish it are:  a book that been made into a movie, read a book that's new this year, and read a book as a family!  #solitary life!  (maybe my sisters and I could all read the same book!!)  Are you a part of any reading challenges this year that I should know about??

Happy Reading!

Until next time...

*all books are linked to amazon, just because...I'm not an amazon affiliate!  :)