January 2020 Reading Wrap-Up

I think January is the equalization payment for the joy that is fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Life is all about balance and January is all about stopping the party.

For me January brought:

• Ungodly stretch of cold. Like -50c cold. Stayed inside for 9 straight days.

• I made three disastrous batches of vegan, gluten free sprinkle desserts for my “Bust Through The Winter Blues” post … that no one ending up seeing.

• Furnace stopped working during said cold snap … that’ll be a cool $1000.

• Watched about a billion hours of Beat Bobby Flay — my daughter’s favourite TV show. Maybe some day she’ll turn the passion of watching people cook into actually helping me cook??

• Invented two amazing recipes: one for a citrus smoothie and one for cheesy, vegan pasta (that obvi has no cheese and uses pumpkin … weird, right?)

• Finally consolidated all my bookshelves into one location to create own personal library

• Unfortunately threw out hubby’s back in said process.

I also read 9 books (including my first ever audiobook!). I’ll just give my brief thoughts here and my TBR ranking rating – click the link to the full reviews (more coming!) for more thoughts!

January Pages:

1. Uprooted by Naomi Novik: *High* This was such an excellent take on a Beauty and the Beast story – taking on its own identity in an intricately plotted, enveloping read for those who like a story to take its time. (Sometimes a slow, muddled pacing is the only reason this didn’t achieve *perfect pickle*)

2. Suggested Reading by Dave Connis: *High* While not my favourite genre, this YA Contemporary is such a poignant, powerful and important current read regarding censorship and the tangled web of administrative powers. All while heralding the love and power of books.

3. The Diviners by Libba Bray (Audiobook): *High* Intense and definitely not for the faint of heart as tough subject matter of all kinds including murder, sexual assault, blood and gore, sexism, racism and the paranormal all combine with incredible length to make one dense, spooky tome. While I found the descriptions often to be too languishing, it is an incredibly immersive story and a fabulous audio experience!

4. The Starspun Web by Sinead O’Hart: *Bottom for younger ages, middle for 14+* As an adult I enjoyed this genre bending middle grade – appreciating its slow, methodical pacing … but some disturbing content and characters that alternately read young, then old had me feeling the author missed her audience.

5. Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor: *High* The more I think on it, the more this disappointed – expecting an incredible, immersive fantasy and was instead delivered a 400 page romance to set up the fantasy world… has left me a little bitter.

6. The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys: *High* An excellent, hard hitting, YA/adult crossover that exposes a dark period of Spanish history under the dictatorship of Generalissimo Francisco Franco. Unfortunately short, choppy chapters prevented strong character connection.

7. The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White: *Bottom* While I was excited for a Camelot centred retelling, this book wasn’t for me. Incredibly slow pacing that eventually broke free in the last 50 pages just had me shaking my head at the 300 pages of missed opportunity for plot and character growth. Not for me.

8. Voyage of the Frostheart by Jamie Littler: *High* Incredible heart, incredible characters, and an incredibly imaginative ice-covered world … an excellent overall middle grade fantasy adventure.

9. The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden: *High* A powerful heroine, a cold, cruel time and hauntingly spooky fairytales combine for a read I can’t stop thinking about. Review to come.