JANUARY WRAP-UP: Reading multiple books at once, rereads, ARCs, and I guess I’m legit now

January wasn’t a great life month for me, but an amazing reading month. I had some rough patches and short reading slumps because bureaucracy continues to try and kill me and the anxiety of waiting for my powerchair and financial aid is occasionally so overwhelming that I can’t focus on anything. But ultimately, reading and running this blog and starting to immerse myself more deeply in the book blogging community kept cheering me up. (BTW if you ever want to put a smile on my face and you can afford to, I have a Book Wish List!)

I had originally set my Goodreads Reading Challenge at 75 books, but things were going so well that I almost immediately increased it to 100 books. By now, I’ve read 14 books, so I’m going to officially set my final goal at 150 books. I might revisit that number again depending on how things go in the coming months, but I do want to leave myself some breathing room, so it’s unlikely that I’ll increase my goal again. (Famous last words?)

But now on to what I’ve read this month! I decided to try something new this year and start reading multiple books at once, and it helped me read so much more than I otherwise would have. Whenever I wasn’t in the mood for one book I was reading, I would pick up another one for a while, where usually I just wouldn’t have been reading at all. I also realised that sometimes I don’t have the brain space to read something unfamiliar to me, but I still wanted to read something, and that’s where rereading came in handy. Some of these are novellas or poetry collections, but I’m still pleased with the amount I’ve read this month!

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READ

1. Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann (3.5 out of 5, REVIEW)
2. Magic Bites (Kate Daniels #1) by Ilona Andrews (4 out of 5, Reread)
3. Magic Burns (Kate Daniels #2) by Ilona Andrews (5 out of 5, Reread)
4. The Girl From Everywhere (The Girl From Everywhere #1) by Heidi Heilig  (5 out of 5, REVIEW)
5. Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels #3) by Ilona Andrews (5 out of 5, Reread)
6. The Ship Beyond Time (The Girl from Everywhere #2) by Heidi Heilig (5 out of 5, REVIEW)
7. Magic Mourns (Kate Daniels #3.5) by Ilona Andrews (4 out of 5, Reread)
8. Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels #4) by Ilona Andrews (5 out of 5, Reread)
9. Magic Dreams (Kate Daniels #4.5) by Ilona Andrews (5 out of 5, Reread)
10. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2 out of 5, REVIEW)
11. Blood Heir (Blood Heir #1) by Amélie Wen Zhao (1 out of 5, eARC, REVIEW)
12. Magic Slays (Kate Daniels #4) by Ilona Andrews (5 out of 5, Reread)
13. The Mermaid’s Voice Returns in This One (Women Are Some Kind of Magic #3) by Amanda Lovelace (2 out of 5, eARC, REVIEW)
14. Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo (4 out of 5, REVIEW)

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DNF

1. The Crown’s Game (The Crown’s Game #1) by Evelyn Skye (DNF at 20%)

CURRENTLY READING

1. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (43%)
2. Feminine Rising: Voices of Power and Invisibility by Andrea Fekete, ed., Lara Lillibridge, ed. (eARC)
3. Gunmetal Magic (Kate Daniels #5.5) by Ilona Andrews (13%, Reread)

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TBR ASAP

1. Painting Dragons: What Storytellers Need to Know About Writing Eunuch Villains by Tucker Lieberman (review copy provided by author)
2. Descendant of the Crane by Joan He (eARC provided by author)
3. Shadowblade by Anna Kashina (eARC provided by NetGalley)
4. Sparks of Phoenix by Najwa Zebian (eARC provided by NetGalley)

I feel incredibly lucky to be receiving eARCs and review copies and I’m excited to delve into them. I’m starting to feel like a real book blogger!

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I hope you’ve all had a fantastic month. What did you read this January? Have you read any of the books mentioned in this post or are any of them on your TBR? Let’s chat in the comments!