January Wrap Up
Hello Again!
Now that January has come and gone, it's time for my January wrap up! I set my goal for this month at 3,500 pages but I also set my 2018 GoodReads reading goal at the beginning of this month to read 150 books this years which is about 12 books per month. Since I had only managed t read about 9 books in the last 2 months, I didn't think I would be able to hit my goal but I did! Read on to see exactly what I read! Enjoy!
1. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Grishaverse #1)
I started off the month with the Grishaverse Trilogy because I had heard so many good things about this series. I enjoyed Shadow and Bone and read it in one day! In Shadow and Bone, Alina Starkov lives in Ravka, a nation torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a black shadow that is nearly impossible to cross. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold, Alina reveals a dormant power that could be the key to saving her war-ravaged country. Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha of her heart.
Total Pages: 358
2. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo (Grishaverse #2)
The second novel in the Grishaverse Trilogy, this novel picks up right where Shadow and Bone leaves off and was even more exciting than Shadow and Bone. May trilogies lull in the second novel, however, I think the second book was better than the third.
Total Pages: 435
3. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo (Grishaverse #3)
The third novel in the Grishaverse Trilogy, this novel finishes up the series. I was excited to pick up this novel but felt it ended kind of abruptly and was kind of disappointed with the ending. Overall I enjoyed this series but not as much as I thought I was going to. I think that I took all the hype I had seen about the series into account too much before I started the series.
Total Pages: 422
4. Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill (Clash of Kingdoms #1)
I read Ever the Hunted next because I was intrigued by it's plot and because the author was such a sweetheart. I loved this novel and was so excited to read the sequel, I bought it and read it this month too even though I hadn't planned to. In Ever the Hunted, Britta is an experienced hunter and tracker, trained by her father along with her best friend, Cohen. When her father is murdered, she must track down the killer, her best friend Cohen, but nothing is as it seems and she must uncover secrets that will determine the fate of the kingdom.
Total Pages: 392
5. The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen Series #1)
I wanted to re- read The Red Queen because it's been quite a while since I've read it the first time and there's alot of love for this series so I wanted to pick up where I left off and see what all the fuss is about. I was not a big fan of this book however. See my review to find out more. In Red Queen, the world is divided by those with red blood (commoners) and those with silver (elite). Although Mare Barrow has red blood, she finds herself with an immense power that has the power to destroy the balance and shift the tide. Hiding her in plain sight, the silvers study her to determine why she has powers while she secretly helps the rebels, the Red Guard, to bring down the silvers.
Total Pages: 383
6. Ever the Brave by Erin Summerill (Clash of Kingdoms #2)
In this sequel to Ever the Hunted, Britta and Cohen's story picks up where it left off in Ever the Hunted with new characters and plot points introduced. This novel was even more adventurous and exciting than the first in my opinion because it was not only from Britta's point of view but from that of two other characters as well. I loved this novel and cannot wait for the third novel to be released.
Total Pages: 464
7. His Sinful Touch by Candace Camp (The Mad Morelands #5)
I picked up His Sinful Touch, a romance novel, from Net Galley as an E-ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) because I needed a change of pace mid way through the month. Although this is the 5th novel in this series, each of these novels can be read as a stand alone and I enjoyed His Sinful Touch immensely! This novel had adventure, witty dialogue and romance without being sleazy. It was a perfect change of pace.
Total Pages: 384
8. Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce (Song of the Lioness #1)
The first novel in a quartet, this novel is about a young girl, Alanna, and her twin brother Thom who switch places so that she can train to be a knight. She pretends to be a boy so that she can one day become a woman knight, something that hasn't happened for hundreds of years in the kingdom of Tortall. I love these books. I have read them countless times since I was in middle school and love them each time I read them. I wanted to re- read them because it felt like it had been a while since I had read them
Total Pages: 274
9. In the Hands of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce (Song of the Lioness #2)
This story picks up where the first novel left off and we see Alanna blossoming into a young woman and dealing with issues many young women face. She deals with these issues while having to deal with the final years of her knight training and keeping it a secret from her friends. This is not my favorite of the four novels but it is still a great novel.
Total Pages: 264
10. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce (Song of the Lioness #3)
In the third novel of the series, we see Alanna as a full knight, free of her pretense of pretending to be a man and finally free to roam all over Tortall in search of adventure. She settles with the people of the desert where she has quite a bit of adventure. She also deals with matters of the heart and this is my favorite of the four novels. I will mention that I picked up the fourth novel this month but couldn't quite get into the groove of reading it so I gave up so this is how far I go in my re- read of this series.
Total Pages: 284
11. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
I read this book because I did a buddy read with some lovely ladies of Instagram and we started our own book club, The Bookish Ladies Book Club. This was our first buddy read and we plan to read A Darker Shade of Magic next month. I was not a fan of this book for the first half since I had no idea what was going on for the most part and her writing was hard to understand (she's very verbose) but after about halfway through, the action picked up immensely and wow was I impressed and totally hooked. In Strange the Dreamer, Lazlo Strange is a librarian who has always dreamed of discovering what happened to Weep, a mysteriously magical city that disappeared 200 years prior. He gets his chance and we follow his adventures as he discovers exactly what lies in Weep and what mysteries is holds. I won't spoil anything here and I will be writing a review this weekend!
Total Pages: 536
12. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (The Folk of the Air #1)
The last book of the month was The Cruel Prince. This book was a new release for January and I received this book in my OwlCrate for January. I heard alot of buzz about this book but am pretty skeptical about hype so was wary to start it. I absolutely loved this book and hope she writes a sequel soon! In The Cruel Prince, Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans, especially Prince Cardan. To win a place at the Court, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself. I loved this novel and was surprised by it's eloquence. I will definitely be picking up one of her other novels to see if her other stories stand up to this one.
Total Pages: 370
Total Pages Read: 4,566
Total Book Count: 12
That's it for me! Next month I am hoping to read another 12 books and have some pretty good ones on my TBR. Make sure you follow me on Instagram to stay up to date with what I'm reading (@somehowimanageblog). Hope you all enjoyed and hope you all have a wondrous February!
