January 2022 Reading Wrap-Up

It’s been a few months since I’ve managed a monthly wrap up, but I’m really hoping to be on top of that this year. It’s always fun to reflect and then look forward for me. I decided to start bullet journaling again this year. The funk of the last couple years got me out of it, but I loved getting back into it. It brought some extra fun and creativity to my January. And it helped keep me on task.

My oldest headed back off to college at the beginning of the month, and my middle child has been studying hard throughout January for his ACT test. My poor daughter has moped a bit about her brothers leaving her behind. But, my oldest still stays in touch with her throughout the week, so it’s not too bad for her. January has been a business as usual month for us.

January TBR

I didn’t share my TBR at the beginning of the month, but I did make one for myself. I decided to only have 8 TBR picks per month so that I can hopefully accomplish my goal even when things get crazy. I created a TBR jar with different prompts according to my own goals and different reading challenges I’m participating in.

Here are my picks for January ~

• Title Starts With “P” ~ Paris Is Always a Good Idea by Jenn McKinlay 5 Stars
• Horror ~ The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman 4 Stars
• Title Starts With “N” ~ Nadia’s Nemesis by Amanda Zook 3.5 Stars
• Title Starts With “T” ~ Tempting Taste by Sara Whitney 4.5 Stars
• Title Starts With “E” ~ Every Little Promise by Lexi Ryan 4.5 Stars
• A Social Horror Book ~ Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn 3.5 Stars
• First in a Duology ~ Cas in Firelight by Dana Swift 5 Stars
• A Book That Features a Palindromic Title ~ Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins 4 Stars

The blank book is a placeholder for Nadia’s Nemesis by Amanda Zook.

Here are the other books I read in January ~

• Hell Hath No Fury by Annabelle Anders 4.5 Stars
• North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell 5 Stars
• Space by Penny Reid 4.5 Stars
• Time by Penny Reid 5 Stars
• Her Big City Neighbor by Jackie Lau 4.5 Stars
• Bridesmates by Sydney Smyth 4 Stars
• Every Little Piece of Me by Lexi Ryan 4.5 Stars
• Brutal Prince by Sophie Lark 5 Stars
• Blizzard of Love by Erin Wright 3.5 Stars
• The One by John Marrs 4.5 Stars
• Christmas With You by Kennedy Fox 3 Stars
• Maid For Scandal by Anthea Lawson 4 Stars
• John Eyre by Mimi Matthews 5 Stars
• Thanatos by Eva Pohler 4 Stars

Favorite Book of the Month

I can’t tell you how hard it was to choose a favorite this month. I had 6 5-star reads, which is a FANTASTIC reading month for me. I broke down my favorite by genres, and then asked myself which one I’d want if I was stranded and it was all I could read. Brutal Prince was the winner.

Goals & Challenges

• Read 10 Nonfiction books ~ No progress
• Read 10 Mystery/Thriller books ~ 2
• Complete 10 Series ~ 1
• Read 10 History/Historical Fiction books ~ 4
• Make Progress on 10 Series I’ve Already Started ~ No progress
• Read 10 Classics ~ 1
• Try 10 New Authors ~ 14 COMPLETED
• Read 10 ARCs ~ No progress
• Read 10 Books Published in 2022 ~ No progress

It appears some of these goals were just way too easy for the year. If I complete them all, then I’ll just have to add some new ones in later.

Goodreads 100 Books: Read 22

Popsugar Reading Challenge ~

Here’s my bujo page for it. The colors aren’t popping on the pic like they do on the page. Please note that I totally copied other people for my bujo pages because I just haven’t discovered that kind of creativity within myself. I completed 10 of the 50 prompts in January.

Beat the Backlist Bingo

I didn’t realize until after I started that there was a bigger bingo board. I would have went with that one if I hadn’t already invested so much time into this page first. I might go back and do the extra prompts after I finish this board, though. I’ve already completed 10/24.

A to Z Reading Challenge ~

I’ve completed 10/26. Again, I totally copied this idea.

That’s it for the month of January. I feel like I already knocked out most of my goals and challenges all in the first month of the year. But, it often seems that way and then prompts seem to get harder and harder to fill. So, we’ll see. Plus, I fully anticipate adding in other challenges throughout the year.

I’d love to hear how your January went!

Happy Reading,

Alison