January Wrap Up--It's A Bit Late I Know

I know, I know I am already at the halfway mark and I am just now posting my monthly wrap up but this month is getting away from me. I have just been scrambling because I started my graduate school class in January and it is keeping me extremely busy needless to say. I am glad I was able to read so many books in January!

Books I Read in January:

I am pleased with my reading in January, as I ended up reading 15 books for a total of 5,240 pages!

Sadly not every book is pictured here as I had to return some to the Library (the same will happen for my February picture too) and with multiple books being on my Kindle or audiobooks, I do not have the physical copies of those either. I did not elect to put in a placeholder book in this photo--perhaps in February.  I know I will not hit that page mark in February unless the second half of the month goes differently than the first, but with the extra reading I am doing with my graduate school class, I am trying to be realistic with working fulltime too. We need to be kind to ourselves and know it is okay to take a step back as needed!

 I read:

• Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein
• See Me by Wendy Higgins
• Verity by Colleen Hoover
• Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
• The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
• A Long Petal to the Sea by Isabel Allende
• All Thirteen by Christina Soontornvat
• First We Were IV by Alexandra Sirowy
• How We Got to the Moon by John Rocco
• Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Every Last Breathe by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Plasticus Maritimus by Ana Pego
• There's Someone in My House by Stephanie Perkins
• Brain Rules by John Medina

My favorite of the bunch above would either be All Thirteen or Strange the Dreamer. All Thirteen is the middle grade nonfiction book about the Thai boys soccer team that got trapped underground in the cave system and the rescue operation that got out All Thirteen of them alive. The story captivated the world. It is a stunning, high interest nonfiction book that recently received a lot of love at the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards day this past month. Strange the Dreamer I feel like everyone is familiar with this book--for more on my thoughts about it, I linked my review of it below. 

Readathons in January:

I actively participated in Bout of Books 30 in January. For those of you who followed along, you may not have seen me updating because I was updating my blog post I put in December: Bout of Books 30: Kicking Of 2021--Are You Participating? During this week I finished four books--I am very happy with this progress as this sadly this was the week when our country took a turn that I believe I thought was possible, but it did. I sit here writing this update while our representatives are working on sorting it out...though I cannot say I have confidence that they will sit party aside for the good of the country. Did you participate in Bout of Books 30? If so, please leave me your link below so I can see how you did or share the details below.

I also participated in a fun Murder Mystery TBR game in a Facebook group I am in--it was such a fun way of deciding what I want to read. This was a monthly readathon, so a couple of the books overlapped with Bout of Books, but I read seven books specifically for this readathon! Luckily I managed to guess the killer too! Score!

Posts from January:

In case you missed it, I kicked off my Project Unhaul in January. I am working on thinning down my physical TBR collection. I have not actually started tackling the books I have read and still have--that will happen at some point--this is soley aimed at making me focus on those books that I have had that have sat languishing on my bookcases.

• Getting My Bookcases Under Control: a 3 Step Process
• 21 in 2021: These Books Will Shelf Destruct
• Making Progress on Series: 21 Series in 2021

If you are so inclined, those of you keeping track might spot a book or two in the picture above on the lists posted from the lists in my Project Unhaul, or at least the attempts to reduce my physical TBR count. 

Reviews Posted:

• Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein (link)
• The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins (link)
• Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (link)

Additional Posts that Might Be of Interest:

• Perpetual Page Turner's Annual Survey 2020 Edition
• Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Resolutions for 2021
• Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Meant to Read in 2021
• Top Ten Tuesday: 2020's New to Me Authors

In Other News: CYBILS

CYBILS has also been underway since the fall. As Category Chair I managed Round 1 panelists and then I am a Judge as well in Round 2 so I cannot discuss the books in so far as what I think about them individually. Some I have already posted thoughts on prior to them being revealed as shortlist. Head over to the CYBILS website on February 14th to see this cycle's winners and join us on Twitter beginning at 12:00 p.m. EST for our Twitter parade!

Check back in February to see if I succeed in making my Winter 30 in 3 Months Challenge I am participating in with Rachael over on Instagram. We have until the end of February to read 30 books. January's 15 books was a huge help in it! I hope you all are having a great start to 2021. In the meantime, please let me know what books you read in January and or what your favorite book was in January!