What I Read: January

We had 4 winter weather days at the end of January/start of February which meant some extra reading which was nice. I had some books that were incredible and hard to put down and a couple that were not that great and hard to power through.

Breakfast and a good book on a winter weather day off.

Books:

• The Christmas Pig by J.K. Rowling- I read this one with the kids. It started out really good and I was into it, but when they went to the Land of the Lost, I lost interest. Carter and Elise said they still liked it, but I did not.

• Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: The Story of Schitt's Creek by Daniel Levy & Eugene Levy- I adored this book. It was so much fun getting to read about the behind-the-scenes part of the show. We are now re-watching the show because I had to after reading the book!

• Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid- I have loved all of her books and this one was so hard to put down. Each time I finished a chapter, I was desperate to keep reading. I started this at the end of Christmas break and the kids had some friends over one day so I read over 100 pages while they were playing.

• The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller- I picked this up at Goodwill and was so surprised when I opened it up and found a newspaper clipping that announced the movie being made out of the book stapled to the cover page. As I was reading I found a receipt from the 1990's that was used as a bookmark and then later another clipping that listed the top books of the year with this one at #1. It was so neat finding those little treasures and made me enjoy the book even more.

• Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey- A friend gave me this book to read and it was already after Christmas so I didn't really want to read it. I usually abandon Christmas books right after Christmas. I decided to go ahead and read it so I could return it to her and I was glad I did, I loved it! I was super ready to move away from romance books after this one though!

• Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy- I loved Migrations so when I saw this one, I couldn't wait to read it. I liked it but the end got a little bit wild. It definitely wasn't as good as her other book.

• My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones- I got excited when I was at the library because I saw Stephen Graham Jones won an award and was doing a presentation at one of our local libraries. They had this book in the display and it is his newest book so I checked it out. I loved The Only Good Indians so was hoping it would be amazing like that book. I had a hard time making it through this one. The main character being obsessed with slasher movies was annoying to me because I got tired of reading about her talking about them. I think if I liked those kind of movies I would have liked this book more. I was glad I powered through it because the ending was really good and I especially liked where he left the story.

eBooks:

• The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave- This book kept me guessing pretty much the whole way through. It was suspenseful and I had a hard time putting it down. I loved it right up until the end. The ending really bummed me out. I wish she left it up in the air instead of adding the section that played out years later. I preferred my possible endings to the one she wrote.

• Heartstopper: Volume One by Alice Oseman- I've wanted to read this book for a while because some Oklahoma politicians were trying to ban it and were making a fuss over it being in high school libraries. I've learned I like graphic novels after reading Lore Olympus, so I was willing to try these. I wanted something short while I waited on some other things I had on hold. I was also in the mood for something sweet and possibly romantic. This ended up fitting the bill perfectly. I loved it so much and read it on one of our winter weather days off from school.

• Heartstopper: Volume Two by Alice Oseman- The minute I finished volume one, I searched our library for volume two and it was available so I checked it out right away. I was worried the second one wouldn't be as good as the first but I loved it just as much!

• Heartstopper: Volume Three by Alice Oseman- Again when I finished the volume before this one, I immediately checked this one out. I devoured them on our days off due to winter weather. They made me so happy!

• Heartstopper: Volume Four by Alice Oseman- I was so glad the fifth volume isn't out yet because I did not want these to be over. They were so precious and I loved all the characters. There's a novella that I'm excited to read while I wait for volume five to come out. 

Audiobooks:

• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir- This was recommended to me multiple times as an audiobook. It was only available on Audible so I used Christmas money to get a year subscription. I didn't see why it was recommended as an audiobook until Rocky's character was introduced and they used a musical instrument as his voice. It was so good!

• Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah- I always see Kristin Hannah books and she gets great reviews so I randomly chose this while looking for an audiobook. I didn't like it very much. It felt like it dragged on and I got tired of both the characters and one issue that neither of them would just let go! Then at the end I ended up bawling in the bathroom as I was getting ready for bed. I am curious about the next book in the series, don't know if I'll read it or not with how annoying I found this one at times. There were parts of the book that were incredible, but then there were parts that drove me crazy!