2024 Reading Challenge: January

Hi!

My name is Briana and I love to read. I’ve been reading consistently since 2019 but I didn’t start creating reading goals until 2022. In 2022, I set the goal of reading 50 books but only read 24. In 2023, I set the goal of reading 40 books and read 43.

My 2024 Reading Goal is 45 books. As we are nearing the end of January, I want to share the books I read this month so far! I’ve finished 10 books and Did Not Finish (DNF’d) 1 book. I know it seems like I’m starting this year off strong but it’s truly only because I’m a teacher and my state was in a state-of-emergency and didn’t have school for an entire week *cue dance break and shouts of joy*.

During my week off, I fully stepped into my stay-at-home-dog-mom era. I woke up early, moved my body, walked the dogs, cuddled the cat then spent no less than 5 hours on the couch devouring book after book after book.

This month I read:

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses book #2)
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows Duology #1)
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows Duology #2)
The House Across the Lakes by Riley Sager
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
When in Rome by Sarah Adams (When in Rome #1)
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
Scythe by Neal Shusterman (Arc of Scythe #1)
Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman (Arc of Scythe #2)
The Toll by Neal Shusterman (Arc of Scythe #3)
Love and Other Disasters by Anita Kelly-DNF

Now let’s take a walk down memory lane as I recount all the fun I had reading books this month. This month I read 3 five star books, which were “The Vanishing Half”, “Scythe” and “Thunderhead”. Needless to say, I spent the month screaming, crying and throwing up.

“The Vanishing Half” had me weeping on my couch at 12:00 in the middle of the day on a Wednesday. It felt like an open letter to my black experience. It felt like a warm hug. I’m not particularly the biggest fan of reading books written about the black experience, especially historical fictions because I don’t enjoy reading what I like to call “black pain”. Reading is my happy place and in my happy place, I aggressively shun hopelessness. I love an honest perspective; I greatly despise a hopeless one. “The Vanishing Half” was the first 5 star read of 2024 and it was also the first book I read by a black author this year. In the book, we follow the thread of 3 generations of black women as they navigate the time periods from post-slavery/segregation America to the late-1990s. We see tolerance shift and witness the long-term impacts of lies and the generational impact of colorism/racism. I fell in love with all the women, even the ones I didn’t fully understand.

My next 5 star read was Scythe which I technically rated 4.95 stars. I started reading the Arc of Scythe series during my week off because my husband has been pushing me to read it for months but I never felt like I had time to just sit down and read the books. Well, a teacher with a week off is the perfect recipe for forgotten hobbies to finally be prioritized again. I read this 435 page book in a day and wrote a glowing review in my reading notebook that begins with *and I quote* “EAT DOWN!”. The following day, I devoured all 504 pages of “The Thunderhead” and wrote a review containing “Loved it! Super fast paced! So much chaos! I read page 195 to 502 in one sitting!”.

SIDE NOTE: I’m not sharing my full reviews here as many of them have spoilers within them.

Along with three 5-star books, I also read 6 books that fell between 4.0 and 5.0 on my rating scale. They are: Six of Crows (4.25), Crooked Kingdom (4.75), The House Across the Lake (4.0), The Mothers (4.5), The Toll (4.0), A Court of Mist and Fury (4.0). These books were absolutely amazing.

I rated “When in Rome” by Sarah Adams a 3 which was my only 3 stars in January, my review consisted of “enemies to lovers, big snore”. I DNF’d (did not finish) “Love and Other Disasters by Anita Kelly because by 200 pages in, I still didn’t feel connected to the characters in any way, and I was just genuinely bored. I’m currently reading “A Court of Wings and Ruin” which is the third book in the ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ series, and I am 20% into the book on my Kindle. I have sooo many books I want to read this year and I’m super excited to see what I can accomplish in the next 11 months!

Bye! See ya next month!

PS: *All these opinions are my own. If you love the books I didn’t love, congrats. If you don’t love the books I love, congrats. Our own personal experiences and inclinations, determine whether we love or don’t love various things, books included.

xoxo