My Bookish Month of January 2023

Hi and welcome to another monthly overview!

Normally this is where I say that the month flew by and I have no idea where it went, but January, heavens above, it was the lousy gift that kept on giving. Seriously, did that month not last a year?! It was way too busy, both socially and at work, and all the rain and lack of sun got to me, so basically the entirety of January felt like one looooooong blue Monday. I don’t know about you but I’m ready for spring!

To make matters worse, our cat Mel has been having health issues he can’t seem to shake and we even had a cancer scare when the vet found some abnormal cells. The findings were sent on immediately to a specialised lab, and, fortunately, we were informed shortly after that it wasn’t cancer but a severe bacterial infection. This despite the antibiotics and the anti-inflammatory drugs he had been taken for weeks. I really do hope he’s on the mend now, although the new stronger meds are not working quite as quickly as hoped and another visit to vet is due soon. I don’t know who hates those visits more, Mel or me.

Mel, totally unaware of imminent vet visits, in a position that must have been very comfy even if it looks supremely uncomfortable.

Despite all of the above, my bookish month was pretty great. I read some fantastic books, and thanks to my insomnia, I got through quite a few audiobooks as well. It’s good to know that lying awake at silly o’clock is good for something, I guess…

Honourable mentions to Expectant, The Smallest Man, Human Monsters, How to Sell a Haunted House and Cursed Objects but these were my favourite reads of the month:

In figures January looks like this:

January
Novels: 5398 pages across 16 books
Audiobooks: 58 hours across 9 audiobooks

And here’s what I did in January and some of what I’ll be posting in February:

What I read:

Little Ghost, Chris McDonald
The Ceremony, Sheryl Browne
The Forcing, Paul E. Hardisty
Mystery in Provence, Vivian Conroy
Beautiful Shining People, Michael Grothaus
The Wrong Woman, J.P. Pomare
The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
Expectant, Vanda Symon
The Smallest Man, Frances Quinn
Dark Matter Presents Human Monsters: A Horror Anthology
Esto no es una canción de amor, Abril Posas
Small Angels, Lauren Owen
Immortelle, Catherine McCarthy
Liberation Street, Laurence Westwood (review to follow)
How to Sell a Haunted House, Grady Hendrix
Mala’s Cat, Mala Kacenberg

What I listened to:

Dirt Town, Hayley Scrivenor
The Seamstress Of Warsaw, Rebecca Mascull
Five Survive, Holly Jackson
That Green Eyed Girl, Julie Owen Moylan
Heartsick, Chelsea Cain
Carrie Soto is Back, Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Facts of Life and Death, Belinda Bauer
Square³, Mira Grant
Cursed Objects, J.W. Ocker

What I read earlier but reviewed in January:

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, Janice Hallett

I also shared an excerpt from So Pretty and Dirt, and I did a cover reveal. And I looked back on 2022 by wrapping up my goals and challenges, talking about my favourite books of 2022 and my bookish year in stats.

Let’s have a look at the books that landed on my lap in January:

One for the Orenda collection I preordered as soon as I’d read the eARC, a gorgeous hardcover I’d been wanting to read for ages and happened to on sale last month, and two highly anticipated reads (one of which was also on sale):

Four eBooks that had been on my wishlist for a while (all 99p deals), four NetGalley eARCs and an eARC courtesy of the author:

I hope you had a good month and that you are safe and well! Thanks for joining me today and happy reading xxx

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