Ceri Louise Reads

January ended up being a really busy month, so it was a slow reading start to the year. I only finished six books, and I mostly enjoyed them, although one was a bit of a disappointment. As I’m not tracking stats in the same way as last year, so these monthly wrap ups are going to be in a slightly different format to last year – but there will still be a few stats!

So first a TBR update:

I maybe slightly fell into the National Trust second hand bookshop trap – in my defence I was driving to a conference and it was a long way! So I bought a few books, but because most of the books I read were from my physical tbr, my total only went up by two. I also had a little netgalley requesting spree, so I gained four new ebooks to review. That meant my TBR total went up by six, to 1223. Not a great start to the year in terms of my goal to reduce my tbr, but never mind, the year is still young!

Book Budget:

As I mentioned, I bought a few books but as they were second hand they weren’t too pricey! So I spent £10 in total, but I did okay with my earnings. I finished six books, and most were from my backlist so I got the backlist bonus too. That meant I earned £8, and I’m starting February with minus £2 in the book budget… which is okay, but I can do better for sure.

The books:

1) Christmas at the Island Hotel by Jenny Colgan. This was the fourth book in the Mure series following the lives and loves of the residents of a small Scottish Island. This was set a year after the previous one, and although at the start I was frustrated that it followed new characters but by the end I really liked them.

Rating: 4⭐️

2) As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson. The final book in the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy, and sadly was my least favourite of the three. I enjoyed the first half of the book but couldn’t suspend by disbelief in the second half. I really couldn’t accept that the characters we had got to know over the first two books would act in that way, to be honest. I was slightly prepared for this as my best friend almost rage quit the book at the halfway point.

Rating: 3⭐️, mostly for the first half

3) An Island Wedding by Jenny Colgan. Although I wouldn’t usually read two books from a series so close to each other, I wanted something to cheer me up after AGAD and hopefully avoid a reading slump. This did do the trick, although I didn’t enjoy it as much as the rest of the series. It’s the last one out so far, but I’m hoping it’s not the last one ever as I found the ending quite sad.

Rating: 3.5⭐️

4) Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Sutanto. After two somewhat disappointing books I really needed cheering up and so picked Vera Wong up on the advice of some friends, and it was a great recommendation. Vera was such an endearing character, the side characters were also interesting, and the unfolding of the mystery was cleverly done. I don’t love it when books are written in third person present tense, but this was one of the better examples so didn’t detract from my enjoyment too much.

Rating: 4⭐️

5) Dead on Dartmoor by Stephanie Austin. This is the second of the Dartmoor Mysteries featuring amateur detective Juno Browne. The body count is maybe slightly too high for these to be considered cosy mysteries, but the descriptions of the Devonshire countryside are beautiful and the eclectic cast of characters are entertaining. This was a good layered mystery with enough twists and turns and side plots to keep up the intrigue. Very much enjoying this series.

Rating: 4⭐️

6) Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey. Technically this was a reread but I first read it as a teenager so didn’t really remember much. It’s the first in McCaffrey’s epic Dragonriders of Pern series and I enjoyed it a lot. The gender dynamics definitely felt like the book was first written in the late 1960s but other than that it hasn’t aged too badly! Looking forward to continuing this series, I have no idea which other ones I’ve read, I really can’t remember.

Rating: 4⭐️

So aside from a couple of slight disappointments, all in all it was a pretty good reading month. If I had to pick a favourite book, it would probably be Vera Wong, I loved the focus on tea and the found family element.

What was your favorite book of January?