January Book Round-Up!

Yes, I am aware that it's February 21st and in a few days I will need to make a February round-up. It's been a long, hard month and I've seriously slacked in so many areas, including reading. I've decided since free time is not something I have a ton of, that I will be doing monthly posts as opposed to posts for each book I read. That excludes new releases or ARCs, they will continue to get their own posts in order to spotlight them.

So! In January I managed to squeeze 11 books in. The Selection by Kiera Cass - This has been on my radar for years, but I never got around to reading it. I found it at my favorite secondhand store a few months back and had to snag it. I have no idea why I waited so long! What a fluffy, fun, engrossing book. America is incredibly frustrating, but the rest of the characters make up for it. I immediately went to thriftbooks.com and bought the next in the series. 4 stars.

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven - Quick and sweet. I listened to this on audio, but also had the physical book checked out from the library so I alternated between the two depending on if I was home or stuck in traffic. I like a book with a likable cast and both Jack and Libby were very relatable and enjoyable. Out of the two Niven books I've read, I still prefer All the Bright Places as the subject matter hit a little closer to home. 3 stars.

Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh - kindle ARC received through Netgalley, official review post here. To date, still my favorite read of the year. 5 stars.

Scarlet, The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer - I bought this believing that Scarlet would be my favorite of the series, as Red Riding Hood is my favorite of the 'retellings' Meyer chose for the Lunar Chronicles. It had a major case of the sequel scaries. It was slow moving, hard to stay interested in, and I found myself picking up other books and starting them letting this one fall to the side. Luckily the series as a whole has gotten enough love that I knew to push through. 2.5 stars.

Party Games by R.L. Stine - Sometimes you just need to revert back and get nostalgic. I try to read something like this once a month, whatever I find when I'm doing my monthly library haul. You can never go wrong with R.L. Stine. Also, this one actually had a pretty decent plot twist! 3 stars.

The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee - 0-100 real quick. I bought this on kindle, which may have been a mistake because the books are GORGEOUS and the fact that I really enjoyed this means I'm going to have to break down and purchase it for my shelf. Like I said earlier, I enjoy books with likable characters...well this book is not one of those. There's not much likable about the majority of the players. And I still loved it. I can't wait to get the sequel. 4 stars.

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware - I enjoy listening to psych thrillers more than reading them, I think. I listened to The Woman in Cabin 10 (also by Ruth Ware and read by Imogen Church) last year and loved it. I thought I'd really enjoy this, I thought it may be more relatable as it was about four girls and childhood secrets, as opposed to the plot of The Woman in Cabin 10, but now that I think about it, I definitely enjoyed The Woman in Cabin 10 more. The Lying Game had some "feels" moments which I enjoyed, but I couldn't get over how much the baby was referenced and described as chubby? 3 stars, but a low 3.

The Elite by Kiera Cass - If I thought America was frustrating in The Selection, it was just a sample size of the America we got in The Elite. The entire time I'm like, "oh no, baby what is you doing, why is this choice so difficult?!" and then I remembered that I'm an adult, not a teenager and when I was a teenager seemingly easy decisions like this one were absolute torture. Oh, to be young. As with The Selection, as soon as I was finishing up this I got right to Thriftbooks.com and ordered myself both The One and The Crown. 3.5 stars.

Warcross by Marie Lu - Probably my first major let down of 2018. I bought this on a kindle daily deal, but I also wanted to listen to the audio because I had heard it was good. I have actually heard nothing but good things about the book as a whole. And then...I was bored through a lot of this. I didn't understand a lot of it. It wasn't until the plot twist at the very end that I was like holy shit, give me the sequel now! And even with that, I probably won't go out and preorder it. Give me Ready Player One any day. Although this cover is pure love because I am super into rainbows. 3 stars, only because of the plot twist.

The Upside of Falling Down by Rebekah Crane - This was also a kindle ARC and I am ashamed of myself for not getting a blog post up prior to its release. I did get a review up on Goodreads and Amazon though. Sometimes I read books and they speak 1,000% directly to me. I went to Ireland for the first time in October 2017. I live and die for baseball/football. This book put both of those things together in a beautiful YA Contemporary about losing and finding yourself. I am not a big Contemporary fan, but I teared up (okay, cried) several times throughout this. It was officially released on January 30th, so go pick it up! I can't recommend it enough! 5 stars.

Crazy House by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet - I picked this up from the library (major cover love going on here, pink and purple!) and also checked out the audio so I could do a little double reading while I drove and also while I was home. This is listed currently as a standalone and it better not be, because the ending was so open I was like hold up what?! This was also my first James Patterson. Disclaimer: The cover says "you can stop waiting for the next Hunger Games" and I have absolutely no idea why that's there, because this is nothing like THG...at all. Still, a pretty quick fun WTF read. 3 stars.

So that's my January wrap-up. Two 5 stars, both ARCs...not bad. Hopefully the rest of the 2018 releases are just as good!

I did start a bookstagram this year. I can be found here.