January wrap-up and looking ahead to February

January was a great start to my reading goal of 200 books this year.  I read 21 books in total, which is more than the roughly 17 books I have to read each month to get there.  I’ll admit that most of this reading was accomplished during the two weeks I was still mostly on holiday from grad school, but that’s how it goes, isn’t it?

1. Blindspot – Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore
2. Juror No. 7 – Mallory Kane
3. The Lost Duke of Wyndham – Julia Quinn
4. Nox Dormienda – Kelli Stanley
5. The Seduction of the Crimson Rose – Lauren Willig
6. The Temptation of the Night Jasmine – Lauren Willig
7. Cam’s Quest – Dian Curtis Regan
8. The Piano Teacher – Janice Y. K. Lee
9. Mr. Cavendish, I Presume – Julia Quinn
10. The Tales of Beedle the Bard – J.K. Rowling
11. The Vampire Who Loved Me – Teresa Medeiros
12. The Ruins of Gorlan – John Flanagan
13. The Burning Bridge – John Flanagan
14. Twilight – Stephenie Meyer
15. A Pale View of Hills – Kazuo Ishiguro
16. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet – Jamie Ford
17. A Thousand Veils – D.J. Murphy
18. Something Like Beautiful – asha bandele
19. Deerskin – Robin McKinley
20. The Help – Kathryn Stockett
21. Our Longest Days – Sandra Koa Wing

As you can see, I have a ton of reviews to post! Most of these are actually written and waiting for their appropriate day. I don’t normally like to post more than once a day, especially not with reviews. I have a feeling that people want to stop by once and then that’s enough, although I could be wrong. Regardless, I have myself well covered for any future busy periods when I either have no time to read or just can’t be bothered to write reviews (probably when I start working on my essays again!). It’s nice to have a safety net for when I don’t feel like spending much time on the computer.

I read quite a few books that I genuinely didn’t like or which disappointed me this month.  Most of these were review copies and I have renewed my determination to only choose ones which really interest me for the future.  I think most of those up next month and in March are definitely more to my liking – I must have gotten pickier at some point!  I also read a lot of easier reads, the romance and the YA in particular, but even those didn’t provide much of what I really wanted.  When it comes down to it, the best I can say is that my TBR pile took a hit and actually went down some!

So in summary, I wasn’t up for thinking in January, but I guess I can pick two favorites: The Help and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.  They were both rewarding and ultimately stunning reads that I’d recommend to everyone.

So, that leads us to what’s ahead for February! Not only will you get reviews of all the non-linked books above, I’m also participating in 3 blog tours and have a ton of review copies for release in February. The first of these is The Help, which you can see I’ve already read. The rest:

• Cry of Justice by Jason Pratt
• The Book of Night Women by Marlon James
• Drood by Dan Simmons
• The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick
• The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson
• American Rust by Phillipp Meyer

A few others I’d love to get to just for fun:

• Rebel by Bernard Cornwell
• The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick
• New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
• Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
• On Beauty by Zadie Smith

Other than that, we’ll see how much time I have and what sort of mood I’m in!  Thanks for stopping by in January (and in the first few days of February)!