It’s been a while…or a year or two since I last posted a monthly recap of my reading. It’s a new year, and I’m committed to doing better about sharing my monthly reviews with you.
If you’re new to Speaking Of…, I use to post a monthly wrap up of everything I read during the month. I link my reviews to what I read for easy access, talk about any books I did not finish (DNF), and pick out my favorite and least favorite reads for the month.
January is always a weird month for me. Coming down from the holiday rush and the ‘winter blues’ really get to me so I tend to have low motivation. Add in a sick toddler and I’ve just been tired y’all. I don’t know how we get everything done in a day other than to just not get it done. Regardless, I did start 2024 off strong with 14 books read this month. I honestly thought I was having a slow reading month, especially with all the ‘meh’ books I was getting myself into that were taking me forever to read. Turns out all the audiobooks I’ve been listening to lately really added up. For those in the back, audiobooks are considered reading!
Let’s dive into what I read and see if you need to add any to your TBR!
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January Reading Recap
14 / 125
- Kaiju Preservation Society | John Scalzi | ★★★★★ | Review coming soon
- Death in the Dark Woods | Annelise Ryan | ★★★★ | REVIEW
- The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels | Janice Hallett | ★★★ | REVIEW
- The Fortune Seller | Rachel Kapelke-Dale | ★★★ | REVIEW
- Last Call at the Local | Sarah Grunder Ruiz |★★★★ | REVIEW
- Love, Naturally | Sophie Sullivan | ★★★★ | REVIEW
- Where You End | Abbott Kahler | ★★★ | REVIEW
- Recipe for a Charmed Life | Rachel Linden |★★★ |REVIEW
- Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone | Benjamin Stevenson | ★★★★ | REVIEW
- How to Kill Men and Get Away With It | Katy Brent | ★★★★ | Review coming soon
- The House of Last Resort | Christopher Golden | ★★★ | REVIEW
- Village in the Dark | Iris Yamashita | ★★★★ | REVIEW
- Listen for the Lie| Out March 5, 2024 | Amy Tintera | ★★★★★ | REVIEW
- Everyone On This Train is a Suspect | Benjamin Stevenson | ★★★★| REVIEW
I ended 2023 with John Scalzi’s Starter Villain (REVIEW) and I just had to start the year with another one of his books. I’m love a good witty banter, mixed genre story, that doesn’t take itself to seriously and The Kaiju Preservation Society was the ticket. It really set the tone for my year, and only one other book even competed with it for my favorite this month. Bonus it’s also available on KindleUnlimited so give it a try!
I listened to The Fortune Seller, Love, Naturally, Where You End, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, and Listen to the Lie. Highly recommend both Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone and Stevenson’s newest release Everyone on This Train is a Suspect on audio! They are just so much more when you listen to the story. Listen for the Lie has a podcast format for parts of the book, so it was another excellent listen! It comes out in March, and it was my only other 5★ read for the month!
I was very ‘meh’ on Where You End, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, The Fortune Seller, Death in the Dark Woods, The House of Last Resort, and surprisingly Recipe for a Charmed Life. I’m not sure if my rating system is getting tougher or if I just wasn’t in the mood for any of these books this month. As a huge mood reader, how I feel plays a huge part into how much I enjoy a book. All of these just felt too long for what they were, but then again, I could just be tired #toddlermomlife.
Village in the Dark was a solid follow up in the Cara Kennedy series. While I did enjoy book 1 more, City Under One Roof Review, I’m hoping we get a third installment in the series. If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you’ll know that solid detective novels and police procedurals are my bread and butter and are the perfect palette cleanser for when I don’t know what I want to read.
Lastly, if you’re in need of a dark humor mystery, then Katy Brent’s How to Kill Men and Get Away with It is a super fun read. I’m so excited I was given an advanced copy of her upcoming release The Murder After the Night Before which comes out at the end of February, because her first book was just an incredibly fun read.
That’s what I read! Did we read any of the same things?? What was your favorite read from January??