It's February first! Congratulations on making it through the first of twelve months. Only eleven more to go. January flew by for me. The first couple weeks I had COVID, then things were busy at work, and I've been planning a ton of author stuff.
This month I'll be visiting a book event in Kansas City, MO to support another author and to make some new contacts. We'll also have our second author spotlight.
Goodreads informed me this morning that I am four books behind schedule for meeting my 2022 reading goal. I haven't been behind schedule in years. It's semi-frustrating. It makes me want to do nothing but reading. I have to keep reminding myself that I set a high goal this year. 200 books is a stretch compared to the 145ish I read last year.
In January I read a total of thirteen books, eight of which I gave five heart reviews. Each of the five hearts were written in my planner/semi-journal to be in the running for January's book of the month.
The thirteen books I read were:
The eight books that received five hearts from me were:
-Owning Emotions, AnnaMarie Gardner
-Dragon Age: Blue Wraith, Nunzio DeFilippis
-Beauty is the Beast, Jennifer Zamboni
-All Your Twisted Secrets, Diana Urban
-One Step Closer to Justice, K.D. Hilt
-A Contemporary Mythos Halloween, Carly Spade
-Secrets Never Die, Lavendar Woods
-The Single Matchmaker, J.J. Arias
Out of those eight books, each one had something different that made them stand out from the others, which made picking a book of the month difficult. Gardner's Owning Emotions did the best at conveying human nature, DeFilippis' Blue Wraith was a subject I adored, Zamboni's Beauty is the Beast had the best version of werewolves that I've seen in a while, Urban's All Your Twisted Secrets shook me, Hilt's One Step Closer to Justice was a perfect example of character development, Spade's A Contemporary Mythos Halloween modernized Hades and Persephone, Woods' Secrets Never Die had the perfect pace for a paranormal romance, and Arias' The Singel Matchmaker was just flat out adorable.
In the end, I had to choose All Your Twisted Secrets, by Diana Urban. This traditionally published novel had an ending I didn't see coming. I actually read it with another person and both of our jaws dropped when we found out who was behind locking the teens in the room of death. It wasn't someone we even considered, but when their motives were explained we sat there in shock because it all made sense. I'm a sucker for a good plot twist and this twist was one for the ages.
I haven't started my February reading yet...technically. I'm finishing up two books I started in January to kick it off. I had a few books gifted to me while I had COVID so I'm going to be reading those first. Plus I had one on preorder since the beginning of last year and it came in. Naturally, I began reading it immediately. It's part of a graphic novel series I adore.
Right now, on my currently reading list on Goodreads I have Heartstopper Volume 4 by Alice Oseman and Sweet with Heat by Addison Cole (Books 1-3, gifted to me by a friend named Lily). I'll be contacting our February author spotlight this week to confirm they still want to do the interview. Then, if confirmed, I'll send them the question sheet and get the spotlight written up by the end of the month.
On Facebook, in the Ashes' Soul Squad readers group, I've posted our two monthly giveaways for January. The first is for a $5 Amazon gift card and the second is for a copy of All Your Twisted Secrets, by Diana Urban. If you aren't part of the group, I'd request to join so you can participate in our monthly giveaways. These giveaways are something special I'm doing for the members of my reader group. They won't be available on Instagram or anywhere else besides the group. In order to enter the giveaways, group members must answer two questions. One about our author of the month and one about our book of the month blog post. This helps me make sure entrants are reading these posts and that traffic to this site is consistent.
In other news, I'm on chapter three of my primary writing project. It's proven more difficult than I anticipated. I've had to ask for a fourth grader's help in keeping my Nebraska history facts straight, haha. She's a doll though and has been a blessing. I've also been thinking about writing a post about how Disney's Encanto is a perfect example of symbolism. I can't stop watching the movie. I'm obsessed. Send help. Or Bruno. You could just send Bruno. I'd be okay with that, haha.
Until next time, stay wild moon child!
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