Is anyone else having a hard time recovering from the holidays? Yeah, maybe it's just me. I did spend two and a half weeks in the States towards the end of the year, so I really think the first two weeks of January were me recovering from jet lag. January was a quiet and slow month. No travel and nothing special really happened. I guess that's a good thing, but on the other hand, I had no excuse for taking my time to replying to blog comments. I felt a little blocked this month with my posts. I had a bit of writers' block and then I just got lazy about posts that I wanted to write. But last week, I had a breakthrough of a couple of discussion ideas, so look for those next month. I have already started getting ahead of myself and scheduling quite a few posts for February ahead of time. Yay me! I am feeling productive for the first time this year.
Living on the coast of Italy means that we don't have much of a winter and we didn't get any snow. That actually bums me out because I love the cold! But it has gotten cooler, so that's good. Lower temps + off season months = no crowds while seeing some of the sights in my own city. Yay!
This is a picture of the Naples waterfront with Mount Vesuvius in the background. Such a gorgeous day!
I read a total of 27 books this month.
I read some amazing books this month. Most of what I read was really, really good. According to Goodreads, there were only eight books that I rated three stars or less. Yay. That does mean that I had a bit of trouble coming up with my favorite book of the month. I will just leave you with the books that received five stars from me. (I left out The Nightingale simply because it was a reread, but it was just as good as the first time around!)
5 star reads for the month:
Most disappointing read:
Since it was the only one star rating, this one wasn't that hard. You would think that a book about a blogger who hires a ghostwriter to write her posts would be good, right? Nope. Not even a little bit.
Life At The Speed Of Us by Heather Sappenfield
The Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
52 Likes By Medeia Sharif
Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway
Any Other Girl by Rebecca Phillips
Little White Lies by Brianna Baker
Truest by Jackie Lea Sommers
Underwater by Marisa Reichardt
The Wrath and the Dawn (Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renee Ahdieh
Top Ten Tuesday Posts:
Top 2015 Releases Still On My TBR List
Recent Additions to my TBR Pile
Top Books I Would Love To Read Again For The First Time
Other posts:
First book of the year
Participated in Bout of Books - hosted a villain mash-up challenge
Discussion: When An Author Doesn't Like Your Review <--- MOST VISITED POST THIS MONTH
I did the Goodreads Book Tag.
Discussion: Why I Don't Do Reading Challenges
How was your January? What was your favorite book read this month?
That's a shame because the concept of Little White Lies sounds intrigueing! That's a stunning shot of Naples, its about 10 years since I've been (I normally stick to Northern Europe for my holidays!) Hope you have a great week and happy reading!
ReplyDeleteLaura @ http://a-reader-lives-a-thousand-lives.blogspot.co.uk
Thanks so much Laura! Naples is amazing, I am so lucky to be living here. Enjoy your week as well!
DeleteI would love to enjoy your view of Mount Vesuvius! Trade you! You have read so many amazing books this month! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! And thanks for the offer of the trade, but I believe I will keep my view. :)
DeleteGlad you got your blogging mojo back! It is a good feeling when you come up with a discussion post idea, isn't it? :) You had a great reading month- 27 books wow! I like the cover of Underwater- and I thought Maybe in Another Life was good. Curious to see what you thought of Rebel Bully Geek.
ReplyDeleteNice pic!
Thanks Greg! I love it when I get some ideas for my blog. Writer's block is the worst. Rebel Bully Geek was a pretty good book, better than I expected actually. There were some unbelievable parts where you ind of had to suspend your disbelief. But other than that, it was very entertaining.
DeleteI did the bout of books thing also, quite fun, though I am a snail reader apparently..LOL Wow 27 books is alot!! Congrats on having a few 5 stars that's always good!! I had 1 5 star book. Have a great week!
ReplyDeletehttp://thebestbasicblogger.blogspot.com/2016/01/january-wrap-up-post.html
Joann, I am just a really fast reader plus I have no job. That does mean more time for me to read. :)
DeleteYou really had an awesome reading month with that many books and that many good books!! Love that picture - so lucky to be in Italy. I would love to go back. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteThanks Grace! Believe me when I say that I count my blessings every single day. I am so lucky to live where I do!
DeleteWhat a great mix of books. Hope February is a bit brighter for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks Emma!
DeleteWish I lived in Italy. No, I'll have to settle with being in Canada married to a man from Bari. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat picture though... so beautiful.
27 books??? How the heck?! Excellent job!! I love Sarah J. Maas myself. :-)
Happy February!
fredamans, ahhh Bari, I really want to go there soon! It isn't that far away. And it must be amazing married to an Italian. They are some of the best people. :)
Delete27 books?!!!! I wish I had that much time to read. But alas, college is all so time consuming.
ReplyDeleteNerdgirl Review, oh I understand completely. The only reason I can read as much as I do is because I have no job. I have always been a very fast reader, but I am sure I would not be able to read nearly as much if I had obligations like college and stuff. :)
DeleteYou read some really great sounding books this month! And love the picture, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Library Huntress!
DeleteSome great reads this past month. Room is one of my favourite books of all time. I'm hoping the movie makes it to my little corner of Australia as I really really really want to see it.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I know what you mean about getting back into things after holidays!
Deborah, Room was so incredibly good! It has been on my TBR for so long and I think the movie is what finally pushed me to read it. I wanted to read the book before I see the movie. I hope it lives up to the book!
DeleteYou LIKE cold weather? -sigh- We can't be friends. Kidding. ;) Wow, you read a lot of books. Glad most of them were good.
ReplyDeleteHaha Christy, funny. I know, people always give me weird looks when I say I love winter. I am am a weird one, I guess. :)
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