January 2023 Reading Wrap Up

Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog! 

I'm so glad that it's February. January seemed like it went on for months. It was a really awful month for me, which I went into detail about in my reading update two weeks ago. But now it's a new month, and I'm going to try and turn things around. Hopefully. 

In January I read 10 books: 4 novels, 2 novellas, 1 poetry collection, 1 nonfiction, and 2 manga volumes. I'm glad that I managed to read a variety of things this past month, but also it kind of sucks that I only got to 10 books. However, based on how the beginning of the month was going, I'm impressed with myself that I managed to read even that much. 

Alright, let's get into the wrap up. 

==========

Novels

1. Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson
Genre: Mystery/Thriller, Contemporary, YA
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4 stars/7.00 CAWPILE
Page count: 464 pages
Day(s) read: 1.02 - 1.04
Goodreads thoughts: WHY'D YOU HAVE TO END IT LIKE THAT MAUREEN???? WHY??????

I feel so betrayed ;-;

Okay, okay. Back to coherency. I liked this significantly more than Box in the Woods, mainly because of the mystery. It's almost like a closed-room mystery, an isolated location with a limited number of suspects. It was much more intriguing to me overall. Once again, I'm not loving Stevie. She's way too impulsive and does some pretty awful things in order to feel that investigation high. And the worst part is, she doesn't face any real consequences? Like, her friends are upset with her, but they still back her up in her lies, and the adults in charge of her are none the wiser, so it's like she never gets her just desserts. I mean, yes, she does go through some very not good stuff in this book in particular, but it's all irrelevant to the shit she's stirred up herself. And I just think a 17-year-old should face more consequences for doing the stuff she does.

AND NOW WE HAVE TO WAIT HOWEVER LONG FOR THE NEXT BOOK BECAUSE THERE IS NO WAY MAUREEN ENDED THIS BOOK ON THAT CLIFFHANGER INTENDING IT TO BE THE END. THERE HAS TO BE MORE. PLEASE LET THERE BE MORE.

2. Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Adult
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 stars/6.14 CAWPILE
Page count: 544 pages
Day(s) read: 1.13 - 1.18
Goodreads thoughts: Wow, what an ending. It took me so long to finish this book, but I feel like it was all worth it, because that ending was just phenomenal. While I found the characters a little hard to keep track of, I did ultimately enjoy how they all developed. And that ending! I know I’ve said it multiple times already, but it was just so good that I can’t get it out of my head.

3. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh (Review Here)
Genre: Fantasy, Folklore, Mythology Retelling, YA
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4.5 stars/8.00 CAWPILE
Page count: 325 pages
Day(s) read: 1.19 - 1.23
Goodreads thoughts: That was so cute! Books like this remind me that I don’t totally hate romance, because that was adorable. I admit that I was a little skeptical in the beginning, just because I’m a cynic and I figured that this was going to be the same to so many other stories, but I was definitely pleasantly surprised by how wrong I was. By the end I was fully invested in these characters and their love for each other. I love it when that happens!

4. How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
Genre: Horror, Paranormal, Adult
Star rating/CAWPILE: 2.5 stars/4.57 CAWPILE
Page count: 433 pages
Day(s) read: 1.24 - 1.27
Goodreads thoughts: Well, that was...something. You know, I just don't think Grady Hendrix is the author for me after all. Which is definitely frustrating, because I've spent a lot of time reading his books and trying to like them. And I technically did enjoy this book the most out of all of the ones I've read - I like the haunted puppet angle (even though I'm absolutely horrified of dolls and puppets) and I think the execution was pretty cool, but there were just a ton of other things that gave me the ick in this story, like Mark's characterization and the rampant fat-shaming everywhere, and the overt religious undertones as well. So, yeah. I think I'm done with Grady Hendrix.

Novellas

1. Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman (ONE DAY READ)
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, YA
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 stars/6.29 CAWPILE
Page count: 176 pages
Day(s) read: 1.20 - 1.20
Goodreads thoughts: So cute! Charlie and Nick are absolute endgame, I love them almost as much as they love each other.

2. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Genre: Classics, Fantasy, Adventure, Middle-Grade
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3 stars/4.71 CAWPILE
Page count: 176 pages
Day(s) read: 1.28 - 1.31
Goodreads thoughts: This was so weird? I don't see how it could be a children's story, it felt much older than what typical children's classics read like. Mole was my favorite character by far, and I kind of hated Toad. I think that's what the intention was, but still.

Poetry

1. What Kind of Woman by Kate Baer
Genre: Nonfiction, Feminism, Adult
Star rating/CAWPILE: N/A
Page count: 120 pages
Day(s) read: 1.27 - 1.28
Goodreads thoughts: Since this is a nonfiction poetry collection and is very personal to the author, I will not be rating it. But I can tell you that the poetry was very raw and emotional, and I like how the author seems to grow along with the poems in the collection.

Nonfiction

1. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
Genre: History, Biography, Adult
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4 stars/7.00 CAWPILE 
Page count: 432 pages
Day(s) read: 1.05 - 1.25
Goodreads thoughts: This was so brilliant. Stacy Schiff's writing was clear and informative without being dense, which is always something I look for in nonfiction. She managed to tell a story through the bits and pieces we know about Cleopatra's life, sadly the only things that still remain. And to me, the best part was the emphasis on Cleopatra's humanity. We tend to reduce her to this great seductress who destroyed Ancient Egypt and derailed Roman politics, but we have to remember that she was 19 when she met Julius Caesar (if not younger?). She became the political leader of an empire when she was a teenager, and by all accounts Egypt prospered under her reign. Cleopatra has always been a fascination of mine and I'm glad that I now have this book to refer to.

Manga

1. Bloom Into You vol. 1-2 by Nio Nakatani
Genre: Contemporary, Girls Love, Shonen
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3 stars/4.71, 5.14 CAWPILE
Page count: 290 pages
Day(s) read: 1.05, 1.10
Goodreads thoughts: (vol 1) I'm definitely interested, but I don't know if I'm invested yet. But naturally a yuri manga is gonna catch my eye.

(vol 2) I did enjoy this volume more than the first one, mainly because of Maki. He's so hilarious and I love that he's willing to help Touko and Yuu.

---

Total page count: 2,960 pages

January favorite: The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

No DNFs this month

No unfinished books this month

No book haul

==========

Alright, that's all for January! I hope February goes so much better, not just for me but for everyone. Tell me, what was the best book you read in January? Let me know in the comments, or DM me on Instagram (link in the sidebar). 

Until next time!