Sunday, 1 February 2015

January Wrap Up and Book Haul!

As part of my 2015 goals, I'm bringing you the first of (hopefully) twelve monthly wrap ups!

This month I managed to read fifteen books - which I'm very proud of. Especially since I had prelims and managed to balance the time between studying and reading (which I've never been able to do for the three years I've been sitting prelims and exams).

The fifteen books I read (in chronological order) are as follows:

Click HERE to access their goodreads pages!
Entwined - 3 stars | Snow Like Ashes - 4 stars | Fire & Flood - 4 stars
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown2.75 stars | Vampire Academy - 3 stars | Frostbite - 4 stars
Silverfin - 3 stars | Shadow Kiss - 4 stars | Crown of Midnight - 3 stars
United We Spy - 4 stars | The Darkest Minds - 3 stars | The Glass Sentence - 4.5 stars
Fearsome Dreamer - 3 stars | The Sin Eater's Daughter - 3.5 stars | An Island of Our Own - 3 stars
 
So the highest rating from me this month went to The Glass Sentence by S.E. Grove - a fantastic novel. You can read my review for it HERE. I also wrote a review for The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury that you can read HERE. Other reviews I wrote in January for books I read toward the end of 2014 can also be found HERE, HERE and HERE. I'm very proud of the amount of reviews I managed to write in the month of January. Another highlight of January was taking part in the Suzy P. blog tour where I hosted an author guest post, which you can read HERE. I also wrote my first discussion post of the year - Simultaneously Liking and Disliking a Book...

At the beginning of the month I also posted up my blogging and reading goals for 2015. Unbelievably, I've managed to complete one (get a library card and start using it) and picked up my first graphic novel (my goal for 2015 being to read a few so I've not quite completed this one yet). I also completed 12 of the 50 tasks set by the 2015 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge.

Read a book that became a movie
Read a book published this year
Read a book written by someone under 30
Read a book with non-human characters
Read a book by a female author
Read a book with a one-word title
Read a book you can finish in a day
Read a book set in the future
Read a book with magic
Read a graphic novel
Read a book by an author you've never read before
Read a book you own but have never read﻿

Though it wasn't a particular goal, I also read three books by British authors (these being Fearsome Dreamer, The Sin Eater's Daughter and An Island of Our Own). I'm rather happy about this because I've been meaning to read more UKYA and, just simply, more books from British authors for a very long time. It feels good supporting home-grown talent!

So, yes, January was the best month in a long, long time for me reading and blogging wise. Now, on to the books I received throughout the month.
 

The Boy with the Tiger's Heart by Linda Coggin | Received for review by Hot Key Books
 The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury | Gifted by Scholastic (have reviewed)
An Island of Our Own by Sally Nicholls | Gifted by Scholastic (will review)
Midwinter Blood by Marcus Sedgwick | Library book
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein | Library book
Flip by Martyn Bedford | Gift from friend
The Way Inn by Will Wiles | Surprise review book from Harper Collins
The Bees by Laline Paull | Surprise review book from Harper Collins
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (not pictured) | Library book
Silverfin: The Graphic Novel by Charlie Higson and Kev Walker (not pictured) | Library book

Big shout out and huge thank you to the publishers (and Cat!) for sending some books my way this month!
 
How's January treated you? How was it reading and blogging wise?
 
Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo

14 comments:

  1. WOW! 15 books! I only managed 2. School is really messing up my reading at the moment due to more mocks. Oh and by the way 'The Boy With The Tigers Heart' is really good. I can't wait to hear what you think about it :) Enjoy all of your new books!

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    1. Ugh, that sucks - I hope you get to read more soon! & I'm very excited to read that one! Thank you!! :D

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  2. Oooh very nice! These are new to me ones! Hope you enjoy them all!

    Here's my STS

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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  3. I really want to read The sin eater's daughter! *-* Also The glass sentence!

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    1. I hope you get to read them both at some point! :D

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  4. Wow, you clearly had a great reading month!!!! I hit a reading slump on the 10th and that only ended a few days ago so I only read 4 books. But 3 of those were really great so I'm pleased
    I hope you enjoy Code Name Verity! Just been sent it for review!!

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    1. Hehe, I did so. Ugh, that's a pity, but I'm glad the majority of the ones you did read were fab! Eeeek, I hope you enjoy it! xD

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  5. WOW! That is super impressive, Rachel! I read 11 books this month which I'm quite proud of. I probably won't be able to keep it up though because EXAMS. Ugh. I really want to read The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, Fire & Flood, Snow Like Ashes, Vampire Academy, The Darkest Minds and The Sin Eater's Daughter! I also have Code Name Verity on my TBR pile - maybe we could buddy read it? ;D Hope you have a lovely February! <3 x

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    1. 11 books is very impressive too!! & I had my last prelim today so I'm a very happy bunny - good luck with yours!! We certainly could buddy read it if you'd like! You too! xD

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  6. THE BOY WITH THE TIGER'S HEART LOOKS SO AWESOME!
    Congrats on the 15 books, I only managed two in the past month- the last Harry Potter book and Ketchup Clouds, read them? Oh, and I read a John Green book (can't remember the name) which was actually pretty good.
    Alsooo, congrats on the 12/30 tasks, and good luck with the rest!

    Amy;
    Little Moon Elephant

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    1. I'm currently reading it and am struck by how unique some of the aspects of the book are. Thank you! I've read the last HP but not Ketchup Clouds. Did you enjoy them? :)

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  7. Woah, looks like January was an amazing month for you! I hope that you have an even awesomer February :)

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