It’s the start of a new year and nice clear reading slate has begun! I really love the new year for the opportunity to read the very best books you can and choose a whole new year of reading. I also get quite obsessive about what my first reads of the year will be, here are the ones i chose this year…
You by Caroline Kepnes
I have had You on my shelf for years now, and sadly the push that made me read it was the fact that the series has now come to Netflix. I had been anticipating the release of the series, but not so soon. I wanted to watch it, so figured i may as well read the book first. You was a shock to me. I ended up loving it so much more than i thought i would and actually really connected to the characters. Although i definitely felt bad the entire time for actually liking Joe. Every so often i really like to read a thriller, and generally that happens at the start of the year. This was the perfect way to start my year off!
The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu
This was my first read from Jennifer Mathieu, and honestly, i wanted to be more blown away than i was. I wanted to absolutely adore this after the hype around Moxie. It was a very eye opening read that really highlighted a lot of ‘slut shaming’ ideas around teenagers, i found it really interesting to learn a little bit more about that. However, i struggled to connect to any of the characters and i remember very little detail about this book now. I remember some key scenes (maybe because they were LGBTQ+) but i was disappointed with the memorable aspect of this book.
The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
I had low expectations for how much i would enjoy this book, i won’t lie about that. But i was pleasantly surprised by how much i really loved the characters and this story. It’s so incredibly well written and a lot of fun with characters you can truly connect to and grow to love. I can’t wait to read the rest of Becky Chambers’ books and i honestly cannot believe i put off reading The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet for so long! My review of this will be up really soon!
Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon
I had the highest of hopes for this book, and it just didn’t end up sitting right with me. I know so many people adored it, and whereas i truly appreciated it for spreading some diversity within YA and showing some great representation, i just didn’t fall in love with it. I think i’ve come to a point where contemporary really has to wow me, and sadly Rosie Loves Jack didn’t do that for me. I really hope Mel Darbon releases some other novels that i fall in love with, because the writing fell a bit flat this time.
Giant Days Volume 2
I wanted to try and get a little more in to graphic novels this year, i’ve already been reading a lot more than i used to, however i feel like 2019 could be my graphic novel year. I started Giant Days last year and was eager to continue on with the stories. I really love these characters and how it feels really close to home with Uni life. I’m so glad i’ve fallen in love with these books, as i really wasn’t sure. I now need to get going with Non Pratt’s novelisation of Giant Days!
Proud – An Anthology curated by Juno Dawson
(AD) I got an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I’ve never been a fan of anthologies, but when Proud was announced, i couldn’t wait to see what Stripes came up with. I absolutely adore pretty much everything else i’ve read from them, so this was bound to be a good read for me. There is so much wonderful diversity in this book, with so many aspects of the LGBTQ+ community represented and all kinds of genre of story. This is probably one of the very few anthologies i really connected with. I absolutely loved it. I was also blown away by the new voices and how their stories honestly carried the book.
36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant
I picked this up from a pal at the Manchester bloggers group meeting, and wanted to read it right away. This has been on my radar for honestly about two years, because i’m incredibly interested in the premise of it. However, i’ve always known i won’t like it (anyone else ever get like that?). I wanted to read it right away because i wanted to get it out of the way basically. I enjoyed the story-line, and it fixed that need in me to read something about the 36 question experiment. It was cheese, and definitely not the best written book ever. That’s about all i have to say about this book.
I’m really pleased with the amount that i got read in January. Given that i have had the whole of January off work and honestly, have had very little to do. I got loads read and some books read that have been on my TBR or my shelves for a long time. I’d count that as a success!
Books read: 7
Books read this year: 7
Pages read: 2288
Pages Per Day: 74
Average Rating: 3.5
Years of Release: 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019
Genres: Sci-Fi, YA, Contemporary, Graphic Novel, Romance
The Little Contemporary Corner 