If you’ve been around here for a while, you might remember years ago when I was more diligent in writing yearly goals I often would include the number of books, or specific book titles, that I wanted to read within the year. As time went on in our infertility treatments, I stopped using the same process to set my yearly goals, and I started focusing more on knitting as my preferred hobby, I also stopped reading as much as I had been. I’d still read a book here or there, but not with the same focus that I once had.

Last year though, I reconnected with a friend on Instagram who is a Bookstagram/Booktok influencer and realized how much I missed reading. We started chatting via DMs about her book recommendations to help me jump back into reading and she coached me through a Kindle purchase. I also joined her Discord and a year-long read-a-long another Bookstagram/Booktok influence was hosting and it wasn’t long before I was reading with the same level of intensity that I used to! Even though I really started reading again in March, I ended up reading 55 books last year - the majority of them within the fantasy/’romantasy’ genre - and I felt like I had reclaimed this piece of myself that had been missing.

This year, I’ve joined a year-long challenge to read 150 books and I’m planning to track and share what I read in this space and on Instagram! Here’s a quick recap of what I read in January.

January 2024: Reads, Ratings & Reactions

five stars

First Lie Wins, Ashley Elston
House of Earth and Blood, Sarah J. Maas
House of Sky and Breath, Sarah J. Maas
House of Flame and Shadow, Sarah J. Maas
Ruthless Vows, Rebecca Ross

four stars

None of This is True, Lisa Jewell

overall favorite & runner-up

My favorite read of January was hands-down First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston. I got this as part of my Book of the Month box and loved it right from the first chapter. It was twisty and turny and I didn’t at all expect the ending, but I desperately want another book about these characters and what happens to them next! Here’s the description in case you’re interested:

“The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.

Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job will be different. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes — especially after what happened last time.

Because the one thing she’s worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to — her real identity — just walked right into this town. Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. This stakes couldn’t be higher — but then, Evie has always liked a challenge…”

My runner-up favorite for January is a bit of a cheat, but I devoured the entire Crescent City series in anticipation of the third book, House of Flame and Shadow, releasing on January 30. I spent most of last year reading the other two Sarah J. Maas series — A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) and Throne of Glass (ToG) — and I enjoyed this third series of hers just as much as I did the other two. All three of her series are firmly in the ‘romantasy’ genre and there is a good mix of spice in the exceptional world-building that Maas does as an author. I timed my reading of the first two books so that I could go right into the third book when it launched on January 30, and I am so glad I did. The cliffhanger at the end of the second book in the series, House of Sky and Breath, is a doozy! Sarah J. Maas’s ACOTAR series is what jump-started my reading again last year, so I think these books will be favorites of mine for a while.

Total book count so far: 14/150