January 2023 Wrap-Up ⛄️

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles!

Already a month into 2023! I hope you’ve all been doing well and staying safe. I could do without how freezing it’s been, but it’s been

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Happy new year! January is usually my least favorite month in general; now that all of the fun of the holidays are over, all of the snow just makes everything look all sad and sludgy. And it’s been a freezing January—as I’m writing this, it’s a balmy 3° outside. We had our first snow day of the year on the second day of school, even though we really didn’t get all that much snow. Not that I’m complaining. It would’ve sucked to walk in all that. Needless to say, I wore my pajamas all day that day.

Winter break lasted blissfully long, and I got to catch up with one of my best friends for coffee, which was wonderful. As far as college goes, I think I’m in for an easier semester—no math or science credits this semester, and it’s still all English/humanities classes. Again, another reason why I’m enjoying this part of college—I’m taking another class where the reading is all comics, a Science Fiction class, and a class on LGBT studies (specifically focusing on Black/African diaspora)! I’m enjoying all of them so far.

I’ve had a fairly decent reading month, I’d say; break gave me some much-needed time to read after finals, and a family friend very generously gave some of his comics to me, so I’ve been slowly making my way through those as well. My reading’s slowed down a tad bit just from getting back into the rhythm of school, but it’s a lot better than the first semester in terms of how much I’m reading. Not complaining that I’m re-reading Slaughterhouse-Five for my intro to fiction class.

Other than that, I’ve just been drawing, playing guitar, trying to write a bit more (gonna need to for class, anyway…), blowing through all three seasons of Derry Girls (we love Clare in this house), and doing my best to stay warm. Fingers crossed that February will be more merciful on the weather front.

Also, you can’t really tell because I’m wearing a beanie in the new pfp, but I shaved my head on New Year’s Eve. Feels lovely, gotta say.

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 21 books this month! I had a few brief slumps, but overall, I’d say it was a fairly even mix this month; I’ve already had a DNF, but I had two 4.5 star reads as well, so I think that cancels out.

1 – 1.75 stars:

• We Contain Multitudes – Sarah Henstra (DNF – ⭐️)
• You Truly Assumed – Laila Sabreen (⭐️.75)

2 – 2.75 stars:

• Blood Scion (Blood Scion, #1) – Deborah Falaye (⭐️⭐️)
• A Million to One – Adiba Jaigirdar (⭐️⭐️)
• The Keeper of Night (The Keeper of Night, #1) – Kylie Lee Baker (⭐️⭐️.5)

3 – 3.75 stars:

• Lies Like Poison – Chelsea Pitcher (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• To Each This World – Julie E. Czerneda (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Free Comic Book Day 2022: Marvel’s Voices #1 – Nadia Shammas et. al. (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Marvel’s Voices: Pride #1 – Kieron Gillen et. al. (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Marvel’s Voices: Legacy #1 – John Ridley et. al. (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Marvel’s Voices #1 – Vita Ayala et. al. (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Vinyl Moon – Mahogany L. Browne (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• The Merciful Crow (The Merciful Crow, #1) – Margaret Owen (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• The Heartbreak Bakery – A.R. Capetta (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

• Across a Field of Starlight – Blue Delliquanti (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Heartstopper Yearbook – Alice Oseman (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Furysong (The Aurelian Cycle, #3) – Rosaria Munda (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Last Cuentista – Donna Barba Higuera (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Bloodchild – Octavia E. Butler (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Sirens of Mars: Searching for Life on Another World – Sarah Stewart Johnson (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Little Thieves (Little Thieves, #1) – Margaret Owen (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: Little Thieves – 4.5 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

• I had fun reviewing Across a Field of Starlight, The Heartbreak Bakery, Little Thieves, The Last Cuentista, and A Million to One!
• I started a regular music segment on here! Hope you all have been enjoying that.
• I had fun doing the Trope Book Tag!

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

• Maddie did a great interview with Jenna Miller, author of the upcoming Out of Character!
• Laura had a great take on the Spotify Wrapped book tag!
• Suhani shared some great art on her Goals for 2023 post!
• My brother, as per usual, keeps on being so incredibly creative and has produced another STELLAR poem over here please check it out wow

SONGS/ALBUMS THAT I ENJOYED:

Today’s song:

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!