Month In Review: January 2019

January has drawn to a close and with it another month on ye olde blog. This month went a lot better than I’d hoped, mainly because I had a lot less going on with work than in the past oh six months or so. I was able to read and post more which was a nice change of pace.

I started the month off with some 2019 Reading And Blogging Goals as well as some Monthly Reading Goals.

And sure enough I changed things up. I’d planned to read the following books:

• Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
• Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
• A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
• Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

And I read exactly half of those. Here’s what I actually read in order:

• Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
• Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
• Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen (currently reading)

So yeah…that reading plan was blown out of the water kinda like I thought it would be knowing me. I came across our old copy of Treasure Island before we took our trip to Jamaica and decided it would be great to read to get me in the mood for the Caribbean.

I then decided I wanted to read Pirate Latitudes and A Brief History of Seven Killings while I was in Jamaica because they are both set, in part, on the island. I was going for some atmosphere. I had a few days to kill before we left so I tried to finish Trail of Lightning before the trip…which didn’t happen. Then, I spent a lot less time on the trip reading than I’d anticipated because I was doing things like hanging with the kids and sailing, and drinking island drinks.

I read some, but didn’t finish Pirate Latitudes until we were on the way home, and then just decided to skip A Brief History of Seven Killings at that point. I read about thirty pages of Stranger In A Strange Land and just wasn’t getting into it so I started Wake of Vultures instead (my current read) as it’s been on my TBR about a year now and I decided it was time.

Book Reviews

So that was my reading for the month. What about my reviews? I actually managed three reviews in January and I was only aiming for two. So huzzah!

The first was for Kingshold by D. P. Woolliscroft. I’d actually read the book back in September as part of Self-Published Fantasy Month but just now got around to writing the review.

Regicide, politics, assassinations, pirates, magic, demons, and giant draco-turtles are just taste of what’s in store for you in this solid and entertaining self-published debut from D. P. Woolliscroft. Kingshold made it to the semi-finalist round in this year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blogg Off (#SPFBO) hosted by author Mark Lawrence and it’s easy to understand why. Offering a fresh take on revolution and dynastic change in fantasy literature this first book in the Wildfire Cycle sets the stage for an imaginative and rousing new series. See the full review HERE.

The second book I reviewed was Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. From opening line to closing page Red Sister grabs you and doesn’t let go. Dark, mysterious, and gripping, this First Book of The Ancestor is imbued with tense action weighted in vengeance, bonds of friendship forged and broken, and layers of secrets slowly peeled back with revelations that will shock and thrill you. Read the full review HERE.

The final book review of the month was for Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton. I wanted to like this book. I really, really did. I tried to like it. But in the end I just couldn’t. There was a reason Crichton hadn’t published Pirate Latitudes yet and it shows. I think he knew it and that’s why he hadn’t submitted it yet. Read the full review HERE.

Other Posts

I also posted a rating scale update. Back, I don’t know…in November I think, I wrote up my first rating scale update in which I basically said I was thinking of doing away with star ratings. Well, I’d had some time to think about it and decided to keep the star ratings and explained my rationale as well as how I was simplifying (in my mind) what the rating scale means. So if you’re curious about all that check out my Rating Scale Update II.

Well, that was if for January. Like I said, I feel pretty good about how the month went. Hopefully I can keep a similar pace in February, especially for reviews. Expect to see another Monthly Reading Goals post in the next day or so. Beyond that I don’t have anything planned except that I hope to get a few more reviews up. I may do some Waiting on Wednesdays or other general posts. I’d like to start doing more during the week when I’m not writing reviews which I feel like I can only write up on weekends. We’ll see.

How’d your month go? What’s your February starting to look like? Jump into the comments and let me know. Until next time Happy Reading!