I was going to do a video about this but many of my books are not currently at home. I'm slowly moving and my book collection is at my future home.
For the month of January, I read 2 books which keeps me on track for my Goodreads goal of 24 this year. I started 3, 1 of which I completely abandoned until later in the year and I'll explain why. 1 I think I have to be really in the mood to continue. And the other I'm so mad I left it because I'm dying to continue!
First book I read was The White Queen by Philippa Gregory. This book is the first in the Cousins War series. I reviewed this book in a previous post so I am not going to go into much detail but I enjoyed it and gave it 3.5/5 stars. I really enjoyed the concept of the story. The characters were wonderful and since it's based on history, I want to know more facts. There's just a touch of the supernatural in it for me to really love and, if you're a dreamer like me, you almost want to believe things happened like that. My problem was the pacing of the story was off. There would be all this action and romance and then nothing for several pages. But, I do want to finish the series. I just wasn't blown away enough to say, "Oh man, I have to read the next one now!" like I have with some of her previous books.
The next book I read, and the second I completed was Witch Child by Celia Rees. I first heard about this from the lovely Dawn Kurtagich. She did a Top 5 Historical Books video in December and mentioned it. It is the story of Mary who is a young woman living in England in the late 1650s and she is a witch. She was raised by her grandmother and practices healing. Her grandmother would tell peoples fortunes along with being a healer herself and tell supernatural stories but then she is persecuted as a witch and horribly killed. Mary flees to the New World with a Puritan community and has to try and blend in. The book is told as her diary so you see her thoughts and opinions about these people. Some she likes and some she doesn't and usually those people feel the same. What I liked about this book was similar to White Queen. The writing is amazing. I was so enthralled in her journey and her struggle to be the meek little Puritan girl when she is really very outspoken and not like the others at all. There was just enough magic to make it believable. Sure, there were the cliche witch trial scenes with the screaming girls that you just want to smack in the face but witch trial stories are like romance novels. There's only so many ways you can describe certain scenes so they're going to sound hokey and cliche. But, it's not overwhelmed with it like in the Crucible. This book got 5/5 stars from me.
The book that I abandoned was called Ouija by Katharine Turner. This was an on-a-whim buy for me. I don't really go for scary stories and certainly will never watch the movie because I heard it was a gawd-awful adaptation. But, this is not a book to be read at night. I picked it up one night because I was too lazy to go in the other room and get Witch Child out of my purse so I grabbed something within reach in the bedroom. I read about 3 chapters. Maybe 4? Don't remember. Had to put it down because I just started feeling weird and there was already a death. *Sorry, spoilers* And then that whole rest of the night I couldn't sleep and when I did sleep I had weird dreams. So, this will be a day time only read closer to Halloween and then I will watch lots of Disney movies before bed. But, I included the Amazon link if you are interested anyway.
Another book I began but is on hold is Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I thought with Valentine's Day coming up I'd go for a cute contemporary and I had heard a lot of great things about this book and the 2 companion/sequels in the trilogy. But, I just couldn't get into it that much. I don't mean it's bad. It's an interesting story and I'm starting to like the characters. Anna's awkwardness is definitely something I can relate to because I was a very awkward teen... and 20-something... and 30-something. ^^; But, I just couldn't stay hooked yet. So, I will try again down the road.
Finally, the book I'm really enjoying but I left it at my future home and won't get to read it again until Friday. It is Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas! I already know I want the next books. There are 2 out plus the prequel novellas and there are 3 more still to come according to Goodreads! I haven't gotten too far into it yet but I'm loving everything so far. The writing is awesome. The characters are fascinating and some you either one to love or hit. Some, like our lovely main Celaena, you can't quite figure out. I love how it's mostly from her story but then you get glimpses into Prince Dorian or Chaol (pronounced Kale as I found out from a review video). I had a heart-stopping moment and this shows what a geek I am. Chaol is giving her a tour of the castle and they find the library and he tells her it contains over ONE MILLION BOOKS! Oh! I read that at work. My heart stopped, I nearly fell out of my chair. I actually sighed out loud and had to set the book down to process that. People were probably staring at me but I didn't care. I can't wait to keep reading and I need to get my hands on the rest of the series!! I'll do a proper review either here or on my YouTube channel when I'm reading.
So, that's my January 2015 reading wrap-up. I'll have another at the end of February. In the meantime, keep an eye out for writing updates and other posts. Check out my social media and YouTube. Have a great night. Hope where you're at is warm and wonderful because here it's sub-zero and snowing. But, hey, book and a blanket weather!
Bye! ^.~
Carey
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