Overview: It’s 2024, and it’s finally time to update my approach to my monthly wrap ups! I started the new year on a familiar note by re-reading a bunch of faves. However, I also found a few contenders for my favourite book of 2024!
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My first post of 2024 featuring 2024 content is, of course, the dreaded monthly wrap-up. Like most readers and consumers of bibliophile social media content (does blogging count as social media?), I have a love/hate relationship with wrap ups. I think they’re a great way to briefly summarize and capture all the books read during the month, check in on goal progress, and track data for any reading trends you’re interested in. But, my issue has always been brevity.
Seriously, go look at any of my wrap ups in the past… all of them scroll on for what seems like ever. Over the years, I’ve struggled to find a wrap up template that fits how many books I read. In 2023, I loved the idea of including mini-reviews of every book I read. But, when you read, on average, 30 books a month, those mini-reviews don’t look so small. I also love including stats on my reading habits — my most read genres and authors, the frequency of each rating since I rate on a 0.25-star increment.
A must for me is including the book covers of all the books I read or even mention since I’m such a visual person. But, I realized going into 2024 that I didn’t — and shouldn’t — have a wrap up with such an overwhelming amount of information. Plus, having a narrative always makes information more digestible, I find. I’m really excited about this new monthly template I’ve created. It has more of a newsletter-type feel that allows me to explore my reading habits over the past month but also reflect on any reading-adjacent media I’ve consumed, items I’m looking at purchasing, and more!
I blink January’s lashes
Sanober Khan
and gush down December’s cheeks
Despite my quote of the month (above), January felt soooo slow. I did so much last month and accomplished so much that I felt exhausted by the end of the month. Which is kind of terrifying since midterms start in a week. I spent the first week of January on a beach where all I did was read (and eat). As a result, it was pretty straightforward to reach my goal of reading 12,045 pages. My average book length in January was 339 pages, which brings me such joy since, over the past two years, I’ve been working on reading longer books (pre-2022, many of the romances I read were under 300 pages).
Overall, January was a success in terms of my reading goals. I read 36 books last month with an average rating of 3.9 stars. Part of how I started this year with a bang was really leaning into my urge to re-read some old favourites, including revisiting some romances I haven’t read in over 5 years to see how my tastes have changed (which heavily influenced my most-read authors and genre). I re-read 22 books last month, and it reignited my excitement for all the books I have on my backlist. This led to me prioritizing two books from my backlist, Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll and The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, and both were contenders for my favourite book of the month.
4-star Reads in January 2024
Quick Stats
Most Read Author(s): Suzanne Wright & Aurora Rose Reynolds
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Most Read Genre: Contemporary Romance
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Longest Read: When the Dead Come A Knockin’ by B.L. Brunnemer
(560 pages)
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Shortest Read: Risky by Aurora Rose Reynolds
(240 pages)
My favourite book of the month was Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll. I knew when I read the synopsis that I’d love this book. Knoll engages with critiques against the true crime genre, which has a tendency to centre the perspective of the perpetrator, thereby dehumanizing their victims and survivors. While the author was inspired by a true event (and perpetrator) from US history (the book is set in the 80s), Knoll’s creative decisions to leave the perpetrator’s name out of the story — he’s only ever referred to as The Defendant — allowed the women’s stories to take centre stage. This felt especially powerful even when the protagonist was interacting with key characters who helped facilitate the “celebrification” of The Defendant.
Also, I loved how the protagonist, Pamela, conversations about sexism felt realistic for the 80s but also subtle and nuanced. There was a larger emphasis on benevolent sexism, where the man is characterized as the protector/the breadwinner and the woman is the emotional homemaker, which not only got in the way of the name’s career but impeded the police investigation. I’d classify this book as a must-read — it’s a serious contender for my favourite book of 2024 — but with the caveat that it leans more towards an introspective character study than a nail-biting thriller.
3-star Reads in January 2024
My least favourite read was The Arrangement by Mary Balogh. Speaking of benevolent sexism, I really didn’t like how this romance basically just had the guy saving the damsel in distress, and that was the extent of their personalities and romance.
My most anticipated release of January was All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata. The book was picked up by a publisher, so they pulled it from circulation, which was so frustrating last year when I wanted to re-read it. I counted down the days to its re-release, plus the bonus scene was adorable!
I have so many new releases that I’m eagerly anticipating releasing in February! The Women by Kristin Hannah is a historical fiction about the Vietnam War from a woman’s perspective (#HerStory anyone?). Ashes of You by Catherine Cowles is the last book in a small-town romance series of inter-connected standalone romances. While the trope isn’t my favourite — it’s a single parent x nanny trope — I have high expectations.
Catherine Cowles is one of my go-to Kindle Unlimited romance authors; there’s a great combination of small-town atmosphere, strong characterization, romantic suspense and romance in her books.
Two other releases I’m looking forward to are Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey (LOVE the idea of the Heroine being the simp and the Hero being a grump — I think this will be hilarious and hit the spot that Secretly Yours missed) and Bride by Ali Hazelwood (I’m so down for a vampire x werewolf mating-of-convenience romance).
I created a whole page dedicated to the 13 reading challenges I’m participating in 2024! This, along with my reading journal, will hopefully be enough to keep me on track 😅.
I also caught up on two series this past month — Devil’s Cradle by Suzanne Wright, a paranormal romance series (book #2 was The Nightmare in Him) and The Wilder Family by Karla Sorensen, a contemporary romance series (book #2 was Head Over Heels). Both of these books were excellent reads; I was incredibly impressed by Head Over Heels; look no further if you’re looking for an opposites-attract romance with a blue-collar Hero, a white collar Heroine that’s essentially a nice guy x boss bitch match-up (oh, and he really likes how prickly she is 😉).
Hopefully, this newsletter style of my January wrap up is more accessible and gives a good look of my reading habits over the course of the past month!
Happy reading!
x Sarah
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