January 2022!!! I can’t believe it! I read SEVEN books this month and listened to one, so this year’s book review posts are starting out with a bang haha! Well, what do you expect when it’s the longest month ever in life and you were sick for a good portion of it, stuck at home with COVID?? I also really enjoyed multiple books I read this month and just flew threw them, so that was part of it too. I hope you find something that interests you!
If you want to check out what I read last year, you can find all of my book reviews under my Book tab, and if you want to see my 2021 Year Review post, you can find that here!
I started this year off with “New Year’s Kiss,” because with a title like that, how could I not??! It was such a cute book, total chick-lit story, but I really enjoyed it! I loved starting the year off with this cute read about two sisters staying at their grandmother’s hotel for the holiday season. They were enduring their parent’s divorce and not getting along very well, when one of them meets a boy in the lobby who had broken his leg skiing, and decides to do a countdown “bucket” list to New Years day of all the things she has wanted to do in life but has been to afraid to for one reason or another. It was fun reading about how they went through the list together and then of course fall in love haha… how could you not?? 😉 I really liked this one!
“A Conspiracy in Belgravia” was book two of the Lady Sherlock Holmes series. I had read her first book a long time ago and enjoyed it, so I thought I would try out her second novel. I grew up reading Sherlock Holmes novels, so I’ve always been interested in these books that put a twist on it. Charlotte Holmes, being a women in the 1800s, obviously could not run a detective agency out of her own home, so she uses “Sherlock Holmes” as her cover name as she solves mysteries with her good friend Mrs. Watson. In this case, Lady Ingram shows up concerned about a missing friend (who was more than a friend at one point in her life) and needs help locating him. Of course Lady Sherlock is on the case, and with murder and intrigue, figures out the puzzle. This story was slower than her first, I felt like it was harder for me to stay focused and get through it, but it was a decent read.
I loved “Sparks Like Stars.” I have learned so much history through reading historical novels, and I had yet to read anything about the past of Afghanistan. I think we are mainly familiar with the country since 9/11, but so much more has gone on even before then, the people have endured such turmoil that I had never heard about. This is the story of Sitara, the daughter of a prominent family affiliated with the President in 1978. Communists stage a coup, and Sitara’s whole family is killed during the attack, Sitara being smuggled out of the palace. Sitara eventually makes her way to America, but as an adult returns to Afghanistan to find out more about what happened to her family. This was such an emotional story, I couldn’t put it down.
I loved “Anxious People” too, another one I could not put down! My cousin’s wife told me about this read and I loved it. The story opens with a bank robber trying to rob a cashless bank (lol…) and once they realize the pointlessness of their actions, runs across the street and upstairs to an apartment that was open for a showing since it was for sale. The bank robber ends up taking everyone hostage, and in the time they are stuck in the apartment, they get to know each other really well. Each of them seem to have their own issues and problems, and in their time together they open up and really start to rely on each other. There are two cops on the other side trying to figure out what to do to find the bank robber once they released the hostages, and also interviewing everyone. The story was literally laugh out loud hysterical at some point. What I loved most was all of the full circle moments that came together at the end of the story. There was a lot about suicide awareness in this one, just wanting to mention that as a possible trigger point for some people, and a bit of language, but overall I really enjoyed this one!
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” was a very short read. Jacob and I had watched the movies recently, and while I was waiting for the books to become available I thought I would read this one. It is basically a little guidebook to all of the different creatures mentioned in the other stories. It wasn’t the greatest read but it was cool to see the pictures and read about the different magical creatures.
“Musical Chairs” was my least favorite read this month, mainly because of the language. It was another one of those books that I got invested in and then the main character’s son hit the scene and the language situation went cray cray. Two best friends were in a musical trio together, they had met in college and continued performing for years and years on cello and piano, and the violinist spot coming and going. It was basically their life story together, and while I enjoyed that part of the book (being a former musician myself I loved reading about their work with symphonies etc), the story line with the son and his partner made me want to quit the book multiple times over.
I have enjoyed Sally Hepworth’s books, so when I saw “The Good Sister” had come out, I put that one on my holds list quick! I like her books because they are basic life stories about people with a psychological twist that you usually don’t see coming. Two twin sisters grew up homeless with their mother, bouncing from house to house until suddenly their mother overdosed and was put into a home to care for her and they were sent to a foster home. As adults, they still highly rely on each other as Fern has sensory perception issues. Fern works at a library and meets someone, forming a relationship. Rose’s marriage is on the rocks because she wants to have a baby and can’t…there are a lot of co-dependency issues at play and manipulation…throughout the whole story you are left wondering who the “good” sister really is. Overall a good read.
History has never been a strength of mine, so lately I’ve been thinking it would be a good idea to listen to more books that would help me out with that. I’ve already learned so much reading historical fiction novels, but I wanted something more fact based. I’ve read some Bill O’Reilly books in the past but wanted to listen to this one as they are usually slow reads for me. I couldn’t get enough of “Legends and Lies: The Patriots” though, listening was definitely a game changer. I learned SO much about the Patriots and that time in our nation’s life, it was really interesting!
I download almost all of the books I read onto my kindle from the library, but this meme cracked me up so much. If I would have ordered them all this month, this is the situation we would have been in haha…happy reading friends, and thank you for following along with me again this year!!!!