Hi everybody and welcome to my January wrap up!

Well, I think it’s safe to say I started off 2024 right, because I got 8 reads in this month which is quite a lot for me! I also feel like my reading this month has been a little special, because of those 8 reads, four were re-reads and one was a fanfic.

Also, I had my 8th blogoversary this month! Can you believe I’ve been blogging for 8 years already? Because I sure can’t…

Without further ado, let’s just dive into my wrap-up!

Ghosted by Sarah Ready

My first read of the year was this lovely ghost romance by Sarah Ready. It’s about a dating and relationship columnist named Jillian who is actually unable to talk to men in real life. But her entire life changes when she moves in to a new apartment to discover it’s already inhabited by a shirtless ghost named Daniel who decides he needs to help her fall in love so he can move on. This was a fun and unique twist on the ghost romance trope and while I thought the characters were a bit bland, I still highly enjoyed the read.

Rating: 4 stars

Betting on You by Lynn Painter

This was another adorable YA contemporary romance by Lynn Painter. I loved Bailey and Charlie and their journey from strangers to coworkers to friends to more. I also loved the dive into both of their anxiety over being kids of divorce and the pop culture references. I was still missing something though: a bit more depth in the Charlie POV’s and a ‘better’ resolution to Bailey’s worries about her parents that was more than 1 pages of ‘well, guess I’m fine with it now’. Overall a great read, despite my few nitpicks, and a solid four stars for me!

Rating: 4 stars

The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson

I highly enjoyed The Fake Mate. It’s a steamy shifter romance with fake dating and grumpy/sunshine elements and I thought it a was very unique and fresh take on shifter romances. The chemistry between Mack and Noah was very strong, believable and swoony. Despite the fact that I’ve read quite a few shifter romances already, this is the first that really emphasised certain aspects like glands and heat and especially knotting and while I was a bit confused and hesitant at first (and very purposely decided NOT to google – luckily I got the gist quickly) I ended up really enjoying the read. Four stars for me.

Rating: 4 stars

The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker (Series Re-Read)

I was in the mood for a re-read and The Simple Wild felt fitting for these cold, dark winter days. With the snow we had here this month, I did kind of feel some teensy tiny Alaska vibes so the mood was all set 🙂 I really enjoyed being back in Alaska with Calla and Jonah and all the other characters. Definitely still one of my all-time favorite series. And now I’m all caught up to finally read Marie’s story in Running Wild!

Rating: 4,5 stars

The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas (Re-Read)

Guess 2024 is starting off as the year of re-reads! 🙂 I’ve been wanting to do a Throne of Glass re-read for ages, but I’ve kept putting it off because this is such a long series to invest time in a re-read. But not anymore, I finally returned to Rifthold and Celaena Sardothien! This novella-collection prequel hit just as hard as the first time and it was fun meeting Sam, Rolfe, Yrene and Ansel again. Though yes, that final novella broke my heart just as much as it did the first time…

Rating: 4 stars

Remain Nameless by HeyJude19 (Fanfiction)

Yes, that’s right, I got into fanfiction. Dramione fanfiction to be precise. I was listening to a bookish podcast and one of the hosts was raving about this fic and I really wanted to give this a try. This is a fluffy, cute, healing, slow-burn but also smutty romance between Draco and Hermione that takes place after the events of the books (epilogue not counting). This was such a wonderful fanfic that felt like it could have been a real book (writing and length-wise) and it provided me with the Draco redemption I’d always missed in the actual series. Only nitpick: it was just a tad too long and could have been a few chapters shorter.

Rating: 4 stars

Top Ten Tuesday

My 12 Favorite Books of 2023
Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2024
My (Concrete Yet Chill) Bookish Goals for 2024
Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To
10 New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2023

Can’t Wait Wednesday

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen {Can’t Wait Wednesday}
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston {Can’t Wait Wednesday}

WWW Wednesday

WWW Wednesday: 10 January 2024
WWW Wednesday: 24 January 2024

Two songs stood out to me this month:

The Veronicas – Perfect

Still love these ladies so much and after all these years they still keep releasing such bangers.

Itzy – Born To Be

Itzy is back with the exact type of female badass powerpop I can never say no to.

A Good Day To Be A Dog

This was a fun kdrama about a woman cursed: when she kisses a man, she will turn into a dog every night during 100 days. If she doesn’t kiss the same man again in her dog form before that time, she’ll become a dog forever. So when she accidentally kisses her colleague one drunken night she is on a time crunch and has to get him to kiss her again as a dog soon. Just a few issues with that plan: the man actively avoids her and turns out he has a phobia of dogs… This was cute and adorable and a little over the top but in a good way. Though I have to admit that once the dog storyline was resolved with 4 more episodes to go, I kind of lost interest a bit…

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

I still have the final episode to watch, but I’ve been really enjoying this series so far! Though I never really hated the movies, I do have to admit this is a fun adaptation that is staying a lot more true to the original story and I’ve grown to adore the new actors playing our favorite trio. I sincerely hope the series is renewed and we’ll get to watch all the other books adapted too!

The Brothers Sun

I started this one on a whim one night because it looked fun and I knew Sam Song Li from his comedy sketches he did with Smile Squad. And it actually turned out to be such an amazing watch! I became quickly addicted to this violent and hilarious little family and their adventures.

January turned out to be ok. I’m usually dreading this month as I tend to struggle with the weather and the dark and the cold and the short days and the month just feels like it lasts FOREVER. It’s still not my favorite month, but it wasn’t the worst this year. I’m still counting down the days until spring though!

THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS MONTH:

• I had my eight blogoversary!
• Went for a Korean BBQ dinner with my BFF.
• I had a few really chill, relaxed weekends.
• Lots of good reading and fun TV. And I also got addicted again to playing Disney’s Dreamlight Valley.

THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:

• My husband and I will be celebrating our ‘dating anniversary’!
• I’ve got a few friend dates planned.
• New book releases I’m looking forward to: House of Flame and Shadow and Bride especially.

How was your January? What did you read? What did you listen to and what did you watch? What are you looking forward to in February?