January Wrap-Up

I'm so proud of my January reading.  I read four books, which for me, is very good.  My goal was to read two books a month, so it was a great start to actually double it.  So here is a quick wrap-up.  I've joined several challenges on Goodreads, so I'm also going to list what challenges I used the book for.

Six of Crows by Leah Bardugo (4.5 stars) - I wasn't sure if I would like this book or not when I started it, but since everyone I watch on Booktube seemed to love it, I thought I would give it a try.  Plus, several items I've received in my OwlCrate boxes referenced this book, and it's gorgeous with the black pages.  I LOVED it and was so surprised.  I immediately gave it to a student as a prize because I wanted someone else to love it too.  I loved that every chapter was from a different character's POV, as well as, the characters themselves.  Anyway, I used this book for the following challenges:  White book cover for the Color Challenge, Fantasy for Genre Bingo, Gem's Task for the Member's Task, A book involving a heist for the Popsugar Challenges.  All those challenges are for the 2018 Reading Challenge group.  I'm also participating in the Seasonal Reading Challenge group and used this book for challenge 5.3

The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones (5 stars) - Again, I wasn't sure about this book before I started it.  I received it in an OwlCrate box.  I can't believe how much I loved this book.  I even cried at the end which I was definitely not expecting.  This is exactly the reason I joined OwlCrate, to get me to try books out of my comfort zone.  For challenges:  Red book cover - Color Challenge, Paranormal Romance - Genre Bingo, April's task - Member's Task, and boarding school for Places and Spaces (another challenge from the 2018 Reading Challenge group.  For the Seasonal Reading Challenge group, I used it for challenge 30.8.

Drowning is Inevitable by Shalanda Stanley (3.75 stars) - This is a YA contemporary which is one of my favorite genres, but I didn't like it as much as the two fantasy books that I read this month which isn't one of my top genres.  I had a hard time with how the parents were portrayed in this book.  They were all awful, and as a parent of a teenager and a high school teacher, I really don't like books that do that.  I couldn't use this book for as many challenges just Adriana's task - Member task, a book about death or grief - Popsugar, a river for Places and Spaces, and I used it for the second half of 30.8 for the Seasonal Reading Challenge.

The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack (3.5 stars) - My final read was also my most disappointing.  It was my only adult novel, and it had mystery elements which is my favorite genre.  However, it just fell a little short.  I loved the idea that this painter gets his inspiration from dreams of the past.  That being said, I felt that it took it too far.  Maybe it's my Southern Baptist upbringing, but I just couldn't get into it once it took the main characters to the time were Egyptian Gods ruled the earth.  I also felt like the author just ended it without wrapping up everything.  For challenges I used it for:  Yellow - Color Challenge, Science Fiction - Genre Bingo, Claire's task - Members task, Time travel - Popsugar, studio apartment - Places and Spaces, and 20.1 for the Seasonal Reading.

That's it!  I hope this trend of good books and twice my goal continues!