January 2022 Book Review

It's the first book review of the year! Yay! I love to see how my year of reading plays out - the books I have been waiting on, the books I didn't know I'd love, all of it! I'm going to do my book bracket again, so I'll share my favorite for each month that is going to compete in the bracket. It's not March Madness but Book Madness!

My goal for the year remains 100, I don't really see a need to ever increase from that, ha. I started January off with 9 books so right on pace. I read 7 e-books, listened to 2 audiobooks, and 3 were by diverse authors.

A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir - I read the 2nd book in this Fantasy YA series and continue to really enjoy it. The cast of characters and their development grew richer, and the plot grew thicker! At times, I wasn't totally invested but by the end, my heart was racing! I am 100% looking forward to seeing how this wraps up in the last 2 books.

Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon - Okay, gang! I fell in love with Outlander in 2013 and, given the series was over 20 years old, I was lucky to be able to read the first 9 books right in a row with book 8 coming out in the summer of 2014. A LONG 7 year wait before getting book 9 in my hands, and it was awesome. I have seen some mixed reviews online, but I was really happy with where the story going as book 10 is supposed to be the last in the series. I love this world and these characters and the way she tells their story. There are parts where 'nothing' happens that advances the overall plot, but it's getting a glimpse of these characters' normal lives, and I love that. It kind of reminds me of Larry McMurtry's style of writing. I haven't loved every single 'nothing' section {and in some previous books it felt like there was A LOT of this stuff}, but in this book it felt like the perfect mix. I cannot recommend this series enough, I love it SO MUCH and am excited for book 10! Her last few ended in cliffhangers, and this one was no different - it had such a GREAT cliffhanger.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Holy moly. This was incredible. Ryland Grace wakes up alone in a spaceship with no memory of how he got there. The story jumps back and forth from Ryland's current predicament and the past of how he got there. I couldn't put this book down - it hit every emotion - it was scary to learn what had happened on Earth to precipitate this adventure, Ryland was just funny and I laughed a lot, and I fell in love with several characters. This was so so so so so so good! AND it's also coming out as a movie starring Ryan Gosling! Can't wait!

We're Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union [audiobook] - I didn't know much about Gabrielle Union before listening to this book, based on Emily's recommendation. And I now love her! This was a great memoir that covered a lot of topics from racism to sexual assault to love and loss. It felt very real and raw at times, and I am definitely going to read/listen to her next one. {I continue to LOVE listening to memoirs by celebs!}

The Girls in the Stilt House by Kelly Mustian - This was my OG book club's selection. It was marketed as being similar to Where the Crawdads Sing. I enjoyed it but didn't love it. It was very heavy with a lot of sadness {Emily, you do not need to read this.} and even with a redeeming ending, it just wasn't enough to overcome how hard parts of it were.

Legacy by Nora Roberts - Another month, another Nora. I had a friend say she likes Nora books because there's always a female heroine, there's always great friendships or family bonds, and there's always a good ending. I appreciated that perspective because sometimes I feel like they are too similar! But those qualities are good ones to have!

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin - This was this month's BFBC selection, and we had two 5 star reviews, one 4 star review {mine!}, and a 2 star review, so we were all over the place! Two women meet and connect in the hospital - one is a 17-year-old terminally ill girl and one is an 83-year-old woman - so combined they are 100. I didn't love this when I first got into it - I felt the writing was beautiful, but I struggled with Lenni's personality at the start - but over time I grew to love both Lenni and Margot. A few things were hard to read - I was crying hard at one point - but was a solid read.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker - Another heavy book this month! But one I've wanted to read for a long time, and I'm so glad I did! The story follows Celie who is 14 at the beginning of the book through letters she writes first to God and then her sister. Her life is HARD and the book touches on those hard topics {rape, incest, racism, murder, death, physical abuse, mental abuse}, but Celie has a strength of character that will stay with me. This is such a good book.

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey [audiobook] - Gosh, this was a lot of fun! Matthew was a GREAT narrator! I found his story mostly engaging. At times, it was a little much {not unexpected given how funky he appears}, but most of the I was laughing, smiling, and really digging it.

This was a great month, huh? Not a bad one in the bunch! For my book bracket, my favorite for this month was Project Hail Mary!