I always find January a strange reading month. I usually manage to double my monthly reading average ( which is between 8 and 10 books) but I DNF A LOT and I come across a handful of unsatisfying reads.
Although I read 19 books in January, I can say it was a mixed bag. A good number I found okish bordering on the mediocre. Obviously there are the standouts. I’ll get into those in a bit.
As I stated last month, I am making an effort to read a classic or tackle a book that I have already read. In January I managed that and my TBR pile is going slowly down. I managed not to cave in and buy the Republic of Consciousness longlist and I only requested two review copies and one of those books will be out in April.
Saying that there was one big snag and that was due to our postal system. I requested and ordered books back in November 2019 and I finally received everything last week, luckily all the review copies were under 250 pages so I managed to finish them in time. My priority is the TBR stack.
Now on to the highlights:
My ‘book of the month’ is without any doubt Elisa Shua Dusabin’s Winter in Sokcho. It will be published in a few week’s time but I do urge you to pre-order it. Trust me it’s a first class read.
Other bookish thrills were:
Dave Haslam – Sonic Youth Slept on my Floor
Kent Haruf – Our Souls at Night
Susan Hill – The Woman in Black
Yann Martel – Beatrice and Virgil
Claire Fuller – Swimming Lessons
Jillian and Mariko Tamaki – This one Summer
What’s on for February? – Well I have only one review copy left (I’m halfway through it). The first book from my Influx subscription has arrived and I’ve got a 635 pager which I will be starting ASAP.
How was your January?
The Bobsphere 
Great post, I tagged you here https://mybookworld24.com/2020/02/05/sunshine-award-3/
Thanks – I’m not too good with tags – i’ll try though