2018 Reading Updates: January Update

*Cue the complaint about how January has gone by entirely too soon and how I’m not ready for it to be over yet.” Good, now that we’ve gotten that over with. I actually did get quite a lot of reading done this month. And what’s even better: I’ve genuinely liked a large majority of it! So here’s my 2018 reading updates – January update!

What I read

This month I read no less than an astounding XXXXX pages. That comes down to almost 4000 pages! 4000! That’s pretty darn good, even for me! (Especially with the amount of work I had – but I’m sure you’ve all heard more than enough about that) So let’s just get to what I’ve been reading!

1. A short history of nearly everything, Bill Bryson
2. At Home: a short history of private life, Bill Bryson
3. Andrea, Leo Stearny (you guys, my bff wrote this one!)
4. In Care Of (FF)
5. Grammaire Essentielle du français niveau B1 (School)
6. Harry Potter and the Rune Stone Path (FF)
7. The Wedding that Changed Everything, Jennifer Joyce (review coming soon!)
8. Accidentally in Love, Anna Premoli (review)
9. tiny gaat kamperen, Marcel Marlier
10. the princess saves herself in this one, Amanda Lovelace
11. tiny speelt toneel, Marcel Marlier
12. tiny en de vier seizoenen, Marcel Marlier

There’s quite a bit of variation in there, actually. There’s two fanfictions, a book I read for school, the debut novel of one of my best friends, two ARC’s.

Even page-wise: Bill Bryson’s books are both over 500 pages, and Harry Potter and the Rune Stone Path clocks in at over 1000 pages. On the other hand, the tiny-books are all between 20 and 25 pages.

Oh, and if you were curious: tiny does not mean “very small” – it’s the diminutive of Tine, a shorter version of Martine. If you know the books, you probably know these drawings:

My grandparents have some of the books in this children’s series, and I’ve absolutely loved rereading them. There’s just something so innocent about these types of books!

What I thought

I was really lucky in that I’d already started to read A short history of nearly everything before the New Year. Oh, and in that I’d reached the deadline of how long I could keep both Bill Bryson books from the library. Oh, and the fact that the way he writes is – even in translation – really entertaining? Didn’t hurt either.

As I already said, my best friend published her first book and I finally got around to reading it. Sure, she only published it in December, and I didn’t get my copy until the week before Christmas. And then I really needed to finish the Bill Bryson books. Anyways, if you like fluffy books with a lot of Rome in them – oh, and if you speak Dutch? Go read this one.

Same goes for both of those fanfictions, actually, as well as for the tiny-books and the two ARC’s I’ve read this month. The wedding that changed everything especially was just what I needed in a time of stress, so definitely go check that out as soon as it’s published next week!

A special place should be reserved for the princess saves herself in this one. I know I’m totally late to the party – although I had already read a lot of the poems via Instagram. But once you actually get to read all of them? In the order they’re supposed to be read? With the entire storyline in there? Oh. My. God. (Imagine Janice saying this, hands and everything!)

The best thing? Because I’m not forcing myself to find a new book for every single prompt for my reading challenges, I’m doing pretty good on those as well! As in: I’ve got 4 out of 12 for the Modern Mrs Darcy Challenge and no less than 12 out of 50 for the PopSugar Reading Challenge! That’s better than I’ve ever done, I do think.

Anyways, that’s it for what I’ve been reading this past month! What books have you (re)discovered in January? Be sure to let me know below!

-Saar