Welcome to my first book wrap-up of 2024! One of my resolutions this year is to write a wrap each month for the next 12 months, which I’ve never been able to do because I get tired or run out of time at the end of the month, and I always end up skipping some months.
I’m also challenging myself to re-read one favourite book every month. I have so many books that I love, and I want to revisit them, but I never find the time.
I read 8 books this month, and most of them were borrowed from my local library.
January 2024 reads
Re-read of the month
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
Previously read: June 2023
I still love this book, and it was a fast read. I had read it last year, but I couldn’t remember much of the plot, so I’m glad I read it again.
YA reads
Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross
How I read it: on my kindle
Genre: YA, fantasy, romance
My rating: 3/5
This was my first read of 2024, and it feels like it was ages ago. Why does January feel so long?
While I enjoyed this second part of Divine Rivals, I always avoid reading about war, especially when it’s so detailed and realistic – yes, there’s magic and angry Gods – but the war itself felt very real, and I found it a bit stressful.
Sorcery of Thorns and Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson
How I read it: ebooks from the library
Genre: YA, fantasy, magic
My rating: 4/5
It’s just a great YA fantasy to kick off the year. I loved the writing and the respect and power given to books. It’s a fantastingly cosy read. And the covers are just so pretty!
It was always wise to be polite to books, whether or not they could hear you.
Books, too, had hearts, though they were not the same as people’s, and a book’s heart could be broken: she had seen it happen before. Grimoires that refused to open, their voices gone silent, or whose ink faded and bled across the pages like tears.
The Brothers Hawthorne by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
How I read it: ebook from the library
Genre: YA, mystery
My rating: 4/5
Jennifer Lynn Barnes really knows how to milk a series. She has a fifth part coming out this year, and I can’t wait.
This was a fast read, though in some parts, I felt like it was written for younger readers than the previous books, which was a bit odd.
Adult fiction
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
How I read it: physical copy from the library
Genre: fantasy, romance
My rating: 5/5
You don’t understand, I’ve been on the library waiting list for this book for months! There are so many people who want to read this book that the library has created a rule that the book can only be borrowed for 7 days.
I devoured Fourth Wing. It has become my most recent obsession, and the waiting list for the second part is at least five weeks long, so even though I’m breaking my rule of not buying books this year, I’ve already bought Iron Flame on Kindle because I can’t wait that long!
Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater
How I read it: physical copy from the library
Genre: thriller, contemporary
My rating: 4/5
I really enjoyed this story. It’s presented from the point of view of a true crime-obsessed bookseller and a woman whose mother was murdered when she was a teenager. It’s a realistic and intense, slow-burn thriller. It has the right amount of creepiness and unease I expect from contemporary thrillers.
Reading is a way of life for some customers, the kind of customers who buy more than they read, who behave as though ‘bookworm’ is as inherent as their blood type or their astrological sign.
The Wake-Up Call by Beth O’Leary
How I read it: physical copy from the library
Genre: romance, christmas, contemporary
My rating: 4/5
I wish I had read this over my Christmas break because it has the perfect Christmas romance vibes without being corny. Beth O’Leary always finds a way to tell a story in the cosiest and most wholesome way possible, and this is just what this book was.
Overall, my start of 2024 was a good one. The month was long, and I didn’t do much besides reading, completing a few jigsaw puzzles and going on very cold runs around the park. I was one of those people running at 9 am on January 1st, and since then, I’ve been out eight more times, so I would say my resolutions are doing pretty well so far.
Now, if I manage to publish all 12 book wrap-ups, I will call this a successful year! We’ll see!
Willow in Winter 