Hello friends, happy Monday! I hope you’re all doing well. I can’t believe we’re at the end of the first month of the year already. Let’s get into how my month went!

Currently Reading:

Firestarter is my next Stephen King read that I’ll be spending the next couple months reading. So far, I’m really enjoying this. This is like a better/cooler version of Carrie and I’m not hating the characters, surprisingly. All I want to do is continue reading this.

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by: Tamora Pierce is my current audiobook. I really want to get back into them this year and so I figured I listened to the previous 2 books, I should do the same for this. I’m enjoying it so far; I’m not very far in yet but I’m curious to see where Alanna’s journey leads her.

Washington Black by: Esi Edugyan. I’m almost done this (hoping to finish it up tonight) and this is my first 2022 Canada Reads book! This has been a slow paced yet interesting novel. The things that Wash goes through and just all the places he ends up seeing, it’s definitely been an intriguing read.

What I’ve Read:

Sisters of the Snake by: Sarena & Sasha Nanua. This was my first read of the year and I really enjoyed this story; the world building was lush, I totally loved the whole twins switch, ‘It Takes Two’ type plot and the characters were fun. I like how things were wrapped up, but not completely so it leaves the reader ready for what’s to come in the final book.

The Song of Achilles by: Madeline Miller. This was recommended to me by a friend of mine, and wow is all I can say. The writing was beautiful, I 100% enjoyed that. It took a little while for me to get into this as it was slow paced, but geez that ENDING – I wasn’t prepared.

Wintersong by: S. Jae-Jones. This was a fun intro to a duology. The world building was a little on the lacklustre side, but the writing was so lyrical and I loved how the author wrote about love, it was so beautiful.

Alex, Approximately by: Jenn Bennett. This was such a cute and fluffy read, but also dealt with heavier topics that I wasn’t expecting, but ended up really enjoying. I liked the whole subplot of the main character going to meet someone they’d met online, too.

Nightblood by: Elly Blake. This was the final novel in this trilogy and I enjoyed it, but I also didn’t care for how perfect everything felt in the end. I still really liked the story and the world and I’m sad it’s over.

The Bachman Books by: Richard Bachman (Stephen King). I am SO happy to be finished this volume of books. I didn’t care for any of the four novels here. I liked the idea and concepts of some of them… but they weren’t explored as much as I wanted them to be, plus there were just so many unlikable characters.

The Perfect Stranger by: Megan Miranda. For the most part, I enjoyed this; the writing was really good, the plot could have been better for me. I guessed who the stranger was from the beginning and Miranda tried to weave all her plots together, which I found rather messy.

The Hobbit by: J.R.R. Tolkien. This was a re-read for me since I just finished watching the movies and I didn’t want to leave middle-earth. I listened to this on audio and I chose the ensemble cast version from the library… I regret that decision because I didn’t care for it. It was like I was listening to a play instead of having someone read to me. I think I may try to listen to the other audiobook sometime in the future. That said though, I still love the story.

Blackout by: Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk & Nicola Yoon. This was such a sweet, sweet collection of short stories of teens finding love. I loved the way everything came together and the little Easter eggs from each other’s stories was fun. I found this so quotable too! I think I just read this at the perfect time because it was truly beautiful. I wanted more from the characters but I loved what I did get.

Shadowsong by: S. Jae-Jones. For the most part, I enjoyed this duology. I think the second novel was a step above the first just because I understood the world a bit more. We didn’t get to see much of the Goblin King so that was sad but I was happy to see the siblings get more page time and we got to understand the family better. There was lots to unpack and figure out but I enjoyed the journey to the end.

Links to my my blog posts this past month:

Links to posts I enjoyed around the blogosphere:

Marie @Drizzle and Hurricane Books had a few great posts this month; YA books based on TV shows – this was such a fun idea for a blog post and she also wrote on how to increase your book blog’s traffic – SO many good tips!

Kristin @Kristin Kraves Books posted her review of Firekeeper’s Daughter – such a great review to a really good book!

Lauren @Narrative Paradise posted about her reading habits and the guilt she’s felt – I thought this was such a great post because we’ve all felt guilty at one point or another in our reading lives and I know I related to it!

Kate @Your Tita Kate talked about 6 reasons you should start a book blog – all her reasons are fantastic, highly recommend the read (and to start a book blog!)

Welcome to 2022! 😊 I hope the new year is treating you all well.

Highlights of the month:

✨I started a YouTube channel. I mean, I feel like I’ve been building up to it; I’ve been posting videos on Instagram for a year now so it felt like it was only a matter of time. I have the links to my videos below if you want to check it out and subscribe!

✨I got back into baking (yay!). One thing that fell on waaay side was my baking last year, so already I’ve made my own Timbits twice. I’m hoping the inspiration strikes again come February!

What I’m watching:

Star Trek: Discovery; season 1. I’m now onto the next phase of my Star Trek journey. So far, I’m really loving this. I’ve only seen 4 epiosdes but damn if I’m not heavily invested and crave to see more.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine; season 8. I made it to the last season! I’m only a few epiosdes in and I have to say, the beginning of the first episode I wasn’t sure where the show was planning to go, but it turned around and I’m interested to see the rest of the season.

Atypical; season 1. This has been on my list for some time so I thought I’d check it out to give me a break from Jane for a bit. I’m not loving this so far. I’m not really connecting with the characters, like any of them, I’m finding them all so unlikable, but I’m hoping they will grow on me.

What I’ve watched:

Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers & The Return of the King. Just like with the Hobbit movies, my brother and I movie marathoned these (one movie a night 😅). I’ve never seen these movies before but I’ve read the books twice (and I’m thinking of doing a re-read, possibly on audio) and I’m so happy that I’ve finally seen these! It was so exciting and I loved these. I loved the Ents, they were my favourite in the books and seeing them on screen was great; Legolas can get it, like geeez, I also just love the Elves; Gimmly was the best, I loved the trio; and I can’t forget about SAM! Po-ta-toes! 😂

Inside Job; season 1. This was an interesting show. I think I mentioned this in my weekly update when I started watching this that some of the jokes landed, some of them not as much. All in all, if you’re not into political satire then this won’t be for you. I thought it was amusing, plus the episodes were only 25-30 minutes long so it was perfect for getting through it quickly.

Star Trek: Enterprise; seasons 3 & 4. I finished this, this month and I’m sad to see this go, but I’m excited to continue on my Star Trek journey. As for this, I really liked season 3 and how it became less episodic and it all was working up to a main seasonal arc; it was really exciting because we got to know other species, since we got to see them for more than one epiosde. Then in season 4 we went back to the episodic way of storytelling with 2-3 episode story arcs. It worked for the most part, when one ended the next began, some were crazier than others. As we reached the end of the season it got really weird and plots just felt like they were coming out of nowhere (like what was that mirror episode where they’re in this alternative universe? I hated EVERY minute of that). I can see why everyone said the ending felt rushed; the last episode jumps 6 years in the future and I was like damn! I liked the nod they had to an older Star Trek (even though I haven’t seen it yet) but it made me excited to watch Next Generation. All that said, I enjoyed this show a lot and I’m going to miss it.

Sleepless in Seattle; this was such a cute movie. The kid 100% makes the movie and it was hilarious watching this 8 year old pull the strings on his dad’s relationships. I loved the father/son relationship in this, it was so real and pure and they held nothing back, which was great. The love plot was fun – I mean it was predictable how it would end, but I like that they tried to make it not so.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine; season 7. I did it! I finally finished my re-watch. It was bittersweet, but I knew it had to happen. I mean, I still have season 8 to finish… I think I’m going so slow because I don’t want it to end. But alas, this was a good season. I loved the whole Jake and Amy having a baby story arc and how all the characters came together for them. I, of course loved all the shenanigans that happened… like the year long heist, or Jake pretending to be Kevin and Holt reenacting John Wick (I can appreciate this even more now that I’ve actually seen John Wick).

Jane the Virgin; season 1. This has been on my list for a while to watch and I’m so glad I chose to start it because I AM OBSESSED… WITH EVERYTHING. I love the drama of it all (which I honestly wasn’t prepared for), I love that Jane is a writer and is really striving for it, I even love the narrator! The romances are crazy but I love them all. What I don’t like though, is how they made Michael so unlikable when Jane was with him but when they break up he’s this WHOLE different person, what the heck man! Anyways, I’m super excited to see where this series goes!

Instagram & YouTube videos from the month:

Instagram: