January Wrap Up!

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni, and today I'll be wrapping up my first month of 2019! In January, I read 12 books. I also started my second semester of my sophomore year at UNC. I'm enjoyed my classes so far, and it's nice to just take 4 instead of my usual 5 or 6. There's a couple more exiting life updates, and those I'll talk about more after the books.

Without further ado, here are the 12 books I read during January.

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

 Goodreads

Is it even a wrap up if I don't include a Christina Lauren book? I think this is my 14th book I've read by her, and I'm almost 100% positive I've read at least one CL book or novella every month since July. Am I addicted? Yes. I don't know what I'm going to do once I get caught up on everything. Love and Other Words was beautiful, and definitely one of my favorites from the author duo.

Merry Inkmas by Talia Hibbert

Goodreads

Merry Inkmas was one of my least favorite reads of January. I tried finishing this before the end of the year, and even though the book was really short, I just couldn't do it. I really don't like insta-love, so when the main characters professed their love after a seemingly short time of knowing each other, I wasn't convinced. 

Gimme Some Sugar by Molly Harper

Goodreads

Is this blog just a romance blog now? I read a ton of romance this January, Gimme Some Sugar being one of them. Gimme Some Sugar is part of a contemporary romance series that focuses on different characters in a small town. I hadn't read the other books, but decided to give this one a go after seeing it on Netgalley. I really liked it, but I wasn't as connected to the story as I hoped.

A Hint of Purple Vol. 1 by Chiho Saito

Goodreads

Back in the day, I used to read a lot of manga volumes. I hadn't read manga in a while, so I decided to pick up A Hint of Purple, mainly because I heard it was similar to my favorite manga series, Marmalade Boy. It was a quick read and I'm pretty sure there are only 3 or 4 volumes, but this was a little too melodramatic for me. 

Royally Screwed by Emma Chase

Goodreads

Royally Screwed was the first audiobook I completed in January. I think I would have enjoyed this more just with text. The narrators were okay, but some on their intonation was a bit off. Also, I didn't like the male protagonist that much. He was pretty obsessive about "keeping" his love interest, which is a big no from me. 

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

Goodreads

Surprisingly, I finished two audiobooks back to back! While I didn't like the narrator that much for The Wedding Date, I enjoyed her a lot more in the companion novel, The Proposal. I also liked their Carlos and Nikole's love story more; Carlos didn't react in anger everytime he got upset, which is a major improvement over Drew in The Wedding Date. 

The Thing About Love by Julie James

Goodreads

I've heard so many good things about The Thing About Love for a couple years now, so when I saw this book at my local library, I decided to check it out! The Thing About Love is a romance between two FBI agents. Not only was reading about their case fun, but the two leads had great chemistry as well. 

Take Nothing With You by Patrick Gale

Goodreads

Take Nothing With You isn't yet published in the US, but I did read it due to my internship. I won't say anything else about the process, but I liked Take Nothing With You more than I expected. Take Nothing With You is a coming of age novel that follows Eustace as he discovers a love for playing the cello and later, his sexuality.  The book did lag a little in the middle, though. 

Dream Keeper by Amber R Duell

Goodreads

I received Dream Keeper via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I hadn't read a YA fantasy in quite a long time, and it was refreshing to read from a different genre. Dream Keeper wasn't amazing and the book definitely needed more work with the world building, but it was one of a kind. Fantasies can blend together so easily, but Dream Keeper had a unique plot, which is hard to find!

Plus+ edited by Bethany Rutter

 Goodreads

Plus+ is kind of like a coffee-book table. It's a fashion book, filled with plus size women. I received this via Netgalley. To be honest, I'm not too sure how to review this. I liked seeing the representation, but I also thought that some of the pictures were over-saturated and didn't look too professional. The foreword and introduction were wonderful though, and some of the looks gave me some fashion-inspo. 

Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowalandson by Mary Rowlandson

Goodreads

Can you tell that I read this for a class? It was all right, but honestly, not something I would read on my free time. It does provide insight into the time and the views of colonists towards Native Americans. I just don't have much to say about this. Let's blame it on the fact that I had two classes dedicated just to this captivity narrative that's only 40 pages, max.  

The Real Deal by Lauren Blakely 

Goodreads

Ah, The Real Deal. I thought I would love this one, but I did not. The plot was fine - a woman hires a man to play her boyfriend at a family trip - but it just lacked heart for me. The protagonists were very cookie cutter. Also, the cringey narration did not help at all.

Life Updates! 

As you are all aware, it's a new year! I started off the new year with some friends I hadn't seen in a while, and it was a wonderful time. We had a photoshoot, a wonderful dinner, played boardgames, ate queso, and watched the ball drop. Perfection. Here is a picture of me from New Year's.

Two weeks into the year, my second semester of my sophomore year in university started. I did have to change a class (I didn't like the professor), but I'm really enjoyed my schedule now. A full schedule at UNC is from 12 to 17 hours. I've always taken 15 at minimum, but this semester I'm only doing 12 and loving it. I have more time to have a social life, thank goodness! 

I only took 12 hours of classes for a really exciting reason! I'm interning as an editorial intern for Algonquin Books. Algonquin Books in an imprint of Workman Publishing. Algonquin has two offices: one is Chapel Hill (where I study) and one in New York. I've been getting the hand of the internship and loving it! It's exciting to be working in the field I want to have a career in.

As for other things that happened in January, I became a co-campus coordinator for my local chapter of Her Campus. The last CC stepped down very abruptly so I wasn't planning on having the position, but I'm excited with what we're going to accomplish this semester. I'm also planning on applying for summer jobs and internships. I've decided to take a risk and apply for some in New York, even though I know I probably won't get the internship, let alone afford housing.

Last but certainly not least (can you tell January was super busy for me?), I received my first physical ARC! I've been blogging for a while and have over 500 followers on all my platforms, but I have never emailed a publicist asking for a physical ARC because I was intimidated. BUT, a publicist at Simon & Schuster asked if I was interested in getting an ARC for Serious Moonlight for Jenn Bennett, and I said of course! It was super validating to get the ARC and made me really excited about future opportunities. Here is my tweet about it: (follow me on twitter, y'all!)

Right at the end of January, I received my very first physical ARC! Did I tear up? Yes! Thank you to everyone who is following my blog!!💜🌸 Serious Moonlight is written by @Jenn_Benn, who is one of my favorite authors! Thank you to @simonteen for thinking about me! 😊 pic.twitter.com/0TteUpCxoP

— Gennifer Eccles (@genniblogs) February 2, 2019

And that was my January! Have you read any of the books I read this last month? How was your January? 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!