Books Read in January

Book By Book

Happy New Year! I started my year off right with some excellent books! Here’s what I read in January:

The River by Peter Heller (Canada) – adult fiction 

A Home for Goddesses and Dogs by Leslie Connor (CT) – middle-grade fiction on audio

Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky – nonfiction

Not the End of the World by Kate Atkinson (UK) – adult fiction short stories

Beartown by Fredrik Backman (Sweden) – adult fiction

So, I finished five books in January. It was mostly a fiction month, but I included some inspirational self-help nonfiction to kick the new year off right! Four were adult books, and one (the only audio) was for middle-graders. I enjoyed all of these, and they were all so very different! Tough choice to choose a favorite, but I think Not the End of the World wins by a nose. I don’t often read short stories, but Atkinson’s writing is just so clever, engrossing, and funny that I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. You can read all of my reviews at the links above. After my December catch-up, I am so happy to be back on track with my blog now and writing reviews soon after finishing each book, instead of a month later!

Progress in 2021 Reading Challenges:
You can see all of the reading challenges I am participating in and full lists of the books read for each at the challenges link above. I have some fun ones going this year!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2021 – I read just two books from my own shelves (I also own Make Time, but I bought it in January so it doesn’t count as TBR).

2021 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge – January was Once Upon a Time, and Not the End of the World by Kate Atkinson was a short story collection with elements of fantasy and mythology.

Back to the Classics 2021 – No classics in January (but I’m reading one now!)

2021 AtoZ Reading Challenge - My first time doing this challenge, and since it’s January, all 5 books fit into different letters of the alphabet. I also got the January mini-challenge: a book purchased in 2020 (The River by Peter Heller).

PopSugar Reading Challenge 2021 – this is a unique one, with 50 quirky categories. Here are the ones I checked off this month (it’s easy at the beginning!):

1. Book you’ve seen on someone else’s bookshelf: Beartown by Fredrik Backman
2. A genre hybrid: Not the End of the World by Kate Atkinson
3. Book set mostly or entirely outdoors: The River by Peter Heller
4. Book about fresh starts: A Home for Goddesses and Dogs by Leslie Connor
5. Book by a blogger, vlogger, or other online personality: Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky

2021 Nonfiction Reader Challenge – Just one of my books in January was nonfiction,
Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky, and it counted for the Self-Help category.

Diversity Reading Challenge 2021 – Two of my books in January were diverse, but I did not hit the January mini-challenge.

Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge – I traveled to Canada, the UK, and Sweden in my books last month.

2021 Literary Escapes Challenge – I added just one state, CT.

And finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break – not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month! Stop by to print out this month’s Bingo card and play along. In January, I filled 18 spaces on my bingo card:

Spaces Filled:

The River – shelf love, thrilling

A Home for Goddesses and Dogs – not in a series, secrets, free book, moons on the cover, audio book

Not the End of the World – dystopia or post-apocalyoptic

Make Time – read a physical book, new to you author, nonfiction

Beartown – book club read, over 400 pages, blue on cover, diet or exercise, library book, multi-POV

Free Space

What was YOUR favorite book read in January?