the 12 books i read in january (with ratings and reviews)
by popular demand, i’m back to rounding up all of the reviews of what i read each month here on my blog, and i hope it’s a helpful resource for you! i post reviews on my bookstagram, goodreads, and storygraph as i finish reading books (usually pretty promptly, but not always, lol), but it’s nice to have them all gathered up in one space here!
some fun facts about january’s reads:
12 books read in total
4,571 pages
my reading goal for 2024 was 12 books, so MIssion accomplished!!! (i talk more about why my goal is so much lower than past years here)
3 of these were ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads
1 was a dnf
7 were by bipoc authors
10 fiction, 2 nonfiction
i read 8 in print, 3 on audio, and 1 on my kindle
here are all of january’s reads and reviews:
ps— all links are amazon affiliate links, so any purchases made once clicked will put a few pennies in my pocket. thanks in advance for your support!
you with a view
jessica joyce
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
y’all KNOW what it means when my review post is a photo of me hugging the book… this one got me in my feels!!! i want this made into a movie immediately. i mean come on, it’s got a precious matchmaking grandpa and old academic rivals who of COURSE fall in love as they hear about the lost forbidden love between their grandparents through the letters grandpa paul shares with them along what would have been their honeymoon roadtrip, WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT. oh yes also of COURSE there is perfect spice, and an ending that had me squealing, and so many tender, tear jerking moments along the way…
curveball: when your faith takes turns you never saw coming
peter enns
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
an essential deconstruction/evolving faith read ↩️
i was introduced to @peteenns at @evolvfaith but this was the first book of his i’ve read, and it resonated SO MUCH (see ALL THE FLAGS for evidence). i deeply appreciate his incredibly thorough, rational, intellectual, and expansive thoughts on faith, on the bible, on god, and on how he’s navigated his own journey along the way.
i learned so many new things in this one, found myself thinking about my own faith and experiences and beliefs from new angles, appreciated how he wove his own story in humbly and frankly, and how his privilege was laid bare throughout. connecting dots between history and science and faith, between blown elbows in baseball and moments in taxis and changes in plans to faith, all to help expand our view of god? yes. so beautifully done, and so compelling to me. i have a lot i’m still thinking about from this one, and i love that! i want to keep ruminating on it for a while.
a fantastic read, and one i highly recommend!
long shot
kennedy ryan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
another #radbookhugs read?! YEP. 😭🥹🥰
y’all— this one WRECKED ME. plz check trigger warnings (@the.storygraph is the best for that) because there is a lot to be aware of in this one, but for me, it was something i could keep reading even with my own story echoing so much of what was happening in the ab—sive relationship in these pages. i did skim some of the more graphic scenes to protect myself but wow wow wow, this book was powerful and redemptive and beautifully written and so, so raw, real, and honest.
(also let it be known— the hero here is the good guy!! the ab—ser does not win in the end. it’s important to me that you know that.)
i had never read @kennedyryan1’s work before and now am about to flyyyy through her catalog! holy moly. this one absolutely shattered me at times but then was such a story of strength and perseverance, of family and love and fighting for healing, of redemption and hope and JOY. what a freaking stunner.
THANK YOU to @read_bloom for my free copy! 😍
(tw: domestic/physical/sexual/emotional ab—se, r—pe, forced pregnancy, g—n violence, m—rder, gaslighting)
block shot
kennedy ryan
⭐️⭐️
this was just… not it. opening with a rich white boy being told to “f— the fat girl” to make it into a secret society gave me the ick IMMEDIATELY even if he did shut it down, refuse their offer, etc… because he STILL slept with her and i just never for a second believed he was genuine.
i wanted so much better for banner!!! the way she was both a badass force to be reckoned with in this story but then totally let jared (JARED!!! 🤢) get to her EVERY TIME, so much that she ruined a good, healthy love for him? nope. no way.
this just did not work for me. it did not have the power and redemption and heart that book #1 had, at ALL. it just felt slimy all the way through, or slippery, maybe? just something off that i didn’t like at all.
(yes i am already reading book #3, so stay tuned to see if this series can turn things around…) 🤞🏼
hook shot
kennedy ryan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
OKAY yes this one got the series back on track 🙌🏼 like with book #1, i found myself feeling so seen in this story, with how lotus handled sex and intimacy after r—pe. even more than with iris in long shot, i could relate to lotus and resonate with her internal monologue and her choices and her fears, and it was healing and meaningful to read. and this story, like book #1 did but #2 didn’t, had a redemptive arc i loved, and character development i could believe and root for, and even though it wasn’t quite a slam dunk, i really liked this one. (the flashback chapter to the scene of what happened to her as a child was graphic and one i’d personally recommend skipping.)
really liked this single dad, age gap, basketball player + voodoo practicing fashionista badass romance!
sable peak
devney perry
⭐️⭐️
returned to the eden family (which i love!) to finish the series with this book (which i did not love!)
it might be my headspace and being generally not in a romance book mood, but the spark did not exist in this book for me. i didn’t buy into the chemistry at all. vera’s character felt so one dimensional and it felt like the plot was nonexistent until the last quarter and even then, it was so uneventful and slow and flat? i was disappointed and unimpressed! i truly loved most of this series so it was a bummer to end on a sour note but i have many other devney perry books i want to read eventually and i know she’ll redeem things!!
delicious monsters
liselle sambury
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
this book was a genre-bending, mind-blowing adventure that i am SO glad i picked up (at the rec of my friends at @bbgbbooks!) — it’s a dual-POV story of forgotten Black girls, haunted mansions and ghosts, trauma and horrors (but justice underlying it all), mother-daughter relationships, paranormal activity, psychics, and mediums… and so much more.
it did take a bit before i got into this one, but i’m glad i stuck with it, because the layers and twists and shocks got GOOOOOD and it was unlike anything i’ve ever read!
this truly felt like my first horror read, but also like an excellent psychological thriller, all while somehow still being YA?! 🤯
roaming
jillian tamaki and mariko tamaki
⭐️⭐️⭐️
to be 19 and exploring nyc for the first time while having a new crush and trying to reconnect with an old high school friend after being off at college… ahhh, this graphic novel felt so perfectly plopped into a specific moment in time. it was beauuuutiful in its minimalist illustration style, clever in how it told its story through word and drawing and transitions.
the bandit queens
parini shroff
dnf
this was our all the rad reads book club pick for january but unfortunately, due to triggering content, it was a dnf for me
stars in your eyes
kacen callender
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
i had the audiobook of this one in my @librofm app for ages but seeing the physical book at the library recently sparked my interest in it, and i flew through it (mostly on audio!) last weekend. 🤩
it’s a story of a golden boy, newer actor and a more seasoned bad boy actor, cast as love interests in a queer romance movie, pushed to fake a relationship to boost the ratings and press for the film, when (SHOCKINGLY), they actually start to fall for each other. but! this one also goes SO MUCH DEEPER, really exploring trauma and ab—se, race and sexuality, family dynamics and self-confidence. it didn’t just rely on light and easy tropes, but really took a more nuanced, real, and gritty approach, which i appreciated and found impactful. check trigger warnings here, for sure.
the romantic agenda
claire kann
⭐️⭐️⭐️
one of my favorite ways to explore something i don’t know much about is through reading. when a friend brought up asexuality in a conversation recently and i realized how little i knew about the ace/aro spectrum (the A in LGBTQIA+!), i went looking for books with ace characters. i mainly listened to this one on audio (spotify audiobooks for the win!) but had grabbed a copy on @pangobooks too.
the representation in this one is great, with not just one but TWO ace characters, both giving different depictions of being asexual while dating, being in love, exploring relationships, and navigating emotions and emotions physical intimacy.
at the core, it’s a romance about two couples (a love square, really!) — “joy is in love with malcolm. malcolm wants to date summer. summer is in love with love. and fox is summer’s ex-boyfriend.” there’s fake dating, it all takes place over a weekend trip, it feels like a netflix movie waiting to happen, and i enjoyed it!
but also, a character named fox being a literal silver fox? really? 🙄
celebrity nation: How America Evolved into a Culture of Fans and Followers
landon y. jones
⭐️⭐️
celebrity fascinates me, mostly because it doesn’t impress me or appeal to me at all 🤷🏼♀️ i’ve never known how to answer when people ask who my celebrity crush is, because i just don’t get that into famous people?? ANYWHO this book was an interesting look at celebrity and who we idolize. written by the former editor of people, it took a pretty broad and sweeping approach, and mostly felt like a grandpa explaining social media and influencers (which, it was…) so i didn’t learn a whole lot, but there were moments that intrigued me along the way! i listened on audio (thanks to @librofm for the ALC!) and think i probably would have connected a bit more if i eyeball read it.