January 2015 Monthly Round-Up

If you read my past few Monday posts, you know I’ve had a pretty slumpy month of reading! The two real bright spots were a backlist Meg Wolitzer I read over Christmas (but, posted my review in January) and a February release (My Sunshine Away, review coming on February 11). As for books actually published in January, it was a pretty mediocre crop (I did really like The Girl on the Train, but didn’t love it as much as many others did).

On to the round-up…

Favorite Book of the Month

The Wife, Meg WolitzerFiction
Released March, 2003
228 Pages
Click here for my review
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon

Other January Reviews

January 2015 reviews

City of Liars and Thieves by Eve Karlin
Cry Father by Benjamin Winter
Dirty Chick: Adventures of an Unlikely Farmer by Antonia Murphy

The Bishop’s Wife by Mette Ivie Harrison
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (Review, Spoiler Discussion)
The Missing Place
 by Sophie Littlefield
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
The Unimaginable by Dina Silver (Mini Review)
This Town by Mark Leibovich (Mini Review)
West of Sunset by Stewart O’Nan (Mini Review)

Upcoming Reviews
A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison and Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay combined “review”
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh (February 10 release)

Top 5 Books on my “To Be Read” List
A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott (February 17 release)
Panic by Lauren Oliver
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
Sweetland by Michael Crummy
The Half Brother by Holly LeCraw (February 17 release)

Books I Tried, But Put Down in January
Descent by Tim Johnston

Upcoming Releases I’m Excited About

A Touch of stardust, golden state, my sunshine away, the half brother A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott (February 17)
Golden State
by Stephanie Kegan (February 17)
My Sunshine Away
 by M.O. Walsh (February 10)
The Half Brother by Holly LeCraw (February 17)

Top Ten Tuesdays
Top Ten 2014 Books I Missed
Top Ten 2015 Releases
Top Ten Books I’d Like to Discuss at Book Club

November Weekend Cooking Posts
3 Recipes That Jazz Up Boring Winter Veggies
Alton Brown’s Green Bean Casserole
Lemon Sole from The Lobster Place’s Fish of the Month Club

Special Posts
Reading Bingo 2014

Favorite Posts from Fellow Book Bloggers

  • Belle Wong shared an absolutely brilliant idea for cooking eggs!
  • Leah at Books Speak Volumespost on ideas for more creative book reviews was just the kick in the pants I needed to push myself harder (in the creativity arena) this year.
  • I could totally relate to Trish at Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity‘s post about the trials of determining your favorite author. There are too many to pick just one! And, do you count an author whose debut you loved, but who hasn’t written a second book yet? I have a list of these people (Ariel Lawhon, M.O. Walsh, Christopher J. Yates)!  
  • Shannon at River City Reading wrote an insightful post about something that has annoyed me a bit lately: “sneaky spoilers”. With a spoiler-sensitive book (The Girl on the Train) making the rounds right now, I think Shannon’s post is something for us all to keep in mind!
  • God, did I ever need to read Read a Latte‘s post on 10 Fictional Summer Vacations?! We got our third (or maybe fourth, but it’s depressing to actually count) snow/ice storm this week and, let’s just say I’d give my right arm to be in warmer climates! 


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7 Comments

  1. Carmen wrote:

    I’m reading A Touch of Stardust right now and so far I’m really liking it.

    Posted 2.4.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Glad to hear it! Always nice to hear good things about books you plan to review 🙂

      Posted 2.4.15 Reply
  2. Anita wrote:

    I somehow missed the book Golden State and I’ll look forward to your thoughts. The Half Brother also looks good. The other two are on my list, and Kate Alcott is coming to my Indie on 2/25, so that should be very interesting! Happy Reading.

    Posted 2.4.15 Reply
  3. That is one busy month, lady! 😀 I’m hoping to get to Golden State in the very near future, thanks for the reminder. Can’t wait to read your review of My Sunshine Away.

    Posted 2.4.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Quantity over quality 🙁 I can’t wait to start really pushing My Sunshine Away – loved it so much!

      Posted 2.4.15 Reply
  4. Belle Wong wrote:

    So glad you liked the eggs in onion rings idea! I’ve been cooking my eggs that way every chance I get 🙂

    Looks like you had a great bookish January and wow, so many reviews! The Prince of Tides is a book I’ve been thinking about reading for a while. And I’ve got The Girl on the Train in my to-read list …

    Posted 2.5.15 Reply
  5. susan wrote:

    I have The Wife on my TBR list, thanks. I’m also looking forward to reading “My Sunshine Away.” I listed some of my February picks today over at http://www.thecuecard.com . Could be some good ones.

    Posted 2.6.15 Reply

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