Happy New Year Readers!
Sorry to have been so MIA lately, honestly I'd love to say that I was holed up somewhere reading all the books, planning out reviews and read-a-longs, but I wasn't. I was dealing with grief, depression, holiday feels realness, and emotional stagnation. Thankfully, I'm coming out of that.
January has been a very bookish month for me. I've gotten through 12 reads, only one wasn't the best, and I'm 23% through my Goodreads challenge. Yes, this year I've only challenged myself to read 52 books, just one a week for 2019. Something I've noticed while reading my way through grief is that I will read a LOT, and listen to a LOT of audiobooks and podcasts as a way to avoid my emotions. For the past few years I've set myself up for these reading challenges, to successfully complete them, and while I have finished everything I wasn't fully enjoying the stories. I was reading to fill in the time that freed up in my life because taking care of my dying parents was no longer on my plate. I was reading to fill the hole in my chest that grief created. Yes I loved some of the books I read last year, I still can't shut up about Sadie, but I put all of this immense pressure on myself to be the book girl that I lost the fire that made me a reader in the first place. So 2019 is the year of the story for me. I'm reading books, I will always be reading books, but I'm reading them solely for the stories they contain. I'm not trying to fill bingo cards, check off challenges, or hit triple digits like I have in years past. This year, I'm just reading for the sole enjoyment of reading.
So, without further ado.....
Here are the first 12 books of 2019!
1. Essentialism by Greg McKeown
2. Empress of the East by Leslie Peirce
3. Nixonland by Rick Perlstein
4. Impeachment by Jeffrey Engel, Jon Meacham, Timothy Naftali, and Peter Baker
5. Playing With Fire by Lawrence O'Donnell
6. An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
7. Verity by Colleen Hoover
8. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass
9. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Mass
10. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
11. White Lies by Lucy Dawson
12. Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen McManus
What I'm currently reading:
Queen of Shadow by Sarah J. Maas
The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
Stay tuned for my RBG special, my hot take on Bad Blood, and much more this year.
XoXo
BrainyHeroine
