January ’21 Recap

Well, it’s hard to believe that January is already over! I can’t believe how fast this month flew by. Unfortunately, 2021 still is looking a lot like 2020, but hopefully we’ll be on the upswing in the next few months! I had a relatively good reading month and managed to finish 4 books this month (and completely blew up my planned TBR).

I kicked off the month reading Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare. This is the second entry in the Dark Artifices series. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I absolutely loved Lady Midnight! It was hands down one of my favorite reads last year and probably my favorite Shadowhunter book to date. Lord of Shadows was also a great book! I got to rejoin all of the characters from Lady Midnight. This was also an incredibly fast paced book that flew by at breakneck speeds.

Next up I read Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline. I had seen a lot of questionable and negative reviews leading up to reading this. I won’t spend a lot of time rehashing those thoughts since I dedicated a whole blog post to those feelings already! Long story, short – I really enjoyed this a lot! It had a much strong pop culture trend this time around (vs the more video game centric first novel). If you are at ALL on the fence about giving this book a try – DO IT. I don’t think any of the negativity directed at this book is warranted at all.

I was planning on tackling Queen of Air & Darkness by Cassandra Clare next but decided to deviate and listen to Everything Is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo while also reading The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I managed to get an Amazon Kindle deal on The Midnight Library and have been DYING to read this since last year, so I had to read this ASAP! Everything is Figureoutable was a really great book to kick off January! Marie was the narrator and that really added another element of relatable. The content in this book wasn’t necessarily new or groundbreaking information but it was presented in a fun and engaging way. Marie’s stories and anecdotes really struck a chord with me. I also found most of the advice extremely applicable – like when you are stressing or worrying over a project or problem, the best way to get over that is action. Thinking back after hearing this, she is 100% right. I have always felt better when I took action on a problem I was facing. Hearing this feedback really just brought the whole concept together.

I am still in the process of finishing up The Midnight Library (but I’ll hopefully be finished by the time this post goes up). This is also another stellar read! Very life lesson-y and philosophical. One thing I’m not crazy about is how the novel romanticizes suicide a bit. I do really like the story, how it’s written and the overall life lesson, though. Probably leaning towards a 5 star read!

Wrapping up, I HIGHLY recommend all of the books included in this recap. I loved them all. I’ll be having a nice February TBR coming tomorrow that will be featuring my Black History Month reads, so be on the look out for that! If you enjoyed this post, take a look at my archive (I’ve written others like this) or follow me here / on Twitter (@ItsMrGeekToYou) for more reading updates!

Until Next Time,
Mr Geek