Monthly Wrap Up | January 2020 – Worlds Unlike Our Own

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I can hardly believe a month’s already flown by! January was a great reading month for me, and also a great start to my 2020. I finally managed to finish a book that was slowing me down since November, and more importantly, am completely on track with my 2020 reading list, no backlog this month! I’ve taken up three reading challenges this year as you’ll see below, along with the never ending quest to beat the backlist, but I’m feeling quite optimistic about it as I’ve got my reading schedule planned out much more closely than usual and I’m hoping to knock out a few of the bigger reads early in the year before the deluge of summer releases starts. Here are my reading stats for January 2020!

Books I Read in January 2020
(links lead to reviews)

New Releases
A Heart So Fierce And Broken (Cursebreakers #2) – Brigid Kemmerer – ARC (🌟🌟🌟 1/2)
The King’s Questioner – Nikki Katz – ARC (🌟🌟🌟)
Infinity Son (Infinity Cycle #1) – Adam Silvera – ARC (🌟🌟🌟🌟)
One of Us Is Next (One of Us Is Lying #2) – Karen McManus (🌟🌟🌟🌟)
Deep and Darkest Red – Anna Marie McLemore – ARC (🌟🌟🌟🌟)
Spellhacker – M K England – ARC (🌟🌟🌟🌟)
Nameless Queen – Rebecca McLaughlin (🌟🌟🌟 1/2)
The Hand on the Wall (Truly Devious #3) – Maureen Johnson (🌟🌟🌟🌟)
Scavenge the Stars (Scavenge the Stars #1) – Tara Sim (🌟🌟🌟 1/2)
Belle Révolte – Linsey Miller – ARC (🌟🌟🌟 1/2)
Diamond City (Diamond City #1) – Francesca Flores – ARC (🌟🌟🌟 1/2)
Blood Countess (Lady Slayers #1) – Lana Popovic (🌟🌟🌟)

Backlist
Serious Moonlight – Jenn Bennett (🌟🌟🌟🌟)
The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern (🌟🌟 1/2)

Re-Reads
Red, White & Royal Blue – Casey McQuiston (🌟🌟🌟🌟 1/2)

Other posts & reviews this month

WWW Wednesday | January 01, 2020
Monthly Wrap Up | December 2019
2019 Wrap Up – A Year in Books + What’s Coming in 2020
WWW Wednesday | January 08, 2020
WWW Wednesday | January 15, 2020
WWW Wednesday | January 22, 2020
Deathless Divide (Dread Nation #2) – Justina Ireland – ARC (🌟🌟🌟🌟)
Book Tag: Quick Fire Fantasy
WWW Wednesday | January 29, 2020

Reading Challenge Updates

1. Epic Reads Reading Challenge: READ A BOOK SET IN A DIFFRERENT DECADE
Chosen Book: Blood Countess – Lana Popović
In 16th century Hungary, Anna Darvulia has just begun working as a scullery maid for the young and glamorous Countess Elizabeth Báthory. When Elizabeth takes a liking to Anna, she’s vaulted to the dream role of chambermaid, a far cry from the filthy servants’ quarters below. She receives wages generous enough to provide for her family, and the Countess begins to groom Anna as her friend and confidante. It’s not long before Anna falls completely under the Countess’s spell—and the Countess takes full advantage. Isolated from her former friends, family, and fiancé, Anna realizes she’s not a friend but a prisoner of the increasingly cruel Elizabeth. Then come the murders, and Anna knows it’s only a matter of time before the Blood Countess turns on her, too.
This was my first time reading a book by this author, and also my first book about Countess Elizabeth Bathory, though I am somewhat familiar with what history says about her. Blood Countess was certainly an intriguing read, even if it did have its downsides, and I’m looking forward to seeing what is next in this series.

2. Fictional Hangover Book Club Challenge
THE TIMES THEY ARE A’CHANGIN: Read the last book in a series
Chosen book: The Hand on the Wall (Truly Devious #3) – Maureen Johnson
Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are now dead. One, a victim of either a prank gone wrong or a murder. Another, dead by misadventure. And now, an accident in Burlington has claimed another life. All three in the wrong place at the wrong time. All at the exact moment of Stevie’s greatest triumph . . .
She knows who Truly Devious is. She’s solved it. The greatest case of the century. At least, she thinks she has. With this latest tragedy, it’s hard to concentrate on the past. Not only has someone died in town, but David disappeared of his own free will and is up to something. Stevie is sure that somehow—somehow—all these things connect. The three deaths in the present. The deaths in the past. The missing Alice Ellingham and the missing David Eastman. Somewhere in this place of riddles and puzzles there must be answers.
Then another accident occurs as a massive storm heads toward Vermont. This is too much for the parents and administrators. Ellingham Academy is evacuated. Obviously, it’s time for Stevie to do something stupid. It’s time to stay on the mountain and face the storm—and a murderer.
When I saw this challenge, I instantly knew it had to be the long awaited finale in the Truly Devious series, which was as amazing as expected. Stevie finally cracks the decades old mystery while also catching the murderer in present day, and anything more than that is spoiler territory. Highly recommended! Read my full review here!