Goodbye January, you have come and gone in the blink of an eye.
This month has been average in terms of reading but it’s still better than nothing. One of my goals for 2016 is to find a good balance between the contemporary/fantasy ratio because I didn’t read as many contemporary books as I’d have liked in 2015.
As always my mood reading decides what book I pick up next. January was all about contemporary books. These three books were all so different from one another and they really reminded me of everything I love about contemporary books.
Night Owls by Jenn Bennett: 4/5 Stars
Something Real by Heather Demetrios: 4.5/5 Stars
Nowhere But Here (Thunder Road #1) by Katie McGarry: 4/5 Stars
Features at My Midnight Musing
3rd January: End of Year Survey
Top Ten Tuesday
5th January: 2016 Resolutions
12th January: 2015 Releases I Meant to Read but Didn’t
19th January: Books I’ve Recently Added to my TBR List
26th January: Pre-Blogging Book Love
Waiting on Wednesday
6th January: Salt to the Sea
13th January: Assassin’s Heart
20th January: The Star-Touched Queen
27th January: Walk the Edge
Tag/Awards
10th January: Around the World in YA
24th January: Tag: Villain Squad
31st January Infinity Dream Award
Favourite Posts in January
Aentee @ The Social Potato talk about the pathetic arguments that have been made against Diversity in Fiction and why they make no sense whatsoever.
Also if you head on over to Read at Midnight, Aentee also has this wonderfully insightful discussion on The Integrity of Book Blogging.
Jess @ Princessica of Books has launched a wonderful new project, Project Positivity. Here you can submit what you love about the blogging community.
Nick and Nereyda @ Nick and Nereyda’s Infinite Playlist introduced the blogging confessions project. I loved this post and I feel that as a community we needed to come face to face with these issues instead of brushing everything under the mat. They also clarified their stance on the project which is something you should also read before jumping to conclusions.
Jeann @ Happy Indulgences talks about the Casualness of Death in fiction.
Tonyalee @ Lilybloombooks wonders if book reviews are becoming a lost art?
Rachel @ A Perfection Called Books provides and insight on the importance of Blogging your Own Way
Genesis @ Latte Nights Reviews talks about the role of ARC’s in the blogging community.
Josie @ Josie’s Book Corner offers us this insightful post on ARC envy and how to handle it.
Alex @ Fiery Reads asks why don’t we love female villains.
As you can probably tell ARC’s were a big topic of discussion in January. Once again these are but a sample of the wonderful and insightful discussion posts that are created every month.
February To Read List
Once again I refuse to set myself a to read list because I never stick to it. However, there is one book I am 100% reading this month. I have waited long enough for this moment and so as soon as I get my hands on A Gathering of Shadows I will devour the book.
What have been your highlights of January?
My Midnight Musing 
Lovely Wrap-Up Lois! Yay! glad you got to Something Real! 🙂 Night Owls has been on my tbr for a while now 🙂 I’ll try to get to it this yr. it sounds like a great read!
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Nigh Owls was a wonderful surprise. The maturity in the characters was really great and the open communication between the couple was definitely a plus. I hope you enjoy the book when you get the chance to read it. 😀
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I really liked Night Owls and really want to read Something Real. Hope you have a great February!
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Night Owls was such a cute and fun read and made me want to hop on a plane to San Francisco. Something Real is definitely worth the read. It really does highlight the dark side to “reality” television. 😀
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I definitely think striking a balance between contemporary and fantasy is the key to enjoying reading! Sounds like you had a lovely month. Thanks for linking my post!
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Oh definitely. I feel like a good contemporary is just what I need when the intensity of fantasy becomes too heavy. It’s all about balance. Thank you for writing such a wonderful post. I love the topic. 😀
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I read Something Real last year and absolutely loved it so I am glad you were able to enjoy it too 🙂
And my highlight of January? Definitely Truthwitch by Susan Dennard. It is my new favorite YA fantasy novel.
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Something Real was definitely a wonderful surprise. I just love the way she explored the darker side of “reality” TV.
I need to get my hands on Truthwithch. I am still kicking myself for not buying it before I went on my book buying ban. 😀
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Those 3 books you featured? They are 3 of my favorites of all time! Night Owls especially gave me all the feels! 🙂
A good balance between fantasy and contemporary has also been what has helped me not fall into a book slump last year.
I hope you have a great February as well, Lois! 🙂
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Here’s to swoon-worthy contemporaries. Night Owls had me wanting to hop on a plane to San Francisco the moment I finished the book and the communication in the relationship was on point.
I always find I need a good contemporary to help balance out the intensity and darkness of a lot of my fantasy reads. Hopefully I’ll be able to avoid the dreaded book slump this year. 😀
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